BATON ROUGE — Tropical storm Isidore forced LSU indoors for practice on Wednesday as the Tigers continue to prepare for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference opener against Mississippi State.
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 11:30 a.m. in Tiger Stadium and will be televised to a regional audience by Jefferson Pilot. LSU enters the contest with a 2-1 overall mark, while Mississippi State is 1-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Due to the heavy rain in Baton Rouge this week, several grass parking lots on campus will be unavailable on Saturday. As a result, LSU officials are asking fans to carpool and arrive early on Saturday.
Wednesday’s two-hour practice session for the Tigers was held at the LSU Indoor Practice Facility. LSU followed-up the practice with a 15-minute film session.
“We practiced inside today and that is really the first affect the weather has had on us all week long,” LSU coach Nick Saban said. “It seems like it has been a long time since we have played and I think the players are starting to get a little anxious and I think they are ready to play a game.”
“I think it is really important that we keep our focus and understand what is important in this game in terms of the kind of physical game it is going to be and the kind of patience and execution that we are going to need as a team to be successful in the game. That is what we have tried to emphasize with the players and that is what we have done in practice. I have been pleased with the way we have practiced all week, so now it is just a matter of getting things polished up and getting ready to go.”
Saban said punter Donnie Jones and center John Young could both still play on Saturday. Both players were injured against Miami (Ohio) and have seen limited practice time since then.
“Both Donnie (Jones) and John (Young) have a chance to play in the game,” Saban said. “They both did some work today. Donnie punted today and he did it pretty well. We will see how he does tomorrow, but I think both guys are questionable for Saturday’s game.”
LSU will practice again on Thursday followed by a walk-thru in Tiger Stadium on Friday afternoon.