BATON ROUGE — The 20th-ranked LSU football team begins its defense of the Southeastern Conference title on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. when Mississippi State comes to town for a JP Sports televised game.
Live audio of the pregame show begins on LSUsports.net at 10 a.m., as the “Voice of the Tigers” Jim Hawthorne is joined by color analyst Doug Moreau, sideline reporter Jordy Hultberg and studio host Kevin Ford for the game. Click “audio” from under “Upcoming Events” on the LSUsports.net homepage to listen live.
Live stats begin on LSUsports.net at gametime.
Jefferson Pilot Sports will air the regional broadcast on cable channel 7 in Baton Rouge. The Tigers will play on the network for the 15th time, but the first time since Oct. 7, 2000, at Florida. It’s the first JP televised game in Tiger Stadium since Oct. 18, 1997, when LSU fell to Ole Miss, 36-21. LSU has a 3-10-1 record on the network and a 72-85-7 record in televised games.
LSU (2-1, 0-0 SEC) has won nine of the past 10 meetings between the schools, including a 42-0 victory in Starkville last season. The Tigers have also beaten Mississippi State (1-2, 0-1 SEC) in 14-of-17 meetings as well as posting a 42-18-1 record in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers’ lone loss to the Bulldogs in the past 10 seasons came in 1999, when LSU lost 17-16 to the 12th-ranked Mississippi State team in Starkville. LSU finished the season 3-8.
Mississippi State opened the season with a 36-13 loss at Oregon, when it played without suspended starting quarterback Kevin Fant. With Fant, the Bulldogs defeated NCAA Division I-AA opponent Jacksonville State, 51-13, at home before falling to Auburn at home, 42-14.
Fant, a junior, completed 34-of-57 passes for 551 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in the past two games. However, the Bulldogs have been outrushed 532-297 this season, as Justin Griffith leads the backfield with 100 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Dontae Walker will also see plenty of carries, as he’s rushed 31 times for 87 yards and four touchdowns.
Offensively for the Tigers, the running tandem of LaBrandon Toefield and Domanick Davis has combined for 400 yards on 66 carries and four scores. Redshirt freshman Joseph Addai has come off the bench to rush for 113 yards on 20 carries.
Starting quarterback Matt Mauck has shown improvement in each of his three starts, totalling 439 yards on 38-of-79 passes and three touchdowns in his last outing against Miami (Ohio). He has thrown two interceptions.
Mauck’s favorite target has been sophomore Michael Clayton, who has caught three times as many balls as LSU’s second most prolific wideout. Clayton has caught 17 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.
After going three-straight games without a field goal attempt, placekicker John Corbello made four in four attempts against the RedHawks including a pair better than 40 yards. He may also have to resume punting duties after starter Donnie Jones was injured against Miami when he was roughed on his first punt two weeks ago. Corbello punted once for 39 yards this season.
Defensively, LSU has only allowed 327 yards on the ground and 364 through the air this season, while giving up 14.3 point per game. Linebacker Bradie James leads the team with 44 tackles including a sacks. He recorded his first interception two weeks ago against Miami. LSU’s next leading tackler is cornerback Randall Gay with 19.