NEW ORLEANS — After nearly a week off enjoying the Christmas holidays, LSU’s second-ranked football team got back to work on Sunday as the Tigers worked out for nearly two hours at the New Orleans Saints Practice Facility in Metairie.
The Tigers will play for their first national title in football in 45 years on Jan. 4 when they face Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Kickoff for the contest is set for 7:22 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. The game will be televised to a national audience by ABC Sports.
On Sunday, LSU’s practice came a couple hours after the Tigers arrived at the Marriott in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Four buses mocked up to look like a football with the words “LSU Tigers” on each side transported LSU from its Baton Rouge campus to the hotel in New Orleans.
The Tigers were greeted by a couple hundred fans and a throng of media ranging from ESPN, USA Today, the Denver Post and the Dallas Morning News, upon their arrival at the hotel.
“It’s great to be here,” LSU coach Nick Saban said in a brief interview with reporters on Sunday. “I love being in New Orleans and I love being in Louisiana. Our fans have been very supportive and I think it’s a great opportunity for LSU and all of our fans to participate in this game to some degree and if they can get tickets to a large degree.”
Once at the hotel, the Tigers checked into their rooms, held a team meeting and then broke up into individual position meetings in preparation for that afternoon’s practice. After a couple hours of pre-practice meetings, LSU departed for the Saints Practice Facility.
“It’s an honor to be here,” LSU wide receiver Michael Clayton said upon the Tigers’ arrival on Sunday. “I feel good that we took a bus here, because it means that we’re only an hour away from home. It’s a pleasure to be here, and it’s an honor for the state of Louisiana to have its home team playing for the national championship. We’ve done a lot of things to represent our state well.
Most of the time, our success was due to our fan support. They were fired up, and we just went out there and played. We just want to show great honor with the way we handle ourselves down here this week and get ready for the game next Sunday.”
Sunday’s practice had the Tigers working out in shells (shorts and shoulder pads) and featured everything from individual work to 9-on-7 drills and work on the 2-minute offense. LSU capped the workout with a conditioning session that featured the Tigers running a series of sprints.
“We had a good workout,” Saban said. “We kind of eased back into it a little bit today. We’ll get back after it on Monday.”
On Monday, the schedule calls for a 10 a.m. wake-up call for the Tigers, followed by breakfast at 10:30 and then meetings starting at 11:45. LSU is scheduled to practice at the Louisiana Superdome at 2 p.m. followed by a team party following its afternoon workout.