BATON ROUGE — LSU continued its bowl preparations on Monday with its sixth practice over the past seven days with a two-hour workout here at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The Tigers will hold their final practice at 11 a.m. on Tuesday before taking off the next four days for Christmas. LSU departs for Orlando at 2:30 p.m. on Christmas Day. The Tigers will practice five times in Orlando in preparation for their 1 p.m. contest on Jan. 1 against 12th-ranked Iowa in the Capital One Bowl.
“I’ve been really pleased with the focus that our players have had in practice and preparation for this game,” LSU coach Nick Saban said following Monday’s workout. “We’ve worked hard and we’ve made a lot of progress. This is as many days as we’ve practiced, other than two-a-days, without playing a game. Eight practices in seven days are as many as you have without some kind of action.
“I’m pleased with the way they’ve focused on it. It’s been important to our players that they want to win ten games and get double digit wins for multiple years. That’s kind of been a goal. When we won the last three games that’s kind of what we wanted to accomplish with the bowl game.”
The Tigers will bring a 9-2 overall mark into the Capital One Bowl against co-Big Ten Champions Iowa. The Hawkeyes, winners of seven straight games, will bring an identical 9-2 mark in the Jan. 1 contest against LSU. This contest will represent the first meeting between LSU and Iowa in football.
“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Iowa and what their team was able to accomplish,” Saban said. “They play with a lot of confidence. Their quarterback is a tremendous competitor and a great catalyst for their team. Their defense is exceptionally good, and it’s going to be a real challenge for us in this game. It’s been fun so far in these practices and I’ve really enjoyed the attitude that the players have had and the way we’ve gone about this.”
Saban said the Tigers enter the Capital One Bowl in good shape health wise as defensive back Daniel Francis returned to practice today. Francis had been out of action since the Ole Miss contest with an ankle injury. In addition, wide receiver Xavier Carter will also see his first action since the Vanderbilt game against Iowa. Carter missed the last three games of the regular season after fracturing his clavicle against the Commodores on Oct. 30.