TEMPE, Ariz. — One week and 1,450 miles away from his scheduled debut, head coach Les Miles leads the fifth-ranked LSU football team against 15th-ranked Arizona State on Saturday in a nationally-televised contest at Sun Devil Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 8:15 CDT, 30 minutes later than originally scheduled.
A red carpet, more than 100 Fiesta Bowl officials, and more than two dozen local and national media members welcomed the Tigers as they walked off the charter plate at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Friday afternoon.
Miles along with LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman addressed the media in a tent setup for the occasion.
“I’ve never been prouder in my life to represent a group of people,” Miles said on Friday. “This football team, like the state they represent, has been through an enormously difficult time. But, they’re ready to play. We’re coming here to play football. It’s a game in Arizona, but the Tiger are coming to play.”
The Tigers took a brief walk-through of the 71,000-seat Sun Devil Stadium, which included specially-painted endzones designed by the LSU Athletics Publications Office.
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Fans who watch the broadcast by ESPN will notice this and a few other special additions to the Tigers’ sideline and uniform in dedication to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Along with the ESPN national television broadcast, the game will be available on the LSU Sports Radio Network and on the Internet to members of LSUsports.net’s Geaux Zone.
The action begins on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CDT with the two-hour “LSU GameDay presented by Cox Communications” pregame show with the “Voice of the Tigers,” Jim Hawthorne. A 90-minute postgame show will follow the game.
In the aftermath the storm, the Tigers opted to move this game with the Sun Devils away from Tiger Stadium and the LSU campus that continues to be used as a staging area for rescue operations and a triage center for victims of the storm.
“Skip Bertman, our athletics director, and the Administration did everything within their power to consider this as a home game,” Miles said. “The opportunity to provide medical service for the evacuees may be impaired when you bring in a large crowd in and around our stadium. Within 200 yards of our stadium we were servicing a number of medical conditions that were a result of Hurricane Katrina. And, the opportunity not to displace people staying in hotels. Other than that, the city of Baton Rouge would have loved to have a home game. But, it wasn’t meant to be.”
LSU was slated to take on North Texas on Sept. 3 to open the season, however, the game was postponed to Oct. 29.
Miles, 52, takes the reins at LSU after four seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma State. With the Cowboys, he turned around a program that had only one winning season since 1988 by posting a 28-21 record including a nine-win season in 2003.
He became the 32nd head coach in LSU history on Jan. 3, 2005.
The Tigers have won consecutive season-opening games and are looking to win their ninth in the past 10 seasons. LSU lost to Virginia Tech in 2002, 26-8, in Blacksburg.
With projected starting runningback Alley Broussard lost for the season to a knee injury, LSU will rely on seniors Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey, and junior Justin Vincent to carry the load. The three combined to rush for 1,153 yards and six touchdowns in 2004.
After returning to Baton Rouge via charter flight on Saturday night, the Tigers have an open date on Sept. 17 before opening their home schedule against Tennessee. Gametime for the Tennessee game will be determined on Monday, Sept. 12.