BATON ROUGE — One of the most anticipated seasons in LSU history gets underway on Saturday as the Tigers, coming off an 11-2 mark a year ago, open up their second year under Les Miles against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in a sold out Tiger Stadium. The game will be broadcast on LSU’s in-house pay-per-view network TigerVision as well as on the LSU Sports Radio Network and in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies on LSUsports.net. The game can be seen as well on Sunday night at 7 o’clock on Cox Sports Television.
Saturday’s contest also marks the start of a season-long celebration in Tiger Stadium as LSU will commemorate its 75th anniversary of night games in Death Valley. LSU first night game was played in October of 1931 when the Tigers posted a 35-0 win over Spring Hill. Since that first game under the lights, night games in Tiger Stadium has become one of the grandest traditions in college football.
Louisiana-Lafayette, the predicted champion in the Sun Belt Conference this year, brings to Tiger Stadium a five-game winning streak from a year ago as the Cajuns claimed a share of their league title and posted an overall mark of 6-5.
LSU vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
GameDay Weather:
Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain
High: 90?
Humidity: 56%
7 p.m. Temp.: 82?
Sunset: 7:27 p.m. CT
Event Schedule for Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006
2 p.m. – Tiger One Village Opens — Live music by “Michael Hataway and Louisiana Swamp Fire”
4:30 p.m. – All gates to Tiger Stadium open
4:30 p.m. – Mike the Tiger loaded and brought to Gate 11 of Tiger Stadium
5 p.m. – “LSU GameDay” pregame radio presented by CST begins in Tiger One Village
5 p.m. – LSU football team walks down hill to locker room
5:30 p.m. – LSU band marches down hill to Tiger Stadium
6:45 p.m. – TigerVision pay-per-view live television broadcast pregame show begins
7 p.m. – Kickoff: LSU vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
First Quarter:
Baseball coach Paul Mainieri introduced to Tiger Stadium crowd
Halftime:
LSU Golden Band from Tigerland performs
Louisiana-Lafayette Band performs
Shaquille O’Neal introduced to Tiger Stadium crowd
Guest Captains:
Verge Ausberry
Dr. Scott Wharton
Darron Landry
Gordy Rush
Louisiana-Lafayette, formerly known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, is 0-20 all-time against the Tigers, which includes a 48-0 setback against LSU in Tiger Stadium in 2002. Don’t expect LSU to take the Cajuns lightly as the Tigers are respectful of the talent UL-Lafayette possesses, especially on the offensive side of the football.
“We play a darn good football team that is going to test us,” LSU coach Les Miles said of the Tigers’ matchup against the Cajuns. “We are not looking beyond it. We are going to play hard, and we are looking for a victory.
“They return one of the finest rushing teams in the country,” LSU coach Les Miles said this week. “Both of their quarterbacks have played significant football and they are very talented guys. They had a freshman tailback get 1,000 yards in his first season and he runs behind a very talented and big offensive line.”
Against the Tigers, the Cajuns will face an LSU team that returns 14 starters and a total of 40 letterwinners from last year’s squad that captured the Southeastern Conference Western Division and then rolled to a 40-3 win over ninth-ranked Miami in the Peach Bowl to cap the year.
In a season that was punctuated with a pair of natural disasters in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the LSU football team was a weekly diversion that the state of Louisiana looked to as a source of inspiration. A year later, the memory of those two storms remain at the forefront for the Tigers, as LSU once again, has put playing for the state of Louisiana as the No. 1 priority on its goal board.
“We all recognize that there are hardships being lived on a regular basis by many that have not quite gotten their personal life in order just ye,” Miles said. “Our team, probably two weeks ago in a goal session, elected unanimously to keep the premise of our season to play for Louisiana, to play for our team and to play for ourselves. That will stay at the top of our goals for yet another season.
“That was the first thing that they (the players on the unity council) talked about. It was unanimously voted on by the team to keep. It didn’t take much. It was important to everybody in the room.”
The Tigers go into Saturday’s contest coming off a fall camp that saw the team go injury-free for the most part, unlike a year ago when LSU lost a pair of starters in running back Alley Broussard (knee) and linebacker E.J. Kuale (ankle) to injuries in August. Broussard continues his attempt to return to the field, which should come against the Cajuns.
With or without Broussard, the Tigers are stacked on offense, led by quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who brings a career record of 14-2 as LSU’s starter. A year ago, Russell put together one of the best overall seasons for a Tiger quarterback in school history, throwing for 2,443 yards and 15 touchdowns. Russell will be backed up by junior Matt Flynn, who led the Tigers to their Peach Bowl win over Miami to cap the 2005 season.
“He’s had a really strong summer and he has worked hard,” Miles said of Russell. “He’s in better shape than he has been. He’s led the team. He’s done those things that you would expect from a quarterback.”
Russell will be teamed with a talented trio of wide receivers in seniors Buster Davis, Dwayne Bowe and junior Early Doucet. The trio has combined for 218 receptions, 3,330 yards and 24 touchdowns during their career.
On the ground, senior Justin Vincent, junior Jacob Hester and a pair of newcomers in Keiland Williams and Charles Scott are expected to carry the load.
Defensively, the LSU secondary has been rated as the best in the nation going into the 2006 season. Led by safeties LaRon Landry and Jessie Daniels, the Tiger defense is coming off a season a year ago that had them ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense (266.8 yards per game).
Up front, the Tigers will rely on the experience of senior defensive end Chase Pittman and junior defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey to tame the Cajuns run game. The other two returning starters on defense for the Tigers are cornerback Chevis Jackson and linebacker Ali Highsmith.
“We’re excited to get this season underway,” Miles said. “We’ve had a very productive camp, but it’s time to play someone else. I think the team is ready. They’ve practiced hard and remained focused on what we’ve asked them to do each day. It’s now time to take it from the practice field to the game field. It’s time for Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.”