BATON ROUGE — Saturday’s practice for second-ranked LSU signaled the start of its game week preparations for the season-opener against Mississippi State as the Tigers held a “Tuesday-like” workout here at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
Saturday’s practice had the Tigers going in full gear for just over two hours. Tuesday practices are typically the hardest practice days of game week for LSU. LSU will workout against on Sunday afternoon.
“We had a good long (practice),” LSU coach Les Miles said following the workout. “It’s game week. The spirits of the players are high and I thought the tempo was crisp. We got a lot done. I like where we are at this point, but we need another good workout like we had today on Sunday.”
Since the Tigers open the season on Thursday night, Miles had to alter LSU’s game-week practice schedule. Today’s workout was more like that of a Tuesday practice during game-week, while Sunday’s practice will resemble that of a Wednesday workout. LSU will scale back its practices on Monday and Tuesday before using Wednesday as its travel day.
“It has been a little awkward, but I think our guys have really responded well to it,” Miles said of the revised practice schedule. “We designated a couple of weekdays as the weekend last week. (Last Wednesday and Thursday) was ?the weekend’.
We gave the players some time off. They came back and it appears they have handled their business well. They looked fresh and ready for practice today. The preparation will be pretty equal.”
Saturday’s workout also saw the return of backup linebacker Jacob Cutrera, who had been out of action since injuring his elbow in LSU’s second scrimmage of camp. Cutrera, who also sees action on special teams for the Tigers, is expected to see action against Mississippi State on Thursday night.
Miles also used a portion of his post-practice session with the media to compliment the play of the LSU offensive line. The Tigers will have two first-time starters at right guard and right tackle against Mississippi State in sophomore Lyle Hitt and senior Carnell Stewart. The Tigers will also have a pair of true freshmen listed on the two-deep come Thursday night.
“They had a good practice today,” Miles said of the offensive line. “The young tackles are still pursuing the field still in the two-deep. Our offensive line is coming around. The first-time starters are fun to watch. It’s fun to see how they interpret how they play over the length of a game. We will have two first-time starters there (Lyle Hitt and Carnell Stewart). I think they will both play well.”
Other starters on the offensive line for the Tigers include three players who started last year for LSU in sophomore left tackle Ciron Black, junior left guard Herman Johnson and junior center Brett Helms.
The Tigers and Bulldogs will face off at 7 p.m. on Thursday in a sold out Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. The game will be televised to a national audience on ESPN. It marks the first time since 1991 that LSU will play a Southeastern Conference contest for it season opener.
“It’s not ideal, but there are reasons to do it,” Miles said of opening the season against a conference team. “Being on national television that day, being the first team on television to start the year and having the opportunity to come back and have a long preparation for our next opponent. There are some reasons to do it.”
Miles also announced that the squad voted on game captains for the season opener and that Matt Flynn (offense), Glenn Dorsey (defense) and Craig Steltz (special teams) will serve as captains against Mississippi State.
“Every senior class has to provide that leadership,” Miles said. “In this instance, the unity council has done a great job. The captains have been elected by the team for this game: on defense, Glenn Dorsey, on offense, Matt Flynn and on special teams, Craig Steltz. Those guys are part of the unity council. They are also great leaders on our team. Our leadership has been just what we need. There is a great attitude that surrounds this team. We sure have enjoyed practicing with them. This week we get to play a game.”