BATON ROUGE — It’s now official ? LSU will welcome the top-ranked team in college football to Tiger Stadium on Saturday as the Tigers host No. 1 ranked Alabama this weekend.
Kickoff for the Tigers and the Crimson Tide is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from a sold out Tiger Stadium. CBS will televise the game to a national audience.
LSU goes into the game with a 6-2 overall mark and a 3-2 league record. The Tigers are coming off a 35-10 win over Tulane. Alabama is now 9-0 overall and 5-0 in conference action. The Crimson Tide beat Arkansas State, 35-0, on Saturday.
LSU goes into the game having won five straight and seven of the last eight against Alabama. Last year, LSU used a fourth quarter rally to beat Alabama, 41-34, in Tuscaloosa.
The Alabama game will mark the first time LSU has hosted the nation’s top-ranked team in Tiger Stadium since 1997 when the Tigers pulled the 28-21 upset over Florida on Oct. 11.
The only No. 1 ranked team to have played in Tiger Stadium during the 11-plus years gap between that 1997 meeting with Florida and Saturday’s game against Alabama was LSU, who held the top spot in college football for home games against Florida and Arkansas last year.
The Alabama game will mark the 11th time that LSU has faced the nation’s No. 1 team in college football. The Tigers are 2-7-1 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams, which includes a 1-4-1 record in games played in Tiger Stadium.
LSU brings a two-game winning streak against No. 1 ranked teams into the Alabama contest. LSU beat Florida, 28-21, in 1997 and then followed that with a 38-24 win over Ohio State in last year’s BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.
This will mark the second time that the Tigers will face a No. 1 ranked Alabama team. The Tigers dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 1 Alabama in Tiger Stadium on Nov. 10, 1979. Playing in a driving rain for most of the game, Alabama scored the only points in the contest during the third quarter when Alan McElroy kicked a 27-yard field goal at the 8:37 mark.
LSU vs. Associated Press No. 1-Ranked Teams
Year Opponent Results Location
1939 Tennessee L, 20-0 Baton Rouge
1955 Maryland L, 13-0 College Park, Md.
1976 Nebraska T, 6-6 Baton Rouge
1979 Southern Cal L, 17-12 Baton Rouge
1979 Alabama L, 3-0 Baton Rouge
1991 Florida State L, 27-16 Baton Rouge
1994 Florida L, 42-18 Gainesville
1996 Florida L, 56-13 Gainesville
1997 Florida W, 28-21 Baton Rouge
2007 Ohio State W, 38-24 New Orleans
COMMENTS FROM LSU COACH LES MILES AT SUNDAY BRIEFING
On how he prepares for the external distractions surrounding the Alabama game…
“Tomorrow morning, there will be a discussion of some of those issues with the team. The real view that we have to have is an introspective one. We have to fix things. We need to play better. The opportunity for us to play four quality quarters of football hasn’t happened yet. That’s our issue, and certainly, we have an opponent that is very capable. We don’t need any peripheral issues. It’s got to be about us.”
On his view of the LSU-Alabama from a personal standpoint…
“I do take great pleasure in winning, and I take a real enjoyable view of our team’s accomplishments. I really do, but I really remove myself from that deal. It’s about this team. It’s about the guys who work hard that I’m fortunate to represent. If there is a little bit of pleasure derived by their accomplishment, it’s minimized when it comes to me personally. I mean that honestly. It’s never about who coaches where. It’s truly about the opportunity to stay in the SEC West race.”
On how important it is to win against Alabama considering its tradition…
“Tradition and history doesn’t help you on that Saturday. On that Saturday, it’s the 11 guys you put on the field and the 11 guys he (Nick Saban) puts on the field that will decide victory.”
On how much he plans on playing QB Jordan Jefferson against Alabama…
“We’ll see how the week transpires and see how far he’s coming. I enjoyed what he did in the last game. We didn’t throw him, but he ran it the way he was supposed to run it.”
On QB Jarrett Lee…
“We have to help him improve and make great decisions, but he’s still very talented. If we can get him to eliminate the negatives, that’s what we need to have happen.”
On Alabama’s run defense…
“You need to be able to run the football, help your quarterback and help your team and allow our quarterback to throw in non-predictable throwing situations and manageable third downs. I know that’s the old clich?, but that’s exactly what you have to do in games like this.”
On if Jefferson energized the offense late in the Tulane game…
“I don’t know. It was either him or No. 34 (Stevan Ridley). He (Ridley) seemed to have some energy too.”
On the defensive play against Tulane…
“I can tell you that there was a piece of that game that was better irrespective of whom we were playing. There was better communication. We were better.”