BATON ROUGE – Fans will get an early glimpse of the 2024 LSU football team on Saturday when the Tigers hold the National L Club Spring Game in Tiger Stadium.
Gates to Tiger Stadium open at 11:30 a.m. and admission in free of charge. All seating is general admission on the west side of Tiger Stadium and fans can enter through gates 1-6. The scrimmage, which will feature the offense vs. the defense, will start at 1:15 p.m. and will consist of two 15-minute quarters in the first half with abbreviated quarters in the second half. The scrimmage concludes at 2:30.
Fans are reminded that due to upgrades currently taking place in Tiger Stadium for the 2024 season, there will be no video boards or replays, and there will only be one scoreboard, located on a ribbon board in the southeast corner of Tiger Stadium. In addition, an auxiliary sound system will be used for the game.
The scrimmage will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and broadcast on KLSU Radio (91.1 FM).
“(Saturday) is about giving certain players that are in key positions the opportunity to compete,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We want to see some of our front line guys go out and compete and play, but they are not the most important players out there. We need to see the two running backs, we need to see the offensive linemen that are going to play key roles.
“There are key players that need to get a lot of work in this game that we are focused on. As the game unfolds, you will see a lot of them and you will know they are really auditioning that particular player. There will be other guys that get a quick hook and you will know they have a pretty good sense of where he is.”
Kelly identified the No. 2 quarterback spot as one of those positions with redshirt freshman Rickie Collins and junior transfer AJ Swann battling for the backup spot behind Garrett Nussmeier.
“There’s a battle going on right now for the No. 2 quarterback position,” Kelly said. “AJ and Rickie are battling that out right now. They are going to play a lot on Saturday.”
After 14 spring practices thus far, Kelly said he and the coaching staff have a good idea about his team as he enters his third season with the Tigers.
“We have a better sense of the areas we need to get better in and players that we are counting on to play more prominent roles from last year,” Kelly said. “We walk away with clearly a better feel for our football team and the areas we have to really strengthen going into the offseason.”
“The team itself is better balanced offensively and defensively. There’s a lot more continuity on defense, certainly on offense we lost some players, it’s pretty clear with an offensive line, tight ends, a quarterback and deep receiving corps we are going to have some success on offense.”
Saturday’s spring game will feature a unique scoring format with the defense being awarded points for a turnover (7 points) or fourth-down stop (7 points), forcing a missed field goal (5 points), pass breakup (2 points) and sack or tackle for loss (1 point). There will be normal scoring for a fumble or interception returned for a touchdown or a safety. Normal scoring will be used for the offense and special teams.