Provo • When BYU announced in 2010 that it was leaving the Mountain West Conference and forging a path as an independent in football, athletic director Tom Holmoe said the Cougars would try to play the “best of the best” on the biggest stages possible.
That certainly will happen Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome against one of the blue bloods of college football, Louisiana State University. The Tigers have won three national championships (1958, 2003 and 2007) and 11 Southeastern Conference titles, the most recent in 2011.
Only Alabama (114-19) has had a better record than LSU (98-32) in the SEC over the past 10 seasons.
“LSU, that is a team that everybody knows,” BYU linebacker Fred Warner said. “You grow up watching LSU. They are an SEC school, a national powerhouse school.”
What’s more, the Cougars have to face LSU, which went 8-4 last year, placed second in the SEC West and routed Louisville 29-9 in the Citrus Bowl. The AdvoCare Texas Kickoff was moved out to New Orleans from Houston after Hurricane Harvey made playing at NRG Stadium impossible.
BYU vs. No. 13 LSU<br>At the Superdome, New Orleans<br>Saturday, 7:30 p.m. MDT<br>TV • ESPN
Even for BYU, which went 9-4 last year and lost its four games by a total of eight points, it looks like an insurmountable task. The Cougars are drawing upon last year’s 28-21 overtime win over Mississippi State as proof they can hang with the league generally recognized as the best in college football, while acknowledging that Mississippi State is no LSU.
“The perception is that the SEC is the best conference right now,” said BYU safety Tanner Jacobson, who began his college career in the Big 12, with Texas Tech. “And especially with LSU being the type of caliber that they are, it is just exciting. It is what everybody wants to do. When you play college football, it is the type of team you want to play against — great history, a great team right now. It is an opportunity to play on ESPN in front of friends and family that have always supported you. It is what college football is all about.”
BYU VS. THE SEC <br>Year • Result <br>1982 • Georgia 17, BYU 14 <br>1998 • Alabama 38, BYU 31 <br>2000 • Mississippi State 44, BYU 28 <br>2001 • BYU 41, Mississippi State 38 <br>2011 • BYU 14, Ole Miss 13 <br>2015 • Missouri 20, BYU 16 <br>2016 • BYU 28, Mississippi State 21 (OT) <br>Note: BYU went 2-1 against Texas A&M before it joined the SEC and defeated Missouri 21-17 in 1983 before it joined the league.
LSU is at a crossroads. The school replaced Les Miles with interim coach Ed Orgeron after the Tigers opened the 2016 season 2-2. The husky-voiced Orgeron was named the 33rd coach in school history after LSU blasted Texas A&M 54-39 on Nov. 24. The Tigers went 6-2 and won each game by at least 15 points under Orgeron.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake said he met Orgeron in 2005 when Orgeron was Ole Miss’ coach and has admired him since.
“He is just a really friendly guy and always open to talking to you,” Sitake said. “Never a guy to big-time anyone, and I always appreciated that about him. A good guy. … A really good coach, too. He knows his stuff. I am honored to go against him.”
LSU enters its opener ranked No. 13, and has been ranked going into the first week for 17 straight years. The Tigers are 54-1 in regular-season non-conference games dating to the 2002 season.
After getting shut out by Alabama 10-0 on Nov. 5 and falling 16-10 to Florida on Nov. 19, the Tigers went looking for a new offensive coordinator and found Matt Canada at Pitt. He also has been at North Carolina State.
LSU’s practices were closed in August, and BYU has only the spring game film and film from Canada’s work at Pitt and N.C. State. So there will be surprises, defensive coordinator Iliaisa Tuiaki said.
“We are just trying to prepare for a little bit of everything,” Tuiaki said. “Also, throw in some scenarios that we might not have seen on film just to make sure we are prepared for it.”
Hired before the 2016 season, defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, a former Utah State assistant, built one of the best defenses in the country. LSU allowed the fewest touchdowns (16) in the country last season.
“They’re tough,” BYU offensive coordinator Ty Detmer said about LSU’s defense. “Their strength is their team speed. They [produce] NFL first-rounders every year on that defense. No different this year. … We got our work cut out for us, but that’s why we are playing the game.”
Just like Holmoe said they would.
SEC’S BEST TEAMS LAST 10 SEASONS <br>School • Record • Pct. • Bowls • SEC Champs • National Champs • AP Top 25 <br>Alabama • 114-19 • .857 • 10 • 5 • 4 • 9 <br>LSU • 98-32 • .754 • 10 • 2 • 1 • 7 <br>Georgia • 93-39 • .705 • 10 • 0 • 0 • 5 <br>Florida • 91-40 • .695 • 9 • 1 • 1 • 5 <br>Missouri • 85-46 • .649 • 7 • 0 • 0 • 5