By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Tiger Stadium can be one of the most difficult places for an opponent to play in all of college football because of the crowd noise, the raucous and “spirited” night atmosphere, the humidity and the quality of the home LSU teams historically.
It can also be a very easy place for opponents as sometimes the crowd is just not into it as much as for other games, or if the LSU teams are just not as good.
Lesser opponents and major underdogs like Miami of Ohio in 1986, Colorado State in 1992, Southern Mississippi in 1994, Houston in 1999, Alabama-Birmingham in 2000 and Troy in 2017 all won in Tiger Stadium, and all those games were at night – when Tiger Stadium is supposed to be at its scariest for foes. The 1986 team, by the way, finished 9-3 and won the Southeastern Conference title at 5-1. And Nick Saban coached the 2000 team and finished 8-4 and 5-3.
Even Saban’s 2003 national championship and SEC championship team that finished 13-1 and 7-1 lost to an underdog Florida team, 19-7, in Tiger Stadium that would finish 8-5 and 5-3. Saban complained that the fans at that day game against the Gators were not as into it as they were for a day game at home against Georgia just three weeks prior when the No. 11 Tigers beat the No. 7 Bulldogs, 17-10, at Tiger Stadium.
Sometimes, Tiger Stadium goes as the significance of the game goes. LSU fans consistently let the opponent’s ranking or history with LSU as a rival dictate their game intensity.
No. 11 LSU (1-0), which just beat No. 23 Clemson by 51-10 on Saturday night as Tiger roared as loudly as it ever has, is a 32-point favorite over Louisiana Tech (1-0) for the Tigers’ game on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPN+, SEC Network+).
And coach Lane Kiffin is not taking any chances. He wants everything to be just like it was for last Saturday, especially for the fans.
“So, let’s bring it again,” he said Monday at his weekly press conference. “Don’t let the opponent dictate how you are a fan. We challenge our players to do that, so, the fans, too. If you’ve got to have a mock Saturday or put up a stage of College GameDay – whatever it is. Come out here early. Come out here and start drinking at 7 a.m.”
ESPN’s College GameDay pre-game show was at LSU Saturday morning before the Clemson game. It will not be at LSU this week. Unless some LSU fans bring their own show.
Kiffin has been trying to put Saturday’s brilliant opener by the Tigers on all fronts in Kiffin’s first game as LSU’s head coach behind them.
“Everything’s got to be the same as last Saturday,” he said. “I challenge our fans the same thing. The fans were electric. The whole walk (before the game), the beginning of the game, the first quarter – you could feel it coming down on the opponent. People who have been here a long time, they said it was the loudest, intense feelings they felt ever.”
Louisiana Tech, though, is 1-20 all-time against LSU and 0-15 in Baton Rouge with the Bulldogs’ lone win in 1904, by 17-0 in Baton Rouge. But Tech is coming off an 80-6, home win over Northwestern State on Saturday. The Bulldogs scored the most points in their history, passing the previous record in a 76-31 win over Rice in the 2014 season.
“Any time your score 80 points, or even over 50, no matter who you’re playing, that’s doing a lot of things right on offense,” Kiffin said.
“Whatever you did last week, do it again,” Kiffin repeated for LSU fans.
#LSU has turned its attention to Louisiana Tech for Week 2 after its 51-10 win over Clemson.
— Andre Champagne (@andrechampagnee) September 7, 2026
The Tigers may be early -34.5 favorites, but Lane Kiffin doesn’t care.
He’s making sure his team stays locked in on the task at hand.
“1-0 is all that matters.” pic.twitter.com/WTqlHJkWX5
And posted inside the LSU football operations building on Monday was this message:
“Louisiana Tech has beaten LSU Before (even though that was in 1904). Get Your mind Right. 1-0 (this week) Is All That Matters. Get Over Yourself! You Ain’t Done (expletive deleted).”
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