LSU Tigers Tickets

The LSU Tigers recorded one of the most dominant non-conference wins of the 2012 in Week Two, as they defeated the visiting Washington Huskies 41-3 in Tiger Stadium. UW, widely viewed as an ascending team and one of the better squads in the Pac-12, had nearly pulled off the upset against the Tigers in 2009, and were looking to make a statement against one of the top teams in the country. Head coach Les Miles made sure his team would not let that happen, as the Huskies were no match for the Bayou Bengals, who scored 41 unanswered points after Washington opened the game with a field goal.

LSU’s punishing defense limited standout UW quarterback Keith Price to just 157 yards on 17-of-36 attempts, and sacked the overwhelmed signal caller four times as well. Offensively, the Tigers stuck largely to the running game, a game plan that has worked well for them in the past. Junior Alfred Blue led the way with 14 carries for 101 yards and a 21-yard touchdown run, while running mate Kenny Hilliard chipped in 46 yards and a pair of touchdowns. QB Zach Mettenberger looked more comfortable in his second start as a Tiger, completing 12-of-18 passes for 195 yards and a 32-yard touchdown pass to WR Kadron Boone. Of particular importance was the outstanding play of the offensive line, which played its first game without left tackle Chris Faulk, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and did not allow a sack to the attacking Huskies’ defense. Senior Josh Dworaczyk filled in admirably at Faulk’s spot, and the line should continue to be a team strength as the season progresses. The Tigers have one more game, against Idaho in Week Three, before the SEC opener against Auburn on September 22, so look for Miles to continue to build his team’s depth and confidence against the Vandals. LSU has already experienced a lot of adversity in the early 2012 season, but the struggles seem to have strengthened the team, and the Tigers again look like one of the nation’s most complete teams.

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The LSU Tigers will be without star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, who was dismissed from the team earlier this month by head coach Les Miles for a violation of team rules, meaning the Tigers will be breaking in more inexperienced players in the secondary than they originally planned. However, the team should still put up excellent pass defense numbers in 2012, thanks in large part to a ferocious pass rush from defensive ends Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo. The success of the secondary and the pass rush go hand in hand. A good secondary can cover receivers for a second or two longer, giving their teammates on the defensive line a little more time to get to the quarterback. And an outstanding pass rush reduces the amount of time that the cornerbacks and safeties have to keep tight coverage of their defensive responsibilities.

Fortunately for the Tigers, defensive end tandems do not get much better than Montgomery and Mingo. The junior duo combined for 17 sacks and 28.5 tackles for loss a season ago, each ranking in the top 10 in the competitive SEC in sacks, and Mingo also added an impressive 11 quarterback hurries as well. While the two could be considered slightly undersized by NFL standards, they make up for their lack of girth with incredible speed off the edge. There are very few tackles in college football that can handle their quickness off the snap, especially in obvious passing situations. Both Montgomery and Mingo are also adept at stopping the run, which means they rarely need to leave the field. Their continuous presence in opponents’ backfields will help the new-look secondary immensely, as opposing quarterbacks simply will not have a lot of time to test the newcomers in the Tigers’ secondary. Montgomery and Mingo would be great without each other, but together they form a frightening combination that should dominate offensive lineman throughout the season.

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LSU has a very well-balanced team heading into the 2012 season, and one could make the argument that the Tiger’s strongest unit could be the offensive line, defensive line or secondary, as all three units have all-star caliber performers returning. But the position group that may be the most complete, top to bottom, and have the best depth, is running back, where LSU returns its top four rushers from a season ago. Head coach Les Miles has done a great job stockpiling talent at this position in recent years, and the Tigers own one of the best groups of running backs in the country this season.

Perhaps the most complete back on the roster is junior Spencer Ware, who earned Second Team All-SEC honors a season ago.  The starter for the majority of LSU’s games last season, the former star recruit gained 707 yards on the ground and scored eight touchdowns. He is also the most accomplished pass catcher out of the backfield, as his 11 catches for 73 yards led LSU’s running backs. He may not have any standout traits, but the 5-11, 223-pound Ware is a balanced threat for the Bayou Bengals.

Michael Ford is not the biggest running back on the roster, but he may be the fastest of the four main rushers. Last season, the junior put that speed to good use, leading the team in rushing with 756 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns, despite coming off the bench in most contests. Ford can take it the distance on any given play, and at 5-10, 215 pounds, he still has enough size to take a little bit of contact as well.

When LSU needed a powerful back to pick up tough yardage, especially near the goal line, Miles often called upon Kenny Hilliard to get the job done. At 5-11, 240 pounds, Hilliard is the biggest running back for the LSU Tigers, and is a load to bring down. As a true freshman a season ago, Hilliard ran the ball 62 times for 336 yards and eight touchdowns, and should only be better with a season of experience.

And the back who showed the most consistent ability to pick up yardage in chunks was junior Alfred Blue, who averaged an impressive 6.9 yards per carry a season ago, picking up 539 yards and scoring seven touchdowns of his own. Less heralded coming out of high school than the other three backs, Blue (6-2, 215 pounds) is the tallest of the backs, and uses his height and long stride to his advantage.

As an added bonus for Miles and his staff, his top four rushers are all juniors or younger, so he has a good chance to keep this group together for the next two years. The coaching staff figures to rely on its impressive stable of backs, especially as they are breaking in a new starting quarterback. LSU’s running backs have a diverse array of skills, and the Tigers should be able to count on this group to produce as they aim for another shot at the national championship.

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There is no doubt that the LSU Tigers are going to begin the 2012 season ranked in the Top 3, as they return a wealth of talent from last season’s SEC Championship team. There are holes to fill on the defensive line and in the secondary, but LSU almost always fields a top five caliber defense.

If there is one spot to worry about on the depth chart, it is arguably the most important position on the field: Quarterback. College football fans may have noticed that the Bayou Bengals did pretty well last year without a dangerous passing game, and that is true. However, at schools such as LSU, where success is measured in national championships, finishing second-best does not amount to much. Furthermore, the BCS Championship Game was proof that they need some semblance of adequate quarterback play to finish on top. While last year’s starters, Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee, were efficient and took care of the football (only five combined interceptions), they also were not all that productive passing the ball either. The duo combined to throw for barely over 2,000 yards, ranking them 106^th out of 120 teams. Into the starting lineup steps ex-Georgia Bulldog Zach Mettenberger, who is unquestionably more physically talented than either Jefferson or Lee. At 6-foot-5, 222 pounds, Mettenberger has NFL size and tantalizing arm strength, so the potential is there to far surpass last year’s paltry numbers. However, until Mettenberger proves himself against SEC-level competition, there should be some skepticism as well. LSU has not possessed an impressive passing game since Matt Flynn graduated after their 2007 championship run, and even he was not the focal point of the offense. Unlike some other schools with holes to fill at quarterback, it is difficult to just assume that the next guy is going to step in and produce from day one. If Mettenberger happens to get injured or struggles, the options behind him are pretty slim, as the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster are freshmen. Stephen Rivers certainly has the pedigree to be successful (he’s the younger brother of Chargers QB Phillip Rivers), though he is yet to take a snap at the collegiate level, and the rest of the young QBs are just as unproven as he is. Further complicating matters for Mettenberger and company is the lack of a true go-to threat in the passing game. The team’s leading receiver last year, Rueben Randle, decided to forego his senior season after catching 53 passes for 917 yards and eight touchdowns. With Randle gone, the receiving corps is young and largely unproven. Sophomore Odell Beckham put together a nice freshman campaign, with 41 catches for 475 and two touchdowns, but those numbers pale in comparison to Randle’s. The highly touted Russell Shepard has never lived up to his lofty prep ranking, and the rest of the group has done next to nothing. It will be difficult for Mettenberger to put up big numbers with so much uncertainty surrounding his receivers.

LSU is going to be formidable this year whether or not Mettenberger outperforms last year’s pedestrian passing numbers, however, for LSU to have any chance of snaring that crystal football, the Tigers need more production from their quarterbacks.

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As the 2012 college football season quickly approaches, here is a look at what to expect from the LSU Tigers.  The Tigers went 13-1 last season, suffering their only loss in the BCS National Championship game to division foe the Alabama Crimson Tide.  This was very disheartening for a team that was ranked #1 for much of the 2011 regular season and posted the second best scoring against average in the entire nation at 11.3 ppg.  However, LSU is returning many key members (especially from that imposing defense) and seem poised at another National title run this season.

The defenses success will primarily be predicated upon the play of their two stars, Sam Montgomery and Tyrann Mathieu.  Only a sophomore last season, Mathieu was the second best defensive back in the entire nation; behind only his teammate and now Dallas Cowboy Morris Claiborne.  “The honey-badger” as he is nicknamed was a shutdown corner as well as special teams catalyst last year. In addition, Mathieu was a 2011 Heisman trophy finalist which is a position not many defensive backs can say they have been in.  Mathieu will now be the premiere DB on the field for LSU and should have an even better season in 2012.  Montgomery anchors the defensive line and is sure to be a first round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.  He is in the same class as Mathieu and is being talked about as the best defensive lineman in the nation after only 2 seasons at LSU.  At 6 foot 4, 245 pounds, Montgomery is both athletic and dominant and could see time as both an outside linebacker and defensive end this season.  With the help of these two All-Americans, look for the LSU Tigers to once again compete for the BCS National Championship.

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September is going to be a great month to kick off the 2012 season for collegiate football. Fans looking to get their hands on LSU Tigers tickets have a wide variety of options too. After opening on the first of September with the North Texas Mean Green right in Tiger Stadium, the Tigers will face heated rival the Auburn Tigers on September 22, 2012. This should be a heated grudge match between the two as it always is from year to year. One thing that will be exciting to see is how many new talented youths that LSU can sign. Surely, when LSU signs over some great new athletes, fans will be crawling up and down just to get their hands on LSU tigers tickets. One big recruit that has the potential to help the tigers is Mario Edwards. Only time will tell if he will decide to trace the same path as his father or go along in a new direction.

Louisiana State University cultivates many active rivalries, keeping their season fresh and exciting every step of the way.  LSU has a very long tradition of athletic excellence so they’ve have plenty of time to acquire these rivalries.  The oldest is against Tulane University’s Green Wave.

The teams first met in 1893 and for half a century there was no more hated team by the players or fans than Tulane.  The trophy for the annual contest is a satin flag, called the Tiger Rag by LSU and the Victory Flag by Tulane.  The flag represents both schools and the reason for their rivalry with the logos for each school divided diagonally and the Louisiana state seal in the center.  Many rivalries are born from schools being geographically near each other and LSU and Tulane have this and time on their side.  LSU’s home in Baton Rouge is only 80 miles away from Tulane’s home city, New Orleans.  The cities represent a rivalry as much as the school, one being the center of government and the other of culture.

The competitive series was played on a regular schedule from 1919 to 1994.  Especially in the early years tensions rose to dangerous levels.  There was a riot in 1938 after a Tulane victory.  The rag trophy was incorporated in 1940 to encourage more a more sportsmanlike approach to the rivalry.  It apparently worked because there were no further riots.  It was  highly competitive series up to 1949; LSU led narrowly with a 23-18-5 record.  After that the rivalry lost energy as LSU clearly dominated with 45-4-2 until the series ended in 1994.  The original rag trophy was lost in a fire in 1982 and the two schools worked to recreate it based on photographs in 2001.  The annual series was briefly rekindled from 2006 to 2009, but is currently dormant.

Both Tigers have plenty of other rivalries to keep them busy, most of those dating back to the early 1900’s or before, but since 1988 tension between Auburn and LSU has been growing into a fiercely competitive rivalry.  Both teams are dominant in the SEC and LSU has been winning more and more of the contests between the two schools since the early days when Auburn was clearly dominant.

One of the most infamous match-ups between LSU and Auburn was the Earthquake Game of 1988.  Auburn brought its #4 team to Tiger Stadium expecting their powerhouse offense to march right over the Bayou Bengals.  Neither team intended to give ground easily that night and both were held scoreless until the last two minutes of the game when a fourth and goal touchdown, the same play that had failed to score on third down just before, brought the underdog LSU out on top and brought the fans to their feet in such a violent explosion of enthusiasm that a seismograph on LSU’s campus, about 1,000 feet away from the stadium, registered an earthquake.

In 1995 the Bengal Tigers put on their white uniforms for a home game for the first time in 15 years when they invited #5 Auburn into Death Valley.  This became a point of controversy between the two teams because of a play when Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix stopped action when he heard a whistle from the stands, thinking it was the end of the play.  He was sacked for a safety and when a pass from Nix was intercepted in the end zone on the last play of the game meaning the end of the Auburn’s run to the SEC Championship.  The series has grown increasingly competitive over the years with LSU just barely ahead at 24-20-1.  Both teams continue to be serious players in the SEC and coming years could see anything happen.

The Tigers have enjoyed a relatively injury free season so far.  Unfortunately the only player currently out of action is T-Bob Hebert, an offensive cornerstone for LSU.  Luckily his injury doesn’t seem to be serious.  He left in the third quarter of the West Virginia game and did not return to play.  The report is that he is having some leg problems and is pretty beaten up overall.  Fans and teammates hope he’ll be healed up and back in action soon as the offensive line has come to rely pretty heavily on T-Bob’s versatility and reliability in the middle of the action.

Hebert is a football legacy, his father, Bobby, was quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.  At 6’3” and 304 pounds, Hebert is a force to be reckoned with on the line.  In high school he played both sides of the ball, boasting a 91% blocking average as a junior and, in 2005, managing 28 tackles and 5 sacks as nose guard.  He was red shirted his first year at LSU.  His next year he saw some action, playing in six games but starting none.  He returned a kickoff for 13 yards against Auburn and saw some action as a backup guard, either side, center, and fullback for short runs.  His season was cut short by a knee injury which he recovered from by the next season.

In his sophomore season, Hebert became much more critical to LSU’s offense.  He played as starting center in 11 games and played every snap for the first 7 games.  A minor ankle injury slowed him down for two games, but he came out of the season with 42 knockdown blocks and 606 snaps under his belt.  The next year he was moved primarily to the right guard position, though he remained backup center.  He played all 13 games, starting at right guard for the last half of the regular season, and produced a team-high of 76 knockdowns.  Even greater results can be expected this year.

Tiger Stadium is a landmark in Baton Rouge and one of the most fearsome venues in college football.  It is the eight largest on-campus stadium in the country with a staggering capacity of over 92,000.  On game nights Tiger Stadium is the fifth largest city in Louisiana, every citizen a rabid football fan ready to watch the Tigers defend their home turf.  At the beginning of the 2011 season the Tigers have won 44 of their last 49 home games including a streak of 19 from 2005 to 2007 and remains a school  record.  Since the 2000 season, LSU has gone 67-11 at home including perfect home records in 2004, 2006, and 2010.  Polls show Tiger Stadium to be one of the most feared venues in college sports.  Its fans, its record, and its team intimidate any and all who step into “Death Valley”.

Last season marked the sixth straight year that home games averaged over 92,000 spectators, nearly filling the 92,542.  During the 2010 season Tiger Stadium actually averaged 92,718 spectators per game, an all time high and well above the technical seating capacity of the facility.  The 2008 season saw the highest total attendance ever with 739,065 fans attending the 8 home games.  In 2008 and 2009 the stadium hosted over 93,000 fans at individual games, against Alabama in 2008 and Florida in 2009.  Since the NCAA started keeping attendance records in 1957, LSU has averaged over 75,000 spectators per game in 341 contests at Death Valley.  It is truly a center of football culture in Louisiana. When Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans, Tiger Stadium became the temporary home to Tulane and the New Orleans Saints, hosting the Tulane-Southeastern Louisiana game as well as four Saints games.

Part of the legacy of Tiger Stadium is night games.  Since 1931 the Tigers have played the majority of their home games at night and they have proven to be more successful under stadium lights than daylight.  LSU’s home record is 219-60-4 at night and 21-26-3 during the day since 1960.