LSU fans never look forward to a game that starts at 11 a.m. Whether it’s home or away, Tiger fans prefer a day long lead up to a football game.
But for the most part LSU has handled morning kickoffs well. The Tigers have won three straight and nine of their last ten away games that started at 11 a.m. Including their last trip to Starkville, a 28-25 win over the Bulldogs in 2021.
LSU did not play well in a pair of 11 a.m. kickoffs last year. They got behind early to Tennessee last October and fell to the Volunteers 40-13 and played a sluggish game on a cold day in November in Fayetteville, but still beat Arkansas 13-10.
Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo knows they need to bring the juice this Saturday.
“We just have to have bring a sense of urgency,” said Wingo. “Our best players really got to play their best to win in games like this, it’s going to be really hard, but we are ready for it.”
One of LSU’s best players is receiver Malik Nabers who has 11 catches for 154 yards and one touchdown this season.
This is Nabers second trip to Davis Wade Stadium and remembers what it sounds like when thousands of Bulldog fans are ringing cow bells.
“After hearing about it, I really didn’t know what I was going to get myself into, it was my first game that I actually started, so flowers in my stomach, I was jittery about being out on the field, it was pretty loud, but now I’m experienced with loud crowds, I feel I can just focus on getting my job done,” said Nabers.
LSU will go up against Mississippi State’s 3-3-5 defense, which means three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs.
This unit forced five turnovers in an overtime win over Arizona last Saturday. The Bulldogs defense also had nine tackles for a loss, eight pass breakups, and one sack.
LSU offensive lineman Emery Jones Junior said on Tuesday the Dogs like to move people around at the line of scrimmage.
“They don’t have a whole bunch of star players, so what they do a lot is move guys around a lot, every play, you got to be able to respond to movement, we are buying into the game plan, feel like we are going to do great blocking their movement and busting some runs,” said Jones.
Mississippi State’s best two players are at linebacker, Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson. Watson leads the team with 18 total tackles, while Johnson has ten solo tackles, two interceptions, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
Johnson is from Tupelo, Mississippi and last year led the SEC in total tackles with 115. He was the SEC Defensive player of week for his performance last Saturday against Arizona where he had 11 tackles, a sack and two interceptions.