LSU Football is Back

LSU Football is Back

By: Kevin Kramer

Intern, Louisiana Gridiron Football

Yesterday marked the begging of a new season for LSU football, and it was back to business for the LSU Tigers. The 13thranked LSU Fighting Tigers opened their season up against the 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers in Houston’s own NRG Stadium. Although, the opening LSU game was not held in the newly renovated Tiger Stadium, Death Valley made its way next door to Houston to support their fighting Tigers. The city of Houston was taken over by LSU fans ranging from LSU students, alumni, and just plain old die hard LSU fans. Whether you were at a bar, restaurant, or grocery store the colors purple and gold were everywhere. I personally have friends that have moved to Houston, and they informed me that LSU colors had been popping up all over the city for more than a week. It just shows how loyal LSU fans really are.

Saturday was not the prettiest day Houston had to offer, however, the weather did not stop the real fans from coming out and providing the true game day atmosphere that LSU games come with. Everywhere you went you could hear the tiger chants ring out. Whether it was, “Go Tigers,” or “Tiger Bait,” for the Wisconsin fans, the chants were just as loud as they would have been in Baton Rouge. It was obvious how long it had been since the last LSU football game with how much energy every fan put into each chant. Tailgates were not allowed to occur at NRG stadium until 4 p.m., but that did not stop Tiger fans from setting up tailgates in various parking lots and taking over bars. There was definitely no lack of amazing smells coming from all of the tailgates cooking up some amazing Louisiana cuisine. Fans had all of the classic recipes like Jambalaya, Boudin, and I even got the chance to eat some delicious sausage hot dogs. I even had the chance to meet some Houston natives that were cheering for neither team but knew LSU was coming to town and wanted to join the party.

Coming into the season the Wisconsin Badgers have won 16 consecutive openers. On the other side line, the Tigers have beaten a ranked opponent at a neutral site to open 3 of the last four seasons. Therefore, there was no lack of high expectations coming from each teams fan base. Going into the game Les Miles had announced that both Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris would receive some playing time in the opening game. This is not unfamiliar territory with Tiger fans, going back to the 2012 season when both Jordan Jefferson and Jared Lee were rotating on snaps. For the Wisconsin Badgers, former safety Tanner McEvoy got the starting position at quarterback. The quarter backs for both teams had a lot to prove coming into this opening game.

The game itself was quite the experience. LSU had its share of rough patches throughout the first half. The rushing game was off considering LSU only had 16 rushing yards for the first half. However, the running backs stepped it up in the second half with 126 rushing yards for the game. Kenny Hilliard led all running backs with 18 ATT and 110 yards and a touchdown. The true freshman Leonard Fournette had 8 ATT for 18 yards. Anthony Jennings was given the starting quarterback position and came out with 9 CMP, 21 ATT, and 239 yards with 2 TD and no interceptions. The receiving core was led by Travin Dural with 3 REC, 151 yards and 1 TD. Furthermore, the LSU defense stepped it up big time in the second half with 2 interceptions. LSU came back from being down 24 to 13 on a 21-0 run to win the game. The final score of the game was 28 to 24 with LSU taking the win. The stadium was filled with LSU fans making the feel of a home game present. On the way out of the Stadium all you could here were “GO TIGERS” chants coming from all over. Besides the two hour wait for the Metro, everyone leaving the stadium was feeling the win. Overall LSU came out the better team with plenty of work ahead of them.