Tigers Get Revenge on Bulldogs in Cold Rainy Death Valley Showdown

The Tigers entered the contest coming off a dominating performance over Georgia last week having beaten those undefeated Bulldogs by 20 and showing the Nation that LSU was still a team worth talking about. Mississippi State enters the game coming in off a fresh win over then ranked opponent Auburn, but was licking its wounds from its previous two games against Florida and Kentucky, both big losses.

LSU has put the Georgia win in its rear view, and has been reminded every day of the loss they suffered last season in Starkville, one of the worst losses in LSU history. The Tigers came into the game looking hungry, the fans and stadium were loud and rocking. It was so loud in fact that, Mississippi State started the game with two back-to-back false start penalties.

A rainy and cold night could not keep the LSU faithful from watching their beloved Tigers take the field, especially on Homecoming Night. Tonight’s attendance was announced as 101,230. This game will be the biggest challenge the Tigers have faced so far this season. The Bulldogs have a vaunted defense that is allowing less than 13 points a game, even less than, “That Team That Wears Red.”

Defensive End Montez Sweat has been lauded as the best defensive lineman in the country by Coach Ed Orgeron, racking up 7.5 sacks coming into the game, it will be interesting to see how the Tigers have game planned around him.

The game has been something that will be talked about for years to come. A game that played to every advantage for LSU. It was a rainy, cold night and LSU shut down the running game of the Bulldogs except for a few runs by quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and forced him to throw the ball. The Tigers defense forced four interceptions and pressured Fitzgerald all night long, never letting him get comfortable in the pocket. Fitzgerald would finish the night with a quarterback rating of 9.8. The Tigers would also hold the Bulldogs to 260 yards of total offense and just 3 points. Safety Grant Delpit had 2 picks, while safety John Battle and linebacker Michael Divinity both notched one as well. Grant Delpit is quickly becoming the best DB to ever play at LSU, and that is saying a lot given the pedigree of defensive backs that have NFL caliber play making ability coming out of Baton Rouge. LSU does have the nickname “DBU” for a reason.

But tonight’s game did not fare well for LSU either, a questionably and costly targeting penalty cost the Tigers a leader on defense and a starting linebacker in Devin White. He will be suspended from play for the first half in two weeks against “That Team That Wears Red.” With him out, the Tigers could look to rotate from another position into the “Buck” linebacker spot as they are fairly thin in the linebacker corps.

On the bright side of things the Tigers are 7-1 and 4-1 in conference play. Something that almost no one outside of the program thought that would have had happened. They are 4-1 against ranked opponents this year with three of those four wins coming against teams in the Top 10. LSU now has a 22 game winning streak in games played at home in the month of October, dating all the way back to 2009. Lastly, they have one of the most dominant secondaries in the country and they are forcing turnovers, something they did not do a lot of in previous seasons.