Saturday Night at Death Valley: a Tall, TALL Task
By Dirty Panda
November 10, 2012; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; A general view during the second half of a game between the LSU Tigers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Tiger Stadium. LSU defeated Mississippi State 37-17. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
If the Bulldogs pull an upset on Saturday night in the Valley it will be a pretty significant win. To say it’s hard to do would be an understatement.
It may not be an upset on paper. These teams are pretty evenly matched. Some “experts” even say MSU is the better team right now. But when it comes to beating the Tigahs in Death Valley, it’s just hard to do.
Here are the list of teams that have beat LSU, at night, in Baton Rouge since 2006:
- #1 Florida in 2009
- #1 Alabama in 2012
It’s only happened twice, and both times it was a #1 team walking away with a win. Both times that team’s QB (Tim Tebow, AJ McCarron) had previously won a national championship.
Yikes.
The last time LSU got beat at night in the Valley and the team wasn’t #1 with a national championship QB was 2005 when Rick Clausen and #10 Tennessee beat the Tigers 30-27. But wait – that game wasn’t on a Saturday night – it was on a Monday night – delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. After a disaster like that do you think LSU fans were up to their usual antics for that game? I don’t think so.
That means #1 Florida and #1 Alabama are the only teams to beat LSU on Saturday night in the Valley during the Les Miles era. They are 43-2.
We have to go all the way back to 2002 when #10 Alabama, led by Dennis Franchione, beat LSU 31-0 to find a team that that didn’t have those lofty qualifications but still beat the Tigers on Saturday night in the Valley.
There’s something about Death Valley at night because they aren’t the same team during the day. There’s a little longer list of losses (tongue twister) during 2:30 CBS games during the Les Miles era:
- Arkansas in 2007
- Ole Miss in 2008
- Georgia in 2008
- Alabama in 2008
2008 seems to be a recurring theme there. Naturally – it is Miles worst season at LSU, finished 8-5. He has won at least 10 games in each of the last four seasons for a combined 44-9 record in that span. It’s one hell of a football program.
Many folks believe they are taking a step back this year, however. Could this be another 2008? A good, but not great Tiger team? Could MSU steal one from the Tigers early in the year?
It’s going to take a remarkable performance from the Bulldogs to win the game. Dak Prescott hasn’t won a national championship and State isn’t ranked #1. So losing is probably acceptable…..but why not do something that hasn’t been done before? Come in unranked and shock the country by pulling off a win!
Hail. State. Watch this video and get pumped!