The No. 22 LSU football team will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, where it will play against Notre Dame in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m., the Southeastern Conference announced Sunday.
The contest will mark the first appearance in the bowl for both the Tigers (8-4, 4-4 SEC) and the Fighting Irish (7-5).
“We’re thrilled to extend the streak for the University to 15 straight bowl games,” said LSU coach Les Miles by phone, while out of town recruiting. “We see this as a national matchup, a very attractive television game and we recognize that Notre Dame is a tremendously talented [team].”
The game will not be the first time the Tigers have met Notre Dame. LSU and the Fighting Irish have played each other 10 times in a series tied at five games apiece.
The last time LSU met Notre Dame, it ran away from the Irish in a 41-14 blowout in the 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Notre Dame ranked as high as No. 5 this season, after winning its first six games, but finished 2014 unranked after losing five of its last six contests.
The Fighting Irish struggled defensively in the back half of the season, allowing opponents to score more than 41 points per game in their last six games.
LSU junior offensive lineman Vadal Alexander said the Tigers can’t afford to overlook a team that came within a single play of beating then-No. 2 Florida State on Oct. 18.
“They can beat anybody any given [day],” Alexander said. “We have to take the approach that they’re a highly touted team, which is very competitive and physically gifted. They get the top recruits just like us.”
The Fighting Irish are led by senior quarterback Everett Golson, who finished the regular season completing 250 of his 416 pass attempts for 60.1 percent and acquired 3,355 yards, 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Golson also provides a threat on the ground, and he has carried the ball for 277 yards and a team-leading eight rushing touchdowns on 113 attempts.
Multiple players said they were excited to compete against a team with as much history and national recognition as Notre Dame.
“They’re a football power and one of the top five names in the country,” Alexander said. “You really can’t have a better opponent than Notre Dame because they have one of the richest histories of anybody. We look forward to it.”
Miles said he expects both LSU quarterbacks to compete for playing time in the bowl game. Sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings started most of the season, accumulating 1,460 yards and 10 passing touchdowns.
“It’s that time that you continue to compete and press your quarterbacks to do the things we are going to ask them to do,” Miles said. “If they have designs on being a leader on this team and being that quarterback, this would be a very competitive time, even before the game.”
Miles said the status of senior running back Kenny Hilliard, who injured in shoulder against Alabama on Nov. 8, is still unknown and senior center Elliott Porter is unlikely to play.