LSU football fans do not seem too concerned about hosting another national championship team next season.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers, three-time defending champions of the Football Championship Subdivision, will visit Tiger Stadium to open the 2008 season.
The Aug. 30 game will be the second-ever meeting between the two schools. The Tigers struggled in the first matchup, leading by just two touchdowns after three quarters, but eventually defeated the Mountaineers 24-0 in November 2005.
The game will be the first-ever meeting between two defending national champions in two different subdivisions in college football history. But the credentials of the Mountaineers, who shocked the sports world with an upset of Michigan to open the 2007 season, do not impress many LSU supporters.
“I think it shows respect for Appalachian State that we scheduled them,” said Robert Maxwell, music education sophomore. “But they won’t be able to handle [LSU].”
Those sentiments were echoed by many students, some of whom dismissed the chances of another titanic upset.
“A game between two national champions draws attention to the game,” said Francis Landry, accounting freshman. “But they beat Michigan by sneaking up on them, and they had a lot of luck. They aren’t going to sneak up on us.”
LSU was slated to open the 2007 season against Appalachian State, but Verge Ausberry, senior associate athletic director, rescheduled the game in favor of a national broadcast.
“I wanted Mississippi State on that Thursday night on ESPN,” Ausberry said. “It was good to get that one SEC game out of the way.”
Many LSU fans may be disappointed at the lack of a powerhouse opponent such as Virginia Tech in 2007, but Ausberry stressed the difficulty of scheduling such a game on short notice.
“It was just too late to get a BCS game,” Ausberry said. “Those schedules get made years in advance. We’ve got Colorado in 2011, and Arizona State is on the upcoming schedule too. But Appalachian State has a lot of momentum, and a lot of people are scared to play them.”
Rumors linked LSU to a home-and-home series with programs such as Texas Tech for the 2008 open date, but the Tigers will remain in the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium for all four non-conference games.
“ESPN was definitely trying to put us together with some teams, but some people wanted us to go on the road,” Ausberry said. “I thought this year just was not the right fit.”
Win or lose, Appalachian State will benefit greatly from the trip to Baton Rouge. Ausberry said the LSU Athletic Department will pay the Mountaineers $200,000 for the inconvenience of bumping the game up from 2009 to 2008, plus $550,000 for the game itself.
“I think it’s a good investment,” said Daniel Morgan, economics sophomore.
After a raise in season ticket prices following the 2007 national championship season, non-student ticket holders may not be happy with paying more for a non-SEC slate of Appalachian State, Troy, North Texas and Tulane.
“You’ve always got to schedule what’s best for your program,” Ausberry said. “Some people want to schedule Ohio State, Michigan and then the entire SEC schedule. That just isn’t smart. There is no such thing as strength of schedule. Some years you’ll have the big games, and some years you won’t.”
Big games or not, some LSU fans are already eagerly awaiting football season.
“I’m just excited to get back into Tiger Stadium,” said Madeline Guillot, kinesiology sophomore. “Even if it’s not a huge game, a big win could boost the team for the rest of the season.”
Just weeks removed from watching their team reach the top of the college football mountain, Tiger fans are not fretting over a game against Mountaineers.
“[The game] is a great idea because of the significance of it,” said Cody Diblin, communication studies senior. “But I wouldn’t say they have a chance.”
—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]