Following a 41-6 victory against Mississippi State on Saturday night, LSU coach Nick Saban declared his affection for this year’s group of Tigers.
“I love this team,” Saban said. “I love the players we have on the team. I love the chemistry we have on the team. I love our coaching staff. This is a joy and what we strive for. We have character quality guys who want to do the right things on and off the field. I’ve been very pleased with the way they’ve represented the program, the University, their families and themselves. I like this team a lot.”
Since Saban arrived in 2000, he has talked about dominating every game, every week for 60 minutes.
Tigers’ wide receiver Michael Clayton said the team achieved that dominance against Mississippi State, which is one reason Saban said he loved the team. Clayton also said that it takes a lot of love to win a championsip.
“We talk about dominating a game for 60 minutes, and that’s what we came out here and did,” Clayton said. “Just the bond that we have playing with each other – it really brings love. We’re with each other every day and that’s a real big part about being a championship ball club.”
Slow Starters
The LSU offense stalled on its first two drives of the game. The Tigers went 3-and-out on their first possession and Matt Mauck threw an interception after the Tigers crossed into MSU territory on the second drive.
The Tigers scored on their next three possessions to put the Tigers ahead 17-0. LSU offensive lineman Stephen Peterman said the Bulldogs defense played aggressively to begin the game, but the Tigers were able to adjust.
“They’ve got some great players on Mississippi State’s team and played us hard at first and gave us a couple of pounds,” Peterman said. “We worked out the kinks on the sidelines and everything was downhill from there.”
Close but no cigar
Strong safety Jack Hunt had his second interception of the year against MSU. Hunt’s first interception in the UL-Monroe game resulted in a 31-yard return for a touchdown. He nearly found the endzone again before being tackled on the one-yard line.
“Don’t even mention who caught me,” Hunt said. “[It was] an offensive lineman. I kind of ran out of juice. That cutback kind of got me.”
Breaking on a positive note
The Tigers head into their bye week with a 5-0 record for the first time since the 1973 season when a Charlie McClendon coached team started the season 9-0. The No. 6 Tigers also have their highest ranking under Saban.
Whitworth said a win before a bye-week is good for team morale.
“I think it gets you a little more focused as a team,” Whitworth said. “And you can really just work on preparing for teams and not too much about the loss you just went through, and really just stress on things that you’ve been struggling at in games so far.”
Clayton said the break also gives the Tigers a chance to honor former equipment manager Jeff Boss, who was named National Equipment Manager of the Year in 1990. Boss held that capacity for 24 years before being diagnosed with a brain tumor last January. LSU will name the football locker room in honor of Boss with a ceremony on Sept. 29.
“I can’t wait until Monday when we don’t have anything to do,” Clayton said. “We’re going to honor Jeff Boss on Monday so that’s going to be an exciting event.”