When a top-ranked Division I-A football team plays host to a Division I-AA team, the usual underdog clichés run rampant throughout conversations – David and Goliath, the tortoise and the hare, etc. – but LSU coach Nick Saban prefers to use the Rocky Balboa story to describe Saturday’s 7 p.m. game between the Tigers and Western Illinois in Tiger Stadium.
“This is a Rocky Balboa game,” Saban said. “Apollo Creed was supposed to be better than Rocky, right? But Rocky won – with a lot of heart, a lot of character, a lot of hard work, got in great shape and overcame some deficiency to do it. And that’s possible. That’s why you play the games.”
The Leathernecks (2-0) are the top-ranked team in Division I-AA and are coming off a 34-12 win against Eastern Michigan. They have beaten four Division I-A opponents during the past five years, and Saban wants to make sure that the 11th-ranked Tigers do not overlook them.
“[Apollo Creed] had a nice car, a nice house, nice everything,” Saban said. “He didn’t listen to his trainer, didn’t listen to his manager, didn’t do what he was supposed to do. He thought he could win without doing the right things, and what happened to him?”
Saban is alluding to the fact that Western Illinois is used to playing in front of roughly12,000 fans per game. The largest crowd to ever witness a Leatherneck football game was 53,224 in the 2000 season opener at Missouri, while LSU is a top-rated program with a football stadium that seats more than 90,000 fans and receives national recognition in nearly every sport.
LSU junior receiver Michael Clayton said the Tigers will be ready for this game.
“You can’t overlook anybody,” he said. “If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game, anybody can beat you. We will take this week a full-go 100 percent.”
Clayton has reached paydirt three times already this season and is averaging 130.5 receiving yards per game to lead the Southeastern Conference. But the Leathernecks’ defense has yet to allow a touchdown. In fact, they allow an average of just 222 yards per game, and only 39.5 yards on the ground.
Linebacker Lee Russell leads the Leathernecks’ stout defense. Russell was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award last season, which is awarded to the best defensive player in Division I-AA. So far this season, Russell has 20 tackles, five for a loss, one sack, one forced fumble and a blocked kick.
“They have an excellent defensive team that hasn’t been scored on,” Saban said. “But hopefully we’ll be able to get the ball to our skill guys and let them make plays in space.”
The Tigers’ skill players have been making plays in the open field this season. Four of the Tigers’ six touchdowns through the air have been for more than 40 yards. Last season, LSU recorded only three passing touchdowns of 40 or more yards.
The Leathernecks have playmakers of their own, according to Saban. 2002 Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year Russ Michna leads Western Illinois on offense.
“They have a very good quarterback,” Saban said. “He’s thrown for a lot of yards, and I think it’s going to be a real challenge for us defensively to contain him. There’s no question he’s the best quarterback we’ve played against all year.”
Saban said it has been tough for the defense to prepare for the Leathernecks’ offense because of their conventional style of play.
“We don’t play against that all the time,” Saban said. “We play against three wideouts, four wideouts, all kinds of stuff all the time. So we spend 50 percent of our time practicing against that stuff.”
The Leathernecks average 223.5 yards on the ground per game, and the Tigers’ defense is allowing a mere 75 yards rushing per game. LSU’s defense is ranked sixth in the country by giving up an average of 211 yards per contest.
Saban said he wants the Tigers to play with pride in their program and to enter the game with a standard of excellence and always try to improve.
“We have a lot of improvement to make,” Saban said, “everyday in practice and with every game that we play. The true character and competitive character of your team will determine how well you can do that over time.”