With the women and children out of the way, No. 10 LSU will enter the meat and potatoes of its schedule when the Tigers host No. 7 Georgia on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
The game is nationally televised by CBS and is the backdrop for ESPN’s GameDay, a college football preview show aired at the national game of the week.
According to LSU Sports Information, over 500 media credentials have been requested, the most in recent memory.
The game is LSU’s Southeastern Conference opener, while Georgia defeated South Carolina, 31-7 last weekend.
The Bulldogs will be the Tigers’ stiffest early season test, after walkover wins against the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Arizona and Western Illinois.
LSU coach Nick Saban said the only way to prepare for the step up in competition is to just play the game.
“You can’t adjust to what you’re playing against until you play against it,” Saban said. “I think every team offers different challenges for both sides of the ball. Everybody has significant players that have to be controlled. I don’t know that you can simulate in practice or either in another game what the personality of those particular players are and how it’s going to be to cover those guys are to play against those guys or to block those guys.”
Georgia and its third-ranked defense, which allows 5.7 points per game, will try to slow down LSU’s fourth-ranked offense, which is averaging 47.7 points per game.
The Tigers will give special attention to All-American junior defensive end David Pollack, who despite not recording a sack as of yet, has registered 20 tackles and drawn numerous holding penalties from opposing offensive linemen.
“His first step, his quickness and his effort are his key assets,” said LSU offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. “He’s something we definitely have to respect. We’re not going to target just on him, but we do have to respect that he’s that talented.”
Saban said the Bulldogs’ defense is the whole package, and excels in just about everything.
“I think they have a lot of team speed on defense, they play hard and they’re very good tacklers,” Saban said. “They break on the ball well and they’re basically a zone team. They do a lot of zone pressure type stuff. They’re not an all out blitz team, but they have good players, and by doing the zone blitzes they create more one-on-one blocking situations. They’re whole deal is to affect the quarterback.”
LSU quarterback Matt Mauck echoed Saban’s sentiment, and said he will be cognizant of the Georgia pass rush.
“They have great players and I don’t think they think they need to blitz all the time,” Mauck said. “They feel like they have enough athletes that they can sit back and let the front four put pressure on the quarterback and play a little zone behind them.”
Saban said the Tigers’ tailback position remains the same, with Shyrone Carey and Joseph Addai both considered starters. Addai fumbled twice versus Western Illinois in the first half and was removed from the game until the fourth quarter.
“We have two tailbacks that are starters,” Saban said. “It all depends on who’s hot.”
Georgia is no slouch on offense either, with 2002 Offensive Player of the Year, David Greene, lining up under center and an experienced group of receivers catching his passes.
However, Fred Gibson, an athletic 6-foot-4 receiver who averages 20.4 yards per reception, is out for the game with a hamstring injury.
Greene is one of the most efficient passers in the country, going 49-for-72 on the season for 678 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“I think Greene is one of the best players in the league,” Saban said. “We’re going to have to disguise what we do better, because he calls a lot of check-with-me’s at the line depending how you line up on defense. And I think we’re going to have to affect the line of scrimmage better with stopping the run. We’re going to have to play well up front to create the kind of down-and-distance situation to have a chance to affect him in the game.”
LSU has been effective stopping the run its first three games, giving up 54.3 yards per contest.
Overall, the Tigers’ defense is rated second in the country, giving up only 210 yards per game.
“Defensively, their front four will probably be among the best we’ll see all year,” said Georgia head coach Mark Richt at his weekly press conference. “They’re a large group with big linebackers. They’re a physical defense and hard to run against. This will be a great challenge to play in Baton Rouge. It’s about as wild an environment as you can get anywhere in college football.”
Mauck said he knows Saturday is a big game, but the Tigers are treating it like any other.
“Everybody’s excited about the game,” Mauck said. “We’re trying to just keep it in perspective. There’s going to be a bunch of SEC games we have to play this year, and this is just kind of another one of them.”