Losing four of its past five games, including a 40-14 loss at the hands of Louisiana Tech last weekend, the Mean Green certainly has had its fair share of disappointment this season. But Coach Darrell Dickey said solid execution and some luck is all it will take for his team to grab a win.
“We’re going to tell our players what we need to do to give us a chance,” Dickey said. “If they do these things – and a few other things happen – it could be our night.”
LSU (5-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) will take on the Mean Green of North Texas (2-4) at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
“They’re a good football team that’s had success, and we don’t want to take anybody lightly,” Miles said. “We have to go in there and turn up our intensity and play well to improve and to win.”
The past two seasons, the Mean Green have compiled an overall record of 17-9, including wins over Baylor, Utah State and New Mexico State.
“We don’t want to just come in and play close,” Dickey said. “We preach a plan to our players to get us in the fourth quarter with a realistic chance to win.”
The match-up with North Texas marks LSU’s first non-conference game since the season opener at Arizona State. LSU will take on another non-conference team next week when they play Appalachian State.
“We certainly want to use this time and these two games as an opportunity to get better, and that’s the same approach we have each week,” Miles said. “With each game we want to make progress and improve in all three phases of the game.”
One of those improvements falls on the rushing defense, which allowed Auburn running back Kenny Irons to rush for 218 yards in last week’s 20-17 overtime victory.
“We didn’t play as well as we liked to,” senior defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. “But we’ll get back to where we need to be.”
Despite the breakdown against Auburn, LSU ranks No. 13 in the nation in rushing defense, as well as No. 9 in pass efficiency defense and No. 22 in total defense.
North Texas is led by senior running back Patrick Cobbs, who is averaging 85.5 yards rushing with 513 yards this season. Cobbs is joined by sophomore Jamario Thomas, who has played in all six games this season.
Two seasons ago, Cobbs led the nation in rushing yards per game and scoring, while Thomas was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year last season.
 
Notes:
Linebacker E.J. Kuale, who was injured prior to the start of the season, may get playing time against North Texas.
“I hope he’s able to get some snaps on Saturday,” Miles said. “We would really like for him to get a couple of games under his belt as we head into the final month of the regular season.”
Despite coming in as 45- point underdogs in Sheridan’s odds, Dickey said anything could happen.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Dickey said. “But if you know college football, you know we have a chance.”
Contact Jeff Sentell at [email protected]