LSU has filled the opening in next year’s football schedule
with The Citadel, athletics director Skip Bertman announced on Thursday.
LSU and The Citadel will play in Baton Rouge on September 7. The Citadel,
who is a member of the Southern Conference, fills the void left in LSU’s
schedule when Bowling Green backed out of its contract to play the Tigers
last month.
“Given the unforeseen cancellation by Bowling Green, we were limited with
our options to replace the game,” Bertman said. “We looked all over the
country and made numerous phone calls, but with the short time frame in
which we had to work, it made it nearly impossible to find an opponent for
the weekend of Sept. 7.”
LSU head football coach Nick Saban was unavailable for comment as of press time.
Bertman said The Citadel game, if necessary, would count towards making the
Tigers bowl-eligible in 2002. LSU did not have to count its win over I-AA opponent Western Carolina in the 2000 season to become bowl-eligible that year. LSU would have qualified for a bowl game in 2000 even without the Western Carolina victory.
In addition, LSU’s game with Virginia Tech has been moved forward one day to
accommodate national television, Bertman said. The LSU-Virginia Tech game,
originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, will be played on Sunday, Sept.
1 in Blacksburg, Va., and will be televised to a national audience by ABC.
Kickoff for the contest is set for 1:30 p.m. CT.
The Virginia Tech contest will mark LSU’s third straight game unopposed on
national television. LSU closed out the 2001 season with a prime time game
against Tennessee on CBS in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game which was followed by another prime time contest against Illinois on ABC in the Sugar Bowl.
“To play a team the caliber of Virginia Tech on national television is a
great opportunity for LSU,” Bertman said. “This will be great national
exposure for Coach Saban and our football team.”
Editor’s note: This article was compiled from a university press release.