Bulldogs head to Death Valley
When the sun finds its home in the Western sky on Saturday, No. 22 Mississippi State will be immersed inside one of the rowdiest and intimidating venues in college football: LSU’s Tiger Stadium.
Opponents dreams are said to die in Death Valley and MSU head coach Joe Moorhead will experience the venue for the first time for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
“It’s their homecoming game so it’ll be a very raucous, intense and very exciting atmosphere,” Moorhead said. “We’re fired up for that.”
Not only are the Tigers (6-1, 3-1 SEC) the fifth-ranked team in the country but are also 4-0 at home having just knocked off then No. 2 Georgia 36-16 last Saturday.
The victory extended LSU’s home winning streak to 21 games during the month of October since 2009. The Tigers have also won 85 of their last 96 home games on Saturday night and are 60-7 at night in Baton Rouge since 2005.
Moorhead likes the uniqueness Tiger Stadium presents with Mike the Tiger waiting to greet the opposing team as it runs onto the field along with numbers being painted on the field every five yards.
But there is one aspect Moorhead is looking forward to the most about his first trip to Death Valley.
“The great thing about college football is the passion of the fan bases, particularly in this conference,” Moorhead said.
“I hear they’re as good as any and they get fired up and get after you. They’re into the game and are going to make it a challenging atmosphere. I think that’s the thing I’m most excited for.”
The Bulldogs struggled with false starts along the offensive line during their first two road tests at Kansas State and Kentucky so that will be a point of emphasis in practice.
“We’re expecting a lot of crowd noise so we’ll be working on that this week,” Moorhead said. “It’ll be tough to simulate but we’re going to do our best.”
