LSU

LSU’s Les Miles can relate to South Carolina situation

Glenn Guilbeau

BATON ROUGE – LSU had two days more notice, but it was similar circumstances when Les Miles’ first home game as the Tigers’ coach was moved more than 1,200 miles west to Arizona State in 2005 because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

South Carolina found out Wednesday that its home game against LSU on Saturday would be moving 730 miles southwest to Baton Rouge because of historic flooding caused by Hurricane Joaquin. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN in Tiger Stadium between the No. 5 Tigers (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) and the Gamecocks (2-3, 0-3 SEC).

No. 5 LSU beat No. 15 Arizona State, 35-31, on Sept. 10, 2005, when quarterback JaMarcus Russell hit wide receiver Early Doucet on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 1:13 to play. LSU found out the previous Monday that game would be moved.

That was actually Miles’ second attempt at a season opener. His first one – scheduled for Sept. 3 against North Texas in 2005 - was postponed until Oct. 29 because of Katrina, which hit on Aug. 29. He would finally play his home opener on Monday, Sept. 26, after it was postponed from Sept. 24 because of Hurricane Rita, which hit early that day. LSU lost that home opener, 30-27 to Tennessee in overtime.

The Tigers recovered to win the SEC West at 7-1 and finished 11-2 overall.

“I was fortunate to have real quality leadership on my football team,” Miles said this week. “Really the answers from that scenario came from my guys. I think we did some smart things (at Arizona State), but all in all, the win came from the resilience of the football team and how they approached it. They put all the distractions behind them and then went forward. That was a pretty special team. They really wanted to be a part of the recovery that was in the state of Louisiana at the time.”

LSU sophomore tailback Leonard Fournette, a New Orleans native, was 10 when Katrina hit New Orleans, and he was forced to live on the Claiborne Bridge near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for a week after the storm with his family.

“Prayers going out to South Carolina,” Fournette said on via Twitter Wednesday night. “It reminds me of something similar that happened to us. Keep faith.”

GAMECOCKS’ STARTING QB LIMITED: South Carolina freshman starting quarterback Lorenzo Nunez will not start at quarterback at LSU Saturday because of a shoulder sprain suffered last week at Missouri, Gamecocks’ coach Steve Spurrier said Thursday.

But Spurrier said Nunez may play as a runner only. Junior Perry Orth, who started the Georgia game Sept. 19 after original sophomore starter Connor Mitch was injured the previous week, is expected to start at quarterback at LSU. Mitch is expected to be out another few weeks.

Orth is 23 of 47 on the season for 283 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Nunez is 31 of 51 for 374 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing 45 times for 299 yards and a touchdown through two starts.

S.C. AT LSU AGAIN IN 2020: South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said he expected that the next LSU-South Carolina game on the schedule – slated for Tiger Stadium in the 2020 season – would remain in Tiger Stadium, even though LSU is getting a home game against South Carolina Saturday that was scheduled to be played at South Carolina.

Tanner said he doubted that game would be switched back to Columbia because of the rigidity of the SEC schedule.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Les Miles told me that he’ll appeal to his fans not to yell too loud when we have the ball. So, that’s awful nice of the LSU people.”

---South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier on playing at LSU Saturday in what LSU’s athletic department and the Southeastern Conference is billing as a “home” game for South Carolina. Miles, as of Thursday night, had not made such an appeal to LSU fans.