FCS NO. 13 UTC AT FBS NO. 12 LSU

(0-1) (1-0)

7:30 p.m. Derrius Guice Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. SEC Network & 96.1 FM

THE MATCHUP

There’s no tiptoeing through the early portion of the schedule for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s offense, which has been a work in progress since the first day of spring practices. The Mocs’ opening opponent, Jacksonville State, had a defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally among Football Championship Subdivision programs last season, and eight starters returned from that unit. As for LSU, it didn’t allow BYU to cross midfield in a 27-0 season-opening win last week in New Orleans. UTC coaches are confident they’ve been able to scheme some things to move the ball downfield, and that will start with the offense following its assignments. Receivers must run the right routes, offensive linemen must make the right protections and quarterback Nick Tiano must make the right reads.

ONE TO WATCH

LSU tailback Derrius Guice is a preseason All-American and a breakaway threat every time he touches the ball. He and the Tigers’ stable of running backs combined for 296 rushing yards in the opener, with Guice accounting for 122. The LSU rushing attack has received a fair amount of UTC’s attention this week in practices, and stopping Guice will be a big part of slowing his team.

IN THE END

LSU

UTC

The Mocs were able to get a game under their belt under the new staff and see how the new coaches want to go about business. After the loss to Jacksonville State, they had a week to iron out some kinks shown in the first game; they had this week to prepare for the Tigers. The steps for this team are going to be slow and methodical early on because there are so many players in new roles, and at times it won’t look pretty, but the Mocs take a step in the right direction tonight. It just won’t be in the win column.