LSU trip only part of coach’s challenge
When Joe Moorhead was in his fourth and final year as Fordham’s football coach in 2015, he faced a midseason gauntlet of Monmouth, Lafayette, Penn, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Colgate.
Now in his first season at Mississippi State after spending the past two years as James Franklin’s offensive coordinator at Penn State, Moorhead is in a stretch of facing Kentucky, Florida, Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M with Alabama right around the corner. All six of those Southeastern Conference teams are either ranked or recently ranked, with this week providing the task of defeating No. 5 LSU inside Tiger Stadium.
“It’s been as advertised,” Moorhead said Wednesday. “I was certainly aware of the reputation of the SEC and had multiple conversations with Coach Franklin about it relative to his time at Vanderbilt. It’s a line-of-scrimmage league with incredibly physical and athletic offensive and defensive lines, and where the margin of error is small on a weekly basis.
“There is tremendous parity, and if you’re not on your A-game from a preparation and execution standpoint, you stand a chance of getting beat by anybody and beat badly.”
Moorhead dropped his first two SEC games before his Bulldogs defeated Auburn on Oct. 6, which preceded an open date for the Bulldogs. Should Mississippi State win this Saturday night, it would mark just the third time the Bulldogs have defeated Auburn and LSU in the same season since the league went to divisional play in 1992.
The 1999 and 2014 teams accomplished that rare feat, and those are the only 10-win Bulldogs teams since World War II.
Mississippi State defeated LSU 37-7 last season in Starkville.
“I mentioned that Saturday night right after the Georgia game,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “I reminded them that we did not play very well against them last year. We know how well they’re going to play against us.
“I think they’re a little bit better on defense this year than they were last year. They’re a very strong football team.”
Orgeron’s Tigers may have rejuvenated the Tiger Stadium aura somewhat with last Saturday’s 36-16 win over Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, and it’s a 102,321-seat facility that Moorhead will be visiting for the first time.
“I think I’ve been in similar environments and am anticipating something similar to the whiteout at Penn State,” Moorhead said. “The LSU fans obviously are very passionate and will provide us a unique challenge relative to the crowd noise and environment. It’s one we’ve tried to replicate as much as we can in practice, but I don’t know that you can.
“You just try and do your best.”
Pasquali’s Pix
Auburn at Ole Miss: The offensively challenged Tigers will face a defense that yielded 41 points to Southern Illinois. Rebels 38, Tigers 33.
Michigan at Michigan State: Jim Harbaugh evens his record against Mark Dantonio, and neither one smiles. Wolverines 31, Spartans 20.
Alabama at Tennessee: The Crimson Tide have averaged 9.81 yards per play with Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback. Crimson Tide 45, Volunteers
14.
N.C. State at Clemson: Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are 28-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference games since the start of the 2015 season. Miami has the next-best record at 19-9. Tigers 30, Wolfpack 17.
Memphis at Missouri: Those “Drew Lock for Heisman” bobbleheads were fun while they lasted. SEC Tigers 31, AAC Tigers 24.
Mississippi State at LSU: Coach O has defeated three top-10 teams this season. Now he has to do something about that 1-3 career mark against Mississippi State. Tigers 24, Bulldogs 20.
Vanderbilt at Kentucky: The Wildcats have held all six foes this season to 20 or fewer points, a first for the program since 1975. Wildcats 31, Commodores 13.
Tulsa at Arkansas: These teams will be playing for a whopping 73rd time, 25 more meetings than Florida-Tennessee. Razorbacks 27, Golden Hurricane 26.
Last week: Winners ………………… .17 Grantham expletives…8 Pasquali is 139-36 overall (79.4 percent) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress. com or 423-757-6524.