LSU Football Countdown to Kickoff Day 12: Games of the 2016 Season
By Andrey Burin
There are only 12 days left until the start of the 2016 LSU football season, and Death Valley Voice is counting you all the way down to the season opener against the Wisconsin Badgers.
The Bayou Bengals (currently ranked fifth in the nation by AP) will play twelve times in this 2016 football campaign. Let’s take a look at the upcoming schedule and see if the Tigers can improve upon their lofty preseason ranking.
Saturday, September 3 – Wisconsin (@ Lambeau Field)
(All-Time Series: 3-0 LSU)
This is the big season-opening game we are all waiting for and counting down towards. One of the most discussed underlying story lines involves former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s move to LSU. Aranda’s 3-4 base defense is expected to pose a huge challenge to opposing teams throughout the season, and the fact that he is more than familiar with Wisconsin’s offensive and defensive schemes should benefit the Tigers even further.
Saturday, September 10 – Jacksonville St. (Home)
(All-Time Series: 0-0)
The Gamecocks of Jacksonville State are definitely not Alabama’s top football team. However, as evidenced by their dramatic defeat of Ole Miss in 2010, neither are they an opponent to be taken lightly. They are consistently a top FCS teams, and played in the NCAA Division I Football Championship last year (where they lost to North Dakota State).
Saturday, September 17 – Mississippi St. (Home)
(All-Time Series: 72-34 LSU)
This will be the first conference clash of the season for the Tigers, and they will hope to fare better against Mississippi State than they did in 2014, when they lost 34-29 thanks to a fantastic performance by Bulldog QB Dak Prescott. Prescott is gone, but the Bulldogs will continue to be a challenging foe for the Tigers to face down.
Saturday, September 24 – Auburn (Away)
(All-Time Series: 28-21 LSU)
The Tiger Bowl will be held in Auburn, Alabama, this year, in a rivalry in which the game has very often come down to the last drive or even the last play. The Tigers (of Auburn) are in the midst of a fierce quarterback competition and have three QBs currently taking snaps with the first team. Once they settle on a signal-caller, expect them to be dangerous under head coach Gus Malzahn.
Saturday, October 1 – Missouri (Home)
(All-Time Series: 1-0 Missouri)
Though unranked and not expected to wrap up the season near the top of the SEC, a game against Mizzou will not be a cakewalk, even for the talented Tigers of Baton Rouge. In addition to being an overall solid squad, Missouri DE Charles Harris has been named to the Ted Hendricks Award watch list and is expected to improve upon his last campaign, in which he led the SEC in tackles for loss (18.5) and registered seven sacks.
Saturday, October 8 – Florida (Away)
(All-Time Series: 31-28 Florida)
In a rematch of one of the best games of the 2015 season, the Tigers will travel to Gainesville with hopes of again defeating the Florida Gators and building off of their current three-game win streak. Florida is ranked at No. 25 in the AP preseason rankings, but can punch above their weight for sure. They are coming in with a relatively inexperienced quarterback in Luke Del Rio (son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio and third-year sophomore), who is at his third school in as many years and will be hoping to stick.
Saturday, October 15 – Southern Miss (Home)
(All-Time Series: 1-1)
The Southern Miss program has experienced a roller-coaster like series of twists and turns over the last few years. The Golden Eagles followed up a very successful 2011 season in which they went 11-2 and won a bowl game with an astonishing winless 2012 (0-12). They finished 9-3 after a blazing-hot end to the season, and will return QB Nick Mullens and aim to hone their pass-heavy offensive strategy.
Saturday, October 22 – Ole Miss (Home)
(All-Time Series: 59-41 LSU)
Ole Miss looks to be one of the most challenging opponents the Tigers will square up with this year and kick off a hellaciously difficult three-game stretch for LSU. The 11th ranked SEC stalwart that is Ole Miss has a possible Heisman-contending quarterback in Chad Kelly and will hope that their returning defense can make up for the loss of star Robert Nkemdiche to the NFL.
Saturday, November 5 – Alabama (Home)
(All-Time Series: 50-25 Alabama)
The Crimson Tide have won their last five games against the Tigers, and Nick Saban’s Alabama team has consistently been a thorn in the side of LSU coach Les Miles. This will be the biggest game to go down in Death Valley this year, and could very well pit two of the top three teams in the country against each other. Alabama is ranked at the very top of the preseason AP rankings and will look to keep on chugging and performing at an extremely high level.
Saturday, November 12 – Arkansas (Away)
(All-Time Series: 37-22 LSU)
Under head coach Bret Bielema, this year’s incarnation of the Arkansas Razorbacks football team will be tasked with inhabiting the strongest conference in the entire NCAA and also facing a legit array of non-conference opponents including TCU and Louisiana Tech. Senior defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. guaranteed at SEC Media Day that he would record at least thirteen sacks this upcoming season. The Tigers (and their OL) will be striving to ensure none of those come against LSU.
Saturday, November 19 – South Alabama (Home)
(All-Time Series: 0-0)
November 19 will be the first time that these two teams ever face each other, and by then, the Tigers will very likely have clear understanding of whether or not 2016 was a successful season. Coming off of games against Arkansas, Alabama, and Ole Miss, the Tigers will either be pushing towards a national title or wondering what went wrong. In terms of South Alabama’s squad, look for Jordan McCray to be a serious threat in the receiving game for the Jags.
Thursday, November 24 – Texas A&M (Away)
(All-Time Series: 31-20 LSU)
The Texas A&M football program has had a rough last few days news-wise, as they were unranked in the AP preseason poll and also saw linebacker Josh Walker arrested on charges of domestic violence. If A&M can push away all off-the-field distractions, they will have a chance to use their numerous offensive playmakers (Christian Kirk, Josh Reynolds), to challenge every team that they face.
The rest of the countdown…