LSU Football: Ed Orgeron reveals his preferred game times
By Zach Ragan
LSU Football is set to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday in Starkville.
The game is a rematch of the Tigers’ 2020 season-opener, which was also Mike Leach’s first game as the Bulldogs’ head coach.
LSU was favored in that matchup a year ago in Baton Rouge, but Mississippi State went home with a 44-34 win.
The Tigers are currently a -2.5 favorite against the Bulldogs according to the latest odds from WynnBET.
LSU and Mississippi State will kick off at 11:00 AM CT/12:00 PM ET.
LSU Football head coach Ed Orgeron reveals his preferred game times
Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron was asked on Thursday how he feels about playing so early in the day.
Orgeron, in typical college football coach fashion, pointed out that game times are out of his control. LSU has to play when scheduled so there’s no point in dwelling on it.
"Orgeron: “We have to like it. It’s different. It’s challenging, but we’ve done well with 11 a.m. We’ve played in bowls at 11 a.m. and we get our team up.”"
Coach O admitted that he prefers a 2:30 or 6:30 kickoff time. Orgeron feels like it gives the team a better chance to “wake up”.
"Orgeron: “Me, personally, 2:30 or 6:30, I think there’s a better chance for the team to wake up, the crowd is more lively, but hey if we have to play at 11 then they have to play at 11, so can’t use it as an excuse.”"
The Tigers were 1-1 in 11:00 AM games last season. Both of those matchups came on the road (a loss to Missouri and a win against Arkansas).
LSU played two 11:00 AM games in 2019, beating Vanderbilt in Nashville and beating Utah State in Baton Rouge.
Typically, an early kickoff time is an advantage for the visiting team, as the home team crowd is usually a little less raucous.
We’ll see if that’s the case on Saturday when LSU takes on the Bulldogs.