Lane Kiffin is asking LSU fans to treat Saturday afternoon like a night game - and maybe even start the party early.
With No. 9 Alabama coming to Tiger Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, the LSU coach used his Monday, Nov. 2, news conference to push Tiger fans to adjust their routines and bring the kind of noise usually reserved for a primetime stage.
“If you’re used to 6:30, start your day earlier. Have breakfast earlier.
Start drinking earlier. Whatever your routine is, move it up,” Kiffin said.
He even took the joke a step further, saying Baton Rouge should be quiet by Friday night so fans can be rested for kickoff.
“Go to bed earlier Friday night. That’s my message for our fans,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin’s bigger point was simple: he wants Tiger Stadium to feel like a wall of sound, even in daylight. Saturday will be the first time Alabama has played at LSU in a daytime game since 2010, and Kiffin pointed to what Tennessee did against the Crimson Tide on Oct. 17 as the standard he wants his crowd to chase.
At Neyland Stadium, Tennessee fans reached a peak of 130.3 decibels, the highest scientifically verified crowd noise measurement in college football history, according to the University of Tennessee. Kiffin wants LSU to top it.
“So let’s break the record. We want our players to play well. We want our coaches to play well,” Kiffin said.
He said that noise clearly affected Alabama’s offense in that game, which also started at 2:30 p.m.
Kiffin had already made his feelings about the kickoff time known last week. During the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, Oct. 28, he said he was shocked the rivalry game would not be played at night. He revisited the topic that same day on the Brandon Walker College Football Show.
“Having played on the other side, the night is so electric and kind of intimidating here,” Kiffin said when asked if he prefers night games at Tiger Stadium.
Now he’s challenging LSU fans to prove the home-field edge doesn’t disappear when the sun is still up.
The Tigers enter the game at 6-2 after a bye week that gave them time to start Alabama prep and give injured players extra rest. LSU is ranked No. 15, and Kiffin said Alabama is the toughest opponent the Tigers have seen so far this season.
“Less margin for error. We’ve got to be on everything.
We have to make sure we perform really well against a really good team that’s coached really well. You see them and they look like old Alabama teams,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin also praised quarterback Sam Leavitt’s season-long progress, especially the way he has handled the ball after missing spring practice.
“He’s made really good decisions with the ball, outside of one. He hasn’t forced anything.
He’s taking what the defense gives him. He’s a lot more comfortable, which probably should have been expected, having missed spring,” Kiffin said.
Cornerback DJ Pickett drew praise too, with Kiffin noting his recent rise and the physical edge he has added.
“I’m proud of how he’s played the last couple of weeks. He’s improved. He needed to play more physical if he wanted to be one of the he best (CBs) in the country and he’s done that - in coverage and in tackling,” Kiffin said.
LSU’s November stretch is a rugged one, with Alabama, Texas and Tennessee lined up in consecutive weeks before the regular-season finale against Arkansas. Kiffin said he has told players not to get wrapped up in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings, since those numbers will keep shifting as the month goes on.
LSU and Alabama kick off Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2:30 p.m. CT at Tiger Stadium. The game will air on ABC.
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