The elephant in the room

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 31, 2009

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In years past, when Billy Cannon mad-dashed his way to a Heisman Trophy or Jerry Stovall did a lot of everything and almost joined Cannon in Heisman lore or Tommy Casanova wowed crowds around the country with his versatile exploits, a late-season game against Tulane almost always struck a chord. 

In more recent years when Stovall was coaching and the Tigers were still trying to carve a spot among the national elite again, playing Tulane was suddenly important again because the Green Wave hit a spurt when it proved it was ever so briefly on equal footing with LSU.

In the present day, squaring off with Tulane on the final day of October in a season that is suddenly burgeoning with lofty promise might seem like more of an afterthought, especially considering the series between the two is drawing its final breaths.

That’s not the case at all for the No. 9-ranked Tigers (6-1), who entertain the Green Wave (2-5) at 7 p.m. today.

Not only is Tulane the next game — one that happens to be wedged between an impressive victory against Auburn and a potentially season-defining road trip to Alabama — it’s also the next chance to take a step forward.

“I think our team understands the position that they’re in this season,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “We’re going to have to play well to improve and to win. The things we’re going to want from our season go right through Tiger Stadium this Saturday night, and Tulane is the opponent.”

 Taking another step forward is an especially significant notion for an LSU offense that finally showed signs of consistency against Auburn a week ago: a season-best 376 yards in the 31-10 victory and quarterback Jordan Jefferson at his best with 242 passing yards.

“It’s another game where we have a chance to get better,” Tigers left tackle Ciron Black said. “We have a lot of room for improvement — a lot of things we have to correct.

“The only way we can approach this game is to keep getting better. If we take a step back, then the win last week means absolutely nothing.”

Added cornerback Jai Eugene, “Any corrections we need to make, this is the week to do it so we’re playing that much better when we get to the next week.”

As carefully as the LSU players and coaches treaded this week to make sure they said the right thing, the bottom line is that the Tigers should beat Tulane and extend the winning streak to a series-long 18 games. LSU holds too big of a talent edge and will be at home. All the advantages are in its corner.

That’s made preparing for the struggling Wave a week-long test of how the Tigers handle the task of managing their emotions between two spirited rivalry games, Auburn and Alabama.

In particular, this week is key for younger players who haven’t fully grasped the notion of preparing just as hard for every team every week.

“Young players need to definitely focus on this game to get better week-by-week,” senior defensive end Rahim Alem said.

The goals in front of LSU are lofty: a West Division championship, a spot in the Southeastern Conference Championship game and even a run in the BCS standings.

While facing Tulane doesn’t affect the first two aspirations, the third leg falls by the wayside should the Tigers lose to Tulane or Louisiana Tech in three weeks — and perhaps even if LSU is sluggish in either game.

“Our football team recognizes that if they do the things that they are capable of, we’ll get to a position where we’ll play for everything that we want,” Miles said.

Added Alem, “As a team, we need to focus on Tulane and not look past this and then play a close game against Tulane and lose BCS points.”

That focus has been understandably divided this week.

“Big games like Alabama,” Alem said, “no matter how much you say you’re not thinking about it, you’re always going to mark that one on the calendar.”

So, yes, somewhere in the back of their minds, the thoughts of Tigers young and old drift to Alabama occasionally.

“It is hard not to think about them,” senior linebacker Perry Riley said. “That’s where focus has to come in to eliminate as much of that as you can focus on the task at hand.”

Added linebacker Kelvin Sheppard, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about Alabama a little bit. It’s in the back of everybody’s minds, but that’s something we have to keep there and not let it interfere with what we have to do this week.”

One approach LSU players have applied to the Tulane challenge is as a tuneup of sorts. The Wave runs an offense similar to Alabama, with an emphasis on a go-to back (Andre Anderson) and a dynamic go-to receiver (Jeremy Williams).

“They run a downhill offense, which is something similar to what we’re going to see against Alabama,” linebacker Jacob Cutrera said. “We don’t want to look ahead, but we want to use this game as a tool for Alabama because they have similar offenses.

“We need to come out and play our best game and take a lot more confidence into Alabama week and be ready for anything they might try to run against us.”

For now, though, Tulane is in the Tigers’ crosshairs.

Just like they were in the past.

Tulane at No. 9 LSU

RECORDS: Tulane 2-5, LSU 6-1

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Tiger Stadium

RADIO: WDGL-FM 98.1, XM 201, Sirius 216

TV: TigerVision (PPV)

ON THE WEB: 2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu; tulanegreenwave.com

BLOG: 2theadvocate.com/blogs/tigertracks

TIMES OF INTEREST

Noon: LSU ticket office opens.

4 p.m.: Baseball national championship ring ceremony at Alex Box Stadium. Club level and Suites open at Tiger Stadium ; game programs go on sale.

4:15 p.m.: LSU student gates open at Tiger Stadium

4:30 p.m.: All remaining gates open.

4:50 p.m.: LSU walks down “Victory Hill.”

5:05 p.m.: Mike VI and LSU band march down Victory Hill.

6:40 p.m.: Golden Girls reunion presentation

6:42 p.m.: Guest captains presentation

6:45 p.m.: Golden Band from Tigerland takes the field for pregame performance.

6:49 p.m.: Alma mater and national anthem.

6:56 p.m.: LSU takes the field.

6:56:45 p.m.: Tulane takes the field.

7 p.m.: Kickoff.

First timeout of first quarter: 1949 football team recognition — 60th anniversary of Sugar Bowl appearance vs. Oklahoma.

First quarter: Billy Cannon recognition — 50th anniversary of Heisman Trophy and 89-yard punt return vs. Ole Miss.

Halftime: Tulane band performs; LSU band performs.