MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 19, 1999

For one week, LSU and Tulane fed the wolves in Louisiana. But thosewolves are hungry again and this time the game is bigger.

No more field mice for the LSU Tigers. The Tigers host Auburn, anotherteam that has feasted twice on smaller prey, today in the SEC opener for both teams. Forget that both teams are unranked, this series has turnedinto one of the best in the South in recent years. The teams have met ninetimes since 1988 with seven of those being decided by a touchdown or less.

This will be measuring stick for two teams coming off disappointing 1998 campaigns to see how far they have come this season. Both teams havedefeated inferior non-district opponents – LSU beat San Jose State and North Texas while Auburn has taken care of Appalachian State and Idaho.

LSU will have to overcome the distraction of the Larry Foster incident this week and stay focused. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville defeated theTigers each of the last two years as coach at Ole Miss. Auburn quarterbacklit up the LSU defense for 285 yards in a 31-19 loss last season.

Tulane, coming off a record-setting performance against SMU last week, is also facing a tougher conference opponent in Army. A year ago, theGreen Wave won a shootout at West Point, 49-35.

A Tulane defense that has given up over 400 yards in each of the first two games will be challenged by Army’s wishbone attack. In last year’s game,the Cadets rushed for 357 yards and had 535 yards total offense. How wellTulane can contain the wishbone will go a long ways to determining who will come away with the win.

Fans in the New Orleans area have their choice of games Saturday. NichollsState is heading to the Crescent City for the second straight season to play Western Illinois, ranked 14th in Division I-AA, in the Gormley Gridiron Classic. And Southern, off to a 2-0 start, plays a big Southwest-ern Athletic Conference game against Prairie View today.

Nationally, three games will be played in the Sunshine State today that will have a major impact on the national championship race. Top-rankedFlorida State hosts North Carolina State, the only team to defeat the Seminoles in the regular season in 1998.

No. 2 Tennessee will try to break its 28-year losing streak at “TheSwamp” when it plays No. 4 Florida. No. 3 Penn State, which survived ascare against Pittsburgh last week, plays at No. 8 Miami in a rematch ofthe 1987 National Championship game.

So pull up to a television this weekend. The games on tap this weekendshould make for some good snacking.

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