Football: Short week changes Tigers’ game plan for Mississippi State

In the weeks leading to LSU's week-one bout with then-No. 3 Oregon, the Tigers continually said the key to success was preparation.

The mindset is the same this week as LSU approaches its second duel with a top-25 opponent. The only difference is the Tigers have just five days of preparation as opposed to five months.

LSU's Southeastern Conference opening matchup Thursday in Starkville, Miss., against No. 25 Mississippi State throws a wrench into the team's normal game-week planning.

"We turned our attention to Mississippi State early on Sunday, so we would be prepared to game plan and go from there," said LSU coach Les Miles. "We had all of our young coaches breaking down the film and had the film put in there. We'll be in position to do everything we need to do."

Miles said the Tigers got a jump start on preparations, doing what is normally Tuesday's work on Sunday, Wednesday's work on Monday and so forth.

He added that they still have a little bit of catching up to do in order to be fully organized for Thursday's SEC showdown.

"Considering this day, we're about a full day ahead," Miles said. "We're going to need to gain another full day in the next two."

Junior wide receiver Rueben Randle, who snagged five catches for 121 yards in LSU's commanding 49-3 rout against Northwestern State, said the short week adds both a mental and physical challenge to the preparation.

"We've got to go in mentally and prepare for what Mississippi State is going to bring to the table," Randle said. "Physically, also, we played a game two days ago, so we've got to get our bodies healed and ready to play on Thursday."

The matchup marks the second non-holiday Thursday night game in LSU history.

The last time the Tigers played a Thursday night game was in 2007, when LSU opened their national championship run with a 45-0 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville.

Sophomore defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who snagged a rare interception last weekend, put worries aside and expressed confidence in the tenacious Tiger defense.

"It's a challenge," Brockers said. "Playing on Thursday instead of Saturday is a challenge, but we've focused really well. If we play our technique in the game and in practice we'll be OK."

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Contact Mark Clements at mclements@lsureveille.com