No. 22 LSU hosts No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday, Oct. 17, for homecoming at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Central (noon ET) on ESPN.
LSU after Lexington
The Tigers are 4-2 (1-2 in the SEC) in Lane Kiffin's first season in Baton Rouge. They beat Clemson 51-10, Louisiana Tech 45-14, Texas A&M 35-6 and McNeese 63-14, and lost 32-24 at Ole Miss on Sept. 19. Last Saturday they lost 35-34 in overtime at Kentucky, which dropped them to No. 22 in the AP poll.
Mississippi State's start
The Bulldogs are 4-1 (2-1 in the SEC) in Jeff Lebby's third season. They opened with a 62-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe, then won 38-13 at Minnesota, 41-34 at South Carolina and 31-24 over No. 19 Missouri. The one loss was 56-23 to No. 7 Alabama on Oct. 3.
Quarterback Kamario Taylor has completed 102 of 154 passes for 1,450 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions, and has added 159 rushing yards. A foot injury clearly limited him against Alabama, and freshman Parker Puckett is next in line if he cannot play.
The series
LSU has dominated the series, winning four of the last five meetings: 36-13 in 2019, 28-25 in 2021, 31-16 in 2022 and 41-14 in 2023. Mississippi State's win in that stretch was 44-34 in Baton Rouge in 2020.
There have been classics. In 2000, LSU rallied from 31-17 down to win 45-38 in overtime. In 2009, the Tigers held on 30-26 after a goal-line stand. In 2014, Mississippi State won 34-29 in Baton Rouge, ending LSU's 14-game winning streak in the series.
Game day in Death Valley
Tiger Stadium, known as Death Valley, holds 102,321, the second-largest stadium in the SEC. Tailgating centers on the Parade Ground, between Highland Road and the stadium, and it is an all-day affair on a Saturday like this one.