Tiger Tangents: LSU-Washington to Tangle Under the Lights on ESPN

It was announced by ESPN that the flagship network will televise the LSU Tigers as they travel west to take on the Washington Huskies on Sept. 5 in what will be the season opener for both schools.

The game will be broadcast at 7:30 PM Pacific time, meaning a very late 9:30 start in the Central time zone. Of course, for LSU fans both heading to Seattle and watching from home, a night kickoff is never a bad thing.

The contest will feature a rebuilding Husky program under Steve Sarkisian pitted against a hungry LSU squad coming off a disappointing '08 campaign.

One bright spot for Washington is QB Jake Locker, who had a fantastic spring. His LSU counterpart Jordan Jefferson also had a stellar spring, which indicated the sophomore QB may be coming into his own.

It's likely though that this game will be centered on LSU's running attack, namely Charles Scott and the Huskies' ability to stop him. On top of that, it will be the new-look LSU defense under John Chavis that will attempt to neutralize Locker and company.

Of course, anyone can tell you these are two programs with a bit of a talent disparity right now. But the first game of the season can bring quite a bit of unknowns into play, and I wouldn't be surprised for this game to be closer than most think.

This out of conference matchup is the front end of a home and home between the two schools, thought to be made possible by former LSU chancellor and now Washington chancellor Mark Emmert.

Emmert was the football-friendly silent partner in the emergence of the LSU football program under Nick Saban. The Huskies will repay the visit in Baton Rouge in September 2012.

LSU and Washington have only met once before, a year after Uncle Rico's hey-day back in '83. At the time, the unranked Tigers took on the No. 9 Huskies in Baton Rouge. LSU dismantled U Dub 40-14.

LSU holds an all-time 12-3 record against teams from the Pac-10.

This is the first official announcement of the Tigers playing a nationally televised game in 2009, which looks to be the first of many. LSU played on national television 10 times in 2008.