LSU Football 2011: Will the Tigers Have a September to Remember?

Despite NFL labor issues, one thing is certain: There will be some extremely exciting football played in September 2011.

Like 2010, the 2011 LSU football schedule is loaded with top Southeastern Conference opponents, as well as tough out-of-conference opponents, to make the Tiger schedule one of the most difficult in college football.

The Tigers will kick off their 2011 season at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, exactly where they ended the 2010 season with a victory over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

This game, however, will be against a much tougher opponent, as they face the Oregon Ducks, a team that ended its 2010 season with a close loss to Auburn in the BCS National Championship Game.

The matchup is one that would normally be showcased in a January BCS game, not in September, when most elite teams usually face lower-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools in “warm-up” games.

This will match the speed of the Pac-10 against the speed and power of the SEC and is sure to be an exciting game for fans of the two programs, as well as a national college football audience.

The game also poses an interesting twist with both of these programs recently being under investigation by the NCAA for dealings with Willie Lyles, owner of Complete Scouting Service in Texas, with regards to the recruiting efforts of Texas high school football players.

Twelve days later, LSU will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to take on a much-improved Mississippi State team.

The Bulldogs are on their way back to being a serious contender in the SEC under head coach Dan Mullen, and while they are still a couple years away, they are coming off a nine-win season that end with an absolute rout of Michigan in the 2011 Progressive Gator Bowl.

The Bulldogs’ four losses last year were nothing to be ashamed of. 

A three-point loss to Auburn, the BCS national champion, a 22-point loss to LSU in Baton Rouge, a 20-point loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa and a double-overtime loss to Arkansas were the only blemishes on a spectacular season for MSU.

Needless to say, LSU will have its hands full in this conference road game.

The Tigers will finish off September with a trip to Morgantown, West Virginia as they face the Mountaineers of West Virginia. 

The Mountaineers, like Oregon, will test the speed of LSU.

The Tigers narrowly escaped with a victory against WVU in 2010 thanks to a complete lack of offensive production.

Hopefully new offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe will be able to get production out of the quarterback position and spark the Tiger offense in 2011.

September will be a make or break month for LSU in 2011 as it pursues its third BCS title in eight years.

Wins over Oregon, Mississippi State and West Virginia will give LSU a tremendous opportunity to gain national attention and attract votes from writers around the country.

A loss will hurt, but in the BCS it is always better to lose in September than late in the season, so the Tigers would be able to recover by winning the rest of their games, especially with wins over Florida, Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas.

If the Tigers can achieve their goal of winning the 2011 BCS national championship, their September schedule will be remembered as the catapult that drove them to their success.