Heading to the Bayou
Posted at 8:00 am on Friday, September 7th, 2007 by Vince[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on September 7, 2007.]
Following last week’s closer-than-expected victory over East Carolina, a trip to Atlantic City, and a short work week, a trip to Baton Rouge awaits me. This is one of those weekends I have been looking forward to for most of 2007. It’s not very often that Virginia Tech visits a team with as much football tradition as LSU, and it’s even less often that the Hokies are involved in a top 10 non-conference match-up. Both the fans and the team are looking forward to this trip to Bayou.
As a fan, I am looking forward to it because of the home fans and the venue. SEC football fans epitomize what college football is all about. They start tailgating days before the game. They live and die with their teams. When SEC fans sweat, they perspire college football. I expect being apart of that atmosphere for a weekend to be a memorable experience.
My plans for the weekend include:
- Arriving in Baton Rouge at roughly 4:30pm CDT on Friday.
- Visiting the College Gameday set at the Parade Grounds Friday evening. I’m not sure I’ll make it out there Saturday morning, so I figure I’ll check it out early. Who knows, maybe I can time it around one of their Sportscenter segments.
- Hit Chimes up on Friday evening for dinner and check out the local nightlife afterwards.
- Saturday will be all about tailgating. Not only will I be tailgating with friends, but I plan on walking around LSU to take in the atmosphere. I’ve read there is lots of great tailgating along N. Stadium Rd. and Dalrymple Dr.
- About 2 hours before kickoff I’ll head down to stadium to watch the LSU band march into the stadium. This is apparently a long standing tradition at LSU, and a site to see.
- I plan to be in my seats about 30 minutes prior to kickoff. I have heard that getting into the stadium can be a pain, and that the pre-game show is worth it.
After that, I’ll be there to cheer on the Hokies for a most extraordinary game: a non-conference game involving two top 10 teams. To drive home the point on how special Saturday’s game is, here’s food for thought. The last time LSU hosted a non-SEC match-up of top 10 teams was in 1987, when 7th ranked Ohio State visited Baton Rouge. LSU was ranked 4th for that game, and it resulted in a 13-13 tie. On the flip side, a top 10 ranked Virginia Tech team has never gone on the road in the regular season to visit a top 10 ranked out of conference opponent. Folks, this game is big.
While I consider this game to be one of the biggest games of the season in all of college football – it’s definitely one of the biggest games of our season – I don’t consider it a make-or-break type of game. A loss won’t affect a run at the ACC Championship, and thus a trip to a BCS Bowl. A loss won’t remove Virginia Tech as a perennial top 20 program. A narrow loss may not even take us completely out of the national championship picture (although I don’t consider us in that picture just yet). That said, a win will put us squarely in the national championship picture, and a win will put us amongst the nation’s elite.
For LSU, they’re already in the national championship picture, so they need to win to remain a major player. Saturday’s game means more to them than it does to us. We’re the underdog, and we have nothing to lose. That’s a great position to be in for such a tough road game.
While I would love to see us walk out of Tiger Stadium with a victory, I can’t say I’m expecting to. For me, it’s more about the football experience. I will be reminding myself of a two things: (1) If I hear “Tiger Bait!” yelled at me, respond with a smile and “Go Hokies!”. (2) Have fun.