From the Notes

Have you ever watched a game and wondered how and where announcers get all those rediculously tedious facts? Well, schools actually pay people to come up with them in their Sports Information or Media Relation departments. I've perused LSU's notes (PDF) and pulled a few tidbits I found interesting. Enjoy!

• Appalachian State is ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA). LSU has previously played one FCS No. 1-ranked team, beating Western Illinois 35-7 in 2003.
• Ranked sixth entering the season, this is the fifth consecutive year LSU has started in the top 10.
• August 30 has been a good day to start the season for LSU. Twice before, the Tigers have opened on Aug. 30 -- in 2003 and 2007, the years of their last two national championships.
• In recent history, CollegeFootballNews.com has said that nobody throttles a mediocre team like LSU. It's one of my favorite quotes. At least in the non-conference that appears to be true. In 14 non-conference games under Les Miles, the Tigers are unbeaten with an average score of 35.6 to 8.1. That includes non-conference games against top 15 teams in Arizona State, Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
• Since 2003, LSU has 56 wins, the second most in the nation. Yeah, those bastards USC have the most, 58. Since Miles took over in 2005, the Tigers and Trojans are tied with 34. More importantly, LSU has a pair of crystal footballs in that span.
• People like to jump on Les Miles gameday coaching ability, but an 11-3 record in games decided by seven points or less seems pretty good to me. He's 4-2 when it's three points or less.
• More on Miles. He's 7-3 when trailing after three quarters. That's right, he's won 70 percent of his games at LSU when trailing going into the final quarter. He's even better (8-3) when trailing at the half. All you people who think Les doesn't know what he's doing can shut up now.