Every week, I plan to go through the game notes so wonderfully put together by the respective SID staff at LSU and its weekly opponent to bring you the highlights. I say plan because, invariably something will happen on a Tuesday and I'll completely forget. It really is interesting some of the nuggets of information you can learn, even if they are completely irrelevant to the outcome of the game. So, without further ado, the opening installment of "From the Notes."
- Saturday's game marks the farthest LSU will have ever traveled for a football game, a mere 2,550 miles. If you're planning on driving, leave Wednesday and take this with you. The distance of the trip is also changing the way LSU travels. The team will fly out on Thursday after practice and return home on Sunday afternoon. Generally, the team leaves the day before the game and returns on Saturday night.
- It is LSU's first game on the west coast since 1984. Yeah, we bitch-slapped USC, 23-3, that year. All time, the Tigers are 12-3 against the Pac 10, including a 40-14 win over Washington in 1982. That's when the Huskies were good.
- LSU's 42 wins over the last four years is the most in school history, but you probably already knew that. That's what turns me on about 'cha, your attention to detail.
- Yes, LSU went 8-5 last year. But four of those losses were to teams that finished the year ranked in the top 14 (Florida - 1; Alabama - 6; Georgia - 13; Ole Miss - 14). No, I still don't know how the Arkansas game happened. I'm looking for rationalization, I've just been unable to find it.
- I found this one particularly fascinating. LSU has won 19 straight games against non-conference opponents. That's the longest streak in the nation and encompasses the entire Les Miles era. That's right, he's never lost to a team not in the SEC.
- LSU hasn't just beaten its non-conference opponents, they've marched the path of utter destruction. During the current 19-game streak, the Tigers have outscored opponents 694 to 170, or an average of 36.5 to 8.9 per game. And it hasn't been just beating up patsies. Against BCS opponents, its 285 to 85 in seven games, an average of 40.7 to 12.1.
- LSU has won 16 straight games on the ESPN family of networks dating back to 2005. The Tigers have won 15 straight on the flagship dating back to 2002. Can we just go ahead and get a TV deal with them?
- Charles Alexander. Dalton Hilliard. Kevin Faulk. That's the list of players in LSU history with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Charles Scott is poised to add his name to that list. I'm predicting he does it against Alabama. In a victory of course.
- Ciron Black returns to man the left tackle spot and his start on Saturday will be his 41st in a row. Since the 2002 season, only Black and Andrew Whitworth (52 straight starts) have opened a game at left tackle for LSU. Stability sure is nice. Chris Faulk, you're next.
- We all know that LSU kicks serious butt on a "Saturday Night in Death Valley," but it's not just there. In its last 24 night games, the Tigers are 23-1 (darn you Florida 2008). Seriously, if LSU could keep CBS from picking up games to play in the afternoon, it might never lose again.
- Since 2003, LSU is 27-9 away from home. That's the fifth-best road record in the country behind USC, Texas, Georgia and Boise State.
- Washington is one of only four teams to have never played a Division I-AA/Football Championship Subdivision Team. The others: Notre Dame, USC, UCLA. (Okay, Michigan State hasn't either, but they open with Montana State. Why would you ruin a perfectly good record?)
- The 7:30 p.m. kickoff is the latest start for a game in Husky Stadium history.
- This marks the 90th season of football in Husky Stadium, where Washington is 344-163-21 (.671) all time. The capacity, at 72,500, is relativaly large for the Pac 10, but relatively small for the SEC-not-counting-Vandy-or-Mississippi-State-or-Ole-Miss.
- For you academics out there, U-Dub ranks as the 11th best public university in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. LSU comes in 64th. Yeah, well my dad can beat up your dad.