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LSU meets struggling Fresno State for the first time

Oct 17, 2006 - 7:40 PM Fresno St (1-5) at No. 14 LSU (5-2), 9:00 pm EDT

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) - Fresno State coach Pat Hill has a reputation for taking on any team in any city. It is doubtful that he is pleased to have to face Louisiana State this weekend.

The struggling Bulldogs visit the 14th-ranked Tigers on Saturday in the first meeting between the programs.

Fresno State (1-5) began its season with a 28-19 Western Athletic Conference triumph over Nevada but has lost five straight games since, including a 69-37 blowout defeat to league foe Hawaii last week.

Taking over for an ineffective Tom Brandstater in the second quarter, Sean Norton threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who surrendered 42 points in the first half.

Louisiana State (5-2) is coming off a 49-0 Southeastern Conference trouncing of Kentucky here.

JaMarcus Russell threw two touchdowns to Dwayne Bowe and Jacob Hester rushed for a pair of scores to stake the Tigers to a 28-0 lead at the break. Bowe was on the receiving end of another TD pass, this time from Matt Flynn, in the second half for LSU, which collected a season-high 546 yards.

The Tigers lead the nation in total defense (211.71 yards per game) and rank second in scoring defense (8.57 points).