LSU’s passing game has yet to take off under new starting quarterback Joe Burrow. The Tigers threw for just 151 yards in Saturday’s 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana. LSU had a chance against an FCS opponent to get its passing game up to speed before they play Auburn this Saturday. Burrow says despite average production, the experience was beneficial
Cut 16 (12) “ and grow”
Meanwhile, senior running back Nick Brossette is off to a good start. He ranks fifth in the SEC in rushing average with 131 yards per game.

The Saints return to practice today to get for their matchup with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Tyrod Taylor is the Browns starting quarterback. He completed just 15 of 40 passes last week, but rushed for 77 yards as Cleveland tied Pittsburgh 21-21.

The Ragin Cajuns return from the bye week to face 16th ranked Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 2-0 and lead the SEC in rushing, averaging 302 yards a game. UL Lafayette Coach Billy Napier says they need to practice hard in order to slow down State’s running game…
Cut 19 (19) “ on Saturday”
Mississippi State’s dual-threat quarterback Nick Fitzgerald rushed for 159 yards against Kansas State last week.

ULM also faces an SEC West opponent this Saturday as the Warhawks travel to College Station to take on Texas A-and-M. The Aggies played well in a loss to second ranked Clemson last Saturday. A-and-M quarterback Kellen Mond threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns.

After losing to Tampa Bay in the season opener, the Saints are already facing a must win situation as they host the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. The Browns have an 18-game winless streak. New Orleans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins says they can’t worry about Cleveland’s past…
cut 18 (13) “…win a game”
New Orleans is an eight point favorite to beat the Browns.

In injury news around the NFC South…the Falcons have placed Pro Bowl linebacker and former LSU star Deion Jones on injured reserve, because he’ll need surgery on his foot. Jones suffered the injury in the season opening loss to the Eagles.

And Panthers tight end Greg Olson has re-fractured his right foot and will miss several weeks, but the team is hopeful he can return this season.

LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow has changed his tune somewhat about avoiding contact from opposing defenders. Burrow said after the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday that he doesn’t know how to slide and doesn’t plan on learning. But Burrow now says he won’t try to take on tacklers as much…
cut 28 (13) “….this week”
LSU faces 7th ranked Auburn this Saturday. Head Coach Ed Orgeron says changes are coming to the offensive line. Austin Deculus will compete with Badara Traore (Buh-dar-uh-Trey-Ore)for the starting spot at right tackle. Freshman Dare Rosenthal practiced last week at defensive end and now is getting reps at left tackle.

Grambling State Coach Broderick Fobbs says the battle for starting quarterback for the Tigers continues. Aldon Clark and Geremy Hickbottom both threw two interceptions in a blowout loss to Northwestern State.

The Saints are eager to put behind Sunday’s bad performance in the upset loss to Tampa Bay behind them. Linebacker Demario Davis says it was humbling to watch the tape of Bucs Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing for 417 yards on just 21 completions…
Cut 16 (10) “ get it fixed”
The Saints have until Sunday to get the mistakes fixed as they host Cleveland at the Superdome on that day.

LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron is planning on making changes on his offensive line, but he also wants to see better play from his receivers….
cut 15 (10) “…football player”
The Tigers rank dead last in the SEC in total offense heading into LSU’s game against Auburn.

Walker High’s head football coach, Lester Ricard, along with an assistant coach Marcus Brown, have resigned. The resignations come days after the announcement the two had been suspended. The question of “Why?” remains. Prep writer for The Advocate, Robin Fambrough, says Ricard, a former quarterback at Tulane, had the program heading in the right direction.
Cut 11 (08) “…disappointed”
Ricard, who also starred at Amite High School, led the Wildcats to a playoff berth and a six-five record last season.

In the latest high school football rankings no changes at the top. John Curtis, Karr, U-High, Notre Dame and Kentwood remain ranked number one. Barbe, Neville, Union Parish, Loyola Prep and Basile are among the teams now ranked in their respective classes.

Nicholls is ranked 12th while McNeese is ranked 15th in the latest F-C-S Coaches poll. Those two teams meet this Saturday in Lake Charles.

After a 48-40 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday, New Orleans has now lost seven of its last eight season openers. After bringing back much of the roster from last year’s NFC South championship team. The hope was for New Orleans to get off to a fast start by playing the first two weeks of the season at home against two of the worst teams from last year. Coach Sean Payton says they will need to do some self scouting this week…
Cut 20 (20) “ disappointing loss”
New Orleans will try again this Sunday against Cleveland. The Browns, who went winless last season, started the 2018 campaign with a 21-21 tie versus the Steelers.

LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow took some big hits in the 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday night. Coach Ed Orgeron says Burrow needs to do more to avoid injury….
cut 15 (11) “…two quarterbacks”
But Burrow says he doesn’t know how to slide and doesn’t want to. He says he’s not a slider.

ULM is 2-0 on the season thanks to a great defensive effort on Saturday in Hattiesburg that resulted in a 21-20 win over Southern Miss. The Warhawk defense produced five sacks and four turnovers. Coach Matt Viator says it feels good..
Cut 17 (12) “weapons”
Former Neville star Donald Louis was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week today with three tackles for a loss.

For the fifth straight season, the Saints lose their season opener as Tampa Bay came into the Mercedes Benz Superdome and shocked New Orleans 48-40. Bucs journeymen quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had a career passing day with 417 passing yards and four touchdowns, he also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. The Saints came into the game as a 9.5 point favorite. Coach Sean Payton agreed with everyone else, the defense played poorly…
Cut 19 (13) “ many positives”
The Saints offense was in midseason form as Drew Brees threw for 439 yards and three touchcdown passes. Mike Thomas set a franchise record for most catches in a game, with 16 receptions for 180 yards and a score.

New Orleans will look to even up its record at 1-1 when they host Cleveland on Sunday. The Browns tied the Steelers 21-21.

We learned two things during LSU’s 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. The Tigers offensive line needs to improve and quarterback Joe Burrow will not slide to avoid contact…

cut 16 (04) “….will slide”
Coach Ed Orgeron says he would like to see Burrow slide, because there are only two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. 12th ranked LSU faces a big challenge this Saturday as they will visit 7th ranked Auburn.

ULM is 2-0 on the season thanks to a great defensive effort on Saturday in Hattiesburg that resulted in a 21-20 win over Southern Miss. The Warhawk defense produced five sacks and four turnovers. Coach Matt Viator says it feels good..
Cut 17 (12) “weapons”
Former Neville star Donald Louis had a big game with three tackles for a loss.

LSU and Southeastern Louisiana will meet on the football field for the first time since 1949 when the two schools face off in Tiger Stadium at 6 PM on Saturday. Both teams are led by Louisiana natives, Ed Orgeron for LSU and S-L-U’s Frank Scelfo is from Abbeville and has known Orgeron since high school…
Cut 16 (20) “ this week”
LSU is coming off a victory over Miami, while the Lions lost last week to ULM. But Southeastern Quarterback Chason Virgil threw for 358 yards. Orgeron says he’s impressed with the Fresno State transfer.
Cut 7 (10) “…well coached.”

Saturday will be a big day of intrastate matchups. Louisiana Tech will host Southern University. During the game, the Bulldogs will celebrate the first 50 years of football at Joe Aillet Stadium. In Natchitoches, Northwestern State takes on Grambling. The Tigers won this game last year 23-10. And Nicholls looks to beat an FCS school for a second straight week as they visit Tulane.

On Sunday, the Saints host Tampa Bay in the season opener. The Bucs will start Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback as Jameis Winston is suspended for the first three games for violating the league’s conduct policy. New Orleans defensive end Cam Jordan says Fitzpatrick usually played well in the beginning of the season when he was in Buffalo…
cut 20 (19) “…be great”
Kick-off Sunday is at noon.

The Saints go into Sunday’s season opener against Tampa Bay with just two running backs, Alvin Kamara and recently signed Mike Gillislee. Mark Ingram begins serving his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy against performance enhancing drugs. Kamara on what he expects from the Bucs….
cut 19 (13) “….good game”
A Saints victory over Tampa Bay would put the Black and Gold up a full game over Atlanta after one week. The Falcons lost to the Eagles 18-12 last night. And ratings for the game show that the TV audience was bigger in New Orleans than Atlanta.

The LSU Board of Supervisors meets today and they’ll discuss putting up a statue outside of Alex Box Stadium of legendary baseball coach Skip Bertman. Bertman led the Tigers to five national championships and if it gets approval, construction would begin in November.

Southeastern Louisiana is not expected to keep it close tomorrow night when they face 11th ranked LSU. Lions Coach Chris Scelfo says the key to a good showing in Tiger Stadium is to practice well and then play the game like you practice
Cut 18 (20) “…goes on”
The L-S-U—S-L-U game is one of four intrastate matchups this weekend.

Also tomorrow, Louisiana Tech hosts Southern, Grambling State is at Northwestern State and Tulane will try to avoid the upset when they face Nicholls State.

Also on the schedule for tomorrow, McNeese is at Houston Baptist and ULM travels to Southern Miss.

In the SEC, 24th ranked South Carolina hosts third ranked Georgia. After beating Northwestern State last week, Texas A-and-M faces a much bigger challenge as they host second ranked Clemson.

Southeastern Louisiana will make the short drive over from Hammond tomorrow to take on the 11th ranked LSU Tigers. Lions Coach Chris Scelfo knows that players on his team from Louisiana are super excited to play in Tiger Stadium, but they have to realize it’s just one game…
cut 17 (20) “….the game”
There are several other intra-state games on the schedule tomorrow. Southern is at Louisiana Tech. It’s the second meeting all-time between the two schools. The Bulldogs beat Jaguars 62-15 in 2015.
Also this weekend, Grambling is at Northwestern State and Nicholls looks to knock off another F-C-S school when it visits Tulane.

The Saints have just two running backs on the roster for Sunday’s game season opener against Tampa Bay, but that could change. Coach Sean Payton admits they’ve never had just two running backs on the roster for a game and it will not be an easy thing to manage. Alvin Kamara is expected to get a bunch of touches, while recently signed Mike Gillislee will be asked to get yards on rushes between the tackles. Kick-off on Sunday is at noon.

And if the Saints win Sunday, they will be a full game up on Atlanta. The Falcons lost last night to Philadelphia 18-12. It was an ugly game as there 26 penalties, 15 of them committed by the Dirty Birds.

In high school football action last night, the top ranked team in Class 5A, John Curtis beat Dallas Bishop Lynch 21-14 in a game played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport. Oak Grove defeated Wossman 34-19 and Sam Houston clipped Cecilia 47-30.

And there’s a big story in college baseball, Oregon State Coach Pat Casey has announced his retirement. He led the Beavers to three national titles.

It appears LSU has a kicker they can count on this season. Cole Tracy hit all four of his field goal attempts in Sunday’s win over Miami, including a 54-yarder that tied a school record. Before he arrived at LSU, Tracy kicked at Division Two Assumption College in Massachusetts. Tracy says kicking in front of a much bigger crowd didn’t psych him out…
cut 30 (17) “…locked in”
Tracy will make his Tiger Stadium debut on Saturday when LSU hosts Southeastern Louisiana.

Sunday is the season opener for the Saints against the Bucs. Starting left guard Andrus Peat did not practice yesterday. Coach Sean Payton says Peat is day-to-day with a quadriceps injury.

ULM looks to improve to 2-0 on the season when they visit Southern Miss on Saturday. The Warhawks beat Southeastern Louisiana 34-31 last Thursday as ULM had 554 total yards. But Coach Matt Viator says there’s room for improvement
Cut 17 (19) “what we do”
ULM lost to Southern Miss 28-17 last season.

Peyton Manning and Les Miles highlight the 2019 class of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Former Southern baseball coach Roger Cador, Peabody basketball coach Charles Smith and former Louisiana Tech quarterback Matt Dunigan will also be enshrined next year. Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation President Ronnie Rantz….
cut 16 (12) “…of three”
The 2019 class will be inducted on June 8th in Natchitoches.

The N-F-L season kicks off tonight with defending Super Bowl champs, Philadelphia hosting the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans will take on Tampa Bay in the Dome on Sunday to begin its season. The Buccaneers were just 5-11 last season and won just one game on the road. But Quarterback Drew Brees says it’s never easy to play Tampa Bay…
cut 20 (18) “….for sure”
The Saints have released former Louisiana Tech running back Boston Scott. The team hopes he clears waivers so they can add Scott to the practice squad. Also starting left guard Andrus Peat did not practice yesterday as he battles a quadriceps injury.

LSU has announced they’ll use metal detectors at gates into Tiger Stadium on Saturday. By 2020, the SEC requires metal detectors at every gate.

After winning its season opener on Saturday, ULM looks to improve to 2-0 in Hattiesburg as the Warhawks face Southern Miss. ULM lost to the Golden Eagles 28-17 last season in a game where the Warhawks threw for just 112 yards. Coach Matt Viator says Southern Miss does a good job of creating chaos on defense…
cut 18 (18) “….it out”

The 2019 class of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is headlined by former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and ex-LSU Coach Les Miles. Former Louisiana Tech quarterback Matt Dunigan and Peabody High School basketball coach Charles Smith are also in the class.

Former LSU star Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer last night and the Astros beat the Twins again nine to one.