BATON ROUGE, La. — Brent Venables has coached in plenty of intimidating road environments.
He remembers visiting his alma mater, Kansas State, in 2000, as OU’s defensive coordinator when Terence Newman returned a blocked put for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cut the Sooners’ lead to a touchdown.
“That was deafening,” Venables said.
He’s coached road games at Texas A&M and Georgia, Florida State under Jimbo Fisher and South Carolina under Steve Spurrier.
But one road environment stands out to Venables among them all.
“Playing in New Orleans against LSU twice for a national championship in ’19 and ’04 (the 2003 season) are probably first two on that list,” Venables said. “And I mean that sincerely. It was deafening. Could not hear on the headsets. So those are two of the places in that state against that team, two tough, challenging road environments.”
But those were in New Orleans.
Saturday, the Sooners will have to face a different kind of task — playing the Tigers in one of the most intimidating atmospheres in college football, the stadium known as “Death Valley.”
OU takes on LSU at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game televised by ESPN.
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“There’s no experience like Tiger Stadium at night,” Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said. “Death Valley at night is unlike anything in college football.”
LSU pioneered the night game, beginning to play under the lights way back in 1931.
What is LSU football record for home night games?
The Tigers remain tough to beat at night at home, winning 16 of their last 17 home night games. Since the start of the 2000 season, LSU is 111-16 (.874) in home night games.
Its only home night loss under Brian Kelly came Nov. 9 against Alabama.
Those are the kind of numbers the Sooners are fighting against.
“I think the key is just focusing on the basic stuff, ignoring the crowd and focusing on LSU,” Sooners offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu said. “LSU has a great team, great defense. We have to be at the top of our game to be able to win this game, just like every other game, so it’s really just ignoring the outside noise and focusing on the task at hand.”
That, of course, is easier said than done when you’re right there in the thick of it.
But the Sooners are embracing that challenge.
Quarterback Jackson Arnold said repeatedly before the season that one of the things he was most looking forward to was the trip to Baton Rouge.
“I think that’s gonna be an awesome game in an awesome environment,” Arnold said then.
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Safety Billy Bowman said the toughest road environment he’s played in during his OU career came earlier this season when the Sooners visited Auburn.
“That place was rocking,” Bowman said.
Bowman said the dynamic is a bit different for defensive players since crowds are usually quiet leading up to plays.
But he expects a different kind of electricity Saturday.
“I’ve heard about Death Valley,” Bowman said. “I’ve heard it’s probably gonna be the best stadium I’ll walk into — I’ve never been there. But I’m just looking forward to it, really. It’s always fun when you have the opposing team cheering loud, and being in that type of environment. It’s really just you accomplishing a dream from a little kid, just growing up wanting to play at places like that.”
Why is LSU football stadium called Death Valley?
Venables spent a decade as Clemson’s defensive coordinator, helping bolster the reputation of college football’s other “Death Valley.”
In the late 1940s, an opposing coach said playing at Clemson was like “Death Valley” and the nickname stuck.
When LSU knocked off Clemson one year, the Tigers started referring to their stadium by the moniker.
But even Venables said he recognized the reasons behind LSU’s use of the name.
“Listen, I’ve heard from every coach that I love and respect that’s been in the biggest venues, the best of the best, and everybody points to Death Valley, Baton Rouge, night game,” Venables said.
“Hope that your team doesn’t get scheduled (at night) because that’s the toughest challenge there is in college football. I know we’re going to get the best out of the LSU faithful.”
Saturday’s game was scheduled at night, setting up one of the most difficult road environments in which the Sooners have played in some time.
“It’s going to be electric,” Sooners linebacker Danny Stutsman said.
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OU at LSU
KICKOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football looking forward to ‘Death Valley’ experience vs LSU
