Tim Tebow details why Death Valley is toughest place to play
Tim Tebow knows what it is like to play at Death Valley at night. The former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner played at LSU twice in his college career, going 1-1 at Tigers Stadium.
On Saturday night, LSU welcomes No. 22 Auburn to Death Valley. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Tebow broke down the tough environment the visiting Tigers will be facing.
“Because when you roll up the fans are pushing your bus. When you get out of the bus, they’re pouring beer on you,” Tebow said Friday night on the Paul Finebaum show. “When you walk into the stadium, you have three generations side-by-side saying stuff I can’t repeat to you. And then the game starts, and they’re loud. And then the band plays ‘duh nah huh’ and everybody freaks out and it’s loud. The stadium’s very close to you, and they just build on that momentum.
“It’s been proven, LSU is better at home at night. That’s when they want people. That’s when Les Miles kept saying ‘this is where opponent’s dreams come to die.’ It’s a tough place to play.”
Dreams do come to die at Death Valley. With a current capacity of 102,321 at Tiger Stadium, the playing surface is very close to the seats. LSU has won has won the last 10 meetings in Death Valley against Auburn.
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No. 22 Auburn has yet to pick up a statement victory this season after falling just eight points short at Penn State, and the Tigers will have the chance to do just that on Saturday against LSU.
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LSU is favored by 3.5 points on its own home turf, and the points total is set at 54.5 against Auburn. Auburn is 0-5 against the spread as an underdog, a streak that dates back to last season, as it hasn’t covered the spread against a favorite since before the Bryan Harsin era.
LSU, by comparison, is 4-1 against the spread in its past five conference games, including covers in each of the past three games — most recently, covering the 2.5-point spread in a 28-25 win over Mississippi State last week.
The under has hit in each of the past three meetings between Auburn and LSU, something to keep an eye on this Saturday with 54.5 points setting a high bar.
On’3 Simon Gibbs contributed to this report.