Know Your Opponents: Boise State and LSU

2017 Full Schedule

TROY, Alabama – With only four weeks remaining until the Troy football team kicks off its season, each remaining Saturday we'll take a quick look at each of the opponents that the Trojans will match up with this year. The 2017 campaign begins with four non-conference games in the first five weeks, including road trips to Boise State and LSU.

BOISE STATE – Sept. 2
The season-opening matchup between Troy and Boise State will be the first meeting in the two schools' history and was ranked the seventh-best opening week game by USA Today.

Since their overtime upset of Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State has been the front-runner of the "Group of Five" conferences. The Broncos have been to a bowl game each of the past 15 years and have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP top 25 poll (2010).

OPPONENT PROFILE:
City: Boise, Idaho
Distance from Troy: 2,196 miles
Equivalent to: 32,208 football fields (Over 12 million footballs)
Driving: 33 hours
Biking: 8 days + 8 hours
Walking: 29 days + 21 hours
Nickname: Broncos
Colors: Blue and Orange
Playing Surface: Blue Turf (a.k.a. Smurf Turf)
Travel Log: Boise, the capital and largest city in Idaho, is a vibrant and active city with everything from mountains to museums, restaurants to rivers and festivals to fresh air. Many find it to be a surprising blend of urban and outdoors – big enough to have all the comforts of a big city, yet small enough to make it easy to enjoy.

LSU – Sept. 30
To end the first month of the season, the Trojans will head to Death Valley for their third all-time meeting with LSU. The first two meetings were memorable, at least for Troy, as they fell just short of pulling off the upsets late in the fourth quarter of both games. The Tigers scored a touchdown with 2:18 left to down Troy, 24-20, in 2004; while in 2008, the Trojans led 31-3 midway through the third before falling 40-31 in the end.

LSU will begin their first full season with new head coach Ed Orgeron along with a Heisman Trophy candidate in Derrius Guice and a new offensive coordinator in Matt Canada. The Tigers look to be heavy competitors in the ever-dominant SEC West division in 2017.

OPPONENT PROFILE:
City: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Distance: 367 miles (5h 34m)
Equivalent to: 734 walks from Trojan Arena to Trojan Dining
Nickname: Tigers
Namesake: Civil War soldiers from Louisiana were known as "Tigers" because of their hard fighting attitude.
Colors: Purple and Gold
Playing Surface: Natural Grass
Why?: In 1893, the team traveled to New Orleans to play what is considered the first football game in the city. They visited a store there for ribbon to represent their colors. The store had stocked up a good bit of purple and gold for the upcoming Carnival season (the green had not yet come in). They decided that purple and old gold made a good combination and it has stuck ever since.
Travel Log: Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana with a prime, central location – just an hour away from New Orleans and Lafayette – that is perfect to explore the culture of the state of Louisiana. The city houses over 300 years of history that can be tasted in their delectable food, seen in their distinct architecture and learned through their unique culture.

Troy University Athletics

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