LSU Football Focused, in High Spirits After Evacuation to Houston for Hurricane Ida

Team families are safe following hurricane, ready for week one matchup against Bruins

As Hurricane Ida set its sights on south Louisiana late last week, Ed Orgeron and the LSU program knew that evacuation was likely required. The official decision didn't come until Friday and the team considered traveling to Dallas before ultimately settling on Houston for a week of preparation. 

The team left Baton Rouge at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, the evening before Ida made landfall, and took nearly 10 hours to make the usual four to five hour trip to Houston. It was a long evening for the team but Orgeron said they got to rest on Sunday and return fresh for practice on Monday at NRG Stadium.

"The players and the coaches have handled it great," Orgeron said. "It was a long trip coming over here but we got to rest on Sunday. It's like a bowl, our team has been focused, everybody's been going to meetings and we're in our little own protective cocoon here so it's been good."

Orgeron said that all of the players have been in contact with their families and that everyone is ok following the storm, which put the team at ease to some degree. There is some damage to houses and some families will need to be displaced into hotels but the administration is helping those families according to Orgeron. 

The Tigers will be traveling to Los Angeles on Thursday to begin the final 48 hours of prep work before Saturday evening's game against the Bruins. LSU will be playing in the infamous Rose Bowl Stadium, one of college football's most historic venues over the years. 

As to not let the surroundings distract them on gameday, Orgeron said he will be taking the team to the Rose Bowl on Friday to get the lay of the land and have a short practice on the field to get comfortable with the turf.

"It's an honor to play there, so excited to bring our team there," Orgeron said. "I usually don't take them to the stadium the day before but I will, just like two years ago when we played Miami and went to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. I think it's something they're gonna want to see, let them take pictures. But the next day, it's the same football field.

"We're gonna focus in on playing well, focus on the LSU Tigers and not let any of the surroundings be intimidating or distract us from what we want to get done."