ATLANTA — LSU coach Ed Orgeron did nothing to downplay the hype that’s building for the Georgia football road trip to the SEC’s version of Death Valley.

“That night Tiger Stadium is going to be alive, it’s going to be loud,” Orgeron said, referencing the Oct. 13 game. “There will be a lot of tailgating. It should be a great college matchup in the SEC.”

History Lesson

It will be the Bulldogs first road game at LSU since Oct. 25, 2008. Georgia won that game against the defending national champions when Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and ran for another.

The Bulldogs are an early 9 1/2-point favorite over the Tigers in this season’s contest according to the “5 Dimes” sports betting blog. 

Those odds are a direct byproduct of LSU entering fall camp with an unsettled quarterback situation.

Orgeron didn’t try to hide the fact on Monday.

“We have to find another quarterback,” Orgeron said. “It’s going to be exciting to see.”

The Tigers promoted Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator in January, a post he held in 2016 when Orgeron first took over for Les Miles.

“We’re gonna throw the football at LSU, we’re gonna be 50-50,” Orgeron vowed during his SEC Media Days presentation at the College Football Hall of Fame.

“The players respect Steve, he runs more of the offense that I’m used to, an offense that we’ve won championships with in the past.”

Scouting Georgia

Georgia, like LSU, runs a balanced offense that has proven capable of championship contention.

Orgeron has taken note.

“Obviously Kirby has done a great job with the Georgia Bulldogs, tremendous team last year and a tremendous recruiting class,” Oregon said. “They are going to be a very tough opponent to play.”

Perhaps, but LSU is 57-7 in Saturday night home games since 2005, and 82-11 in such contests since 2000.

It will be Georgia’s first meeting with the Bayou Bengals since 2013, when the Bulldogs scored a 44-41 win at Sanford Stadium.

LSU beat Georgia 42-10 in the Georgia Dome in the 2011 SEC Championship Game.

Mike Griffith covers Georgia football for DawgNation and can be followed on Twitter at @MikeGriffith32