Photos from past GameDay trips to LSU (via ESPN Images)
- College football’s premier pregame to preview the game of the week on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Special on-site guests: LSU head coach Brian Kelly, country music singer Jordan Davis performs live, and trio of LSU National Champions on site – women’s basketball player Flau-jae Johnson along with guest pickers Paul Skenes (former LSU baseball player) and Olivia Dunne (gymnastics)
- Fans arriving early will have the chance to enter to be picked for Pat McAfee’s kicking contest for the opportunity to win $125,000 of Pat’s money
ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot heads to Death Valley for the show’s 14th visit all time to Baton Rouge, La., ahead of the ranked matchup between SEC foes No. 11 Alabama and No. 15 LSU. College GameDay will be live from the Quad on LSU’s campus from 9 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN & ESPNU.
Host Rece Davis is at the helm for his 10th season, joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and legendary Alabama and LSU head coach Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the GameDay cast.
Following the pregame show, the lead game team of Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be on the call on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and Mike Couzens, Jordan Reid and Mike Peasley will be on the ESPN Radio broadcast.
College GameDay is off to its best start ever, averaging 2.2 million viewers per episode and up 8% over 2023. The Week 10 show at Penn State averaged two million viewers with 2.5 million viewers in the final hour.
Show Highlights & Guests
- Coach & Players on GameDay – LSU head coach Brian Kelly will join GameDay live at the desk on Saturday. The show will feature all access with Texas QB Quinn Ewers who was wired for sound during practice ahead of No. 6 Texas’ matchup with Florida.
- Coach’s Film Room – Saban takes viewers inside his film room to break down the Ole Miss defense that has an FBS-best 42.0 sacks this season, ahead of its game against Georgia.
- Special Guests – LSU women’s basketball player and popular rapper Flau-jae Johnson, the SEC Freshman of the Year (’23) and member of the 2023 National Championship team, will be on site for GameDay. Country music singer Jordan Davis will also be part of the Week 11 show, with a live performance of his hit song ‘Buy Dirt.’
- Celebrity Guest Pickers – LSU National Champion power couple Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne will return to campus as the celebrity guest pickers this week. Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and 2024 All-Star Game starter for the National League, was part of LSU’s 2023 Men’s College World Series National Championship team, earning Most Outstanding Player of the series and National Pitcher of the Year honors. Dunne is a current member of LSU’s gymnastics team and was part of the 2023 NCAA National Championship squad.
- Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – Back for its second season, GameDay is offering an exclusive contest during the live show, Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. Fans who arrive early will have a chance to be chosen from the ‘pit’ onsite with the opportunity to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the contestant successfully completes the kick, he/she will be awarded $125,000 from McAfee. So far this season, fans have earned $250,000 of McAfee’s money. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
Additional guests will be announced ahead of Saturday’s show on ESPN PR’s Twitter and College GameDay’s Twitter.
For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.
Corso’s Count
- Coach Corso will be making his 422nd mascot headgear selection this week at LSU. So far this season his picks have gone 7-1, with his only loss coming at Texas.
- This will be LSU’s 14th time hosting GameDay and 35th appearance all time. Corso has picked the Tigers eight times as the host school, going 6-2 in those games. Of their overall appearances, LSU is 21-13, winning six of their last seven games following
- Alabama will join Ohio State as the only programs to appear 60 times on College GameDay. The Crimson Tide have gone 38-21 in their previous 59 appearances on the program. Corso has picked Bama 38 times – second most all time.
Features:
- Go ‘Chi – Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore never expected to make a new friend when he walked into his mother’s kindergarten classroom in 2018. On that day, Moore discovered “the best friendship ever in the world,” and now that same friend’s cheers echo in his memory as he leads the Crimson Tide. Jen Lada reports.
- Jeanty’s Journey – When Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was in middle school, his family moved to a U.S. Naval base in Italy. Two years later, Jeanty’s football journey began and it hasn’t slowed down since. From returning to the United States before his sophomore year of high school, to playing the last three years at Boise State, the running back with the military upbringing has been on quite a journey, one that Jeanty says has shaped him into the best player in college football. Marty Smith reports.
- 100 Years of Tiger Stadium – LSU’s Tiger Stadium opened 100 years ago and has played host to a massive collection of college football memories and moments. It may be called Death Valley, but no place has felt more alive on college football Saturdays the past century. Ryan McGee reports.
- Always Remembered – No other sport is more intertwined with military service than college football. Saturday will see Army, Navy and Air Force all in action, while the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine Academies will play as well. Ryan McGee reflects on Veterans Day and its lasting connection to college football as GameDay celebrates and honors those who have served.
ESPN’s Expansive Digital Coverage
ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper, is live from Death Valley with hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr., for the Week 11 show. The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:20 a.m. ET weekly.
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Media Contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – Julie.McKay@espn.com, @McKay_Julie
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