Senior free safety LaRon Landry set the tone for LSU's season opener during Monday's practice, when he was overheard telling a defensive back on the scout team, "It's game week. Ain't no crying for mama now."

One year after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Louisiana Gulf Coast and sent LSU's season into a tailspin, the crying is over and the Tigers are back to football.

The Tigers still managed to go 11-2 in a season that provided a wealth of valuable but painful lessons -- lessons second-year LSU coach Les Miles hopes will pay off this season.

"What this football team had been through, the change in schedule, two hurricanes, in my opinion, gave great example to overcoming obstacles and really coming together," Miles said. "The best thing you can say about the '05 team is it was selfless. They had great leadership and great character. I hope this '06 team saw and understood the example that the '05 team was."

With the return of 13 starters and an abundance of talented reserves ready to step into starting roles, the eighth-ranked Tigers will open their season on Saturday at home against Louisiana-Lafayette. They play host to Arizona on Sept. 9 before heading for Auburn for a major SEC West showdown on Sept. 16.

Auburn will be the first of four difficult SEC road tests for the Tigers, who must also play at Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas before it's all over.

"Everybody talks about the road games that we have to play," Miles said. "If you're going to be a champion, you're going to have to win road games. We're not going to avoid who we play or where we play them."

After last year's challenging season, what's a few road games against tough conference opponents?

"We have a great core nucleus of a football team," Miles says. "We feel like we can play and win every game that's on our schedule."

First things first. The Tigers know they have to make the most of their first two games before they can even start thinking about Auburn.

"We play a darn good football team that is going to test us this Saturday,"

Miles said. "We are not looking beyond it. We are going to play hard, and we are looking for a victory. If we do that, that is the best way to prepare us for the next opponent, which is Arizona. The best way to prepare for Auburn is to get two victories and improve along the way."

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: While the Tigers have plenty of playmakers in QBs JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn, RBs Alley Broussard and Justin Vincent and WRs Dwayne Bowe, Early Doucet and Craig Davis, they still have plenty of questions to answer as the season opens. For one, will Broussard and Vincent be healthy enough to carry the load after suffering knee injuries in 2005. Also, how will the Tigers go about replacing three starters on the offensive line, especially when one of those two returning starters, junior LG Will Arnold, continues to deal with kidney problems.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: The Tigers return only one starter on the defensive line, but with the emergence of players such as DTs Glenn Dorsey and Charles Alexander and DE Tyson Jackson, the defensive line should be a strength instead of a concern. The return of OLB Ali Highsmith and the emergence of MLB Luke Sanders should also keep the Tigers solid at linebacker. The safeties, FS LaRon Landry and SS Jessie Daniels, are the best in the SEC and the corners, Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon, have shown progress in the preseason. Even the secondary depth in solid with help off the bench from senior CB Daniel Francis and junior safety Craig Steltz, two players could start for some SEC teams.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's had a really strong summer. He has worked hard. He's in better shape than he has been. He's led the team. He's done those things that you would expect from a quarterback. Both Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux have had really good summers. I can tell you that Matt is a little arm weary. It hasn't hurt his reputation to field the team. We are going in very much like we did a year ago with the difference being that our third quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux, has the opportunity to play." -- LSU coach Les Miles, on choosing junior JaMarcus Russell as the Tigers' starting quarterback.

THIS WEEK'S GAME: Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU, Sept. 2 -- This opener hardly sports the drama of last year's opener at Arizona State in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but it's probably a safe choice for a program breaking in so many new linemen on both sides of the ball. With Arizona next up on the schedule, expect the Tigers to keep it simple and prepare for the Wildcats.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB JaMarcus Russell -- After an up-and-down 2005 season and injuries to his wrist and shoulder, Russell appears to be back and ready to go following an impressive preseason camp. He enters the season with a 14-2 record as LSU's starting QB.

WR Dwayne Bowe -- Bowe ranked as one of the SEC's best receiver in 2005, catching nine touchdown passes with at least one TD reception in seven consecutive games. However, he seemed to struggle with drops on occasions. It turns out the issue may have had more to do with his eyes than his hands and offseason eye surgery seems to have helped him make significant progress in the offseason.

FS LaRon Landry -- Landry seriously considered a jump to the NFL after his junior season. Fortunately for LSU he returned for his senior season. Landry enters the season as a first-team All-SEC choice after leading the Tigers in total tackles last season (92), to go with 5 tackles for losses, three sacks and four interceptions.

LB Luke Sanders -- For all the attention on LB Ali Highsmith, a preseason second-team All-SEC choice, Sanders is a bigger key to the LSU defense as the new starter at middle linebacker. Coaches have praised his leadership and work ethic, but now he must prove himself in games.

DT Glenn Dorsey -- He's only started one game at LSU, but Dorsey, a junior, has already shown enough potential to be considered a future star by the LSU coaches.

ROSTER REPORT: LSU coach Les Miles has been careful not to push veteran players returning from injuries, including RB Alley Broussard, who missed all of last season after two knee surgeries, and junior left guard Will Arnold, who has sidelined with knee and kidney problems. Both are expected to play against Louisiana-Lafayette but Broussard could be limited. "Alley Broussard is still coming," LSU coach Les Miles said. "He could take some carries in this game. I wouldn't be surprised if he took none. It depends on how the week goes. That's work in progress for him. I think he understands it. Hopefully that will come very quickly. It's based on what the team needs and what he might need to develop."

--Senior WR Craig Davis has been limited during the preseason with a hamstring pull but is expected to play in the opener.

--True freshman DT Al Woods, a 6-foot-5, 325-pound Parade All-American, has been one of the best surprises of the preseason, working his way into the playing rotation despite missing the first two weeks of practice while the NCAA Clearinghouse assessed his academic record. "He's going to play," Miles said. "I don't think we're going to red-shirt him. He'll play."

--Woods was just one of five players forced to delay their arrival due to Clearinghouse problems. RB Keiland Williams, OL Steven Singleton and DB Tyson Andrus were cleared two weeks ago while RB Richard Murphy was not cleared until last week. Despite their late starts Williams and Murphy could still play against ULL due to depth concerns at tailback. Other options at tailback besides Broussard and senior Justin Vincent include versatile fullback Jacob Hester, true freshmen Charles Scott and redshirt freshmen R.J. Jackson and Antonio Robinson.

--Jared Mitchell of New Iberia, La., has decided to try his hand as a two-sport athlete at LSU instead of signing with the Minnesota Twins, who selected him in the 10th round of the June amateur baseball draft. Mitchell, who took part in football practice on Monday and attended class the same day, will play both baseball and football at LSU. After playing quarterback in high school, he is expected to play receiver at LSU and is seen as one of the true freshmen who could see some playing time this season.