As unusual as it might seem for a guy raised in a family with 17 children, Pierre Banks said that he had never experienced anything like the noise and chaos of playing in front of LSU's frenzied fans three years ago.
"I'm usually a pretty cool and calm guy before games, but I was even yelling and screaming with the rest of them in warm-ups," said Banks, a senior linebacker for Appalachian State, who played in a 24-0 loss at LSU in 2005.
"I couldn't really hear myself, but I was screaming right along with everybody else. They even had that tiger out there roaring. It was a crazy experience. It's not often you get to do something like that. It's something I'll cherish, because I'm a fan first. It was real exciting to get to go play at Death Valley."
Appalachian will experience the thrill again Saturday. The Mountaineers will open the season against LSU at renowned Death Valley, with a very live crowd of 90,000-plus watching. The 5 p.m. game will be broadcast by ESPN.
"The atmosphere is definitely like no other," said receiver T.J. Courman, who also played in the 2005 game. "I doubt there's a place in the country that can match it. Those fans are loud and they're right there on top of you. They're obnoxious, but in a good way because they're supporting their team."
Offensive tackle Brad Coley, another senior who got some playing time in the 2005 game, said of the LSU fans: "They are so passionate about their team, about football and the state of Louisiana. It's something you don't see in a whole lot of places. Going up to Michigan last year, they're drinking wine and they're waving. You go down to LSU and they're chugging beers and they're throwing them at you."
Banks said that he and teammates fed off the energy in 2005 in a game that wasn't decided until LSU pulled away in the fourth quarter.
"If you can't feed off that, you're not alive," Banks said. "You dream about playing in playing at a place like that and having a chance to win."
Coley said he vividly remembers the police caravan that escorted the team away from Tiger Stadium afterward.
"We were going about 60 mph downtown through Baton Rouge," Coley said. "There were two cops in front of us and two behind us. There were eight on motorcycles. They'd go block off an intersection and then you'd see them go flying by you to get to the next one. It was pretty crazy."
Jerry Moore, the Mountaineers' coach, recalled the trip to the stadium.
"The drive in there is an exciting thing for a 19- or 20-year-old guy and it's the same thing for an old coach," Moore said. "It's exciting to go down that drive and have everybody hollering at you.... It's a great atmosphere to play in."
Banks, said that playing LSU in 2005 was like playing against an all-star team.
"They had JaMarcus Russell, Skyler Green, Dwayne Bowe, Joseph Addai," Banks said. "It was like being in the Pro Bowl or something like that. I loved being out there playing with them."
But he kept his distance from the tiger.
"Where I'm from, I run when I see a dog," Banks said. "They had that big, live tiger right there. I didn't want any part of that."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
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