Baton Rouge, LA -- (Sports Network) - The seventh-ranked LSU Tigers looked strong in their season opener, and they will attempt to carry some momentum into Saturday's non-conference clash with the Troy Trojans.

Troy opened the season on Thursday, August 28th, with a 31-17 victory over Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee. Now the Trojans will play four straight against non-conference foes, including the likes of Ohio State and Oklahoma State. Clearly, the program is scheduling top-notch FBS competition, creating a great deal of national exposure.

LSU, the defending National Champs, began the season with an impressive 41-13 victory over a strong Appalachian State squad. There are many key contributors who are gone from the team who captured college football's ultimate prize in January, but coach Les Miles has plenty of talent in place to make another run. It is hard not to look ahead to a September 20th meeting with Auburn on the road, so Miles and his staff have the task of keeping the players focused on Troy and North Texas the following week.

LSU won its only previous meeting with Troy back in 2004.

Troy scored one touchdown in all four quarters of its season-opening victory over Middle Tennessee. The Trojans scored their first touchdown on the first play of a drive that started inside MTSU's five-yard line. Of the other three scores, all came on drives spanning at least 70 yards. Troy only finished with 300 total yards and 16 first downs, not exactly explosive offensive numbers. The ground attack was certainly solid, accounting for 164 yards and an average of 4.6 ypc.

The passing game, however, netted just eight yards per completion. Considering that the Trojans turned the ball over four times and only kept possession for 24:06, it is surprising that they were able to come up with 31 points. DuJuan Harris stole the show with 19 carries for 148 yards and two touchdowns, including one 33-yard scamper. Clearly, however, he will be facing an elite group of athletes in the LSU front seven this week.

Defensively, Troy put forth a stellar effort against Middle Tennessee. With five sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery, there was no shortage of big plays made. When factoring in the lost yardage on sacks, Middle Tennessee rushed for just 84 yards on 50 attempts. There was simply no room for the Blue Raiders to roam on most plays, a tribute to the swarming Trojans.

Bear Woods was sensational for Troy, as he racked up 14 total tackles, including a pair of sacks. As for Boris Lee, another standout defender, he posted 11 stops and picked off a pass. "We made a lot of plays and got good one-on-one pressure," said Troy head coach Larry Blakeney. "We have some guys out there who when they try to rush the passer have the ability to get there. I am really proud of our defense." Clearly, the unit will face a much stiffer challenge this weekend.

Charles Scott was extremely impressive running the football for LSU in the opener against Appalachian State, as he racked up a career-high 160 yards on 16 carries, including a pair of touchdowns. Andrew Hatch, a transfer from Harvard, started at quarterback, and while he only completed 7-of-14 passes for 77 yards, Hatch did throw a touchdown and seemed capable of handling the pressure. Jarrett Lee also saw extensive time under center and completed 6- of-10 passes for 116 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions.

It appears that coach Miles will use both signal callers this week and quite possibly all season. Both have the athleticism to make some plays if the pocket collapses. "Offensively, we ran the football like we needed to," said Miles. "We probably tried to force the pass as best we could just to get some of these young guys some experience." LSU posted 459 total yards and scored 41 points against a solid opponent. If the Tigers do get much better, as many suspect, expect plenty of scared opponents.

When asked if the LSU defense accomplished what it set out to do against Appalachian State in the opener, linebacker Darry Beckwith said, "Yes we did. The game plan went well. The guys played hard and we executed the plays we needed to." The Tigers only allowed 239 total yards, including 52 rushing yards, in the contest.

The pass defense was equally impressive considering that the Mountaineers only connected on 14-of-33 throws. Sure, APSU made some big plays through the air, but that is expected from the best team in the FCS and a program that beat Michigan on the road in the opener a year ago. Perhaps the most impressive defensive stat for LSU is that it only permitted 2-of-14 third down conversion attempts to be successful.