By BRET H. MCCORMICK

Associate Sports Editor

The wait has been 62 years, but come Saturday night it might have all been worth it for the Tech faithful.

The Bulldog football squad travels four hours down to Baton Rouge to square off with the No. 7-ranked LSU Tigers (7-1, 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium.

"It's a huge game, no question about it," Tech head coach Jack Bicknell said. "The two teams haven't played in 62 years, which makes it even bigger."

Not only have the two teams not played in six decades, this is a huge game for both teams for various reasons.

LSU comes into the contest with one loss on the season, ranked No. 7 in the polls and No. 7 in the Bowl Championship Series. For all intents and purposes, the Tigers are still very much alive in the national championship hunt.

They are a week removed from a 31-7 beatdown of then No. 17 Auburn, one of the hottest teams in the nation and one of the favorites to win the SEC title.

The Tigers cannot afford a letdown game after the high of beating Auburn, nor can they afford to look ahead to next week's showdown at Alabama.

LSU is playing perhaps its best football of the season. After dropping a home game to Florida 19-7 -- a game in which the Tigers looked completely lost on offense -- they have rebounded to destroy both South Carolina and Auburn, and they appear to be steamrolling to the SEC West crown.

However, Tech comes to town on a mission. After dropping three close games to the Western Athletic Conference's elite (Boise State, Fresno State and Hawaii), the Bulldogs rebounded last week to beat then conference leader Nevada 42-34 on the road.

"I think [the win over Nevada gives us confidence]," Bicknell said. "It was very important for our season. We played three very tough games; we played hard in all of them and came up short. This gives us some confidence that we went into a tough place and got a big win."

The road win over the Wolf Pack was not the first tough road victory of the season for the Bulldogs. Earlier, they went into East Lansing, Mich., and beat Michigan State 20-19. It was the only loss on the year for the No.10 ranked Spartans.

What makes the game even more intriguing is that it is a Saturday night at Death Valley -- long considered one of the toughest places to play in the country.

"LSU's tradition is huge," Bicknell said. "I remember growing up in Boston; I always wanted to go to an LSU night game."

This game is set to be a battle between Tech's offense and LSU's defense.

Since sophomore running back Ryan Moats took over as a starter four weeks ago, the Bulldogs' offense has been scorching.

Currently ranked 15th overall in total offense at 460 yards a game, the Tech's production with Moats starting has increased to 540 yards a contest.

In addition to Moats' production of 170 yards rushing a game as a starter, quarterback Luke McCown has the Bulldogs seventh in the nation in passing offense at 323 yards a game.

However, LSU's defense is regarded as one of the best defenses in the nation this year.

The Tigers are first in the country in scoring defense (as the only team holding opponents under 10 points a game), second in rushing defense (53 yards per game) and fourth in total defense (255 yards a contest).

"Obviously, it's a huge challenge," Bicknell said. "Nothing is going to be easy about it. They are very good at really all positions. We've got to do what we do. We can't invent things."

The game is 62 years in the making, and it should be a wild one in Baton Rouge. It is strength versus strength -- cats versus dogs.

Only one team will prevail.

Everyone will find out who is best Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Death Valley.