Getty Image / Stacy Revere
Every year, college football fans are treated to some intriguing non-conference matchups in the first week of the season.
This year’s Week 1 slate includes Utah’s chance at revenge against the Florida Gators and Deion Sanders’ FBS debut against TCU.
However, there is one matchup that stands out as clearly the most important of Week 1 and could potentially even be the highlight of the non-conference schedule.
Next weekend, the LSU Tigers will head to Orlando to take on the Florida State Seminoles at Camping World Stadium in a rematch of a game from last year that ended with LSU having a potential game-tying extra point blocked.
At the time, both teams had some major question marks about what their seasons would look like.
Both ended up ranked in the top 20 at the end of the year.
Heading into the 2023 season, expectations are high for both programs as they will each be ranked in the top 10 when they enter this Week 1 matchup.
Unfortunately for LSU, they’ll be without one of their stars for the game.
According to nola.com’s Wilson Alexander defensive tackle Maason Smith has been suspended for the game becuase he received an improper benefit.
Sources: #LSU star defensive tackle Maason Smith will not play against Florida State. The NCAA suspended him for the first game after determining he received an improper benefit. He can return Week 2. https://t.co/Pvh8FPlkIC
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) August 23, 2023
Maason Smith is a former 5-star recruit for the Tigers who quickly showed off his potential.
During his freshman season in Baton Rouge, Smith had 4 sacks and 5 tackles for loss in just 5 games.
Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in last year’s game against Florida State and missed the rest of the year.
The LSU Tigers were hoping his return would be a boost for a defense that was already pretty tough without him last year.
Now the tough task of playing the Florida State Seminoles in Week 1 gets even tougher, but they’ll at least finally have Smith back in Week 2.