A tougher task for LSU

Two days before USC begins its season against Idaho, the team a lot of people believe the Trojans will be playing for the national championship in January will open with a somewhat tougher task.

Louisiana State will begin its 2007 campaign with a Southeastern Conference game on the road, although there are worse places in the SEC to play than Starkville, Miss.

Mississippi State will provide the opposition for the Tigers this evening, but for how long? Since the decade began, the Bulldogs have been a pushover for LSU. The combined score in the last seven meetings is Tigers 295, Bulldogs 81.

The only close game was in Baton Rouge in 2000, when LSU needed overtime to win, 45-38.

If recent history is any indication, expect the Tigers to have this one in hand by halftime. Last season, they led 35-3 after two quarters and were dominant early in 2003 and 2004. In the last game in Starkville, LSU had only a 17-7 lead at the half but outscored the Bulldogs 20-0 the rest of the way.

The last time Mississippi State defeated LSU at home was in 1999. The Bulldogs scored with 1:39 remaining to win, 17-16.

Only one team in the country has a longer winning streak in bowl games than Utah, which opens the season tonight in Corvallis against Oregon State.

The Utes have won six consecutive bowl games, topped only by Boston College, which has won seven in a row.

Whether or not Utah can keep the streak going at the conclusion of this season remains to be seen, but the Utes could pull off the upset tonight given how they have done against the Pacific 10 Conference in recent years.

Utah has won four of its last five games against the conference, including two in a row against the Beavers. However, the two schools haven’t met in a long time. Utah won, 42-9, at home in 1992, a season after a 21-10 win in Corvallis.

Oregon State, which will alternate quarterbacks Sean Canfield and Lyle Moevao, with the left-handed Canfield starting, has won 22 consecutive home games against nonconference opponents and has never lost in August, going 3-0.

Baseball

If Detroit is to have a chance to win the American League pennant for a second season in a row, the Tigers are going to have to get some help from Jeremy Bonderman.

The struggling pitcher will have another chance to shake his second-half funk when he pitches this afternoon in Kansas City.

Bonderman, 24, has lost six of his last seven decisions and was torched for seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in his last start against New York. This continued an alarming trend for the right-hander, who has a history of bad second halves. In his career, he is 18-31 after the All-Star break with an ERA of 5.33.

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bob.mieszerski@latimes.com