Virginia Tech's next win will mark the 200th victory of Frank Beamer's college football coaching career. In order for Beamer to reach the milestone Saturday night at LSU, the Hokies will have to pull off one of their biggest upsets ever.

Coming off its unimpressive 17-7 win over East Carolina in Saturday's season opener at Lane Stadium, No. 9 Tech will find itself playing a rare role of huge underdog at second-ranked LSU. The Tigers, a 45-0 winner at Mississippi State last Thursday, were listed as 13-point favorites at most Las Vegas sports books Sunday night.

Tech, which has been favored in 36 of its past 40 games, hasn't been such a big underdog since its 2004 opener against Southern California at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Then-No. 1 USC was a 17-point chalk and prevailed 24-13.

"We're going to have to play a lot better than we today down at LSU," said Beamer, whose club mustered only 33 rushing yards and committed three turnovers against ECU.

The trip to Baton Rouge will mark the first time that Tech has faced a nonconference opponent ranked in the top 5 on the road in Beamer's 20-plus seasons in Blacksburg. The Hokies whipped LSU 26-8 in Lane Stadium in 2002, the two schools' only other previous meeting. The Vegas books had tabbed the Tigers as a seven-point favorite in Saturday's game before nearly doubling the spread following the teams' openers.

"We're going to have to be a lot sharper than we were today," said Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, when asked about the trip to LSU. "LSU's defense is impressive. Obviously, they put the pressure on you. If the LSU-Mississippi State game proves anything, it's that this is going to be a game of taking care of the ball and field position. Mississippi State's defense was playing decent, but when they kept giving the LSU ball with a short field and keeping their defense on the field a lot that's what ultimately led to them blowing them out."

Tech's offensive line will have to play at its highest level in order to have any chance at slowing down an LSU defensive front led by All-American tackle Glenn Dorsey.

"I haven't watched every defensive line in the country, so I don't know if they're the best," said Tech left guard Richard Graham, who made his first college start against ECU.

"They're a good team. They threw a shutout and threw a lot of different guys in there and kept them fresh [on the D-line]. They're definitely a good opponent, but I feel we're a good team, too. If we prepare well, then we'll have a good shot. I think we'll play better. No one on our O-line likes how we played [vs. ECU] and no one is going to let that stuff linger around."

The contest at 92,400-seat Tiger Stadium will be nationally televised by ESPN. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. ESPN announced Sunday that its Saturday "College GameDay" crew will be in Baton Rouge for what's considered as one of the season's most appetizing games featuring nonconference foes.

The Hokies escaped the ECU game without any serious injuries.

Starting sophomore rover Kam Chancellor sustained a slight knee sprain, but should be fine for LSU, Tech head athletic trainer Mike Goforth said Sunday night.