LSU plays the Syracuse Orange on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium, but the Tigers should be equally concerned about the yellow — as in penalty flags.

The Tigers are ranked the 25th best team in the country, but they are tied for 125th (with Ole Miss) in fewest penalties — only four FBS teams have been more penalized than the Tigers and Rebels. If there’s a silver lining to this yellow stuff, LSU is slightly better (tied with Hawaii for 121st among the 130 FBS teams) when it comes to fewest penalty yards per game (90.67).

LSU (2-1) has been consistent with this issue: it was penalized 10 times in the season opener against BYU, 11 times a week later and nine times last week against Mississippi State.

Tigers coach Ed Orgeron has fumed about the penalties after each game and focused on reducing them in practice between games, but with no success.

“We think we’re more disciplined now than we’ve been in the past,” Orgeron said, “but obviously the penalties are not showing it.”

Orgeron has had officials participate in practice ever since the BYU game, dropping flags when players commit infractions to try to drive away bad habits. If anything, the penalties — though they have varied little in quantity — have gotten more damaging by the week.

The penalty yardage was 86 in the opener, dropped to 74 in the second game (but one infraction wiped out a touchdown) and increased to 112 last week when two of the penalties negated touchdowns in a game in which LSU scored one touchdown and lost by 30 points. In the last two games, three touchdowns have been wiped out by penalties.

Orgeron has penalized penalty culprits by having them do extra running, and he has pondered reducing playing time for multiple offenders.

There are many theories about the ongoing penalty issue.

A popular one is that the penalties have a lot to do with the fact that LSU is playing a lot of young players. But of the 27 penalties attributed to a specific player, 10 were on seniors, 10 were on juniors, two were on sophomores and five were on freshmen.

It’s worth noting that the Tigers’ inexperience isn’t limited to freshmen, because inexperienced members of each class have taken on significant roles this season. Nonetheless, the penalty problem can’t be blamed on inexperienced players alone.

In fact, of the seven players who have committed multiple penalties, four are seniors and three are juniors.

The one time Orgeron can claim success in getting the players to cut back on penalties was the second half of the 45-10 victory against Chattanooga. The Tigers were penalized 10 times during an especially sloppy first half. After Orgeron and the coaches challenged the players at halftime, they committed just one infraction in the second half.

Then came the debacle at Mississippi State.

Generally speaking, the penalties have become less frequent in the second halves of games. In the opener, LSU was penalized seven times in the first half and three times in the second. Against Mississippi State, the Tigers were penalized six times in the first half and three in the second.

So 77 percent of the penalties have occurred in the first halves of games. One theory for that is that LSU has allowed its emotions to get the better of it early in games, and when the players have settled down the number of penalties has gone down.

That may be true, but time is running out for the Tigers to get a handle on their first-half emotions, because after this week and next week’s game against Troy, it’s all SEC rivals the rest of the way.

Speaking of first-half infractions, the Tigers were penalized on the opening kickoff of each of the first two games. The first time it was the return team, the second time it was the coverage team.

Those kickoff infractions were two of four penalties committed by the special teams. The defense has committed nine penalties and the offense 17.

One theory for the disparity on offense is that first-year coordinator Matt Canada’s scheme requires more pre-snap shifting than in the past and the Tigers are still adjusting. Of the 17 infractions, four are false starts, two are illegal shifts and one is a delay of game, so perhaps the new offense has something to do with the large number of offensive penalties, but it hardly explains six holding calls.

In the end, regardless of which unit they play on, how emotional the circumstances are at game time or their relative experience, the LSU players have to find a way to play better within the rules or the team is going to continue to pay a price.

By the way, starting linebacker Donnie Alexander, a junior, and backup defensive end Neil Farrell Jr., a freshman, will be suspended for the first half of this week’s game as automatic punishment for their ejections against Mississippi State for targeting.

And in case you’re wondering. Syracuse (2-1) is tied for 53rd in penalties per game (5.67) and tied for 75th in penalty yards per game (57.33).

That’s not real good, but it’s a range that should make LSU envious.