The 2014 LSU Tigers football team represented

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in the

2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 27, 2014 and ended on D ...

. They were led by tenth-year head coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

and played their home games at Tiger Stadium. They were a member of the Western Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC).

Previous season and offseason

LSU finished the 2013 regular season with an overall record of 10–3 and SEC record of 5–3. All three losses occurred on the road - narrow losses against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and Ole Miss, as well as a loss against #1 ranked

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. The Tigers were undefeated in Tiger Stadium, including a victory over the national runners-up, the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

. With its victory against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, LSU became the only team to defeat

Johnny Manziel Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the FCF Zappers of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) and was also a mem ...

twice in his college career. Despite losing starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger to a knee injury in the closing minutes of the regular season finale against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, the season ended with a win against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

in the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

. Shortly after the bowl game, LSU issued a statement that offensive line coach Greg Studrawa would be leaving the team. After a brief search, coach Les Miles announced the hiring of

Jeff Grimes Jeff Grimes (born September 23, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the offensive coordinator at Baylor University. He was previously the offensive coordinator at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2017 to 2020, Louisiana State ...

to replace Studrawa. Grimes served as the offensive line coach for

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in 2013. Prior to Virginia Tech, Grimes spent four years at the same position at

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, where he helped that team win the national championship in 2010. LSU was also in need of a new special teams coordinator after Thomas McGaughey left to take the same position with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. The Tigers hired Bradley Dale Peveto, who previously spent four seasons as an assistant at LSU from 2005 to 2008, as his replacement. For the second year in a row, LSU had more underclassmen declare for the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

than any other team in the country. Key losses included Mettenberger, third-team All American

Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the ...

, and second-team All-SEC players

Jarvis Landry Jarvis Charles Landry (born November 28, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round o ...

Jeremy Hill Jeremy Hill (born October 20, 1992) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU). After a promisin ...

, Anthony Johnson, and Lamin Barrow. The Tigers' 2014 recruiting class was considered one of the top in the nation, bolstered by several top prospects from the state of Louisiana, including New Orleans running back

Leonard Fournette Leonard Joseph Fournette III (born January 18, 1995) is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers, and was drafted by the Jacksonville Ja ...

, River Ridge wide receiver

Malachi Dupre Malachi Dupre (born October 12, 1995) is an American football wide receiver. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Early years Dupr ...

, and Lake Charles wide receiver

Trey Quinn David Lee "Trey" Quinn III (born December 7, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at LSU and SMU. Quinn was selected by the Washington R ...

. The class was considered the consensus #2 class by all the major recruiting outlets.

Key departures

Class of 2014 signees

Coaching staff

Depth chart

The official opening day depth chart was released on August 22, 2014.

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Rankings

Players Drafted

:Reference:

References

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LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

LSU Tigers football seasons

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) an ...