The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents

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 near ...

in college football. The Tigers compete in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

(FBS) of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) and 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 o ...

(SEC). LSU ranks 11th best in winning percentage in NCAA Division I FBS history and claims four National Championships ( 1958,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, and

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), 16 conference championships, and 39 consensus All-Americans. As of the beginning of the 2018 NFL season, 40 former LSU players were on active rosters in the NFL, the second most of any college program. The team plays on the university's campus at Tiger Stadium in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

. The program's current head coach is Brian Kelly.

History

Early history (1893–1954)

Dr.

Charles E. Coates Charles Edward Coates, Jr. (August 13, 1866 – December 27, 1939) was an American academic, chemist, and college football player and coach. He was the third faculty member with a PhD in Louisiana State University's history. Coates was known worldw ...

, a chemistry professor at the university known for his work on sugar, and former football player at Johns Hopkins, assembled a group of students to create the school's first team. Coates' plan for a football team dated back to autumn of the previous year, when he assembled a team and held one or two scrimmages before shelving the idea for the following autumn. The team wore makeshift uniforms with purple and gold ribbons for its first game, a 34–0 loss to Tulane and the only game played by LSU that year. The game was played in front of a crowd of 1,500 at Crescent City Base Ball Park in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

a rivalry between the schools that lasted well into the 20th century. Future Louisiana governor

Ruffin G. Pleasant Ruffin Golson Pleasant (June 2, 1871 – September 12, 1937) was the 36th Governor of Louisiana from 1916 to 1920, who is remembered for having mobilized his state for World War I. Prior to his governorship, Pleasant was the Louisiana attorne ...

was the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and captain of the LSU team. According to legend, purple and gold were chosen because they were

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...

colors, and the green was sold out. The game was the only one Coates ever coached, and the only football game Pleasant played in. Pleasant was later inducted into the

LSU Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes members of the LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletics program that have made a lasting impact on Louisiana State University (LSU). To be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the Athlete ca ...

LSU achieved its first victory by beating Natchez Athletic Club 26–0 in

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

. Samuel Marmaduke Dinwidie Clark has the honor of scoring the very first touchdown in LSU history. The first football game played on the LSU campus was at State Field on December 3, 1894, a loss against Mississippi. LSU's only touchdown in that game was scored by the head coach,

Albert Simmonds Albert Price Simmonds (October 29, 1875 – November 13, 1953) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU) for two seasons from 1894 to 1895, the second and third seasons in the LSU Tig ...

. This was the first year of play for William S. Slaughter who lettered as an end for 5 years (1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898). Slaughter was LSU's first five time football letterman. By 1895, LSU had its first win in Baton Rouge. In 1896 LSU hired

Allen Jeardeau Allen Wilson Jeardeau (April 1, 1866 – April 10, 1900) was an American college football and college baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the Platteville Normal School—now the University of Wisconsin–Platteville—in 1895 ...

of Platteville, Wisconsin. LSU went undefeated, winning the school's first conference championship in the school's first year as a member of the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

(SIAA), the first southern athletics. conference. Tulane was forced to forfeit for its attempt to play Hall of Fame Penn back

George H. Brooke George Haydock Brooke (July 9, 1874 – November 16, 1938) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a fullback at Swarthmore College from 1889 to 1892 and at the University of Pennsylvania from 1893 to 1895. Broo ...

. This was the first team to be called the "Tigers." The mascot was reputed to be named after the “Fighting Tigers,” the name of the

9th Louisiana Infantry The 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment or Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the state of Louisiana in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, th ...

in the Civil War. Coach Jeardeau returned for his second but final year at LSU in

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

for two games in Baton Rouge. A yellow fever outbreak throughout the South caused the postponement of LSU's classes starting, and the football season being cut back to only two games. Chavanne1898

Another outbreak of yellow fever similar to the one in 1897 caused LSU to play only one game in 1898. By the time LSU was able to play its only game of the season, Allen Jeardeau had departed from the school as head football coach, and no provision had been made to replace him. The job of coach then fell to the team's captain, Edmond Chavanne, thus the first LSU alumnus to coach the team. New coach John P. Gregg led the Tigers to a 1–4 season in

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

, including a loss to the "iron men" of Sewanee. The only wins were in an exhibition game against a high school team (which LSU does not officially record as a win) and against rival, Tulane. It was the first year of play for LSU's second five-year letterman,

John J. Coleman John J. Coleman was a college football player for Louisiana State University (LSU), the school's second five-year letterman (1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903). He was a quarterback on the 1902 team, which had the longest schedule yet for the Tigers ...

(1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903). LSU-Auburn 1902-State_Field-1

Chavanne was rehired in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), ...

, posting a 2–2 record. Chavanne was replaced by W. S. Borland as head coach in 1901, leading the team to a successful 5–1 season. After the Tulane game, a 22–0 loss, LSU protested to the SIAA, and alleged that Tulane had used a professional player during the game. Several months later, the SIAA ruled the game an 11–0 forfeit in favor of LSU. The seven-game 1902 season was the longest yet for the Tigers and also featured the most games on the road. LSU upset

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, avenged last season's loss to Auburn, and lost only to Vanderbilt, which claimed an SIAA title after the win. The 1903 season broke the previous season's record for most games played (seven) with nine games. Dan A. Killian coached the Tigers from 1904 to 1906. Back

René A. Messa René A. Messa was a college football player. He was a prominent running back for the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University, selected All-Southern in 1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is establis ...

made some All-Southern teams in 1904. The 1905 team went 3–0. LSU-Bacardi Bowl 1907

In 1907, LSU became the first American college football team to play on foreign soil in the Bacardi Bowl against the University of Havana on Christmas Day in Havana, Cuba. LSU won 56–0. John Seip ran back a 67-yard punt return. Gefenton

The 1908 team posted an undefeated 10–0 record.

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Doc Fenton George Ellwood "Doc" Fenton (April 30, 1887 – February 8, 1968) was an American college football player. He was elected to the Louisiana State University Hall of Fame in 1937 and to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971. Early years Doc ...

led the nation in scoring with 132 points, posting then school records of 36 extra points and 6 field goals.

Mike Lally Michael F. Lally was a college football player who played for Louisiana State University (LSU). College football Lally was a halfback for the LSU Tigers of the Louisiana State University, a member of the 1908 LSU Tigers football team which went ...

was his running mate in the backfield. LSU beat Auburn 10–2, Seip going over for the first touchdown. Auburn's 2 was had by a safety, after

T. C. Locke Thomas Courtney Locke was a college football player and for eight years was adjutant general of Alabama. Auburn University He was a prominent guard for the Auburn Tigers of Auburn University from 1907 to 1909. 1908 In the 10 to 2 loss against ...

blocked Fenton's punt. Fenton could not recover the fumble because he was knocked unconscious by a spectator's cane. The National Championship Foundation retroactively awarded 1908 LSU the national championship though it is not claimed by LSU. This season also led to an SIAA championship; but was clouded by accusations of professionalism from

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice w ...

and rival school Tulane. Auburn and Vanderbilt were among those listed as alternative conference champions. Both Fenton and Seip were inaugural inductees into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

was a disastrous year for the Tigers. After a strong 1909 campaign under coaches Joe Pritchard and

John W. Mayhew John Wesley Mayhew (October 2, 1885 – September 30, 1941) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball coach. He played college football at Brown University from 1906 to 1908 and was named an All-American in ...

, which saw their only conference loss come to SIAA champion Sewanee, the team lost some star power; Stovall, Lally, and Seip had all graduated. 1914 LSU vs

Pat Dwyer, an assistant at Auburn in 1908, was hired in 1911. He once used guard Tom Dutton for a "

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

play" in which back

Lawrence Dupont Lawrence Herbert "Dutch" Dupont (December 22, 1891 – April 5, 1955) was a college football player. He was a prominent quarterback for the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University from 1910 to 1913. He was elected to the LSU Hall of Fame in ...

would crawl between Dutton's legs; supposedly very effective in short yardage situations. The 1913 team lost only to SIAA champion Auburn by a touchdown. Fullback

Alf Reid Alfred J. Reid was a college football player and chemist. A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lake Charles, he was a prominent Fullback (American football), fullback for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers. He was selected College Football All-So ...

made All-Southern. LSU's largest loss margin came on October 31, 1914 in a game against Texas A&M in Dallas, Texas. The final score was Texas A&M 63, LSU 9. In 1916, Walter Camp gave

Phillip Cooper Phillip "Chief" Cooper was a college football player. College football Cooper was a prominent tackle for the LSU Tigers football team, and captain of the 1916 team. Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an ...

honorable mention on his All-America team.

Irving Pray Irving Rudolph Pray (December 25, 1886 – August 27, 1948) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont from 1913 to 1914 and Louisiana State University (LSU) for part of the 19 ...

and Dana X. Bible also served as the Tigers coach in 1916 Washington's

Wayne Sutton Wayne Campbell Sutton (November 6, 1890 – November 1976) was an American college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football ...

coached the 1917 team to a 3–5 record.

coached full seasons in 1919 and 1922, the inaugural season of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

(SoCon). Branch Bocock led the Tigers for the 1921 season, in which they were beaten only by Tulane.

Mike Donahue Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, Track and field athletics, track, Association football, soccer, and golf, and a college a ...

came from Auburn to be the seventeenth head football coach at LSU in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

. The biggest win in Donahue's tenure was probably the 20–14 victory over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

in 1924. The final game of the 1924 season saw the first game played at Tiger Stadium, with an original

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...

of 12,000, on Thanksgiving Day against Tulane. 18,000 fans managed to fit into the stadium to watch the Green Wave defeat the Tigers 13–0. In 1925, the team's first full season in Tiger Stadium began with shutout wins over Louisiana Normal and

Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the ...

. The following week coach Wallace Wade's national champion

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

blew-out LSU in Tiger Stadium, 42–0, which was at the time the worst home loss in school history. The 1925 team also beat John Heisman's

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

team, but ended the season with a second straight shutout loss to Tulane. Donahue resigned after the 1927 season, less than two months after signing a six-year contract extension with the team. LSU compiled a record of 23 wins, 19 losses, and three ties while with Donahue, which included a 5–14–2 record in SoCon games. 180px, Louisiana governor and U.S. senator Huey Long was instrumental in building the program. Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin recommended

Russ Cohen Henry Russell Cohen (February 13, 1893 – April 7, 1981) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1928 to 1931 and at the University ...

for the LSU job. Cohen's best year at LSU was his first, in 1928. Led by All-Southern captain Jess Tinsley, Tigers posted a 6–2–1 record, suffering losses to

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 ...

and Wallace Wade's

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a m ...

. Star halfback Percy Brown broke his shoulder against Alabama. The tie was to Bill Banker and rival Tulane, which was as good as its ever been from 1929 to 1931. In

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

LSU played its first night game in Tiger Stadium, a 31–0 victory over Spring Hill. Under West Point's Biff Jones, the 1932 team tied for the

championship in its last season as a member of the conference. The 1933 lost no games and was led by track and field athlete Jack Torrance. Jones resigned after the 1934 season after a heated exchange with noted LSU supporter, Louisiana senator Huey P. Long. In the last game of the season, Long was displeased after the team had lost two straight games and were trailing at halftime to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. Long decided to give a motivational speech to the team at halftime, but was turned away by Jones at the locker room door. The ensuing argument ended with Jones declaring to resign, effective at the end of the game. Gaynell Tinsley, the cousin of Jess, has a profile at the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

which describes him this way: "Tinsley was a magnificent athletic specimen, standing 6-0, and weighing 196-pounds, size he used equally well as a defensive stalwart who was a blocking master." As a sophomore in 1934, Tinsley had a 65-yard pass reception, thrown by halfback

Abe Mickal Ibrahim Khalil "Abe" Mickal ( – September 20, 2001) was a Lebanese-American college football player and a doctor. He played as a halfback for the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University, where he was notable for his passing s ...

, against

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

, which stood as a record for several years as "the longest pass in Southern football history." Under head coach Bernie Moore, LSU won their first

(SEC) Championship finishing with a 5–0 conference record and 9–2–0 overall in 1935. LSU played in their first Sugar Bowl game, falling to No. 4

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

3–2 at Tulane Stadium. The Tigers and Horned Frogs both took home the Williamson Poll national championship, which is not claimed by LSU. End Gaynell Tinsley was named a consensus All-American in 1935 and 1936, becoming the first All-America selection for LSU. Coach Moore once said, "Tinsley could have made All-American at any position. He was so tough, he made blockers quit. He's the greatest lineman I ever saw." Along with Tinsley in the line were

Marvin Stewart Marvin Christopher "Moose" Stewart (September 25, 1912 – August 30, 2009) was an American collegiate football player and United States Marine Corps officer. He attended Louisiana State University, where he was a lineman for the LSU Tigers foo ...

Justin Rukas Justin Rukas (February 4, 1910 – September 28, 1963) was an American football player. He was a prominent tackle and guard for the LSU Tigers football team. He graduated with a degree in geology. Rukas played professionally for the Brook ...

, and Jeff Barrett. In the backfield were Mickal,

Jesse Fatherree Jesse Levi Fatherree Jr. (June 7, 1913 – July 23, 1962) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. Head coaching career Fatherree was the fourth head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana College—now known as ...

, and Pinky Rohm – all members of LSU's "Early Days" team of the century. The team's quarterback was Bill May, awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy in 1936. The 1936 team won the school's second SEC Championship finishing with a 6–0 conference record and 9–1–1 overall. The Tigers finished runner-up to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

in the AP Poll. LSU won the Williamson Poll and Sagarin Ratings national championships, which are not claimed by the school. LSU's largest margin of victory, and most points scored in a football game came on November 21, in a game at Tiger Stadium against USL (University of Southwestern Louisiana, now

University of Louisiana Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

). The final score was LSU 93, USL 0. The 1937 team featured Ken Kavanaugh and was upset by Vanderbilt using a hidden ball trick, the school's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent. This season also featured the first game in the Florida–LSU football rivalry, which was won 19–0 by LSU. In

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidde ...

, in a game against

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast ...

, Kavanaugh caught four touchdown passes in the 26–7 win. According to Kavanaugh and teammate

Young Bussey Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American ...

, Kavanaugh found four rusty nails on the sideline during the game. The next week against

, he found another nail and scored another touchdown to give LSU a 7–0 win. The pattern continued against Loyola and Vanderbilt, as Kavanaugh found two nails before each game and in each scored two touchdowns. A sportswriter for the '' Baton Rouge Advocate'' claimed he saw coach Moore at a local store stocking up on nails before LSU's game against No. 1

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. Kavanaugh failed to score in the game, however, and the Tigers lost 20–0. The Nashville Banner named Kavanaugh co-MVP of the

along with Bob Foxx of

. Kavanaugh was a consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection for the 1939 All-America Team. The 1943 team was led by Steve Van Buren, moved to running back because of a lack of players due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

conscription, and won the Orange Bowl. Van Buren led the NCAA in scoring that season, with 98 points (110 including the bowl game). The 1946 team played in one of the most notable instances of the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium in ...

– " Ice Bowl." LSU, led by head coach Moore and quarterback

Y. A. Tittle Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was a professional American football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Baltimore Colts, after spe ...

, entered the game against

with a 9–1 record. Ice, sleet and snow pelted the stadium as LSU players filled oil drums with charcoal and started fires for makeshift heaters while fans built fires in the stands. LSU dominated the game with a 271–54 advantage in total yards and 15–1 advantage in first downs, but that did not equate to the numbers on the scoreboard; the game ended in a 0–0 tie and LSU finished the season 9–1–1. In

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, Moore retired, and Gaynell Tinsley, who had been working as an assistant, was promoted to replace his former mentor. The 1949 team made it to the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed on ...

, where it was swamped by Oklahoma. Tinsley became the first person to participate in the Sugar Bowl as both a player and a head coach. Tinsley's LSU teams never met with the same success they had achieved in 1949. In seven years as head coach at LSU, Tinsley's teams compiled a record of 35–34–6.

Paul Dietzel (1955–1961)

In 1955, Paul Dietzel became the head coach at LSU. Jim Taylor was an All-American in

1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

, and led the SEC in scoring in 1956 and 1957. During Dietzel's first three years, none of his teams had a winning season. In 1958, however, Dietzel came up with a unique "three- platoon system." Instead of replacing individual players during the game, Dietzel would bring in an entirely new set of players between plays and series. The three teams were called the White Team (the first-string offense and defense), the Gold (Go) Team (the second-string offense), and the Chinese Bandits (the second-string defense). The system worked, as the 1958 team won the school's first claimed national championship, beating No. 12 Clemson 7–0 in the

. The only score was a pass from Billy Cannon to sophomore

Mickey Mangham Michael Ray "Mickey" Mangham (August 25, 1939 – September 16, 2010) was an American football player for the LSU Tigers from 1958 to 1960. He played at the end position on both offense and defense and was selected as an Academic All-America and ...

, one of the smallest players on the team. Cannon won the Heisman Trophy in 1959. On Halloween, late in the game between No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Ole Miss, LSU was trailing 3–0. Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a TD, breaking seven tackles. This has become known as Cannon's Halloween Run. The Rebels then drove down the field but were stopped on the LSU 1-yard line as the game ended resulting in a 7–3 victory for LSU in Tiger Stadium. In the Sugar Bowl, one of the most anticipated rematches in college football history took place. This game, however, would not be the classic that transpired only weeks before. Ole Miss dominated the game from start to finish and came away with a decisive 21–0 win over the Tigers. LSU finished the season having only given up 29 points.

Charles McClendon (1962–1979)

Tulane vs LSU at Tulane Stadium December 1973

Dietzel left for

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

after the 1961 season, and Charles "Charlie" McClendon, an assistant since 1953, was named his successor. McClendon picked up where McLendon left off, with three top ten finishes in his first four years. Doug Moreau broke Fenton's record of 6 field goals in 1965. In the

1966 Cotton Bowl The 1966 Cotton Bowl Classic may refer to: * 1966 Cotton Bowl Classic (January) — January 1, 1966, game between the LSU Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks * 1966 Cotton Bowl Classic (December) — December 31, 1966, game between the Georgia Bul ...

, unranked LSU upset undefeated and No. 2 ranked

, winning the game 14–7 and snapping Arkansas' 22-game winning streak. In 1972, number 6 LSU survived an upset bid from unranked Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium by winning the game on a touchdown pass from quarterback Bert Jones to running back Brad Davis. Ole Miss fans say the 1972 contest featured a few seconds of free football. The Tigers trailed the Rebels 16–10 with four seconds to play. After a lengthy incompletion by Jones, the game clock still showed one second remaining. The Tigers used the precious second to win the game on the last play, 17–16. A song was written to commemorate the game, called ''One Second Blues'', which is featured on the album "Hey Fightin' Tigers". The alleged home-clock advantage inspired a sign at the Louisiana state line, leaving Mississippi, reading, "You are now entering Louisiana. Set your clocks back four seconds." For that year, the Ole Miss yearbook reported the score for the game as "Ole Miss 16, LSU 10 + 7 ".

Bo Rein tragedy

After having just four coaches over 44 years from 1935 to 1979, the team went through eight coaches in a 20-year period from 1980 to 1999. This stretch began with the death of Bo Rein in a plane crash before coaching a single game for the Tigers. Following the 1979 season, NC State head coach Bo Rein was hired to replace McClendon as LSU's head coach. In January 1980, Rein took a recruiting trip to Shreveport, Louisiana. On his January 10, 1980, return trip back to

, his private aircraft crashed, leaving no survivors. Rein and experienced pilot Louis Benscotter left Shreveport in a Cessna 441 aircraft. The flight was planned to be a 40-minute trip, but when Benscotter rerouted east to avoid a storm, air traffic control lost contact with him. The aircraft climbed to 40,000 feet and kept heading due east. After being tracked on radar, the aircraft was eventually intercepted by U.S. Air National Guard

Convair F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor i ...

fighter aircraft over North Carolina, a thousand miles off-course and at an altitude of , feet higher than its maximum certified ceiling. The military pilots could not see anyone in the cockpit and the aircraft continued on over the Atlantic Ocean, where it crashed after running out of fuel. A US Coast Guard crew spotted some debris, but no wreckage was ever recovered. The bodies of Rein and Benscotter have never been found. The cause of the crash is undetermined but was most likely cabin depressurization causing hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, resulting in the occupants losing consciousness as in the 1999 South Dakota Learjet crash. Rein's two-month stint at LSU is the fourth shortest head coaching stint in FBS history, behind only George O'Leary's five-day tenure at

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

in December 2001, Mike Haywood's sixteen-day stint at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in December 2010 and Manny Diaz's eighteen-day stint as

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

head coach in December 2018.

Jerry Stovall (1980–1983)

Jerry Stovall Jerry Lane Stovall (born April 30, 1941) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he was a unanimous selection to the 1962 College F ...

was hired to replace Rein as head coach in 1980. LSU defeated Alabama 20–10 in Birmingham, Alabama in

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

's last game coaching against LSU, in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

. LSU's defense held Alabama to 119 yards of total offense, as the Tigers defeated the Tide for the first time since 1970. "You don't understand how it feels to get hit in the mouth for 11 years," Stovall said in the locker room after the game. "This is going to feel pretty good when it soaks in." 1983 was the first season calling LSU football for radio play-by-play man Jim Hawthorne, who served in this role until the 2016 season and became known as the "Voice of the Tigers". LSU finished that season with a record of 4–7, and Stovall was dismissed as LSU's head coach.

Bill Arnsparger (1984–1986)

Only two hours after the firing of Stovall, LSU hired

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger as head coach. As the LSU head coach, Arnsparger led the Tigers to two Sugar Bowl berths in three seasons, in 1984 and 1986, both times against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

. In 1984, LSU finished in a tie for second behind

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, but the

(SEC) presidents voted to strip Florida of the conference championship due to NCAA rules violations and LSU participated in the Sugar Bowl instead. His 1986 LSU squad won the school's first outright SEC title since 1970 and the Tigers' last in the pre- championship game era, though the season was marred somewhat by an upset home loss to Miami University, his alma mater. By 1985, Arnsparger was growing frustrated with various scandals in the LSU athletic department, particularly involving

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach Dale Brown. After

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

ran a cover story about the university's issues, Arnsparger met privately with athletic director Bob Brodhead to complain that the negative coverage was harming football recruiting and to threaten to leave the school if something wasn't done. Shortly after the final regular season game in 1986, Arnsparger announced he was resigning to become the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and university, universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of c ...

at Florida.

Mike Archer (1987–1990)

Mike Archer came to LSU as an assistant coach in 1984 after being both a player and an assistant coach at Miami. He replaced Bill Arnsparger as the LSU Tigers football head coach in 1987 when Arnsparger left to become the

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Archer was Arnsparger's defensive coordinator in 1985 and 1986, and was Arnsparger's hand-picked successor. When Archer took the LSU head coaching job, he was 34 years old, the youngest head coach in Division I-A football. Archer was chosen over a number of interviewed candidates, which reportedly included Steve Spurrier, Mike Shanahan, and

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is currently in his second stint as the head football coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, University of North Carolina, where he first coached fro ...

. In 1987, LSU finished the season ranked #5 in both major polls with a 10–1–1 record, blemished only by a tie against Ohio State and a loss to

. The latter was all that kept the Tigers out of the

1988 Sugar Bowl The 1988 Sugar Bowl was the 54th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1987–88 bowl game season, it featured sixth-ranked Auburn Tigers of ...

; Auburn went instead. It was LSU's first 10-win season in more than 25 years. In 1988, unranked LSU staged a near-literal, earth-shattering upset victory over No. 4 Auburn in Tiger Stadium, winning the game 7–6 with 1:41 remaining on a touchdown pass from quarterback Tommy Hodson to tailback Eddie Fuller. The reaction of the crowd was so immense that it registered as an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

on a seismograph in LSU's Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex. It was later dubbed "The Earthquake Game" by ESPN. After back-to-back losing seasons in 1989 and 1990, Archer was forced to resign. He lost four of his last five games in 1990, the lone win coming in the season finale against Tulane.

Curley Hallman (1991–1994)

Archer was replaced by Southern Miss head coach Curley Hallman. During Hallman's first season in 1991, several of Hallman's football players were accused of instigating a fight with LSU men's basketball players, including All-American

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the great ...

, in Broussard Hall, LSU's athletic dormitory, two days prior to the Tigers' contest with Mississippi State. LSU started the 1991 season with one-sided losses to

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 t ...

(31–10) and Hallman's alma mater, Texas A&M (45–7), and finished 5–6. The season marked the second time LSU suffered three consecutive losing seasons, and the first time since 1954 to 1956. The 1992 season included being shut out 32–0 by Ole Miss on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

, and beaten 30–6 at

in the season finale, which was the first meeting between the Tigers and the

Razorbacks The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

upon Arkansas joining the SEC. The Tigers finished 2–9, still the worst in school history. In 1993, LSU's centennial football season, the Tigers lost 58–3 to the Florida Gators in Tiger Stadium, the worst loss in school history. Amazingly, just four weeks after that, the Tigers stunned the Alabama Crimson Tide, 17–13, at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, ending the Tide's 31-game unbeaten streak. LSU entered the season finale at 5–5, with a chance at its first bowl bid since the end of the 1988 season. However, the Tigers gave up 412 yards rushing in a 42–24 loss to Arkansas at home. The beginning of the end for Hallman came on September 17, 1994 at

Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadi ...

against Auburn. LSU led 23–9 early in the fourth quarter, and the Bayou Bengals were in good position to end Auburn's 13-game winning streak. But LSU quarterback Jamie Howard threw two interceptions that were returned for Auburn touchdowns, tying the game. LSU regained the lead with a field goal, but when the Bayou Bengals were trying to run out the clock, Howard threw his fourth interception of the game, and incredibly, Auburn returned the pick for another touchdown, giving the home team a 30–26 lead. LSU drove into Auburn territory in the game's final minute, but Howard threw his fifth and sixth interceptions on consecutive drives, sealing the win for Auburn. LSU never recovered, and ultimately finished 4-7. On November 12, LSU lost to Southern Miss, Hallman's former team, 20-18 in front of the smallest Death Valley crowd since 1974 (announced attendance was 51,718, but LSU officials estimated the actual crowd was closer to 40,000). Two days later, LSU

Joe Dean gave Hallman an ultimatum–resign or be fired. When Hallman refused to resign, Dean fired him, though he was allowed to finish out the season. He closed out his career at LSU with a 30-12 win over Arkansas—the Tigers' first regular-season win in the series since 1956. His overall record was 16–28; his winning percentage of .364 is the worst for a non-interim coach in school history.

Gerry DiNardo (1995–1999)

On December 13, 1994, LSU hired Vanderbilt head coach Gerry DiNardo as Hallman's replacement. Prior to the 1995 season, DiNardo petitioned the NCAA to reverse a rule which had been in place since 1983 that prohibited teams from wearing white jerseys at home. After the ruling, LSU was able to wear its white jerseys at home in Tiger Stadium for the first time since 1982. For its first home game of the 1995 season in what was dubbed the “Bring Back the Magic" Game, LSU in white jerseys upset No. 5 Auburn, winning 12–6. With no time remaining in the game, LSU defensive back Troy Twillie intercepted Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix's 11-yard pass into the end zone to secure the victory. The Tigers achieved their first winning season in six seasons and finished with a 7–4–1 record defeating a

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

led

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

team in the

1995 Independence Bowl The 1995 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the LSU Tigers and the Michigan State Spartans. Background This was the first Independence Bowl to have an at large bid for the Southeastern Conference, which continued ...

. After nine straight losses to Steve Spurrier-led

, the No. 14 Tigers defeated the No. 1 ranked defending national champion Gators 28–21 in Tiger Stadium in 1997. LSU running back Kevin Faulk was featured on the following week's cover of ''

'' with the title "See you later, Gators." In a game referred to as, "No. 1 Falls," it was the first time LSU defeated a No. 1 ranked team and the first time the goalposts were ever torn down in Tiger Stadium. In 1998, LSU started the season with a preseason ranking of No. 9. They climbed to No. 6 before losing to No. 12

on October 3. The next week the No. 11-ranked Tigers lost to the No. 6

. After the loss to the Gators, LSU dropped 13 of the next 17 games, including losses to a No. 10

and No. 13

later in the 1998 season. In 1999 LSU lost to No. 10

, No. 8

, No. 12 Mississippi State, No. 25 Ole Miss, and No. 12

. On November 15, 1999, two days after the Tigers lost to unranked

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

at home, LSU chancellor

Mark Emmert Mark Allen Emmert (born December 16, 1952) is the current president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He is the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he was named as the incoming president on April 27, 2010, and assumed his duties on November 1 ...

fired DiNardo with one game remaining in the season. DiNardo was given the option to coach the final game of the season against Arkansas, but DiNardo declined. Instead, offensive line coach Hal Hunter was named interim coach, leading LSU to a 35–10 victory over the Razorbacks.

Nick Saban (2000–2004)

Sugar Bowl Game 2004 from Flickr 29799042

On December 1, 1999, LSU hired

head coach

as DiNardo's replacement. In Saban's first season of

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, LSU returned to national prominence by beating No. 11 Tennessee in overtime 38–31 on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, after which the goal posts were torn down for only the 2nd time in the history of Tiger Stadium. The victory over Tennessee also marked the first time that LSU played in an overtime game at home. Just a few weeks later, the goal posts were again ripped down as LSU beat Alabama 30–28 on CBS in Baton Rouge for the first time in 31 years. This was the 3rd and final time that the goal posts came down in Death Valley. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, No. 21 LSU staged an upset victory over No. 2

in the

SEC Championship The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regu ...

, winning 31–20. The victory earned LSU a spot in its first

since 1986, and knocked the Volunteers out of national title contention. No. 16 LSU survived an upset bid from unranked

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

in 2002 by winning the game 33–30 on a miraculous 75-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired known as the " Bluegrass Miracle". Kentucky coach Guy Morriss had received the traditional Gatorade bath right before the Hail Mary. Kentucky fans, believing they had won, had already rushed the field and torn down one goal post. In

, No. 11 LSU outlasted No. 7 Georgia, 17–10. With ESPN College Gameday on hand for the first time since 1997, Quarterback Matt Mauck found wide receiver Skyler Green for a 34-yard touchdown with 3:03 remaining in the game. All-American cornerback Corey Webster sealed the victory with an interception in the final minute. The contest dubbed the "Let the Valley Shake" Game is notable for LSU fans chanting LSU-LSU after a Georgia touchdown. Georgia head coach Mark Richt was quoted as saying, "Usually when the opposing team does well, the crowd quiets down. All I began to hear was a chant, 'L-S-U, L-S-U.' It got louder and louder and louder. It was the loudest I've ever heard a stadium." The win catapulted LSU onto the national scene. LSU won its second title and became the BCS national champion by defeating Oklahoma 21–14 in the 2004 Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship Game).

Les Miles (2005–2016)

On January 4, 2005, Oklahoma State head coach Les Miles was named the new LSU head coach. In Miles's first season in 2005 at LSU was moved to Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. With one endzone painted with "www.KatrinaSRF.com" and the other with "Together We Stand" along with logos of the states of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, LSU rallied in the fourth quarter for a 35-31 comeback victory. Trailing 17–7 in the fourth quarter, LSU returned a blocked field goal and punt for touchdowns to ignite the comeback. The lead went back-and-forth with Arizona State taking a 31–28 lead with 4:07 to play. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell then lead the Tigers on a 10-play, 91-yard drive capped with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Early Doucet on fourth-and-10 to give LSU a 35–31 lead. LSU's defense then stopped Arizona State on downs at the LSU 30-yard line to secure the victory. In 2006, Russell completed a touchdown pass to WR Early Doucet with 9 seconds to go to beat

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Foot ...

after a breakout performance by Tennessee backup QB Jonathan Crompton. LSU_-_OSU_1

No. 2 LSU played what was hyped as one of the most exciting games ever played in Tiger Stadium against No. 9

. The game is also known for the LSU students leaving thousands of messages on the phone of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow, prompting him to give a "telephone" hand gesture to the LSU student section following an early touchdown. Florida began the fourth quarter with a 24–14 lead, but behind solid defense and being a perfect 5 for 5 on fourth down conversions, the Tigers were able to take the lead 28–24 with 1:06 left in the game after a Jacob Hester touchdown to defeat the Gators. It was LSU's first national primetime game on CBS since 1981 and the game has been dubbed, "Primetime Drama." LSU went on to defeat No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS national championship 38–24, becoming the first school to win two BCS national championship titles and improving their BCS record to 4–0, the best of any team. They also became the first two loss team to ever play in the BCS national championship. Sidline picture of Alabama vs LSU on November 5th 2011

Sidline picture of Alabama vs LSU on November 5th 2011

In the 5th game of the 2010 season, undefeated No. 12 LSU trailed the Volunteers 14–10 with 0:04 left on the clock and the ball spotted on Tennessee's 2-yard line. On 3rd and goal, after a failed quarterback sneak attempt and with time disappearing off the clock, LSU attempted to send in several players for a substitution package. Seeing that the time was about to expire, center T-Bob Hebert snapped the ball before quarterback

Jordan Jefferson Jordan Jamal Jefferson (born August 25, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Jefferson played college football for the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern ...

was ready, the ball was fumbled, Jefferson was tackled, and the clock expired. On further review, Tennessee was penalized half the distance to the goalline for illegal participation. Amid the confusion in the waning seconds, Tennessee coaches sent 4 players onto the field when they saw LSU make a substitution. Only two players then left the field, leaving the Volunteers with 13 players lined up on defense. Due to the penalty, LSU got the ball back for a single untimed play on the 1-yard line. With the last play, running back

Stevan Ridley Stevan Todd Ridley (born January 27, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Ridley has also played for the New ...

received the toss sweep, charging forward, only to be hit near the line of scrimmage, but continued to drive forward through two Tennessee defenders and into the endzone for the game-winning score. The ninth regulation game of the 2011 season for LSU found the No. 1 nationally ranked Tigers against the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in a match called the " Game of the Century" or the "Matchup of the Year". Both teams were undefeated and both were also coming off a bye week; viewed as important to the BCS Championship game as the "inside track" by many of the sportswriters, the press built up the game in a Super Bowl-style atmosphere. Ultimately, the game came down to field position and a series of field goals as the top-ranked defense of both teams prevented any touchdowns. Alabama missed three field goals and a fourth was blocked during regulation, leading to a 6–6 tie heading into overtime. On the first possession of overtime, Alabama again missed a field goal from 52 yards out, only to watch LSU earn the win on the next possession with a chip-shot field goal. As a result, it was the second-lowest scoring matchup between No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the history of the NCAA, with a 9–6 decision. For the first time in BCS National Championship history, two SEC teams, the No. 1 LSU Tigers and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, again faced each other in the National Championship Game. Alabama won the game, 21–0. The SEC-only title game added impetus to the push for a national playoff system and hastened the death of the BCS system as implemented up to that time. Having lost three straight games after a 7–0 start into the season, rumors were floating that LSU would buy-out Miles' contract after the 2015 season. However, Miles was retained for the 2016 season. On September 25, 2016, LSU fired Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron after an 18–13 loss to Auburn the previous day and a 2–2 start to begin the season.

Ed Orgeron (2016–2021)

After the firing of Les Miles, defensive line coach Ed Orgeron became LSU's interim head coach. Orgeron stated that he was going to "flip the script". He promoted tight ends coach Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator and brought back

Pete Jenkins Pete Jenkins (born August 27, 1941) is a former American football coach and player. His coaching career spanned a 54-year period from 1964 to 2017 at the high school, college and professional level. Having mentored numerous NFL and college de ...

to take over as defensive line coach. Orgeron also decided to shorten practices and spend more time in the film room in order to keep players fresh. In addition, he brought the "theme of daily practices" he modeled from coach Pete Carroll during Orgeron's first stint as an assistant at USC. These practice days have descriptive nicknames like Tell the Truth Monday, Competition Tuesday, Turnover Wednesday, No Repeat Thursday, and Focus Friday. Under Orgeron's watch, LSU finished out the season with a 6–2 record. Later in 2016, he was hired as the full-time head coach. The beginning of the 2017 season saw Orgeron hire

Matt Canada Matt Canada (born January 19, 1972) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for ...

to be the offensive coordinator. Canada was known for an offensive playbook that was heavily based on setting skilled positions in motion prior to the snap, thus using jet sweeps often. The season began with LSU ranked in the top 15, but early losses to Mississippi State and Troy quickly found LSU unranked. However, the team went 7–2 in their remaining games, finishing the year with a 9–4 record. 2019 LSU-Texas DKR Texas Memorial - 3rd and 17 Game

2019 LSU-Texas DKR Texas Memorial - 3rd and 17 Game

The 2018 season began with a season opening upset of 8th-ranked Miami, followed by another upset of 7th-ranked Auburn. These victories helped LSU rise to 5th in the CFP rankings, but a loss to 25th-ranked Florida sent LSU tumbling back to 13th. In response, the Tigers pulled off a shocking upset of No. 2 Georgia. The Tigers then avenged the previous year's loss to Mississippi State. The victories over Georgia and Mississippi State propelled LSU to being ranked No. 3 by the CFP going into a game against top-ranked Alabama. The LSU offense that had seemed to turn around after Steve Ensminger took over the duties of offensive coordinator was unable to score against Alabama's defense. After the loss to Alabama, LSU was able to defeat Arkansas and Rice before falling to Texas A&M in a 7-overtime game. With a 9–3 record, LSU was invited to the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

to play the University of Central Florida, who had not lost a game in the previous two seasons. On New Years Day 2019, LSU gave UCF their first loss since 2016. LSU finished the 2018 season with a record of 10–3 and were ranked sixth in the nation by the AP poll and seventh by the Coaches poll. LSU was not predicted to have a good season in 2018, and some, including SEC commentator Paul Finebaum, believed it would be Orgeron's last until he had a turnaround season. 2020-0113-OrgeronBurrowQueen

After opening the season with a home win versus Georgia Southern, Orgeron's 2019 team recorded a statement road win over

in week two. The key play of the game was a third down pass needing seventeen yards for a first down late in the fourth quarter. The Joe Burrow to Justin Jefferson pass resulted in a 61-yard touchdown sealing the victory. That play led to the game being labeled the "3rd-and-17" Game. This game propelled the team to an undefeated regular season, including a 46–41 victory over

in the 2019 version of the "Game of the Century" at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. A win over Arkansas in the penultimate game of the regular season clinched the SEC West division title and secured a berth in the

2019 SEC Championship Game The 2019 SEC Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game determined the 2019 champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game featured the East ...

against

. This was their first appearance in the SEC Championship Game since 2011. The traditionally defensive-minded Tigers averaged over 48 points per game, led by quarterback Joe Burrow, Baton Rouge-native running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and star receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. Burrow set new LSU and SEC single-season records for passing yards with 4,366; his 44 touchdown passes set a new LSU record and tied the SEC mark. Orgeron's Tigers defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game to win their first SEC title since 2011. On Sunday, December 8, 2019, they were named the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. They met the Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma Sooners in the semifinals in the Peach Bowl, defeating them by a score of 63–28. Following the regular season, Orgeron was named the winner of the 2019 AP College Football Coach of the Year Award and

Home Depot Coach of the Year Award The Coach of the Year Award is given annually to college football's top head coach. The award for the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision is selected by ESPN and ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ...

. Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman Trophy. On January 13, 2020, Orgeron won his first national championship as a head coach with a win over the unbeaten defending national champion Clemson Tigers, 42–25, finishing the season 15–0. Orgeron and the LSU Tigers won the national title in their home state at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. LSU's 2020 season was shortened in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. They played a ten-game, all-SEC schedule. LSU started the season ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll, but dropped out of the rankings after three games and finished the season with a record of 5–5. The Tigers had three different starting quarterbacks throughout the course of the season. Myles Brennan started the first three games, but was injured during the game against

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

on October 10 and was lost for the season.

T. J. Finley Tyler Jamal "T. J." Finley (born March 25, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Auburn Tigers. Finley attended and played high school football at Ponchatoula High School in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana and began his college career a ...

started the next five games. Max Johnson started the final two games of the season. He led the Tigers to an upset win over the No. 6 Florida Gators in Gainesville and a shootout win over Ole Miss in the season finale. In March 2021, a woman testifying in front of Louisiana state legislators claimed that she had reported an instance of sexual harassment by LSU running back Derrius Guice to Orgeron, but that the coach had taken no action against him, and in fact called the woman and asked her to forgive Guice. Despite high expectations and a favorable schedule, LSU stumbled to a 3–3 start in 2021, losing several games in which they were favored. Following the tumultuous start, Orgeron’s Tigers were able to upend the No. 20-ranked Florida Gators in a thrilling rivalry game matchup. Despite the victory, LSU administrators announced the following day, on October 17, 2021, that they had reached a mutual agreement for Orgeron to leave the program at the end of the 2021 season. Orgeron's last game was a last-second victory against Texas A&M at home, which allowed the Tigers to finish the season at 6–6 and become bowl eligible. Despite this, Orgeron announced shortly after the game that he would not coach in the bowl game, and that offensive line coach Brad Davis would be named interim head coach.

Brian Kelly (2022–present)

On November 30, 2021,

head coach Brian Kelly was named the 34th head coach at LSU, replacing Ed Orgeron. Kelly cited "wanting to be with the best" and "the commitment to excellence, rich traditions, and unrivaled pride and passion of LSU Football" for the move. His signed contract also more than triples his previous salary, from his 2021 salary of $2.67 million to $9 million in 2022 with the total deal being worth $95 million over ten years excluding incentives. His season started with a 24-23 loss to Florida State in the Allstate Louisiana Kickoff at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Florida State had a 24-10 lead, but LSU slowly chipped away at the Seminoles' lead and scored a last-second touchdown to make the game 24-23. The Tigers opted to kick the extra point to force overtime, but Florida State was able to successfully block the kick, and thus sealed the victory. Moving forward, the Tigers would win 4 straight against Southern, Mississippi State, New Mexico, and Auburn before eventually losing to Tennessee by a score of 13-40. The Tigers would then go on to beat Florida, upset #7 ranked Ole Miss, upset #6 ranked Alabama 32-31, beat unranked Arkansas 13-10, clinching the SEC West and earning a spot in the 2022 SEC Championship against #1 ranked Georgia. They would go on to win against UAB 41-10 but lose to Texas A&M 23-38.

Conference affiliations

LSU has been independent and affiliated with three conferences. * Independent (1893–1895) *

(1896–1922) *

(1923–1932) *

(1933–present)

Championships

National championships

LSU claims four

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

(1958, 2003, 2007, and 2019) and have been selected national champions in nine seasons (1908, 1935, 1936, 1958, 1962, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2019) by NCAA-designated major selectors. In 1958 they finished as the only undefeated team with a victory over in the Sugar Bowl, and were named the national champions by both major polls ( AP and Coaches). In 2003, 2007, and 2019 LSU claimed the national championship after winning a postseason bowl national championship game. Claimed national championships: 1958 national championship
The 1958 LSU Tigers football team under head coach Paul Dietzel, cruised to an undefeated season capped by a win over Clemson in the

1959 Sugar Bowl The 1959 Sugar Bowl featured the top-ranked LSU Tigers and the 12th-ranked Clemson Tigers. LSU had already secured the national title, as the final editions of both major polls were released a month earlier in early December. With winner at half ...

. LSU was named the national champion in both the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broa ...

and the Coaches' Poll prior to their 7-0 Sugar Bowl victory over Clemson. LSU's shutout victory over #12 Clemson was convincing and highlighted LSU as the only team in the country to go undefeated. Army, Auburn, and Air Force did not lose all season but they each had one game that ended in a tie. It was the first recognized national championship for LSU in the poll era. With a 10–0 regular season record, LSU was crowned national champion by the Associated Press and the Coaches' Poll (UPI), as well as by 37 other selectors. LSU's total first place votes was 130 to win the 1958 National Championship in the AP poll. LSU received 29 of the 35 first-place votes to win the #1 ranking in the Coaches poll. LSU earned the #1 rankings in the AP and Coaches poll during week 6 and held on to the #1 rankings for the rest of the year to win the 1958 National Championship in both major polls. 2003 national championship
The

2003 LSU Tigers football team The 2003 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Nick Saban, the LSU Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium (LSU), Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, ...

was coached by

. LSU won the BCS National Championship, the first national championship for LSU since 1958. The Tigers battled for an 11–1 regular season record and then defeated

in the SEC Championship Game. The LSU Tigers faced off against Oklahoma for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national title. LSU beat Oklahoma 21–14 in the 2004 Sugar Bowl designated as the BCS National Championship Game. 2007 national championship
The

2007 LSU Tigers football team The 2007 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship and the College football national championships in NCAA Division I ...

, coached by Les Miles, won the

championship and the national championship with a 12–2 record. The LSU Tigers took on the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the

2008 BCS National Championship Game The 2008 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2008 Allstate BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 7, 2008, and featured the No. 1 and ...

defeating them 38–24. This win made the LSU Tigers the first team to win two BCS National Championships in its history. On their way to the BCS championship, the Tigers won their tenth

championship by defeating

in the

2007 SEC Championship Game The 2007 SEC Championship Game was played on December 1, 2007 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The game determined the 2007 football champion of the Southeastern Conference. The LSU Tigers, winners of the Western division of the SEC, de ...

. LSU became the first program to win multiple BCS National Championship Games and the second program to win a national championship with multiple losses. 2019 national championship
The 2019 LSU Tigers football team, coached by Ed Orgeron, won the

championship and the national championship with a 15–0 record. The LSU Tigers defeated the Clemson Tigers in the

2020 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that determined a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2019 season. It was played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome ...

defeating them 42–25. On their way to the College Football Playoff National Championship, the Tigers won their twelfth

championship by defeating

in the

Conference championships

LSU has won a total of 16 conference championships in three different conferences. Since becoming a founding member of the

(SEC) in 1933, LSU has won 12 SEC championships. † Co-champions ‡ LSU claims a co-championship, while Clemson claims a sole championship.

Division championships

Since the SEC began divisional play in 1992, LSU has won or shared the SEC West title 9 times, and is 5–2 in the SEC Championship game. † Co-champions

Logos and uniforms

Helmets
Pre-1946, LSU wore leather helmets. From 1947 through 1955, LSU wore an old gold helmet. In 1956, head coach Paul Dietzel changed the color of the helmet to a yellow-gold similar to that of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

. It featured a white one-inch center stripe with purple three-quarter inch flanking stripes. From 1957 through 1971, LSU added jersey numbers to the sides of the helmet. In 1972, the first logo was introduced, a tiger head inside a purple circle with LSU written underneath the tiger head. In 1977, LSU introduced its current helmet. The logo features curved LSU lettering written above the Tiger head logo. Purple face masks were introduced in 1980. In 2014, LSU introduced a new Tiger head logo. Special helmets * In 1997, LSU wore white helmets in the Independence Bowl vs

. * In 2007, LSU wore white helmets in a game against Tulane to promote relief for Hurricane Katrina. * In 2009, LSU wore "old" gold styled helmets in a game against

as part of a Nike Pro Combat promotion. The uniforms were donned "Couchon De Lait" which is cajun for pig roast. The name stemmed from LSU's proximity to the cajun culture of the nearby Acadiana area and the mascot of Arkansas being the razorbacks, a type of wild boar or pig. * In 2011 for a Nike Pro Combat promotion, the Tigers wore a white helmet with old gold and purple stripes to accompany a white uniform. * In 2015, LSU wore their white helmets in a game against

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

that was moved from Williams-Brice Stadium to Tiger Stadium due to the flooding disaster in South Carolina and again at Ole Miss where LSU wore all-white uniforms. The Tigers wore those helmets again for 2019 games vs. Northwestern State and Vanderbilt. * A special throwback helmet with LSU's original "L" that is still used by their L Club and the jersey number of each player was used in a home game against Mississippi State in 2016 along with a special gold throwback jersey with a custom number font replicating jerseys from the

era at LSU. * The Tigers wore purple helmets for their 2018 home game vs. Mississippi State. *In 2021, the Tigers wore white helmets along with their all-white uniform for their home game vs. Texas A&M, and repeated this for their 2022 game vs.

. Jerseys Death Valley

The current style of jerseys were introduced by coach Paul Dietzel in 1957 with "TV" numerals on the shoulders. Those numbers were moved to the sleeves in 1959. LSU's white jerseys have purple numbers on the front, back and sleeves with a gold center stripe flanked by two purple stripes encircling the shoulders. LSU's purple jerseys have white numbers on the front, back and sleeves with a white center stripe flanked by two yellow stripes encircling the shoulders. Names were added to the backs of jerseys in 1972. LSU has worn gold jerseys four times recently: vs. Vanderbilt in 1996, vs. Notre Dame in the 1997 Independence Bowl, at Florida in 1998 and throwbacks vs. Mississippi State in 2016. LSU also wore gold jerseys as their primary jerseys during the 1940s. Save for the throwback jerseys, LSU wore gold due to the intense dislike of purple exhibited by then-LSU coach Gerry DiNardo. DiNardo's successor,

, resurrected purple jerseys for the second game of the 2000 season vs. Houston. Since the wearing of white jerseys has become a tradition for LSU football, the white jerseys are typically worn for both home and away games. The exception is for non-SEC home games, other than the home opener, where LSU wears purple jerseys. Also, though rare, in the case of away games the home teams may choose to wear white, and if so, purple is the default for LSU; this occurred in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

season opener vs. Oregon State, which did not want to wear its black jerseys in the intense Louisiana heat. In 2015, South Carolina was forced to move its scheduled home game vs. LSU to Baton Rouge due to severe flooding in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...

. Prior to the site change, the Gamecocks declared they would wear white jerseys at Williams-Brice Stadium, so the Tigers wore purple jerseys for the first time for an SEC game in Tiger Stadium (South Carolina was the designated home team) since 1994 vs. Alabama. In 2019, LSU was asked by the Southeastern Conference to wear purple jerseys for its away game vs. Vanderbilt to provide sufficient contrast to the Commodores' gray jerseys. From 1983 through 1994, LSU was mandated to wear purple jerseys at home, due to an NCAA rule which required the visiting team to wear white jerseys (LSU wore white jerseys as the designated home team for the

1987 Sugar Bowl The 1987 Sugar Bowl was the 53rd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1986–87 bowl game season, it featured the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers ...

vs. Nebraska and

1987 Gator Bowl The 1987 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the LSU Tigers. LSU defeated South Carolina, 30–13. Background South Carolina competed as an independent and was tied for fourth-best record among i ...

vs. South Carolina). In 1995, the NCAA changed the rule to allow the home team to wear white if it obtained prior approval of the visiting team. In 1997, the Southeastern Conference ruled the home team would have choice of jersey color without consent of the visitors for conference games. Pants LSU defense

The team traditionally wears one style of pants, which are gold with white and purple trim. For a 1995 game at

, the Tigers wore purple pants, which had no stripes and a tiger head logo on the left thigh. LSU lost to the Wildcats 24–16 and the pants were never worn again. LSU has worn white pants on 16 occasions since 1996: * Three times with gold jerseys vs. Vanderbilt in 1996, vs. Notre Dame in the 1997 Independence Bowl, and at Florida in 1998. * In 2016, LSU wore gold throwback jerseys with white pants vs. Mississippi State. * Six times with purple jerseys, in a 2007 game at Tulane to promote relief for Hurricane Katrina, A 2015 game against South Carolina that was moved from Williams-Brice Stadium to Tiger Stadium due to the flood disaster in that state, a 2016 home game against Southern Miss, 2019 games vs. Northwestern State (home) and Vanderbilt (away), and 2022 vs. New Mexico (home). * Seven times with white jerseys, in a 2009 game against Arkansas, a 2011 game against Auburn for a Nike Pro Combat promotion, a 2015 game at Ole Miss, a 2018 home game vs. Mississippi State when LSU wore special white jerseys to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. These uniforms were made to look like white tigers, 2021 vs. Texas A&M and 2022 vs. Tennessee.

Traditions

Tiger Stadium

5-yard lines – Tiger Stadium is notable for putting all 5-yard line numbers on the field, not just those that are multiples of 10. However, the 10-yard line numbers are the only numbers that get directional arrows, as the rules make no provision for 5-yard line numbers. H-style goal posts – LSU's Tiger Stadium sports "H" style goal posts, as opposed to the more modern "Y" style used by most other schools today. This "H" style allows the team to run through the goal post in the north end zone when entering the field. The crossbar from the goalposts which stood in the north end zone of Tiger Stadium from 1955 through 1984 is now mounted above the door which leads from LSU's locker room onto the playing field. The crossbar is painted with the word "WIN!", and superstition dictates every player entering the field touch the bar on his way out the door. Night games in Tiger Stadium – The tradition of playing night games in Tiger Stadium began on October 3, 1931 when LSU defeated Spring Hill 35–0. Several reasons were cited for playing at night such as avoiding the heat and humidity of afternoon games, avoiding scheduling conflicts with Tulane and Loyola football and giving more fans the opportunity to see the Tigers play. Attendance increased and night football became an LSU tradition. LSU has also traditionally played better during night games based on winning percentage. Lsubandgoldengirl

Pregame show – Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band "pregame show" was created in 1964, and revised over the next nine years into its current format. The marching band lines up along the end zone shortly before kick off. Then the band strikes up a drum cadence and begins to spread out evenly across the field. When the front of the band reaches the center of the field, the band stops and begins to play an arrangement of "Pregame" (Hold That Tiger). While it does this, the band turns to salute the fans in all four corners of the stadium. Then the band, resuming its march across the field, begins playing "Touchdown for LSU". Tailgating – For home football games, thousands of LSU fans gather on the Baton Rouge campus. They set up motor homes and tents as early as Thursday before Saturday football games. Tailgating is found across the entire campus with many fans tailgating in the same spot year after year. LSU has been consistently ranked as the top tailgating location in the country. The

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

proclaimed "Saturday Night in Death Valley" and Tiger tailgating as the top tradition in college football.

said, "When It Comes To Great Tailgating, Nothing Compares To LSU." LSU's tailgating was named No. 1 in an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

poll on top tailgating spots and by a CNN network survey on top tailgating locations. Victory Gold – In 2012, a new tradition was established at Tiger Stadium. Following an LSU football victory, the lights that illuminate the upper arches on the north end of the stadium light up in LSU "Victory Gold". Victory Hill – The LSU football players, coaches, cheerleaders and Mike the Tiger in his cage, "Walk Down Victory Hill" on North Stadium Drive prior to each home game on their way to Tiger Stadium. Thousands of fans line both sides of the road to watch and cheer for the Tigers football team. The practice was started under head coach Gerry Dinardo and it endures today. The LSU Tiger Marching Band or The Golden Band from Tigerland, Golden Girls and Colorguard, "March Down Victory Hill" about an hour prior to each home game. Fans line both sides of the road and listen for the cadence of drums announcing the band's departure from the Greek Theatre and await the arrival of the band. The band stops on top of Victory Hill and begins to play their drum cadence while beginning to march down Victory Hill. The band then stops on Victory Hill and begins to play the opening strains of the "Pregame Salute." Then, while playing the introduction to "Touchdown for LSU," the band begins to run in tempo through the streets and down the hill amidst the crowd of cheering fans. From there, the band enters the PMAC and plays a pep rally for TAF members. White jerseys – LSU is notable as one of the few college football teams that wears white jerseys for home games as opposed to their darker jerseys (in their case, purple). Most other NCAA football teams wear their darker jerseys in home games, even though football is one of the few college sports that do not require a specific jersey type for each respective team (for instance,

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

requires home teams to wear white or light-colored jerseys while the away team wears their darker jerseys), and is similar to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

in letting the home team decide what to wear. The tradition started in 1958, when Coach Paul Dietzel decided that LSU would wear white jerseys for home games. Another story is the tradition first started when Dietzel had LSU wear white at home for good luck against a ranked Georgia Tech team in 1957 because Georgia Tech's team had long been known for wearing white at home. LSU won the game and he continued that tradition for the 1958 season and LSU went on to win the national championship that year. Since the 1958 championship season, LSU continued to wear white jerseys at home games through the 18-year tenure of Charles McClendon. Then in 1983, new NCAA rules prohibited teams from wearing white jerseys at home. Because of this, LSU wore purple jerseys during home games from 1983 to 1994. The team's fans believed wearing purple jerseys were "bad luck" and often complained about being forced to wear purple jerseys at home. In 1995, LSU's new coach, Gerry DiNardo, was determined to restore LSU's tradition of white home jerseys. DiNardo personally met with each member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, lobbying LSU's case. DiNardo was successful, and LSU again began wearing white jerseys at home when the 1995 season began. In LSU's first home game with the white jerseys, unranked LSU prevailed in a 12–6 upset victory over No. 6 Auburn. The 1995 rule allowing LSU to wear white at home had one stipulation: the visiting team must agree for conference and non-conference games. In 1997, the SEC amended its rule to allow the home team its choice of jersey color for conference games without prior approval of the visiting team. Therefore, only for non-conference home games does the home team seek permission to wear white jerseys at home. In 2009, the NCAA further relaxed the previous rule that required most away teams to wear white. The rule now states that teams must simply wear contrasting colors. After the 1995 rule change, on three occasions LSU was forced to wear colored jerseys at Tiger Stadium. The first time was in 1996 against Vanderbilt, who was still angry at LSU for hiring Gerry DiNardo, who left Vanderbilt to become LSU's head coach after the 1994 season. LSU wore gold jerseys for that game (a 35–0 LSU victory), and fans were encouraged to wear white in an effort to "white out" the Commodores. The other was in 2004 when Oregon State did not want to suffer in its black jerseys due to the humid weather of Louisiana in late summer, thus forcing LSU to wear its purple jerseys for a nationally televised game on

. On October 10, 2015, LSU was scheduled to play a road conference game at South Carolina, but due to massive flooding in the state of South Carolina, the game was relocated from

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

to Baton Rouge. Despite the game being played at Tiger Stadium, South Carolina was still the designated home team and had first choice of jersey selection. South Carolina chose to wear white as they had originally planned, forcing LSU to wear their purple jerseys at Tiger Stadium for an SEC game for the first time since 1994. After the 1995 rule change, LSU was forced to wear colored jerseys on the road on four occasions. In 1998 and 2000, Florida coach Steve Spurrier exercised this option and forced LSU to don a colored jersey at Gainesville. The Tigers wore gold in 1998 under Gerry DiNardo (lost 22–10) and purple in 2000 under

(lost 41–9). In 2007 and 2009, LSU also wore its purple jerseys on the road at Mississippi State, but the Tigers emerged victorious both times (45–0 in 2007 and 30–26 in 2009).

Songs and cheers

Callin' Baton Rouge – The Garth Brooks song " Callin' Baton Rouge" is played over the PA system in Tiger Stadium prior to kickoff for each game. Louisiana State University cheerleader

First, second, and third-down cheers – When the Tigers are on offense and earn a first down, the fans perform the "First Down Cheer". It includes the "Hold that Tiger" musical phrase from " Tiger Rag" played by the LSU band and the fans shout "Geaux Tigers" at the end of each phrase. The "Second Down Cheer" is a musical selection that is followed by the crowd chanting L-S-U! The "Third Down Cheer" is based on the song " Eye of the Tiger" by

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...

. Geaux Tigers – A common cheer for all LSU athletics, Geaux Tigers, pronounced "Go Tigers", is derived from a common ending in Cajun French names,

-eaux ''-eaux'' is the standard French language plural form of nouns ending in ''-eau'', e.g. ''eau'' → ''eaux'', ''château'' → ''châteaux'', ''gâteau'' → ''gâteaux''. In the United States, it often occurs as the ending of Cajun surnames. A ...

. Fans began using this spelling in the 1990s to add local flavor to the standard cheer. The phrase was trademarked by the university in 2005. Hot Boudin – A cheer before and during games about famous food in Louisiana. It goes "Hot boudin, cold coush-coush, come on tigers, push push push." Push is pronounced poosh to rhyme with coush-coush oosh-koosh Coush-coush is a Cajun dish generally served for breakfast. Neck - A spinoff of "

Talkin' Out da Side of Ya Neck! "Talkin' Out da Side of Ya Neck!" is the first single from Dem Franchize Boyz's third studio album ''Our World, Our Way''. It is produced by Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in So ...

" Tiger bait – LSU fans will yell "Tiger Bait, Tiger Bait" at visiting fans. Tiger Bandits – Whenever LSU forces a turnover or gets the ball back via a defensive stop, the LSU band plays the ''Tiger Bandits'' song and LSU fans bow in respect to the defensive stop. The original title of the song was called " Chinese Bandits", but the title was eventually changed to "Tiger Bandits" (or just simply "Bandits") to make the tradition more inclusive. The term "Chinese Bandits" originated as the nickname that LSU Coach Paul Dietzel gave to the defensive unit he organized in 1958, which helped LSU to win its first national championship. The next season, the 1959 Chinese Bandit defense held their opponents to an average of only 143.2 yards per game. No LSU defense since has done better.

Jersey No. 18

Jersey No. 18 is an LSU tradition established in 2003 when quarterback Matt Mauck guided LSU to a national championship. After Mauck's final season, he passed jersey No. 18 to running back Jacob Hester, who helped LSU win the 2007 national championship. The jersey became synonymous with success on and off the field as well as having a selfless attitude. Each season, a player is chosen by the coaching staff to wear the No. 18 jersey. In 2017, it was the first year LSU awarded the jersey to two players, one each on offense and defense. :No. 18 by season: * 2003: Matt Mauck, quarterback * 2004–2007: Jacob Hester, running back * 2008–2009: Richard Dickson, tight end * 2010: Richard Murphy (American football), Richard Murphy, running back * 2011: Brandon Taylor (American football), Brandon Taylor, safety * 2012: Bennie Logan, defensive tackle * 2013: Lamin Barrow, linebacker * 2014: Terrence Magee, running back * 2015–2016: Tre'Davious White, cornerback * 2017: Christian LaCouture, defensive end and J. D. Moore, fullback *2018: Foster Moreau, tight end * 2019: Lloyd Cushenberry, center and K'Lavon Chaisson, linebacker * 2020: Chris Curry, running back and Damone Clark, linebacker * 2021: Avery Atkins (placekicker), Avery Atkins, placekicker/punter and Damone Clark, linebacker * 2022: BJ Ojulari, defensive end

"DBU"

Beginning in 2012, LSU had a high number of defensive backs earn recognition for their play, leading to both current and former players to refer to the school as "Defensive Back University", or "DBU". This has led to a sense of pride among LSU defensive backs, who strive to continue the tradition of excellence at the position. Since 2005, 28 LSU defensive backs have been drafted into the NFL, including seven in the first round: LaRon Landry (6th pick in 2007), Patrick Peterson (5th pick in 2011), Morris Claiborne (6th pick in 2012), Eric Reid (American football), Eric Reid (18th pick in 2013), Jamal Adams (6th pick in 2017), Tre'Davious White (27th pick in 2017), and Derek Stingley Jr. (3rd pick in 2022).

Rivalries

Alabama

LSU and Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama have played every year since the 1960s. It has been mentioned by the LSU fan base, the origins of the rivalry date back to a 15-game undefeated streak Alabama had in Tiger Stadium, which is generally considered to be one of the most hostile atmospheres in college football. While the Alabama rivalries against Auburn and Tennessee may overshadow their rivalry with LSU, the significance of this annual rivalry increased after Alabama hired former LSU coach

in 2007. The LSU-Alabama rivalry continued after the November 5, 2011 game and the 2012 National Championship where the two teams faced off. Alabama leads the series 55-27-5 through the 2022 season.

Arkansas

Prior to

joining LSU in the

, the two programs met a total of 36 times, including the famed Ice Bowl. The schools played against each other for the first time in 1901 in Baton Rouge, a 15-0 LSU victory. The rivalry grew while it was played annually from 1906 to 1936, with 1918 being the only year the game was not played between those dates. The series was contested in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport from 1913 to 1936. After the Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference in 1990,

joined the SEC in 1991 and rekindled the rivalry with LSU. During their first year in the SEC, Arkansas would defeat the Tigers in the Razorbacks' first game against LSU in Fayetteville, 30–6; their first victory against LSU since the Razorbacks' 32–0 shutout of the Tigers in 1929. The winner takes home the Golden Boot (LSU-Arkansas), Golden Boot, a 175-pound, four foot tall, 24-karat gold trophy in the shape of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana that resembles a boot. The game, played the day after Thanksgiving until the 2010 season, was usually the last regular season game for each team and is broadcast on CBS. LSU and Arkansas now close their respective seasons against the SEC's newest members, the Tigers vs. Texas A&M and the Razorbacks vs. Missouri. In 2002, the rivalry gained momentum as the game winner would represent the Western Division of the SEC in the SEC Championship Game. Arkansas won on a last-second touchdown pass by Matt Jones (wide receiver), Matt Jones. In 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2006, the 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Razorbacks, who had already clinched the SEC Western Division and were on a 10-game winning streak, were beaten by LSU in War Memorial Stadium (Arkansas), Little Rock. In 2007, 2007 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Arkansas defeated top-ranked LSU in triple overtime, giving them their first win in Baton Rouge since 1993, and again defended the Golden Boot trophy with a last-minute touchdown drive in 2008. Fifteenth-ranked LSU won back the trophy for the first time in two years in 2009 after Razorback kicker Alex Tejada missed a field goal that would have sent the game into a second overtime, and LSU went on to lose the 2010 Capital One Bowl, Capitol One Bowl. In 2011, with both teams ranked in the top 3 in the AP Poll, No. 1 LSU prevailed over No. 3 Arkansas by a score of 41–17, sending LSU to the SEC title game en route to being shutout in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. LSU rode the momentum from the 2011 win by grinding out back-to-back one-possession wins in 2012 and 2013 against Arkansas teams that won four and three games, respectively. Arkansas returned the favor with consecutive 17-point victories in 2014 (breaking a 17-game SEC losing streak for the Hogs while pitching a 17–0 shutout against the No. 17 Tigers; Arkansas's tenth time holding LSU to 0 points and the only shutout in the series since 1995) and 2015 (a 31-14 romp in Baton Rouge which saw the unranked Razorbacks lead the No. 9 Tigers the whole game). LSU lost against Arkansas in overtime in 2021, but rebounded in 2022 to win 13-10 in Fayetteville. LSU leads the series 43-23–2 through the 2022 season.

Auburn

While Auburn's rivalries against Alabama and Georgia may overshadow its rivalry with LSU, in the 2000s, LSU had a heated rivalry with the Auburn Tigers football, Auburn Tigers. LSU and Auburn were not yearly rivals until the SEC's 1992 expansion placed both Tiger teams in the Western Division. The two share more than just a nickname, as they have both enjoyed success in the SEC West and plenty of memorable match ups. The home team won every game from 2000 through 2007. LSU leads the series 32-24-1 through the 2022 season.

Florida

Although both universities were founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in December 1932, the Florida Gators and Tigers did not meet on the gridiron for the first time until 1937. LSU is Florida's permanent inter-divisional rival. LSU has played Florida every year since 1971. The longest winning streak in the LSU–Florida series is held by Florida, with nine victories from 1988 to 1996. LSU's longest winning streak is four, from 1977 to 1980. The winner of the Florida-LSU game went on to win the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championship game from 2006 to 2008. Some of the notable games in this rivalry include the 1960: Wristband Robbery, 1964: Hurricane Delay, 1972: Flooded Swamp, 1989: College Football's First Overtime Game, 1997: LSU's Revenge, 2006: Tebow Domination, 2007: 5 for 5 on fourth down, and 2016: Hurricane Delay Pt 2. Florida handed LSU its most lopsided defeat in program history, a 58–3 rout at Baton Rouge in 1993. With a few exceptions, mostly during Spurrier's coaching tenure when the Gators routinely won by large margins, this rivalry has been known for close games in recent years, with both teams usually coming into the match-up highly ranked. The Gators and Tigers have combined to win five national championships and eleven SEC titles over the past two decades. The series is tied 33–33-3 through the 2022 season.

Mississippi State

The LSU–Mississippi State rivalry, is an annual football game between the Louisiana State Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs football, Mississippi State Bulldogs. Both universities are founding members of the Southeastern Conference, as well as the Western Division. This rivalry is LSU's longest rivalry with 108 meetings. LSU is second only to Ole Miss (3 games behind) on Mississippi St.’s list of most-commonly played opponents. Mississippi State's 34–29 victory on September 20, 2014, engineered by quarterback Dak Prescott, a Louisiana native, was the Bulldogs' first over LSU since 1999, their first in Baton Rouge since 1991, and just their fourth overall since 1985. State defeated LSU 37-7 in 2017 for their first win in the series at Starkville since 1999. The Tigers lead the series 78-36-3 through the 2022 season.

Ole Miss

LSU's traditional SEC rival is Ole Miss. Throughout the 50's and 60's, games between the two schools featured highly ranked squads on both sides and seemingly every contest had conference, and at times national, title implications. The Magnolia Bowl Trophy is now awarded to the winner of the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry now known as the "Magnolia Bowl". Recently, the second to last regular season game has been between these two colleges. There is still a strong rivalry between both schools. From 1961 through 1988, LSU did not play on the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Mississippi. Instead, all of the Rebels' home dates in the series were contested at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson. LSU and Ole Miss played at Oxford in 1989 for the first time in 29 seasons, then moved the series permanently to Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in 1994 after the 1991 and 1992 contests returned to Jackson. LSU leads the series 65-41-4 through the 2022 season.

Texas A&M

LSU and Texas A&M began play in 1899. Since then, there have been four distinct eras; 1899 to 1923, 1942 to 1975, 1986 to 1995, and the current SEC era beginning in 2011. A&M took that first matchup over LSU, 52-0. The Aggies claimed the 1899 to 1923 era with 7 wins to LSU's 3, with two tie games. LSU took the 1942 to 1975 era winning 19 to A&M's 7, with one tie game. The 1986 to 1995 era belonged again to A&M, with the Aggies winning 6 games to LSU's 4. The current era began with A&M entering the SEC in 2011. LSU claimed victory 8 times in the first 10 meetings. In 2018, the Tigers lost at home 74-72 in a game with 7 overtimes, the most overtimes in one game in FBS history. During the series, the two teams have meet in two bowl games. LSU won in the 1944 Orange Bowl 19–14 and prevailed 41–24 in the 2011 Cotton Bowl Classic. LSU leads the series 35–23-3 through the 2022 season.

Tulane

LSU's oldest rival is Tulane; the first Battle for the Rag, LSU-Tulane football game was played in 1893 and for the first 50 or so years of Tiger football, no team was more hated by LSU fans than the Green Wave. The series, in which they battle for the Tiger Rag/Victory Flag, Tiger Rag, was played continuously from 1919 to 1994. The intrastate rivalry featured two teams which were geographically close (Baton Rouge and New Orleans are roughly apart) and drew on socio-political tensions between the state's capital and seat of government and its biggest and most culturally important city. As opponents in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, SIAA,

and SEC, the Tulane rivalry flourished for many years but slowly declined after Tulane left the SEC and de-emphasized athletics. Until 1949, the series was very competitive, with LSU leading 23–18–5; since 1949, LSU has dominated, going 45–4–2. The two teams renewed the annual series in 2006 and ended it again after the 2009 meeting with LSU leading 69–23–7.

Yearly records

All-time record vs. current SEC members

Through the 2020 season

College Football Playoff rankings and polls

;College Football Playoff rankings The LSU Tigers football team finished in the Top 25 in the first College Football Playoff ranking. The Tigers finished No. 1 in the final ranking in 2019. ;Preseason polls The LSU Tigers football team has been ranked No. 1 in the Pre-season AP Poll, Associated Press Poll (AP Poll) in 1959 and the Pre-season Coaches' Poll in 2012. ;Final polls The LSU Tigers football team finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Final Associated Press Poll (AP Poll) in 1958, 2007, and 2019. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 in the Final Coaches' Poll in 1958, 2003, 2007, and 2019. The Tigers also finished No. 2 in the Final AP Poll in 1936, 2003, and 2011 and the Final Coaches Poll in 2011.

Bowl games

LSU has played in 52 bowl games, compiling a record of 28–23–1. The Tigers have played in 20 straight bowl games since 2000, the fourth longest active streak in the NCAA and second longest in the

Individual accomplishments

Player awards

* Heisman Trophy *: Billy Cannon (1959 NCAA University Division football season, 1959) *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Bronko Nagurski Trophy *:Glenn Dorsey (2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2007) * Chic Harley Award *: Billy Cannon (1958 NCAA University Division football season, 1958, 1959 NCAA University Division football season, 1959) * Chuck Bednarik Award *:Patrick Peterson (2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2010) *:Tyrann Mathieu (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) * Rimington Trophy, Dave Rimington Trophy *:Ben Wilkerson (2004 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2004) * Davey O'Brien Award *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Dick Butkus Award *:Devin White (2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2018) * Fred Biletnikoff Award *:Josh Reed (2001 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2001) *: Ja'Marr Chase (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Jack Tatum Trophy *:Patrick Peterson (2010 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2010) *:Grant Delpit (2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2018) * Jim Thorpe Award *:Patrick Peterson (2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2010) *:Morris Claiborne (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *:Grant Delpit (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Joe Moore Award *:Offensive line (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy *: Ken Kavanaugh (1939 college football season, 1939) * Lombardi Award *:Glenn Dorsey (2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2007) * Lott Trophy *:Glenn Dorsey (2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2007) * Manning Award *: JaMarcus Russell (2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2006) *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Maxwell Award *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Outland Trophy *:Glenn Dorsey (2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2007) * Paul Hornung Award *:Odell Beckham Jr. (2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2013) * Sporting News College Football Player of the Year, ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year *: Billy Cannon (1958 NCAA University Division football season, 1958, 1959 NCAA University Division football season, 1959) *: Bert Jones (1972 NCAA University Division football season, 1972) * UPI College Football Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year *: Billy Cannon (1958 NCAA University Division football season, 1958, 1959 NCAA University Division football season, 1959) * Walter Camp Award *: Joe Burrow (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Walter Camp Football Foundation - All-Century Team *:Tommy Casanova (1969–1971) * Walter Camp Memorial Trophy *: Billy Cannon (1959 NCAA University Division football season, 1959) v:

(1962 NCAA University Division football season, 1962) * William V. Campbell Trophy *:Rudy Niswanger (2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2005) * Wuerffel Trophy *:Rudy Niswanger (2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2005)

Heisman Trophy voting history

Joe Burrow (SELU vs LSU, September 8, 2018)

Coaches awards

* AFCA Coach of the Year Award, AFCA Coach of the Year *: Paul Dietzel (1958 NCAA University Division football season, 1958) *: Charles McClendon (1970 NCAA University Division football season, 1970) *: Les Miles (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award, AP Coach of the Year *:

(2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2003) *: Les Miles (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year *: Paul Dietzel (1958 NCAA University Division football season, 1958) *:

(2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2003) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * George Munger Award *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Home Depot Coach of the Year Award, Home Depot Coach of the Year *: Les Miles (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award *: Les Miles (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) * Paul "Bear" Bryant Award *:

(2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2003) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award, Walter Camp Coach of the Year *:

(1982 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 1982) *: Les Miles (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *: Ed Orgeron (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019) * Broyles Award (Assistant) *:John Chavis (American football), John Chavis (2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2011) *:Joe Brady (American football coach), Joe Brady (2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2019)

All-Americans

LSU players have been selected as consensus All-Americans on 38 occasions through the 2019 season, with 12 selections being List of unanimous All-Americans in college football, unanimous. ;Consensus All-Americans * Gaynell Tinsley: 1935, 1936† * Ken Kavanaugh: 1939 * Sid Fournet: 1954 * Billy Cannon: 1958†, 1959† * Roy Winston: 1961† *

: 1962† * Mike Anderson (linebacker), Mike Anderson: 1970 * Tommy Casanova: 1970, 1971 * Bert Jones: 1972 * Charles Alexander (running back), Charles Alexander: 1977, 1978 * Nacho Albergamo: 1987† * Wendell Davis: 1987 * Alan Faneca: 1997 * Chad Kessler (American football), Chad Kessler: 1997 * Josh Reed: 2001 * Chad Lavalais: 2003 * Marcus Spears (defensive end), Marcus Spears: 2004 * Ben Wilkerson: 2004 * LaRon Landry: 2006 * Glenn Dorsey: 2007† * Craig Steltz: 2007 * Josh Jasper: 2010 * Patrick Peterson: 2010† * Morris Claiborne: 2011† * Tyrann Mathieu: 2011 * Leonard Fournette: 2015 * Tre'Davious White: 2016 * Grant Delpit: 2018†, 2019 * Devin White: 2018 * Greedy Williams: 2018 * Joe Burrow: 2019† * Ja'Marr Chase: 2019† * Derek Stingley Jr.: 2019 † Unanimous selection

Retired numbers

SEC Legends

Starting in 1994, the

has annually honored one former football player from each of the member schools as an "SEC Legend".

Statistical leaders

LSU and the NFL

LSU Tigers players in the NFL Draft

The LSU Tigers football team has had 319 players NFL Draft, drafted into the

(NFL). This includes 39 players taken in the first round and three overall number one picks: Billy Cannon in the 1960 NFL Draft and 1960 American Football League Draft, 1960 AFL Draft, Jamarcus Russell in the 2007 NFL Draft and Joe Burrow in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Hall of Fame inductees

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Six former LSU football players have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Canadian Football Hall of Fame

One former LSU player is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

College Football Hall of Fame

LSU has had eleven players and five head coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. ;Players ;Coaches

Stadium

Tiger Stadium

Tiger Stadium is the 102,321 capacity home of the LSU Tigers football team. The stadium is the List of American football stadiums by capacity, sixth largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA and the List of stadiums by capacity, ninth largest stadium in the world. The current record attendance of 102,321 was set on September 20, 2014 when LSU played host to Mississippi State. Tiger Stadium contains 70 skyboxes, called "Tiger Den" suites and a 3,200 seat club level named "The Stadium Club". The Paul Manasseh Press Box is located in the west upper-deck. On April 27, 2012, the LSU Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of an $80 million south end-zone upper deck expansion that added approximately 60 "Tiger Den" suites, 3,000 club seats and 1,500 general public seats to bring the total capacity of Tiger Stadium to 102,321, making it the 6th-largest college football stadium in the country. Tiger Stadium first opened its gates in the fall of 1924 with a

of 12,000. In the season finale, LSU hosted Tulane in the first game. As of the 2021 season, LSU has gone on to post a 439-154-18 (.733) mark in Tiger Stadium. Moreover, Tiger Stadium is also known for night games, an idea that was first introduced in 1931 against Spring Hill College, Spring Hill (a 35-0 LSU victory). In 2006, LSU celebrated its 75th year of playing night football in Tiger Stadium. LSU has played the majority of its games at night, and the Tigers have fared better under the lights than during the day. From 1960 to 2021, LSU is 232–68–4 (.773) at night in Tiger Stadium compared to a 25–26–3 (.491) record during the day over that span. 439-154-18 (.733)

State Field

State Field was the former home stadium of the LSU Tigers football team from 1893 to 1923. The field was located on the old downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge campus of Louisiana State University, LSU.

Practice and training facilities

;Charles McClendon Practice Facility

The Charles McClendon Practice Facility is the name of the LSU Tigers football practice facility. The facility features the LSU Football Operations Center, the Tigers Indoor Practice Facility and four outdoor 100-yard football practice fields. In 2002, it was named after former LSU head coach and College Football Hall of Fame member, Charles McClendon. ;LSU Football Operations Center

LSU Football Operations Center (Baton Rouge)

The LSU Football Operations Center, built in 2006, is an all-in-one facility that includes the Tigers Changing room, locker room, players' lounge, Peterson-Roberts weight room, training room, equipment room, video operations center and coaches offices. The operations center atrium holds team displays and graphics, trophy cases and memorabilia of LSU football. ;LSU Indoor Practice Facility

The LSU Indoor Practice Facility, built in 1991, is a climate-controlled 82,500 square feet facility connected to the Football Operations Center. It holds the 100-yd Anderson-Feazel LSU indoor field with Sportexe Momentum Turf, Momentum Field Turf by SportExe. The indoor practice facility is located behind the football operations center. ;LSU Outdoor Practice Fields The four outdoor practice fields are directly adjacent to the football operations center and indoor practice facility. Three of the fields are natural grass, while the fourth, The Scott & Espe Moran Outdoor Turf Field has a Sportexe Momentum Turf, Momentum Field Turf by SportExe playing surface.

Head coaches

LSU has had 32 head coaches since organized football began in 1893. In that time, 11 coaches have led the Tigers in postseason bowl games: Bernie Moore, Gaynell Tinsley, Gus Tinsley, Paul Dietzel, Charles McClendon,

, Bill Arnsparger, Mike Archer, Gerry DiNardo,

, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron. Six of those coaches also won athletic conference, conference championships after LSU left the

to join the SEC: Moore, Dietzel, McClendon, Arnsparger, Archer, Saban, Miles, and Orgeron won a combined 12 as a member of the SEC. During their tenures, Dietzel, Saban, Miles, and most recently Orgeron, each won NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship, national championships awarded by major selectors while with the Tigers. Of the 32 different head coaches who have led the Tigers, Dana X. Bible, Mike Donahue, Michael Donahue, Biff Jones, Lawrence "Biff" Jones, Moore and McClendon have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Coaching staff

Recruiting

Since 2002, LSU has been ranked in the Top 25 in recruiting ranking by multiple ranking services.

Future opponents

;Non-division opponents LSU plays Florida as a permanent non-division opponent annually and rotates around the ''East'' division among the other six schools. ;Non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of April 26, 2020

Notes

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lsu Tigers Football LSU Tigers football, American football teams established in 1893 1893 establishments in Louisiana

History

Early history (1893–1954)

Paul Dietzel (1955–1961)

Charles McClendon (1962–1979)

Bo Rein tragedy

Jerry Stovall (1980–1983)

Bill Arnsparger (1984–1986)

Mike Archer (1987–1990)

Curley Hallman (1991–1994)

Gerry DiNardo (1995–1999)

Nick Saban (2000–2004)

Les Miles (2005–2016)

Ed Orgeron (2016–2021)

Brian Kelly (2022–present)

Conference affiliations

Championships

National championships

Conference championships

Division championships

Logos and uniforms

Traditions

Tiger Stadium

Songs and cheers

Jersey No. 18

"DBU"

Rivalries

Alabama

Arkansas

Auburn

Florida

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Texas A&M

Tulane

Yearly records

All-time record vs. current SEC members

College Football Playoff rankings and polls

Bowl games

Individual accomplishments

Player awards

Heisman Trophy voting history

Coaches awards

All-Americans

Retired numbers

SEC Legends

Statistical leaders

LSU and the NFL

LSU Tigers players in the NFL Draft

Hall of Fame inductees

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Canadian Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

Stadium

Tiger Stadium

State Field

Practice and training facilities

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Recruiting

Future opponents

See also

Notes

References

External links