50 Fun Facts About LSU Football

Which nickname do LSU fans give Tiger Stadium, known as one of college football's loudest venues?

Death Valley holds more than 100,000 fans, and an ESPN sideline reporter once called it the loudest stadium he had ever been in.

By legend, LSU's first team wore purple and gold because they were the colors of which celebration?

Mardi Gras colors are purple, green and gold, and the story goes that the shop's green had sold out before the 1893 team bought its ribbons.

On Christmas Day 1907, LSU beat a local university 56–0 in which city outside the United States?

Havana hosted the game, the first Bacardi Bowl, against the University of Havana. It is often called the first American college game on foreign soil, though Michigan had played in Toronto in 1880.

What was built into LSU's Tiger Stadium in the 1930s as a way to fund thousands of extra seats?

Dormitories had state money while the seating did not, so rooms went under the stands and the stadium grew by 10,000 seats. Students lived beneath the bleachers for decades.

How did LSU raise the $750 to buy its first live tiger mascot, Mike I, from a zoo in 1936?

Collecting 25 cents from each student paid for the cub, who arrived from the Little Rock Zoo under the name Sheik. He was renamed after athletic trainer Mike Chambers.

Which Ohio State transfer threw 60 touchdown passes for LSU in 2019 and won the Heisman Trophy?

Joe Burrow used his Heisman speech to talk about hunger in his Ohio hometown, and about $450,000 in donations reached the county food bank soon after.

Which nickname did LSU's Tyrann Mathieu earn for fearless play and a dyed blond patch of hair?

Honey Badger stuck because Mathieu took on far bigger opponents, and his 11 forced fumbles at LSU set a Southeastern Conference career record.

Which country star's recording of 'Callin' Baton Rouge' is played before every LSU home game?

Garth Brooks released his version in 1994, but the Oak Ridge Boys had recorded the song back in 1978.

Unlike most college teams, LSU traditionally wears which jersey color for home games?

White at home took hold with the 1958 national champions. An NCAA rule forced purple from 1983 to 1994, and fans called it bad luck until a new coach lobbied to change it.

LSU's winning 1988 touchdown against which rival drew a roar that shook a campus seismograph?

Auburn arrived in the national top five and led 6–0 until a late touchdown pass won it 7–6, and the contest became known as the Earthquake Game.

Which coach won LSU's 2003 national title, then left for the NFL's Miami Dolphins a year later?

Nick Saban lasted two seasons in the NFL before returning to the SEC, where he won six more national titles with one of LSU's division rivals.

Which LSU coach, nicknamed the Mad Hatter for his play-calling, won the 2007 national title?

Les Miles was also called the Hat for his signature cap, and his 2007 team was the first to win a BCS title after losing twice.

Which coach from Larose, Louisiana, led LSU to a perfect 15–0 season and the national title in 2019?

Ed Orgeron started the 2016 season as LSU's defensive line coach, stepped in as interim head coach that September and was given the job for good later that year.

Which head coach used a three-platoon system to win LSU's first recognized national title in 1958?

Paul Dietzel swapped whole units in and out to keep his players fresh, went 11–0, then left LSU for Army three years later.

Which comic-strip name did LSU's 1958 head coach give his popular second-string defensive unit?

Chinese Bandits came from the strip Terry and the Pirates, and the backups became so popular that Life magazine photographed them in 1959.

Which coach left Notre Dame after twelve seasons to take over LSU football for the 2022 season?

Brian Kelly signed a ten-year deal worth $95 million, went 34–14 with the Tigers and was fired midway through the 2025 season.

Which coach left SEC rival Ole Miss in late 2025 to become the 34th head coach of LSU football?

Lane Kiffin made the move while his Ole Miss team was preparing for the College Football Playoff. Years earlier he had been the youngest head coach in modern NFL history.

Which Louisiana politician co-wrote LSU fight songs and drove a Tigers head coach to quit in 1934?

Huey Long was turned away from the locker room when he tried to give the team a halftime speech, and the coach resigned after the argument that followed.

Which LSU halfback won the 1959 Heisman Trophy after an 89-yard Halloween punt return beat Ole Miss?

Billy Cannon shook off seven tacklers on the way to the end zone, and LSU retired his number 20 the following year. He later worked as a dentist.

Which former Arizona State quarterback won the 2023 Heisman Trophy in his final season at LSU?

Jayden Daniels led the FBS in total yards that year, then went second overall in the NFL draft to Washington and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Which 2019 Biletnikoff winner from LSU later rejoined his college quarterback in Cincinnati?

Ja'Marr Chase led the FBS with 1,780 receiving yards and 20 touchdown catches that year, then opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for the NFL.

Which LSU receiver co-led the nation with 111 catches in 2019 before joining the Minnesota Vikings?

Justin Jefferson scored four touchdowns in the first half of that season's playoff semifinal, and the Vikings took him with the 22nd pick of the draft.

Which LSU receiver won the 2013 Hornung Award before a famous one-handed catch for the Giants?

Odell Beckham Jr. was drafted 12th overall in 2014, and his falling one-handed touchdown grab against Dallas came in his rookie season.

Which LSU running back rushed for 1,953 yards in 2015 before the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted him?

Leonard Fournette also ran for 22 touchdowns that season, both school records at the time, and he later won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay.

Which LSU cornerback won the 2010 Bednarik and Thorpe awards before joining the Arizona Cardinals?

Patrick Peterson went fifth overall in 2011 and led the NFL in punt return yards as a rookie.

Which LSU quarterback did the Oakland Raiders choose first overall in the 2007 NFL draft?

JaMarcus Russell earned the pick with a 41–14 Sugar Bowl rout of Notre Dame, in which he was named the most valuable player.

Which former LSU fullback was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1962 with the Green Bay Packers?

Jim Taylor took the 1962 rushing title ahead of Cleveland's Jim Brown, and he entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

Which Honduras-born LSU back became a Philadelphia Eagles great and Pro Football Hall of Famer?

Steve Van Buren led the NCAA in scoring in 1943, after wartime call-ups left LSU short of players and he was moved to running back.

Which future New York Giants star quarterbacked LSU in the frozen 0–0 'Ice Bowl' of January 1947?

Y. A. Tittle and LSU outgained their opponents by 271 yards to 54 but could not score, while fans lit fires in the stands to keep warm.

Which LSU defensive tackle swept the Outland, Lombardi, Nagurski and Lott awards in 2007?

Glenn Dorsey's haul included both major trophies for linemen, and the Kansas City Chiefs drafted the Gonzales, Louisiana, native fifth overall in 2008.

Which defending national champion did LSU beat 42–25 to win the 2019 national title?

Clemson, also nicknamed the Tigers, had won 29 games in a row before LSU ended the streak.

Which No. 2 team did top-ranked LSU beat 9–6 in overtime in 2011's 'Game of the Century'?

Alabama failed on four of its six field goal tries in that game, then shut out LSU 21–0 in the national title rematch two months later.

Which opponent outlasted LSU 74–72 in a 2018 game that needed seven overtimes to settle?

Texas A&M won after nearly five hours of play, and the marathon led the NCAA to change its overtime rules the following season.

LSU plays which SEC rival for the Golden Boot, a gold trophy shaped like the two schools' states?

Arkansas and Louisiana stacked together form the boot, and the trophy weighs 175 pounds and stands about four feet tall.

LSU won its 2003, 2007 and 2019 national titles in championship games played in which city?

New Orleans, a short drive from campus, staged all three in the Superdome, so each title game felt close to a home game for the Tigers.

Which quarterback of LSU's 2003 title team began the tradition of handing down the No. 18 jersey?

Matt Mauck handed the number to running back Jacob Hester, and coaches now award it each season to a player known for selfless leadership.

Which team's fans had already rushed the field when LSU's last-play Hail Mary beat them in 2002?

Kentucky's players had even soaked their coach with Gatorade before the final play, which went down in history as the Bluegrass Miracle.

Which 1990s LSU back ran for 4,557 career yards, then won three Super Bowls with New England?

Kevin Faulk's total was the second highest in SEC history when he left LSU, behind only Georgia's Herschel Walker.

Which LSU quarterback, the 'Ruston Rifle', threw a last-second pass to beat Ole Miss in 1972?

Bert Jones had a single second left on the clock for that throw, and he went on to be the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1976 with the Baltimore Colts.

Which LSU guard made nine Pro Bowls, won a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh and reached the Hall of Fame?

Alan Faneca has lived with epilepsy since his teens, a diagnosis that came after he began having seizures at 15.

Which in-state rival beat LSU 34–0 in 1893 in the first football game the Tigers ever played?

Tulane won before a crowd of 1,500 at a baseball park, in the only game LSU played that year. The two schools later met every season from 1919 to 1994.

The 'Geaux' in LSU's 'Geaux Tigers' cheer copies a spelling common in surnames from which tradition?

Cajun French surnames often end in -eaux, and fans began borrowing the spelling in the 1990s. LSU trademarked the phrase in 2005.

Which Tiger Stadium tradition began on October 3, 1931, with a 35–0 win over Spring Hill?

Night games spared fans the afternoon heat and drew bigger crowds, and from 1960 to 2022 LSU won about 77 percent of them at home against roughly half of its day games.

What name did the students of LSU and Ole Miss vote in 2008 to give their annual football game?

Magnolia Bowl honors the state flower that Louisiana and Mississippi share, and Ole Miss won the first trophy 31–13.

LSU's 'Fighting Tigers' nickname is traditionally traced to Louisiana soldiers in which conflict?

Civil War troops from the state fought in Virginia as the Louisiana Tigers, and LSU's unbeaten 1896 team was the first to use the name.

Which hurricane forced LSU's 2005 home opener against Arizona State to be played in Arizona instead?

Katrina's damage sent the game west, where LSU trailed by ten points in the final quarter before rallying to win 35–31.

LSU beat Tim Tebow's Florida 28–24 in 2007 after succeeding with all five of which risky gambles?

Fourth downs went five for five that evening, and Jacob Hester's touchdown with 1:06 left completed a comeback from ten points behind.

LSU's Ken Kavanaugh credited his 1939 touchdown streak to which objects found on the sideline?

Rusty nails, by his account, matched his scoring: four turned up during a four-touchdown game against Holy Cross, and one the next week brought one more.

LSU's Doc Fenton could not recover his own blocked punt in 1908 because he was knocked out by what?

A fan's cane laid Fenton out cold, yet LSU still won 10–2 and finished that season unbeaten at 10–0 while he led the nation in scoring.

Which coach's LSU team beat Florida in 1997 for the program's first win over a No. 1 team?

Gerry DiNardo's Tigers ended a run of nine straight defeats to Florida, and the upset put LSU on the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week.