LSU Tigers Football - Traditions

Traditions

Geaux Tigers — A common cheer for all LSU athletics, Geaux Tigers, pronounced "Go Tigers", is derived from a common ending in French Cajun names, -eaux. Acknowledging the state’s French heritage, it is common for fans to issue LSU newcomers an endearing “French” name. Intended to be more humorous than grammatically correct, coaches are especially targeted. Gerry DiNardo became “Dinardeaux”, Nick Saban became “Nick C’est Bon”.

Tailgating — LSU football fans from every corner of the region, well over ninety thousand, descend on the Baton Rouge campus for every home game; setting up motor homes and tents for one of Louisiana's biggest parties after Mardi Gras. Visiting team supporters are heckled and LSU fans chant "Tiger Bait! Tiger Bait!", often inciting confrontations between hot-headed followers. Visitors to Baton Rouge who take the jeers and jaunts with a sporting disposition will be invited to join in on the party, the drink, the regional cajun cuisine, the spirit of Saturday night in Baton Rouge, and the vibrant tradition of LSU football.

March Down The Hill – The LSU players, coaches, cheerleaders, Mike the Tiger, and finally The Golden Band from Tigerland march down the hill between Tiger Stadium and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (AKA, the PMAC) prior to each game. Thousands of fans line up on both sides of the road to watch and cheer for their beloved Tigers. The band plays their drum cadence while marching and just before entering the stadium, "Pregame" is played.

The LSU Band's Pregame Show — The LSU 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." At this point, the LSU crowd chants "L-S-U, L-S-U, L-S-U..."

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 requires home teams to wear white or light-colored jerseys while the away team wears their darker jerseys), and is similar to the NFL 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 the home games. LSU went on to win the national championship that year. Since then, 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 brought bad luck to the team and complained often from 1983 and through the 1994 seasons, although LSU won SEC championships in 1986 and 1988 wearing purple at home. In 1993, then-coach Curley Hallman asked the NCAA for permission to wear white jerseys at home during LSU's football centennial, but was turned down.

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 #6 Auburn. In 2000, LSU's new coach, Nick Saban, altered the tradition of the white home jerseys: now LSU only wears white jerseys for the home opener and for home games against SEC opponents. Saban's successor, Les Miles, has continued this pattern. For non-SEC home games other than the home opener, LSU wears purple jerseys at home.

The rule allowing LSU to wear white at home has one stipulation: the visiting team must agree for non-conference games. On two occasions, LSU was forced to wear colored jerseys at home. 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 next season, 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.

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 Nick Saban (lost 41–9).

In 2007 and 2009, LSU wore its purple jerseys at Mississippi State, but the Tigers emerged victorious both times (45–0 in 2007 and 30–26 in 2009). In 1978, the purple jersey jinx bit the Tigers in a game against State at Jackson.

In 2004, Oregon State did not want to suffer in its black jerseys in the humid weather of Louisiana in late summer, forcing LSU to wear its purple jerseys for a nationally-televsied game on ESPN. However, by this time, LSU had worn its purple jerseys at home several times under Saban.

In 2009, the NCAA relaxed its rule that previously required most away teams to wear white. The rule now states that teams must simply wear contrasting colors.

Chinese Bandits – Whenever LSU forces a turnover or gets the ball back via a defensive stop, the LSU band plays the Chinese Bandits tune. Tiger fans bow to the defense while the tune is played. 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.

Geaux to Hell Ole Miss — When LSU is playing their rival, Ole Miss, LSU fans shout "Geaux to Hell Ole Miss. Geaux to hell" frequently, and signs with the same saying can be seen throughout the stadium. Ole Miss fans typically respond with "Go to hell, LSU!" Legend has it this was started prior to the 1959 contest when Coach Paul Dietzel, trying to motivate his troops, hired a plane to litter the LSU campus with flyers saying, "Go to Hell, LSU!" When word of this reached Oxford, Johnny Vaught, not to be outdone, responded in kind by littering the Ole Miss campus with flyers saying, "Go to Hell, Ole Miss!" Saturday night, 30 minutes prior to kickoff, Tiger Stadium was already packed with the crowd split down the middle between Tigers and Rebels. Each set of fans were shouting at the top of their lungs to the other, "Go to Hell!" The tradition has stuck ever since.

Hot boudin – LSU's famous cheer before games and during 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 . Coush-coush is a Cajun dish generally served for breakfast.

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 endzone when entering the field.

Yard lines — Tiger Stadium also is notable for putting all 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.

Tiger Bait – LSU fans will yell "Tiger Bait, Tiger Bait" at visiting fans who wear their team colors.

First Down cheer – When the Tigers earn a first down, the Golden Band from Tigerland plays the "Geaux Tigers" cheer. The band also has a specific cheer for second and third downs.