LSU Football History – Syndication Server

Anniversaries LSU football will celebrate this year

Here’s a little refresher on some anniversaries LSU fans should remember this fall.

We’ll have real football soon enough, but for now, it’s time for another look at some LSU history.

We’ll be looking at anniversaries. The benchmarks of this program which were set years ago. From LSU’s win over Georgia in 2018, to whatever happened 100 years ago when LSU was still a young team in the Southern Conference.

As a program, LSU will be enjoying its 130th anniversary this fall. A lot has happened since this program’s inception in the 19th century. So hopefully, this serves as a refresher.

Let’s jump right in, starting with Joe Burrow’s first year in 2018.

The best 40 games in LSU football history: Part 3

Billy Cannon’s historic run, Joe Burrow’s Heisman campaign and some high pressure defensive performances are all featured in Part 3 of our best games series.

Earlier this month, we began looking at the best games in the history of LSU football.

Part 1 included LSU’s upset over Florida in 1997, the 2008 comeback against Troy and some old thrillers against Ole Miss.

Part 2 was headlined by recent show-stoppers, like LSU’s win over Alabama last year and the late second heroics against Texas A&M in 2021.

Before we resume, a few notes.

This isn’t a ranking — it’s a collection of games. The criteria for “best games” is subjective, so trying to pin each game at a specific number is pointless.
I’ve tried to avoid recency bias, but there are better records and resources for the more recent games.

With that out of the way, let’s not waste any more time and jump right in.

The 40 best games in LSU football history: Part 2

We continue to look at the best games in LSU football history.

Last week, we began taking a look at the best games in LSU history.

Part one included LSU’s upset over Florida in 1997, the 2008 comeback against Troy, and some old thrillers against Ole Miss. Now, we’re continuing the list with some more all-time contests.

Before we resume, a few notes.

This isn’t a ranking — it’s a collection of games. The criteria for “best games” is subjective, so trying to pin each game at a specific number is pointless.
I’ve tried to avoid recency bias, but there are better records and resources for the more recent games.

With that out of the way, let’s not waste any more time and jump right in.

The 40 best games in LSU football history: Part 1

We begin our look at the greatest contests the Tigers have ever been a part of.

It’s time to look at the greatest games in LSU history.

LSU football has been around a long time, and in that span, the Tigers have been a part of some great games. This list is part one in a collection of some of the best.

Before we get started, a couple of notes.

This list is not in order. It’s just a grouping of the best games. It’s too difficult and, in my opinion, pointless to find a distinction between the 17th and 18th best games.
As always, records of modern games are much easier to find than older ones. So, this list will have a bit of recency bias to it, but I’ve tried to avoid it.

With that out of the way, let’s jump right in.

Ranking the 10 best offenses in LSU history

Let’s take a look at the best offenses in program history while doing our best to adjust for era.

Offense. Offense. Offense.

To many, it’s the most exciting part of the game. Quarterbacks are the stars, and wide receivers and running backs get all the highlight reels on YouTube. Here, we’ll be looking at the 10 best offenses in LSU history.

This was tricky. The game has changed, and so has the way offenses are evaluated. Prolific passers and scorers are much more common now than they were in the 20th century. Yards come a dime a dozen now.

Because of that, I’ve tried my best to adjust for era. I didn’t just use total yards and points, but I also looked at how the units performed in big games and the individual talent as well. If an offense was also good in back-to-back years and featured several of the same players, I used them once in the interest of variety.

Here’s how it all breaks down.

5 LSU players who would have benefitted the most in a modern offense

Here are five players whose talents could have been better utilized at LSU just a few years later.

For years, LSU fans were stuck watching a dreary and outdated offense. It’s what eventually led to [autotag]Les Miles[/autotag]’ firing at LSU as the Tigers fell behind on the offensive side of the ball.

Miles just wanted to turn around and hand it off. There wasn’t much creativity, either. When the Tigers did have successful passing attacks under Miles, like in 2013, it was a scheme that relied on talented receivers winning their routes.

When it worked, it worked. There were times LSU was able to overpower teams and run the ball at will.

When it was paired with an elite defense and fantastic starting field position, it was fine too. LSU didn’t have a prolific passing attack in 2011 and Miles’ group still managed to win the SEC.

But the sport caught up with them, and it got tiring. LSU had too much talent to be doing that on offense and it wasn’t going to work in the SEC.

We know the story. Miles was fired, [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] was hired and he brought a modern offense to LSU. Plenty of players in the Miles era could have benefitted from a similar attack.

Here are five players that would have had more success had they arrived at LSU just a little later.

8 LSU football records that could be broken

These records could be set to fall soon.

Records are set to be broken.

With each passing year, new standards are set. Some are more impressive than others. Earlier this week, I took a look at six LSU football records that will never be broken.

It’s time to flip it and look at some that could. Some of these are single-game records, others are single-season, and even some are career ones.

The single-season and single-game records are always the toughest to predict. There’s no statistical pace to base a projection on. Career records are different. You can look at a player’s first couple of years and see what it would take to reach that career mark.

Here’s a look at eight LSU football records that could soon fall.

Comparing Brian Kelly to every first-year coach in LSU history

Here’s how Kelly’s 10-4 mark stacks up against previous LSU coaches.

LSU’s [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] wasn’t the only first-year head coach to find success in 2022.

Sonny Dykes led TCU to a national title appearance. Out west, Lincoln Riley and USC fell one-win short of a playoff berth, while Dan Lanning and Kalen DeBoer had their schools competing for a Pac-12 title.

Jon Sumrall and Troy won 11 games and a Sun Belt title as Duke’s Mike Elko led the Blue Devils to their seventh nine-win season in program history.

In the current era, Year 1s are volatile and unpredictable. Roster chaos can be a coach’s best friend with the transfer portal allowing for a quick influx of experienced talent.

It can also be a new coach’s worst enemy, as program’s best players leave in the coaching transition.

Every situation is different, with some guys facing complete rebuilds while others take over talent-rich squads. Making comparisons can be tricky, especially across eras.

With that in mind, I’m going to do it anyway. Here’s how Brian Kelly’s first-year at LSU compared to previous Tiger coaches in year-one.

6 LSU football records that will never be broken

These records will likely stand the test of time.

LSU has played football for over 100 years.

The game has changed a lot in that span. What we see now looks different than what those watching in 1905 saw. The rules are different, and players are deployed in different ways.

Some records set long ago will never be broken. A lot of that can be owed to the game’s changes. Other numbers are just so impressive that it would take one of the game’s greats to beat them.

Of course, there were also records that were broken because of the changes. Passing records from the 1930s didn’t stand a chance against modern statistics. Here, we’re going to look at six LSU football records that, in all likelihood, will stand until the end of time.

Top 101 LSU football players of all time: Honorable mentions

Before we reveal the top 10, here are some guys that just missed the cut.

Before we arrive at the final installment of our top 101 LSU football player rankings, I wanted to take some time to look at honorable mentions.

All of these names made my first cut of the list and have strong arguments to be included. Anytime a long list is being composed, it’s tough to find separation after looking at the best of the best.

The only spot on the whole list I didn’t have to think twice about was No. 1, and it’s possible I eventually lend some second thought to that, too. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the guys who just barely missed the cut.