When the LSU Tigers take the field tomorrow evening for their season finale against the Oklahoma Sooners, they’ll do so wearing their sixth different uniform combination of 2024.
No one is going to start thinking of LSU as the Oregon of the SEC, mind you, but for a school as uni-tradition bound as LSU, it’s almost shocking the different number of uniform iterations the Tigers have trotted out this season.
After starting the season with high hopes and after a 6-1 start, the team has since gone 1-3. But the real story hasn’t been the team’s on-field success (or lack thereof), but the surprising number of different uniforms in which they’ve complied such a record.
While LSU has definitely worn more alternate looks over the past couple seasons, it wasn’t that long ago when we’d see the Tigers wearing their beautiful gold helmet/white jersey/gold pants for almost every game. They’d usually mix in one game where they’d sport their dark (purple) jerseys for a non-conference home game, but that was pretty much it. Not so this year.
For their season finale, the Tigers will wear their sixth different combo this year: white helmets/purple jerseys/white pants.
Will they go out on a winning note when they debut that combo for 2024 against new SEC opponent Oklahoma? We’ll find out tomorrow night.
LSU still wears their regular gold/white/gold combination quite a bit — six times, in fact, for the regular season. They debuted against the USC Trojans in this combo, and would also wear it in games two and three. They lost to USC but earned victories over Nichols and South Carolina, for a 2-1 start.
They’d change things up for the first time in game four, sporting a gold/purple/gold combo against UCLA, another game they would win.
In most normal seasons, the Tigers would return to their standard G/W/G combo, but not this year. For their fifth game, they’d change things up once again, wearing gold/white/white against South Alabama, notching another win and improving to 4-1.
For their sixth game, LSU would go back to their normal G/W/G, notching their fifth consecutive win, this time against Ole Miss. But instead of riding the G/W/G combo, the team decided to break out their fourth different look against Arkansas: white/white/white. It would be another victory for the boys from Baton Rouge, improving their season record to 6-1.
Then, the wheels fell off. After successfully taking down the Razorbacks, LSU did something very rare: they repeated an alternate uniform combo, running back the all-white look against Texas A&M, and getting thrashed in the process. Perhaps sensing the W/W/W combo had used up all its mojo, LSU once again returned to their normal G/W/G look for games nine and ten. Unfortunately, their regular combo wasn’t any better, and they’d lose two straight in it, to Alabama and Florida respectively. After starting the season 6-1, and in contention for the newly-expanded College Football Playoff, the Tigers had fallen to 6-4 and a very disappointing season.
Then the team did something really out-of-character for their 11th game against Vanderbilt. They broke out an entirely new shirt, debuting new gold jerseys and pairing them with white helmets and pants. Whether or not the uniforms had anything to do with it, the team snapped their mini-losing streak and defeated Vandy, to move to 7-4.
So, after 11 games, LSU had worn different uniform combinations in five of them (with one alternate look repeated). But LSU wasn’t finished experimenting with different looks. For Saturday night’s season ender, LSU will wear the white/purple/white outfit, making it their sixth different uni combo in 13 games. Not only that, but it means LSU will have worn their classic G/W/G combo in less than half their games, something that hasn’t happened since before 1994, when all NCAA teams were required to wear dark jerseys at home.
Will the new look bring another “W”? We’ll find out tomorrow evening.
I love LSU in their regular G/W/G combo, so seeing them wearing anything else not only is jarring, but disappointing. As Jimmer Vilk is fond of saying, “I love it when (Team) looks like (Team)” and to me, LSU’s look is G/W/G. When they wear anything else (including their purple jersey with gold helmet and pants), they don’t look like LSU. That isn’t to say any of their alternate looks are bad, but they look best when they wear their beautiful G/W/G combo.
LSU hosts Oklahoma on Saturday at 7 pm (ET) on ESPN, when they take the field in Death Valley for the final time in 2024.
“beautiful gold helmet/white jersey/gold helmet”
I think you meant “gold helmet/white jersey/gold pants”
I did indeed. Good catch and now fixed.
Thanks!
The lack of pants in that game was a real shock for the fans.
As the sign didn’t say … “No shirt, no pants, no football”
As a huge LSU fan, I’m disgusted they’re wearing purple against a conference foe at home. That’s not who we are! There’s a script, stick to it. You’re supposed to look a certain way because you’re LSU, let the teams that haven’t achieved as much the past twenty years do the gimmicks of changing the uniforms.
I love when they switch it up. Teams wearing the same uniform for 80% of their games just isn’t fun to me. I know some people like it and I kind of get it, but I prefer some variety. Also, their g/p/g look is their best imo.
I don’t give a damn about LSU, but they almost always manage to look good. Not wild about the yellow shirts, but whatever. I appreciate a team that appreciates stripes, especially when that team also has a tiger identity.
The white helmets and white pants are terrible and should be burned beyond recognition. We’re LSU. We need one helmet and one pair of pants.