Tiger Stadium (LSU)
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Tiger Stadium is the home field of Louisiana State University football team. With a seating capacity of 92,400, it is the sixth largest on-campus college football stadium in the nation and third largest stadium in the SEC after Tennessee's Neyland Stadium and Georgia's Sanford Stadium.[1] In terms of general population, Tiger Stadium becomes the sixth-largest city in Louisiana for the seven home games each year.[1] Tiger Stadium is generally considered one of the loudest and most electrifying college football atmospheres in the country.[1]
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[edit] Death Valley
Tiger Stadium is commonly referred to as "Death Valley," due to its high level of cheering during games. The original nickname of "deaf valley" was applied to the stadium (distinguishing it from Clemson University's Memorial Stadium), but over the years was misunderstood for "death valley". During a nationally televised game against Auburn in 2003, ESPN recorded a noise level of 119db decibels at certain points in the game. Famed Alabama head coach Bear Bryant once remarked that Tiger Stadium is the worst place in the world to be a visiting team because playing there is "like playing inside of a drum."
[edit] Construction and seating capacity
When the stadium opened in 1924, the seating capacity was 12,000, with grandstands on both sides of the playing field. In 1931, 10,000 seats were added to the existing grandstands.
In 1936 capacity was more than doubled to 46,000 when the north endzone was enclosed with a 24,000-seat addition. Money was not allocated in the state budget for the seating expansion, but money was allocated for dormitories. To bypass the legislature and increase his beloved school's stadium capacity, Governor Huey P. Long ordered that dormitories be built in the stadium, with seating above the student living quarters.[2] Until the 1980s, the West, North and South Stadium dormitories were featured as part of student housing at LSU. The dormitories were later converted to office space for Athletic Department staff and faculty.
The horseshoe was eliminated in 1953 by the addition of the south grandstands. Unlike the existing stadium structure, they were double-decked in order to fit within the space provided The first of the two upper decks was added to the west side of the stadium in 1978 to bring capacity to approximately 78,000. [1]
The stadium was upgraded multiple times in the 1980s beginning with replacement of bench seats with chair back seats and waterproofing of the east and west stands in 1985. The playing surface was moved eleven feet to the south to center the field in 1986. The north and south ends of the stadium were waterproofed and chair back seats added in 1987 to bring those sections up to date with the 1985 improvements. Also in 1987 the press box was redecorated, a few more seats were installed at the upper portion of the west lower stands, and all seating within the stadium was renumbered using a uniform seat-width. By the end of the 1980s the stadium held 80,150 spectators.[1]
The official capacity of the stadium was lowered to 80,000 in 1994 when a section of seating was removed for renovations to the visiting team locker room. The east upper deck seating 11,600 was completed in 2000 and brought total capacity to 91,600. The west upper deck was torn down at the end of the 2004 season, and construction began on "The Stadium Club." The new suites contain over 3,200 special amenity seats as a well as a state-of-the-art press box. Construction on this addition was scheduled to be completed by the beginning of September 2005, but delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. Construction was completed for the 2006 season, bringing the stadium's capacity to its current official capacity of 92,400.[1]
During construction on the west side, a then-record-breaking crowd of 92,664 fans packed Tiger Stadium in a game against Auburn on October 22, 2005, as LSU defeated Auburn in overtime 20-17.[1] On September 8, 2007 a new record was recorded when 92,739 fans watched as the 2nd ranked LSU Tigers defeated the 9th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies 48-7.[3]
[edit] Lore
Tiger Stadium was the site of the legendary "Earthquake Game" against Auburn in 1988. LSU won the game, 7-6, when quarterback Tommy Hodson completed a game-winning touchdown pass to running back Eddie Fuller in the waning seconds of the game. The crowd reaction registered as a legitimate earthquake on the seismographs in the LSU Geology Department.[4]
Other famous moments:
- The Billy Cannon touchdown run on Halloween night in 1959 when #1-ranked LSU scored late in the game to win against #3 Ole Miss by a score of 7-3[5];
- The last-second Bert Jones touchdown pass in 1972 against Ole Miss. LSU was down 16-10 with four seconds left in the game when Jones made an incomplete pass. At the end of the play, fans looked at the clock which surprisingly showed one second remaining. LSU used the last second of the game for a touchdown pass from Bert Jones to Brad Davis. According to Ole Miss lore, a sign was put up at the Louisiana-Mississippi border reading "You are now entering Louisiana. Set your clocks back four seconds."[6]; and
- On October 11, 1997, #14 LSU upset #1 Florida with a 28-21 victory[7].
Tiger Stadium first opened its gates to fans in the fall of 1924 as LSU hosted Tulane in the season finale. Since the first game in Tiger Stadium, LSU has gone on to post a 354-138-18 (.716) mark in Death Valley.[1] Moreover, Tiger Stadium is also known for night games, an idea that was first introduced in 1931 against 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 much better under the lights than during the day. Since 1960, LSU is 201-59-3 (.773) at night in Tiger Stadium compared to a 20-22-3 (.476) record during the day over that span.[1]
[edit] Hurricane Katrina
Tiger Stadium at LSU served as a temporary relocation site for the New Orleans Saints for four games of the 2005 NFL season after Hurricane Katrina damaged the Superdome and left much of New Orleans under water. The Saints, however, utilized only 79,000 of Tiger Stadium's seats (the new west side upper deck, which was still undergoing renovation, was closed for Saints games), though the attendance for each of the games was somewhat below that figure. Each of the Saints' first two games in Baton Rouge came on the Sunday immediately following an LSU home game, meaning field crews had to repaint the field to NFL standards immediately following the completion of the LSU game. Due to the time crunch, the NFL granted LSU's request to start the Saints' games in the late slot (3:05 p.m. CST).
[edit] Notable Tiger Stadium Games
- October 3, 1931: Tiger Stadium's first night game. LSU beats Spring Hill 35 - 0
- October 31, 1959: Billy Cannon returns a punt 89 yards for a touchdown as LSU downed undefeated Ole Miss, 7 - 3.
- November 4, 1972: Bert Jones makes a last-second touchdown pass to Brad Davis, giving LSU a comeback victory against Ole Miss, 17-16.
- October 8, 1988: "The Earthquake Game" - LSU beats Auburn 7 - 6
- October 11, 1997: Unbeaten and ranked #1, Florida loses to LSU 28 - 21. This is the first time in Tiger Stadium history the goal posts were pulled down.
- November 4, 2000: LSU beats Alabama for the first time in Tiger Stadium in 31 years (1969).
- October 22, 2005: The largest crowd in Tiger Stadium at 92,664. LSU beats Auburn in overtime 20 - 17
- October 30, 2005: The first NFL game ever in Tiger Stadium takes place as the Miami Dolphins defeat the New Orleans Saints, 21-6. The Saints would lose all four Tiger Stadium games, against the Chicago Bears (20-17 on November 2), against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3 on December 4), and the Carolina Panthers (27-10 on December 18)
- September 8, 2007: The new record for the largest crowd in Tiger Stadium was set at 92,739 when No. 2 LSU Tigers beat the No. 9 Virginia Tech Hokies, 48-7.
[edit] Unique Features
- Unlike most football fields, where only the yard lines ending in "0" are marked, Tiger Stadium also marks the yard lines ending in "5".
- Tiger Stadium is one of only three Division I-A schools that still use the classic double-posted goal posts. They received special permission from the NCAA prior to the November 20, 1993 game against Tulane in conjunction with LSU's football centennial. These goal posts remained intact for the four New Orleans Saints games held in 2005, with special permission from the NFL. Under NFL rules in place since 1967, goalposts for NFL games must be "slingshot" style with a single post and bright gold in color. Tiger Stadium's goalposts are white. The only other I-A stadiums that use goalposts with two posts are Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State and Martin Stadium at Washington State.
