Tiger Stadium (LSU)

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Tiger Stadium
"Death Valley"
Location Nicholson Drive & N Stadium Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70893
Broke ground 1924
Opened November 25, 1924
Owner LSU
Operator LSU
Surface Grass
Capacity
92,400
Tenants
LSU Tigers (NCAA) (1924-Present)
New Orleans Saints (NFL) (2005)

Tiger Stadium is the home field of Louisiana State University American football team. With a seating capacity of 92,400, it is the seventh 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. In terms of general population, Tiger Stadium would be the sixth-largest city in Louisiana for the seven home games each year. Tiger Stadium is generally considered one of the loudest and most electrifying college football atmospheres in the country.[1]

Contents

[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 119 decibels at certain points in the game. During the October 6, 2007 game against the University of Florida, CBS recorded 129.8 decibels.

[edit] Testimonials

Despite being 14-2 at Tiger Stadium, famed Alabama head coach Bear Bryant once remarked that "Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum."[2] In 2001, ESPN sideline reporter Adrian Karsten said, "Death Valley in Baton Rouge is the loudest stadium I've ever been in."[1]

[edit] Construction and seating capacity

Westside of Tiger Stadium
Westside of Tiger Stadium

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.[3] Until the early 1990s, 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 October 6, 2007 a new record was recorded when 92,910 fans watched as the #1 ranked Tigers defeated the #9 Florida Gators 28-24.[4]

[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 seismograph in the Louisiana Geological Survey office on campus.[5]

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[6];
  • 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."[7]; and
  • On October 11, 1997, #14 LSU upset #1 Florida with a 28-21 victory[8].

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] Currently, LSU has not lost a Saturday night game in Death Valley since the 2002 season.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

A nearly empty Tiger Stadium, decorated for the Saints
A nearly empty Tiger Stadium, decorated for the Saints

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

[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".
  • H style goal posts -- LSU's Tiger Stadium uniquely sports "H" style goal posts, as opposed to the more modern "Y" style used by other schools today. This "H" style allows the team to run through the goal post in the north endzone when entering the field. Tiger Stadium is one of only three Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools college stadiums in the nation who still uses the H style goal posts. The only other FBS stadiums that use goalposts with two posts all season are Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State and Martin Stadium at Washington State. Many other schools use the two post goals during rivalry games only to prevent them from being torn down in victory, a real safety concern in recent years. 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.

[edit] Gallery

North Endzone Scoreboard

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiger Stadium
  2. ^ "No place like home". Rivals.com. Retrieved on 2 October 2007.
  3. ^ http://wc.wustl.edu/Breakfast_Programs_Transcripts/Cook_Transcription.pdf Forces Shaping the Presidential and Congressional Election Campaigns in 2004
  4. ^ "Primetime Drama! Undisputed No. 1 LSU Rallies Past No. 9 Florida". Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
  5. ^ After 15 Years, LSU-Auburn Game Still An Earthshaking Experience
  6. ^ Tiger Stadium
  7. ^ It's title time once again
  8. ^ LSU Notes: GameDay comes back to Baton Rouge

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Preceded by
Louisiana Superdome		 Home of the
New Orleans Saints
(with Giants Stadium & Alamodome)
2005 (4 games)		 Succeeded by
Louisiana Superdome
v • d • e
Football stadiums of the Southeastern Conference
Eastern
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Coordinates: 30°24′43.3″N, 91°11′01.7″W

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