When the Texas Longhorns take the field at Tiger Stadium for a night matchup with the LSU Tigers in Death Valley, fans of the burnt orange and white may experience a moment of cognitive dissonance.
That’s because the Longhorns won’t be wearing their iconic icy white road uniforms — while some programs have an occasional “White Out,” the Tigers are the exception in college football to home teams wearing white on the road and their colored uniforms at home.
LSU does wear purple jerseys for non-conference home games after the season opener, but in SEC play, the Tigers are in their white uniforms.
“All I’ve known is LSU in white jerseys. It always looks weird to me when they wear a purple jersey,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
Wearing white at Tiger Stadium is a tradition that dates back to 1958, five years after the last time the Longhorns traveled to Baton Rouge to face the Tigers, when head coach Paul Dietzel started the tradition. According to one story, Dietzel first wore white at home against Georgia Tech the year before for good luck. LSU won that game and went on to win the national championship in 1958.
From 1983 to 1994, NCAA rules prohibited the Tigers from wearing white uniforms at home. In 1995, first-year head coach Gerry DiNardo personally met with each member of the rules committee seeking to reinstate the tradition. It worked, and LSU upset No. 6 Auburn in the 1995 season opener.
So Texas will wear its burnt orange jerseys on Saturday. According to SID John Bianco, it will be the first time since time the Longhorns have worn their home color on the road since playing the Bruins in Los Angeles in 1971.
Texas won 28-10.
Source: Yahoo Sports
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