The LSU football program unveiled new gold jerseys on Monday evening that will debut during Saturday night’s game against Vanderbilt, which kicks off at 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
The gold jerseys follow the same overall design as the Tigers’ standard home white and purple alternate jerseys, with UCLA stripes on the shoulders, contrasting sleeve cuffs and the SEC logo on the base of the collar.
The only notable difference with the gold jerseys is the purple numbers on the front, back and sleeves, as they include a white stroke, whereas the digits on the home white and purple alternate jerseys are a single color.
This will mark just the fifth time in school history that LSU will wear gold jerseys, joining a 35-0 over the Commodores in 1996, a 27-9 win over Notre Dame in the 1997 Independence Bowl, a 22-10 loss at Florida in 1998 and a 23-20 win over Mississippi State in 2016.
The Tigers did not reveal which color helmets and pants they’ll wear with the gold jerseys, though it’s worth noting they were paired with gold helmets and white pants in 1996 and 1998, as well as white helmets with white pants in 1997 and 2016.
LSU has mostly worn white jerseys at home since 1958, when head coach Paul Dietzel – who had a habit of tinkering with the team’s uniforms – chose to wear white during all five home games that season.
The Tigers went on to capture their first national championship with a 7-0 win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, and Dietzel – who was known as a superstitious man – didn’t change their uniforms after that.
That tradition continued well after Dietzel left for another job, though the NCAA eventually changed its rules and required teams to wear dark-colored jerseys at home, forcing LSU to wear purple jerseys at home from 1983-94.
In 1995, then-head coach Gerry DiNardo successfully petitioned the NCAA to change the rules, though one stipulation was that the visiting team would have to give the home team permission to wear white jerseys.
The first team to deny the Tigers’ request was Vanderbilt in 1996, and instead of wearing their purple jerseys, they took the field in new gold jerseys. The Commodores’ decision likely stemmed from DiNardo – who was their coach from 1991-94 – taking the job in Baton Rouge.
Header photo courtesy of @LSUfootball on X/Twitter.