There’s a chance of rain Saturday vs. Texas A&M, but history shows LSU thrives in poor weather
The saying is that it never rains in Tiger Stadium, but that’s not to say the Tigers can’t be great at playing in it.
On Saturday, LSU will face Texas A&M, and for once, it looks like there’s a chance of rain in Death Valley.
Since 1990, LSU football has played nine games in the rain, and the Tigers have won seven of those nine. The severe weather conditions have hardly affected their mission to the national championship.
In 2015, when LSU topped Western Kentucky, former head coach Les Miles led the Tigers to a victory despite harsh rain throughout the game. The purple and gold won 48-20, but that wasn’t to say the Tigers didn’t struggle to pull off the win.
In the post-game press conference, Miles said that the Hilltoppers held their own. He congratulated the team before stating that he felt the rain helped LSU improve as a team.
“Early on, the weather conditions were terrible,” Miles said. “If it had stayed that way, no one would have had any success in the air. It turned out to be a pretty nice night for me. I kind of
enjoyed it myself. I don’t think that affected our throwing at all late in the game.”
If nothing else, the weather taught the Bayou Bandits how to reassess and be resilient.
But it isn’t just the nonconference teams that LSU dominates; it has also taken down Auburn and Ole Miss in the rain.
In 2013, LSU took on Auburn under Miles, and that game featured some weather, too. Miles said that it affected the game plan, but the team executed it to a tee to take down the opposing Tigers.
Miles said it’s always hard to top a Western SEC opponent, and the weather didn’t help. He described it as a huge accomplishment for his team.
“In the first half, with the inclement weather, the important piece was to start the game with the certainty that we were going to do certain things and take care of the ball,” Miles said. “We were going to get our feet and our footing squared away, and we were going to run the football. So we had taken an early lead, 21-zip … We have to finish this.”
He also said the team needs to get better late in the game, but the Tigers’ overall performance that night was enough to get the job done.
In 2020, they faced Ole Miss in inclement weather and once again came out on top. In this matchup, it was raining so hard that most of the fans left early.
Despite everything, LSU won 53-48.
The head coach at the time, Ed Ogeron, said he was very impressed with the fight and pride his team showed. He said the weather conditions really helped the team gel.
“I think we fought through adversity, obviously,” Ogeron said. “We’ve stayed with each other, and those guys that chose not to opt out, to finish, very proud … I think it showed the young guys to never quit.”
It’s supposed to rain on Saturday, Oct. 25 — the day the Tigers take on the Aggies. Let’s see if LSU’s weather-dominant hot streak stays alive, as Miles put it best after the Auburn game in 2013:
“It never rains in Tiger Stadium, but I can tell you it was a stiff, wind-driven dew that made for inclement weather.”
