Texas Breaks 55-Year Uniform Tradition For Saturday's LSU Showdown

Texas football fans watching Saturday night's showdown against LSU might need a moment to adjust their eyes. For the first time in 55 years, the Longhorns will take the field for a true road game wearing their iconic burnt orange jerseys.

And there's a fascinating piece of college football history behind the unusual look.

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Texas will trade its traditional white road uniforms for burnt orange when Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns visit Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, where LSU maintains one of the sport's most recognizable uniform traditions.

The Tigers wear white jerseys at home for SEC games, a practice that dates back to legendary coach Paul Dietzel and LSU's 1958 national championship season.

That means Texas gets to wear its familiar home colors in one of college football's most intimidating road environments.

According to Texas sports information director John Bianco, the Longhorns haven't worn burnt orange in a true road game since September 1971, when they defeated UCLA 28-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

That afternoon featured a rare color-versus-color matchup, with Texas in burnt orange and UCLA wearing its traditional powder blue jerseys.

College football uniform regulations were considerably different then.

In 1982, the NCAA changed its jersey rules, requiring home teams to wear dark-colored uniforms. The decision temporarily ended LSU's long-standing tradition of wearing white inside Tiger Stadium.

From 1983 through 1994, LSU wore purple for its home games.

That changed when Gerry DiNardo arrived as head coach in 1995.

Determined to restore the school's signature look, DiNardo personally approached members of the NCAA Football Rules Committee and successfully pushed for a rule change allowing white jerseys at home under certain conditions.

LSU immediately celebrated the return by defeating No. 6 Auburn 12-6 in its 1995 home opener.

The tradition has survived ever since, with LSU generally wearing purple for selected nonconference home games.

Even Sarkisian admits he's accustomed to seeing the Tigers in white.

"All I've known is LSU in white jerseys. It always looks weird to me when they wear a purple jersey," Sarkisian said Monday.

Interestingly, Texas was originally scheduled to make this unusual uniform switch in 2020.

The Longhorns were supposed to visit LSU that September, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the college football schedule and eliminated the matchup.

Six years later, the opportunity has finally returned.

Saturday's game carries considerable postseason implications for Texas, which enters at 7-2 and hopes to strengthen its College Football Playoff position.

Arch Manning and the Longhorns will face an LSU team eager to rebound from a disappointing season, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

The stakes are serious, but the uniforms will offer something special for longtime Texas fans.

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For the first time since Richard Nixon occupied the White House, the Longhorns will be wearing burnt orange in an opponent's stadium.

And they'll be doing it under the lights in Death Valley.