2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 171
LSU football players ride a truck float
on Saturday, January 18, 2020 during
LSU’s National Championship Parade
on Field House Drive.
Harrison said, almost as if speaking for the rest
of the Tiger nation.
The last time the Tigers were on the biggest
stage in college football was 2011 when they
lost the BCS National Championship game
to Alabama. The last time the team took the
National Championship trophy home was over
ten years ago in 2007. Despite 2019 being
the fourth time the Tigers became national
champions, this year’s team surpassed all the
teams that came before them in the eyes of
many Tiger fans.
The 2019 Tigers’ success not only has major
implications for the football program; they also
changed college football history. Along with
all the broken records and awards won by
individual players, including Burrow’s record
breaking, landslide Heisman win, there were
many records broken by the team. The Tigers
went 15-0 this season, marking the first time in
SEC history a team has done so. This also marks
the first time a team beat 7 top 10 AP Poll teams
at the time of the meeting, and also the first time
a team beat the top 4 preseason AP poll teams.
The parade was the perfect way to end a perfect
season. As the Tigers enter the arguments for
the greatest college team ever, lifelong fans
celebrated the memories that were held all along
the parade route on campus as chants of “Geaux
Tigers” filled the air.
Photo: Abby Kibler
Design: Catherine Carpenter
T
housands of Tiger fans rushed to the streets
outside of Tiger Stadium to experience the LSU
football team’s National Championship parade
on Saturday.
The parade went in typical Louisiana fashion
with beads thrown, Tiger chants screamed,
signs thrusted into the air and classic songs from
gamedays played by the Parish County Line
band. When the cheerleaders, Golden Girls and
marching band came down the route to start the
parade, everyone was reminded of the season
they already miss and were prepared to see the
2019 team together one final time.
As usual, there were some crazy moments on
the parade route, with Mike the Tiger dressed
as a goat, players smoking fake plastic cigars on
floats and even fans climbing trees on campus to
get a better look at the champions. Once Coach
Ed Orgeron and the players came through,
the fans went crazy, especially for quarterback
Joe Burrow. Some fans were nearly crying with
excitement when they caught a bead thrown
from the Heisman winner’s hands.
For lifelong Tiger fans, including Michelle
Harrison, watching the Tigers dominate college
football all year was the perfect excuse to get
together with friends and unwind at the parade
today. “Having time with family and friends and
just enjoying every moment of being a fan for
the greatest team was the highlight of my year,”
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