Will LSU Fans - 'As Vulgar As They Come' - Clean Up Their Act For Army Game?

BATON ROUGE, La. - The last time the LSU administration tried in a concerted effort to get its fans to behave at football games in Tiger Stadium, it backfired big time.

The fans, students especially, upped their game of four-letter-word chants and song rewriting, taking the volume up to 11. And LSU's powers that be basically threw up their hands. And it wasn't to signal a touchdown.

So with Army (2-4) in town to play the No. 19 Tigers (5-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network), others have asked for better fan behavior for the Black Knights of West Point, New York. Army won its only previous game with LSU, 20-0, at Army on Nov. 7, 1931.

Can Tiger Fans Be Nice For The Cadets?

"If you're at the game Saturday, when Army takes the field, how about some polite applause? Or just stay respectfully silent," Baton Rouge Advocate columnist Scott Rabalais wrote this week. "I strongly urge LSU to publicly promote either. I can pretty much guarantee when they fire the cannon when LSU takes the field, the Black Knights won't flinch. They've heard, and prepared, for a lot more than that."

Yes, the cadets at Army go through eight years in West Point to become officers with reserve and active duty. Many will risk their lives so that Americans are free to boo opponents in college football and the NFL. So, continue to boo Alabama and everybody else, but not these guys.

Still, this is a lot to ask of this fan base. And LSU knows it. A public service announcement asking for atypical-opponent respect may only add Tony Chachere's to the cannon fire. In the meantime, LSU did dress up its end zone for Army with camouflage.

"I would argue LSU fans are as vulgar as they come. It's part of the culture," LSU Manship School of Communication graduate Preston Guy told OutKick. Guy covers LSU for Tigerbait.com and has also asked LSU fans to be on their best behavior for Army.

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"But just for this weekend, let's respect the military in our stadium, Let's not have any feline phallic war chants," he said and also sent that out on X:

Whether or not the team does that also remains to be seen. The Tigers are a 31-point favorite. And Army did lose 17-13 at Louisiana-Monroe (2-4) in the season opener.

Guy's "feline-phallic" comment was in reference to what LSU fans started becoming infamous for in the 2011 season. The LSU band at the time regularly played a 2008 rap song called "Talkin' Out Da Side Of Ya Neck" by the Hip Hop band Dem Franchize Boyz of Atlanta.

LSU Fans Loved 'Neck' Rap Song At Tiger Stadium

Students loved it and started referring to the song as just "Neck." They also started replacing some of the lyrics with their own words. "Suck" was one of them along with a couple others mixed in with the word "Tiger." And in the press box and throughout the stadium, everyone could hear the revised song clear as day.

"I always thought the way the students rewrote the song and the organized chants bode well for the future of LSU students," Guy said. He should know. He was one of the students in the stands chanting along before graduating in 2015.

"I may or may not have sung it or not," Guy said.

The "revitalized" song swiftly became a tradition at LSU games that the administration did not appreciate.

LSU eventually asked the Tiger band to stop playing "Neck." But that didn't stop LSU's creative students. They just kept adding the line they put into "Talkin' Out Da Side Of Ya Neck" into any song the band played when they felt inspired to do so.

LSUI fans have made Tiger Stadium one of the loudest places to play in the country, and some say one of the most "vulgar." (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

During the 2013 season before the Tigers hosted Texas A&M, LSU sent out an email to all students to refrain from any singing along with alternate versions of songs.

"The cussing at games was getting so popular, they had to do something," Guy said.

LSU even got star junior wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to participate in a public service video before the A&M game, asking fans to keep it clean. Funny, just six years later Beckham became part of the NCAA's investigation into the football program for doling out cash to player after the Tigers beat Clemson in the national championship game of the 2019 season.

"And the result was, the LSU students sang their dirty songs louder than ever," Guy said. "I just hope that doesn't happen again. I don't want to be too prudish, but this the United States military. It's not like they're saying 'F-you Saban.' LSU fans need to show some respect Saturday.

Many have agreed with Guy's sentiment.

Others saw it differently. For example, not booing Army as LSU fans boo Alabama would be disrespectful to Army because they would be coddling the cadets.

Funny thing about LSU and Army, though. LSU fans hate Alabama coach Nick Saban because he left LSU after five seasons (2000-04) to coach the Miami Dolphins. Then after two seasons there, he went to Alabama - LSU's most hated opponent. He is also 12-5 against LSU with six national titles since becoming the Tide's coach in 2007.

But he was not the first coach to leave LSU for what he thought was a better job. Three seasons after coach Paul Dietzel won the 1958 national title at LSU, he jumped ship to become head coach at another school following the 1961 season.

That school? Army.

So perhaps some LSU fans won't be so prone to not boo?

"I was heartbroken," former LSU Board of Supervisors member Stanley Jacobs told OutKick this week. Jacobs was an LSU student and basketball player when Dietzel left following the 1961 season. The Tigers won the SEC championship that season and finished 10-1 following a 25-7 win over Colorado in the Orange Bowl.

"I couldn't believe it," Jacobs said.

At the time, Army was a much more coveted job and just 15 years removed from three straight national championships from 1944-46 under legendary coach Earl "Red" Blaik. Dietzel, a B-24 pilot in World War II, coached under Blaik at Army in 1948 and again in 1953-54.

"There's no telling how great LSU could have remained had Dietzel stayed at LSU," Jacobs said.

As it turned out, LSU never followed Dietzel's 1958 national championship with another one until Saban was coaching the Tigers in the 2003 season.