College football is full of traditions. The Ohio State band’s tradition of the script “Ohio” and the dotting of the “I” began in 1936. Georgia’s first live bulldog mascot, Uga I, appeared on the sidelines in 1956. Clemson began rubbing Howard’s Rock in 1967.But many fans aren’t aware of smaller traditions at other schools. The LSU faithful know about Mike the Tiger, the march down Victory Hill and Tiger Stadium being called “Death Valley.” One tradition that isn’t as well known is Tiger Stadium’s “H-style” goal posts. “H-style” goal posts are constructed with too parallel upright bars with a cross bar perpendicular to each. The “H-style” differs from the “T-style” or “slingshot” goal posts seen in most college and NFL stadiums. The “slingshot” goal posts only have one post as a base instead of the “H-style’s” two. LSU put Tiger Stadium’s current “H-style” goal posts in place in 1993 against Tulane for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of LSU football. “That year we had a company that offered to donate the goal posts — Shaw Industries,” said LSU senior associate                     athletic director Herb Vincent. “We put them up for that year, the centennial season.”LSU is now one of only three schools in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I) that uses the “H-style” goal posts. Washington State and Florida State are the other two.The “H-style” goal posts were originally used at LSU until 1984 after most schools had switched over to the new “T-style” goal posts. “We kept them for a lot longer than most schools had,” Vincent said. ”A lot more schools went to the ‘T-style’ before we ever went to them in 1984.”Not all was lost of the original “H-style” goal posts. The original cross bar was placed above the door in the Tiger Den where the players enter the field each game. The familiar bar, that the Tigers still run under as they enter the field, has the word “WIN” painted across it. The reason LSU switched back to the “H-style” goal posts was tradition. The Tigers had always entered the field running under the cross bar of the goal posts before 1984. “That was the reason we kept the ‘H-style’ for so long, all the way up until the ‘80s, so the team could actually run through the goal posts,” Vincent said. “It’s just tradition.”Washington State added the “H-style” goal posts for practical purposes. Scott Randall, Washington State assistant director of event and facility operations, said the school added the goal posts in the ‘90s because students kept rushing the field and tearing down the posts. “It was a solution to not    having to worry about buying new goal posts and safety issues,” Randall said. “These are substantially sturdier and can withstand quite a lot of student harassment.”With all the renovations made to Washington State’s Martin Stadium, including the recent addition of Fieldturf instead of the old Astroturf in 2001, the “H-style” goal posts have stood strong.”Even when we’ve replaced our field, we haven’t moved our goal posts,” Randall said. “Ours are in cement.”Florida State’s “H-style” goal posts were recently installed on Bobby Bowden Field in Doak Campbell Stadium in 2002 to honor former coach William E. “Bill” Peterson. Rob Wilson, Florida State’s associate athletics director of communications, said “Coach Pete,” as the players used to call him, led the Seminoles through the goal posts every game. “We changed [the goal posts] in 2002 in tribute to Bill Peterson, who was a football coach here from 1960-1970,” Wilson said. “We call them Pete’s posts.”In 2005 after the Saints had to relocate because of Hurricane Katrina, the NFL allowed the Saints to play four games in Tiger Stadium with the white “H-style” goal posts, despite the 1966 and 1967 rules stating the goal posts should be bright yellow and “slingshot” style. “It was a matter of looking at the stadium and saying here are the challenges,” Vincent said. “I think that was just one of those things that they said don’t worry about the goalposts.” —-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]