LSU’s brand of football is frightening.
The team plays in a stadium called “Death Valley,” the name hinting at its status as one of the scariest stadiums in college football.
The defense and kickoff coverage blasts ball carriers.
The running game bludgeons opponents and punts are nailed in coffin corners.
Despite all this, the team’s players are not invincible. Halloween looms around the corner and the occasion has them divulging their fears.
For some football players, the fear of dropping a pass or missing a tackle or block can be haunting. Junior tight end Chase Clement is confident in his abilities on the field, but that fear of failure manifests itself in another of his hobbies.
“The only thing that scares me is when I’m sitting in that deer stand on Halloween day, and a big buck walks out, I might miss him,” said Clement, an avid hunter. “There’s always that gut feeling you might miss.”
Sophomore defensive end Barkevious Mingo has wrestled the Florida Gators twice, once in their own lair, “The Swamp.” He’s recorded three tackles and a pass breakup in two LSU wins against the Gators, but the actual animal has him shying away from the Everglades.
“I’m scared of big animals, something that could eat me,” Mingo said. “I wouldn’t walk up to a bear or a gator.”
Although senior safety Brandon Taylor’s spider web tattoos can be seen stretching out from underneath his shirt collar, one won’t see him dusting any derelict corners of his team’s meeting rooms.
“I don’t play with spiders,” Taylor said. “I walk through a spider web, I’m taking off running.”
Though senior Jarrett Lee is accustomed to being swarmed by the nation’s best defensive lines, LSU’s quarterback shares in Taylor’s disgust for creepy crawlies.
“Spiders, insects, bees, wasps,” Lee said. “Anything like that. They creep me out.”
Slithering beasts have junior wide receiver Rueben Randle running away the same way he leaves opposing defensive backs in the dust.
“[I’m scared of] snakes, if anything,” Randle said. “I hope I don’t run across any of them any time in the future.”
Senior offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert won’t be caught dead spending his bye weekend at the lake house after watching the 2008 horror flick “The Strangers,” a suspenseful movie about a couple terrorized by masked psychopaths.
“‘Strangers’ is pretty crazy because ‘Strangers’ could happen,” Hebert said. “I feel like whenever you’re in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and you start thinking about it, you could really freak yourself out. You’d have to be on your guard.”
Hebert, a notorious gamer, also said he’s familiar with the video game horror genre. He said he’s beaten “Resident Evil 4,” the 12th game in the series that pioneered the genre.
Junior wide receiver Russell Shepard recently got his horror fix, but he’d rather indulge his sweet tooth on All Hallows’ Eve.
“I went to go see that new movie ‘Paranormal Activity [3]’ and that was pretty scary,” Shepard said. “I’ve never been a big Halloween guy. I like the candy. I’m a big candy guy.”
His favorite?
“Reese’s,” Shepherd said, without pausing to think. “Reese’s cups.”
Sophomore defensive end Sam Montgomery’s greatest fear is one many students may face, and it’s a fear he may have to deal with every day when he comes home from practice.
“My most greatest fear would be opening that door and not having any food in my refrigerator,” Montgomery said.
 
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Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]