In 2025, LSU football is the school’s latest program to receive the title of “Cardiac Cats,” possibly stopping the hearts of many fans early in the season.
The team recently showed signs of the tradition, a legacy the LSU athletes on the dirt established over the last two decades. The baseball team has a tendency to get it done late in the game, which led to the founding of the nickname “Cardiac Kids.”
From the 1996 Warren Morris walk-off home run to the Arkansas walk-off in the 2025 College World Series, the Tigers have a pattern of getting hot late and when it matters. It has even led to fan-made merchandise repping the name.
LSU’s softball team has also leaned into the name in recent years. Under head coach Beth Torina, the purple and gold have put together several late-inning hot streaks and walk-off wins.
Cardiac Cats was a nickname given to LSU softball in 2024 during its historic 24-game win streak.
Even ESPN announcers were using the name, but that doesn’t mean it’s exclusive to the diamond sports.
LSU football has had a slow start to each game of the 2025 season. In Game 1, LSU wasn’t on the board until the third quarter after Clemson scored a touchdown of its own.
Versus Florida, the Tigers hardly pulled away, as scoring didn’t start until the middle of the second quarter, and they didn’t score the touchdown to secure the victory until five minutes remained in the game.
Head coach Brian Kelly commented on the turning point in the Clemson game during the postgame press conference.
“We had some mistakes early on, but our guys composed themselves at halftime and played with great composure,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to compete and put the last play behind you and go to the next one, and to me, that’s it. Play with great confidence, know that you can do this, and they believed it.”
It isn’t just against the big-time opponents either. Against Louisiana Tech, the Tigers had another slow start, almost surrendering a touchdown to the Bulldogs at the beginning of the first quarter.
Luckily for LSU, a personal foul penalty called the touchdown back, and it recovered for one later in the quarter.
The biggest difference between football and both diamond sports is that each game matters. In baseball and softball, it won’t be the end of a season to have a few losses on record. In football, anything more than one loss is significant, especially in the SEC, and it can be detrimental to a postseason run.
Eventually, this trend will come back to bite LSU. It’s going to be hard to run into Bryant-Denny or Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and get started late with the offense.
Following the win over LA Tech, Kelly said that although it was a win, it wasn’t a pretty one that the Tigers should be proud of. He said they were outcoached in many areas, and it would be back to the drawing board on Monday’s practice.
“We didn’t make great decisions,” Kelly said in the press conference. “Players have got to make plays, coaches have got to coach better. I’m not happy with the performance, but it’s a win. So, you always have to measure this by the outcome, in this instance, was what we wanted. It’s certainly not the way we wanted to get there. So, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
LSU had a similar start against Florida, falling behind 3-0 early in the game. Even after emphasizing the importance of getting the job done early, the Tigers were still somewhat lackadaisical from the get-go.
However, it could simply be another case of the Cardiac Cats in LSU athletics. With Southeastern on the horizon, the Tigers may need to pull it together early before they’re dethroned as the big cats of Louisiana.
Let’s see if the LSU’s newest Cardiac Cats strike again on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in Death Valley.
