Although LSU began competing in intercollegiate football in 1893,[1] the school's official record book does not generally include full statistics before the 1950s, as records from that period are often inconsistent and incomplete. Records set before then are occasionally included in the lists below if the statistics are available, but they generally are not.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since 1949, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
The NCAA did not allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (except the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[3] The Tigers have played in a bowl game every year since then, giving recent players an extra game per season to accumulate statistics. Similarly, the Tigers have played in the SEC Championship Game six times since it was first played in 1992. In an extreme example, players in the 2019 season had three extra games to accumulate statistics—the SEC Championship Game, the Peach Bowl (which was a College Football Playoff semifinal), and the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The Tigers have eclipsed 5,000 total offensive yards in a season 10 times in school history, all of them coming in the 21st century.[1][4]
These lists are updated through the end of the 2023 season.
Burrow began his college career in 2015 at Ohio State, redshirting that season before playing his first game in 2016. He graduated from Ohio State in 2018 with two remaining seasons of athletic eligibility and transferred to LSU, becoming eligible to play immediately under NCAA graduate transfer regulations.
Etling began his college career in 2013 at Purdue, transferring to LSU after the 2014 season and sitting out 2015 due to NCAA transfer rules.
In 2021, following a sexual harassment scandal stemming in part from multiple allegations of misconduct against Guice, LSU stripped his name from its record books.[23] This article will continue to list Guice.
The 2019 LSU Football Media Guide lists only the top 2 (and ties), rather than a top 10.
The 2019 LSU Football Media Guide lists only a leader, plus the most recent player to have tied for second place, in this category, rather than a top 10.