Saturday’s college football game between LSU and Oklahoma was only the fifth meeting all-time between those two programs. It got heated before it even started!
Two Tigers assistants got into an altercation with a Sooners fan during warmups.
The college football staffers tried to get a football back from the fan. He refused to give it up.
Oklahoma and LSU are not rivals.
This matchup between Oklahoma and LSU is new to the SEC. They only started playing each other on a consistent basis last season.
Prior to conference realignment, the Tigers beat the Sooners in the Peach Bowl in 2019 and the Sugar Bowl in 2004. The Sooners beat the Tigers in the Sugar Bowl in 1950. LSU currently leads the all-time series 3-1 after a win in 2024.
All of this goes to say that there is not a lot of history between these two schools. There is not a rivalry. Nothing like that.
That does not mean it isn’t tense. Especially now that it’s a conference game. Especially when Oklahoma is fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Two staffers got into it with a fan.
LSU took the field for warmups at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday per usual. Its specialists practiced with the field goal net down.
As a result, their kicks went into the stands behind the uprights.
One of the kicks landed directly in front of a Sooners fan. He refused to return the ball to the Tigers staffers who were tasked with ball retrieval.
That did not go over well.
The two LSU employees descended upon the Oklahoma fan and tried to wrestle the ball out of his arms. He did not budge. In fact, he retaliated. The fan wrapped one of the staffers by his legs, lifted him off of his feet and drove him into the ground.
At that point, the people around them got involved. They were trying to help but it only escalated the situation. There was pushing and shoving and grabbing. The original fan chucked the ball higher up into the crowd.
Multiple police officers eventually stepped in to break things up.
Tensions are high before LSU vs #Oklahoma.
— OklahomaMuse (@OklahomaMuse) November 29, 2025
Pre-game field goal gets kicked into stands and an Oklahoma fan won’t give the ball back to the LSU staff member.
A fight breaks out before the game in Norman.
I guess defending the Palace just means more. pic.twitter.com/wKt5OoGD4h
The ball was returned to its rightful owner. The fan was escorted back to his seat.