Herb Tyler

Herb Tyler, from New Orleans, Louisiana, was a stand-out quarterback for the LSU Tigers during 1995-1998.

College

In 1995, Tyler went to Louisiana State University (LSU) Late in his freshman season, Tyler replaced injured senior Jamie Howard] to become LSU's starting quarterback. Over Tyler's next 31 games as a starter, LSU went 26-5, including a #12 ranking in the 1996 final AP Poll and a #13 ranking in the 1997 final AP Poll (it was the first time LSU had finished in the final AP Poll since 1988). Major victories during that time included unranked LSU's 28-0 victory over #14 Arkansas in 1995 (televised by ABC), #21 LSU's 19-15 victory at #14 Auburn in 1996 (televised by ESPN), and, most notably, #14 LSU's 28-21 victory over #1 Florida in 1997 (televised by ESPN). In the victory over #1 Florida, Tyler ran for two touchdowns off the option play, including one for 40 yards and one for 11 yards. However, during Tyler's last 7 games as a starter, LSU went 1-6. In his last game as a starter, at #10 Notre Dame, Tyler suffered a hamstring injury. Because of that, he was not able to start in the last game of his senior year at #13 Arkansas.

A dual-threat option quarterback, Tyler passed for 5,876 yards and 40 touchdowns and rushed for 778 yards and 23 touchdowns during his time at LSU.

*Tyler's 23 rushing touchdowns were the most of any quarterback in LSU history. Fact|date=April 2007

*With 63 combined passing and rushing touchdowns, Tyler had more touchdowns that any dual-threat option quarterback in SEC history since Auburn's legendary Pat Sullivan's 71 touchdowns (53 passing, 18 rushing) during 1969-1971.

*He was the fourth quarterback in LSU history to finish his career with more than 5,000 passing yards, behind Tommy Hodson (9,115 yards), Jeff Wickersham (6,921 yards), and Jamie Howard (6,158 yards).

*He was the second quarterback in LSU history to pass for 40 or more touchdowns, behind Tommy Hodson (69 touchdowns).

*Tyler was one of the most accurate quarterbacks in LSU history, finishing his career with a 60.7% completion percentage, making him the sixth quarterback in LSU history to finish with his career with a completion percentage above 50% (minimum 400 attempts), and the second quarterback in LSU history to finish his career with a completion percentage above 60% (minimum 400 attempts), behind Alan Risher (62.0%). Tyler's 60.7% completion percentage on 715 pass attempts beat legendary Bert Jones's 52.6% career completion percentage on 418 attempts. It also beat Matt Mauck's 58.6% career completion percentage on 529 attempts and Rohan Davey's 59.8% career completion percentage on 478 attempts.

*With 6,654 combined passing and rushing yards in 36 games, Tyler was the third player in LSU history to finish his career with more than 6,000 yards of total offense, behind Tommy Hodson (8,938 yards) and Jeff Wickersham (6,705 yards).

*With an average of 184.8 yards of total offense per game, Tyler was the second player in LSU history to surpass 180 yards of total offense per game, behind Tommy Hodson (203.1)

*With an average of 6.61 yards of total offense per play, Tyler was the first quarterback in LSU history (and the fifth quarterback in SEC history) to average above 6.0 yards of total offense per play (minimum 900 plays).

Professional career

In 2001, Tyler was the star quarterback for the Baton Rouge Blaze. After the Blaze went defunct at the end of the season, Tyler became the quarterback for the now-defunct Houma Bayou Bucks of the National Indoor Football League.