BATON ROUGE - With football season just around the corner, one LSU horticulture professor is getting into the spirit in a unique way!

Since 2004, Professor Robert "Bob" Mirabello has welcomed football season with a one-of-a-kind replica of the Death Valley field behind Miller Hall. The mini version is painted and organized to scale — exactly 1/16th of the size of the actual field. 

“We tried to make it as authentic as possible. There’s little details of the field, of the hash lines that we can’t make everything perfect, but it’s just a fun activity," Mirabello said.

Using the creative project as a teachable moment, he allows students from his landscape management class to take on most of the work. 

“Almost every student that comes through our curriculum gets an opportunity to paint the field at least once," he said. 

The paint used on the lawn is the same paint used on the turf in Tiger Stadium. The only difference is, instead of 600 gallons of paint, he only needs about 30.

“My class this year, this is the fastest we’ve ever done it. Hour and a half, it’s done," said Mirabello.

One special part of the project that Mirabello always saves exclusively for himself is the eye of the Tiger in the center of the field. 

“I have produced a stencil for the gold part of the eye, so I will lay that stencil out, paint the gold, and the purple and white is all freehand," he said. 

Mirabello says as long as he's at LSU, it's a tradition he plans to carry on.