Lamar Cardinals football The Lamar Cardinals football program represents Lamar University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) level . The Cardinals are members of the Southland Conference , although they will not play a full conference schedule until 2011 . The Cardinals play their homes games in the 16 , 000 seat Provost Umphrey Stadium . The team ' s head coach is Ray Woodard . History . From its inception as South Park Junior College in 1923 , football was a part of Lamar ' s history . It was discontinued in 1928 because of a lack of common opponents but was revived again in 1932 by the renamed Lamar College . Coach John Gray led his charges to records of 8 - 1 that season and 8 - 1 - 1 in 1934 before the program was discontinued again in 1942 and did not resume again until the end of World War II . Football was restored in 1946 and the first football scholarships were offered . In the 1946 season Lamar posted an 8 - 2 ledger . The 1948 club ( 8 - 4 - 0 ) won two bowl games , and the 1949 outfit won an all time school record 10 games and another bowl trophy as the school bade farewell to the junior college era . After the school moved up to the NAIA level in the Lone Star Conference , the Cardinals didn ’ t have a winning season until a superb 8 - 0 - 2 season in 1957 ignited a string of 11 consecutive winning campaigns . The 1961 team advanced to the Tangerine Bowl ( now the Capital One Bowl ) against Middle Tennessee State on December 29 , 1961 , and won 21 - 14 . Just as the Cardinals were becoming a perennial contender in the Lone Star loop , school officials moved the athletic program forward into the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) college division ranks in 1963 via the Southland Conference . The football team enjoyed immediate success with three straight SLC grid titles ( 1964 – 66 ) . In 1964 the Cardinals were invited to the Pecan Bowl after a 6 - 3 - 1 campaign . The Cardinals lost 19 - 17 to Northern Iowa . The Cardinals had a second - place finish in 1967 . A year later , the school ’ s athletic program embarked on another challenge by upgrading to the NCAA Division I level . Lamar averaged 12 , 000 patrons through 1974 , drawing a then record 16 , 226 against arch - rival McNeese State to Cardinal Stadium in 1972 . The transition to Division I proved to be a spark for many LU sports but football experienced a downturn after 1974 . Fans responded when new coach Larry Kennan delivered a 6 - 3 - 2 club in 1979 ; Games against Louisiana Tech ( 17 , 600 ) and West Texas State ( 17 , 250 ) rank second and third , respectively , behind the standing - room - only 18 , 500 Baylor drew for the 1980 opener . Lamar set an all - time attendance record by averaging 16 , 380 that season . The Cardinals ’ signature win came on September 5 , 1981 , in an 18 - 17 win over the UPI # 20 ranked Baylor Bears under Head Coach Larry Kennan . Football went independent when Lamar left the SLC in 1987 to join the basketball - flavored American South Conference . Disbandment and reintroduction . Dismal support finally led to larger - than - expected deficits and provided the bottom line fodder for five new appointees to the then - Lamar University System board of regents to pull the plug on football at their first official session in 1989 ( 5 to 4 vote ) . Now a member of the Texas State University System , the university is in the process of bringing the football team back , fielding a club in 2010 . In preparation for the return of play the University has done extensive work on the facilities including , Provost Umphrey Stadium , a new Athletic complex , and high class suites built into the existing Montagne Center . The university hired former NFL player Ray Woodard as the head coach to lead the charge in bringing the Cardinals back to the gridiron . Former Basketball Coach Billy Tubbs was hired as the Athletic Director in 2006 and has had a significant role in bringing back the Cardinals football team . Rivalries . Inactive rivalry . Louisiana – Lafayette Ragin ' Cajuns . The first Sabine Shoe trophy was first awarded in 1937 to the winner of the SLI – Lamar football game . The name of the bronze rivalry trophy was derived from the Sabine River that forms the Texas - Louisiana border . USL defeated Lamar in the 1978 edition of the rivalry game , but the Ragin ' Cajuns were not awarded the trophy as it had vanished . The Sabine Shoe trophy now sits in at trophy case in the Ragin ' Cajun Athletic Complex . 2010 . The 2010 season was the Lamar Cardinals ' s first since 1989 and the first for head coach Ray Woodard and his staff . The Cardinals opened up the season on September 4 against arch - rival , # 11 McNeese State in Lake Charles . The crowd of 19 , 235 that filled Cowboy Stadium marked the highest attendance since 2002 for the Cowboys . Lamar quarterback Andre Bevil set a school record for passing yards with 427 yards through the air . The game featured a late fourth quarter surge by the Cardinals with two touch down passes thrown in the final quarter of the game . McNeese clinched the 30 - 27 victory when they converted on third and 10 with less than a minute left . 2011 . 2011 was Lamar ' s first season as a full member of the Southland Conference since 1986 .