GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Former LSU center John Ed Bradley once went to a game in Tiger Stadium several years after his playing career ended in the 1979 season with teammate defensive end John Adams.
“We had to leave early,” Bradley said. “It just felt weird being there after playing in that stadium. The place is haunted. It really is.”
The sacred, 102,321-seat edifice of noise, drunkenness, dreams, a few nightmares, some scary former dorm rooms, a wedding, the LSU band playing a version of “Neck,” and one earthquake is located just a half mile from the Mississippi River on North Stadium Drive, Baton Rouge, La., 70803.
And rivers have long been believed to be part of the recipe for hauntings, such as in New Orleans, 82 miles down river from Tiger Stadium on the mighty Mississippi.
Tiger Stadium can also be its own Whiskey River.
“Walking the sidelines of that place, you can smell the bourbon,” LSU coach Mike Archer once said.
Which can smell like victory … or defeat.
So here we go with the 20 greatest games ever played in Tiger Stadium in celebration of its 100th birthday as the No. 13 Tigers prepare to host No. 9 Ole Miss Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
“Greatest” does not necessarily mean how great the actual game was, but more the significance of the game historically.
20. Tulane 13, LSU 0 … Nov. 27, 1924: It all started with a loss, unfortunately, to bitter rival Tulane of New Orleans, 13-0, in 12,000-seat Tiger Stadium under LSU coach Mike Donahue, who finished 5-4. Tulane completed an 8-1 season with its only loss to Mississippi A&M (later Mississippi State). This was a day game as all games were until 1931.
19. LSU 35, Spring Hill 0 … On The Night Of Oct. 3, 1931 – The tradition begins. LSU plays its first night game in Tiger Stadium against the Mobile, Alabama, school. The brainchild of athletic director Thomas “Skipper” Heard, little did he know what he started after purchasing lights for $7,500. So, turn on the lights, the party’s just beginning.
“We had scheduling problems attempting to avoid conflicts with Tulane and Loyola,” Heard says in Peter Finney’s “The Fighting Tigers,” a masterpiece of LSU football history.
“Playing on Saturday nights not only would solve this, but also make it possible for many of our fans busy on a Saturday afternoon to attend,” Heard said. “We had many well-to-do fans whose duties running nearby plantations made it impossible to get away on a Saturday afternoon.”
For fans several hours away in north Louisiana, night games offered plenty of time to get there. Those closer who had to work on Saturdays could also make the game. And others could spend the time getting ready for kickoff with adult beverages and Louisiana cuisine. Ah, yes, and tailgating was born.
18. LSU 33, No. 19 Tulane 0 … Nov. 28, 1936 – LSU’s first game against a ranked opponent happened to be its blood rival, and the Tigers wrapped up their second straight SEC title under second-year coach Bernie Moore. LSU has not won back-to-back SEC titles since. The Tigers finished the regular season 9-1 and went to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans for the second straight season, but lost to No. 6 Santa Clara, 21-14.
17. LSU 28, Mississippi State 13 … Nov. 9, 1935 – An important win in LSU’s first SEC championship season over the Bulldogs, who entered at 6-1 and barking about wins at defending SEC champ Alabama and at Army. First-year coach Bernie Moore finished the regular season at 9-1 – the school’s best record since 10-0 in 1908 – with the only loss to Rice in the opener. And LSU was off to its first bowl in history at the Sugar Bowl, where it lost to TCU, 3-2.
16. No. 14 LSU 35, No. 7 Texas A&M 17 … Sept. 13, 1986 – The Tommy Hodson era dawned as the redshirt freshman quarterback from Central Lafourche High on Bayou Lafourche directed a season-opening upset. The Tigers played outstanding despite the distraction of their coach, Bill Arnsparger, interviewing for the Florida athletic director’s job in Gainesville, while his team practiced without him. LSU would suffer one of the worst home upsets in Tiger Stadium history the next week to Miami of Ohio. But it would regroup to win eight of the next nine and take its first SEC title since 1970 at 5-1. Arnsparger would accept the Florida AD job after the season with defensive coordinator Mike Archer replacing him.
15. LSU 30, Alabama 28 … Nov. 4, 2000 – Neither team was ranked, and Alabama finished 3-8. But this win was special for one reason. New head coach Nick Saban had delivered LSU’s first win over Alabama in Tiger Stadium since 1969. The Tigers had gone 0-14-1 at home against the Tide from 1971 through 1998 with a tie in 1985. Over that strange span, LSU won six in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham. The win guaranteed LSU (6-3, 4-2 SEC) a winning season. Saban would finish 8-4 and 5-3 after LSU had losing seasons the previous two years and in eight of the previous 10. Beginning in 2000, LSU never had another losing season until 2021 at 6-7.
Saban gave LSU video director Kevin Wagner a game ball as he kept replaying a controversial play on the stadium’s video screens, aka Jumbo Trons. With LSU up 23-21 with 7:06 to play, LSU’s Domanick Davis fumbled a punt return, and officials ruled Alabama ball at the Tigers’ 14-yard line. But Alabama’s Shontua Ray had obviously knocked Davis over as he tried to catch the punt, and a flag should have been thrown. Wagner showed the replay three times, and officials could be seen taking a look, even though at the time instant replay was not being used to reverse calls. The call was reversed, LSU kept the ball and eventually put the game away.
“The play of the game is the Jumbo Tron operator,” Saban said.
14. No. 22 LSU 27, No. 25 Auburn 14 … Dec. 1, 2001 – In a game moved to the end of the regular season because of 9/11, LSU captured its first SEC title since 1988 and reached its first SEC Championship Game. In just his second season, coach Nick Saban had already rejuvenated a program that had lost 10 straight SEC games in 1998 and ‘99 under Gerry DiNardo. LSU was 4-7 and 3-8 with a 3-13 SEC mark in the two seasons before Saban.
13. No. 12 LSU 55, No. 7 Florida State 21 … Nov. 20, 1982 – This was the greatest win of a season of rebirth. Coach Jerry Stovall’s Tigers were coming off a 3-7-1 season (1-4-1 SEC) in 1981, which was the program’s worst since coach Paul Dietzel went 3-5-2 and 2-3-1 in his first season in 1955.
The Tigers won at No. 4 Florida in week three, then beat Alabama and coach Bear Bryant for the first time since 1970 by 20-10 in Birmingham. An upset loss at Mississippi State followed, and the Tigers needed to beat Florida State to reach the Orange Bowl – their first New Year’s Day bowl since the Orange in the 1972 season. Lose, and it’s the Gator Bowl.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turned down LSU in 1979 to replace Charles McClendon, watched LSU freshman tailback Dalton Hilliard rush or catch passes for 233 of LSU’s 620 yards and score four touchdowns. Late in the game, LSU fans tossed oranges all over the Tiger Stadium field.
12. No. 14 LSU 28, No. 7 Notre Dame 8 … Nov. 20, 1971 – On ABC prime time national television, LSU gained sweet revenge over the hated Fighting Irish. No. 2 Notre Dame had edged No. 6 LSU, 3-0, the previous year in South Bend. And in 1969, the Irish decided to end its elitist disapproval of playing in bowls and accepted the Cotton Bowl bid for the money, just in time to knock LSU out of it. At 9-1 with its only loss by 26-23 to Archie Manning and Ole Miss in Jackson, No. 8 LSU was banking on a chance to play No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. But No. 9 Notre Dame got it at 8-1-1, and Texas beat the Irish to win the national title.
Meanwhile, what may have been LSU coach Charles McClendon’s best team decided to stay home for the holidays, turning down lesser bowls.
So, on this night two years later, LSU got even as quarterback Bert Jones and his cousin wide receiver Andy Hamilton put on a show. Linebacker Warren Capone intercepted two passes, while cornerback Tommy Casanova had one. And the fans stormed the field.
11. LSU 10, No. 2 Ole Miss 7 … Nov. 4, 1961 – The Tigers opened the season at No. 5 in the nation, but flopped at Rice in a 16-3 loss and fell out of the polls. But LSU would not lose again in coach Paul Dietzel’s last season. After beating No. 3 Georgia Tech on Oct. 7, the No. 2 Rebels came to town at 6-0 with no one playing them closer than 14 points.
And for the third straight year, LSU ruined a Rebels’ perfect season. The Tigers finished 10-1 and No. 3 in the nation after a 25-7 spanking of No. 7 Colorado in the Orange Bowl. LSU finished 6-0 in the SEC for its second unblemished conference crown in four years under Dietzel. But Dietzel left to become Army’s coach. And LSU never won 10 games again until 1987 and did not win another SEC title until 1970.
10. No. 8 LSU 61, No. 16 Ole Miss 17 … Dec. 5, 1970 – In the first-ever night game televised from Tiger Stadium, beloved LSU coach Charles McClendon clinched his only SEC championship with a 5-0 mark in front of 67,590 on ABC. It was also LSU’s lone victory over Archie Manning, though he played with a plate in his left arm that he broke against Houston three weeks prior.
Manning was not himself, but LSU didn’t care. It was a healthy Manning who had almost single-handedly – along with his feet – upset the No. 14 Tigers, 27-24, in Tiger Stadium in 1967 as coach Johnny Vaught’s first sophomore starting QB. Then Manning took away McClendon’s best shot at a national championship in 1969 in Jackson with a 26-23 win on ABC – LSU’s only loss that season.
So, the blowout win over Ole Miss in prime time with two Tommy Casanova punt returns for touchdowns and a Ronnie Estay sack of Manning for a safety soothed LSU’s hurt. It improved to 9-2 and reached No. 5 in the nation before a 17-12 loss to No. 3 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. LSU did not go undefeated in the SEC again until Les Miles went 13-1 overall and 8-0 in the SEC for the league title in 2011. McClendon was praised by Ole Miss fans as his players went out of their way to not hurt Manning.
9. No. 5 LSU 42, No. 7 Florida 28 … Oct. 12, 2019 – After quarterback Joe Burrow shredded Florida’s defense on a surgical 21-of-24 passing for 293 yards and three touchdowns, the Tigers were never ranked worse than No. 2 the rest of the way. They were No. 1 from early November through their 42-25 win over Clemson in the College Football Playoff national championship game in New Orleans for their fourth national title, including three since 2003.
The Tigers trailed Florida, 28-21, in the third before Burrow and company outscored the Gators 21-0 to end the game. Burrow hit future Cincinnati Bengals teammate Ja’Marr Chase on a 54-yard TD with 5:43 left to ice it.
8. No. 11 LSU 17, No. 7 Georgia 10 … Sept. 20, 2003 – The Tigers showed they were national championship material under fourth-year coach Nick Saban on this national televised CBS day game in front of 92,251 and ESPN’s GameDay in town.
LSU jumped to No. 7 after the win and never exited the top 10 the rest of the season, even with a 19-7 home loss to Florida three weeks later. Six straight wins put LSU at No. 3. Then it ripped No. 5 Georgia, 34-13, in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta to get to No. 2 and reach the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans. LSU beat No. 3 Oklahoma, 21-14, for its first national title in 45 years, according to the BCS and the USA Today coaches’ poll. USC (12-1) shared the title with LSU (13-1) as the Associated Press media poll voted it No. 1 after a Rose Bowl win over No. 4 Michigan.
7. No. 1 LSU 14, No. 6 Ole Miss 0 … Nov. 1, 1958 – The Tigers were just 5-5 the previous season and 3-7 in 1956 under first-year coach Paul Dietzel. But Dietzel showed that LSU – just named No. 1 the week of the game at 6-0 – were a force to be reckoned with as it won its first game against a ranked opponent that season to go to 7-0 in front of 68,000.
LSU would not lose again and was named national champions for the first time after a 62-0 win over Tulane in New Orleans by the Associated Press and United Press International. At the time, final polls came out before bowls. LSU put a bow on it in New Orleans on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl with a 7-0 win over No. 12 Clemson.
6. No. 6 LSU 17, Ole Miss 16 … Nov. 4, 1972 – Somehow LSU ran two plays in the final four seconds from the Ole Miss 10-yard line, thanks to a slow clock operator. Translation: Home Cooking.
“Time for one play in the game,” is exactly what the great John Ferguson, the Voice of LSU Football, said when LSU got a first down on the 10 with :04 remaining following a pass interference call against Ole Miss.
“Four seconds to go in the game,” Ferguson said.
But after LSU quarterback Jones threw incomplete to Jimmy LeDoux, somehow 00:1 still flickered on the Tiger Stadium scoreboard. “One second left to go,” Ferguson said in disbelief. “One second to go.”
Ole Miss fans and players had started to leave. And LSU’s own players thought they had lost … before they noticed the 1 second.
“Honestly, I did think it was over,” Jones told Tiger Rag in a recent interview. “But it only reinforces the fact that I had a really quick release. You’ve got to have a quick release to be able to throw two passes in four seconds.”
Jones’ next pass hit running back Brad Davis, who somehow caught in the corner despite being blinded by the Tiger Stadium lights and got past the flag for the touchdown. Rusty Jackson hit the extra point, and it was over.
Ole Miss’ press guide the next season said, “Ole Miss 16, LSU 10 + 7.”
Moments after the game, LSU sports information director Paul Manasseh told LSU coach Charles McClendon, “Mac, if you had any guts, you would’ve gone for two.”
5. No. 1 USC, 17, No. 20 LSU 12 … Sept. 29, 1979 – The Tigers lost this one, yes, but it remains one of the most treasured games in LSU history because of the consistent high volume of the 78,322 on hand. The volume was at 11 almost the whole game, if you’ve ever seen the 1983 cult classic movie, “This Is Spinal Tap.” The Tigers led 12-3 in the fourth before the fantastic dream ended.
“It was continuous,” said former Tiger Athletic Foundation director Rick Perry, who was at the game. “Other games since then and recently have been louder for periods of time, but that night, it never really seemed to cease for the whole game. There was this deafening, constant roar the entire game. It never stopped. Then it gradually grew in the fourth quarter when we were up 12-3.”
4. No. 14 LSU 28, No. 1 Florida 21 … Oct. 11, 1997 – The Tigers’ first win over a No. 1 team in history anywhere. The closest LSU had come to beating a No. 1 was a 6-6 tie at Nebraska in 1976 and a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama at home in 1979. LSU came in 0-6-1 vs. No. 1 all-time, including 0-4 at home, beginning with a 20-0 loss to No. 1 Tennessee in 1939 at home.
3. LSU 7, No. 4 Auburn 6 … Oct. 8, 1988 – The Earthquake Game. On fourth down from the 10, LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson found tailback Eddie Fuller in the middle of the end zone for the go-ahead TD with 1:41 to play. And Fuller, who had just dropped a touchdown on the same play in the same spot on third down, held on this time by the back end of the football. The crowd eruption registered on a seismograph in the LSU Geology building as a small earthquake. The win saved LSU’s season as it improved to 3-2 after losing at No. 18 Ohio State and at No. 17 Florida. The Tigers would finish 8-3 and 6-1 in the SEC, capturing their second league crown in three years.
2. No. 1 LSU 28, No. 9 Florida 24 … Oct. 6, 2007 – The Tigers came back from a 24-14 deficit early in the fourth quarter behind tailback Jacob Hester’s 106 yards on 23 carries to win and stay No. 1 in front of 92,910 on CBS at night.
LSU coach Les Miles – in the prime of his riverboat gambling ways – went for it and made it on fourth down an incredible five times. Hester converted a 3rd-and-2 and a 3rd-and-1 on one touchdown drive and two 4th-and-1s and a 3rd-and-Goal on another.
Short yardage quarterback Ryan Perrilloux scored on a 4th-and-Goal. Starting quarterback Matt Flynn scored on an 8-yard run on 4th-and-5 and completed a 4-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-3.
It was truly a breathtaking game from beginning to end with LSU not taking its first lead until 1:09 remained on Hester’s 2-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-Goal.
The dramatic win in a ratings bonanza on CBS in prime time along with a 48-7 win over No. 9 Virginia Tech on Sept. 8 in Tiger Stadium and a 21-14 win over No. 14 Tennessee in the SEC title game, helped propel LSU from No. 7 to No. 2 in the final regular season BCS rankings. There were a string of upsets the night before those rankings, so LSU somehow got into the national title game despite losses at No. 17 Kentucky and at home to unranked Arkansas on Nov. 23. LSU became a rare and fortunate two-loss national champion after beating No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS title game in New Orleans, 38-24, on Jan. 7, 2008.
And the winner is …
You should have guessed the No. 1 Tiger Stadium game of all time by now.
1. No. 1 LSU 7, No. 3 Ole Miss 3 … Oct. 31, 1959 – Like in a Hollywood movie, matinee idol and star tailback Billy Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown with exactly 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter in one of the first Games of the Century.
Down the Ole Miss sideline, Cannon broke seven tackles, including the last one by punter Jake Gibbs at the LSU 45. Then it was all open field as Cannon passed Ole Miss coach Johnny Vaught at the 50. And the crowd of 67,327 went wild.
But Cannon was not done. Offensive players also played defense at the time, and quarterback Warren Rabb and Cannon combined to stop Ole Miss quarterback Doug Elmore on 4th-and-Goal from the 2-yard line at the 1.
It is believed Cannon won the game and the Heisman Trophy on that night. He also gained immortality.
Gibbs went on to become a catcher with the New York Yankees and was Ole Miss’ baseball coach from 1972-90. While coaching third base at Alex Box Stadium against LSU over those years, he had to listen to radio broadcast tapes of Cannon’s fabled run that LSU fans joyously played over and over. As Cannon approached Gibbs on the run, fans in the stands near Gibbs at third base would yell, “Get him Jake! Get him Jake!”
Epilogue
Alas, the next week, LSU lost to No. 13 Tennessee, 14-13, when Cannon was stopped just short of a two-point conversion. Or was he?
“I’ll go to my grave believing I was over,” said Cannon, who died in 2018. The play cost LSU what would have been its only back-to-back national championships. LSU finished 9-2 after losing, 21-0, to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl after Cannon won the Heisman.
But the Tigers and Cannon still had the satisfaction of ruining their rival’s season. The Rebels finished 10-1, but because of the LSU loss, they lost the national championship in the polls to undefeated Syracuse. The Orangemen were voted No. 1 in December at 10-0 by the Associated Press and United Press International polls. At the time, final voting happened before the bowl games. Syracuse still beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl to finish 11-0.
“Thank you, Billy,” LSU guard Mike Stupka told Cannon after beating Ole Miss.
“No, no, no,” LSU coach Paul Dietzel yelled at Cannon as he took a risk fielding the punt on a bounce at his 11. As Cannon shed tacklers, Dietzel switched consonants and yelled, “Go, go, go.”
It’s 65 years later, but you can bet a sportscaster in New Orleans or Baton Rouge – or both – will play the Halloween Run again during 5, 6 and 10 o’clock news on Oct. 31 as has happened every year since 1960.
So, Happy Halloween, 2024, and many more.
Last 4 Games Out
No. 5 LSU 30, No. 18 Auburn 24 … Oct. 20, 2007 – Wide receiver Demetrius Byrd flashed his hands as if to say, “Can’t see me” after catching a 22-yard TD from Matt Flynn with :01 remaining.
No. 13 Alabama 22, No. 5 LSU 10 … Nov. 7, 1987 – A win and LSU would have finished the regular season 10-0-1 and could’ve played for a national championship. But QB Tommy Hodson was hurt, and the Tide Jinx continued as LSU fell to 0-8-1 in Tiger Stadium vs. Alabama. The Tigers finished 10-1-1 and No. 5 in the nation. Actor Dennis Quaid, who was in town portraying a Billy Cannon-type character for the 1988 film “Everybody’s All-American,” watched on the sidelines in a 1950s-style LSU uniform. Portions of the movie were filmed that night.
No. 12 LSU 20, Alabama 15 … Nov. 8, 1969 – Coach Charles McClendon’s only home win over Bear Bryant.
No. 1 LSU 26, Rice 3 … Sept. 19, 1959 – The first televised game from Tiger Stadium kicked off defending national champion LSU’s season in an afternoon game on NBC. Tiger Stadium would soon become a national network favorite, hosting four more national network games as of 1966.
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