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"Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum."
-Bear Bryant
"Unfair is playing LSU on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge."
-Former Arkansas Senator Mike Huckabee
"...the scariest place to play..."
-ESPN, 2007
“Be it the vast and unique tailgating menu or Richter Scale-inducing fans, few places in the nation can send chills down your spine like a game at Tiger Stadium. As one of the loudest and most rabid atmospheres in the nation, LSU boasts one of the most daunting home-field advantages in college football — especially at night.”
– Athlon Sports
The citadel of college football isn't some weathered, snow-crusted, outdated Midwestern thunderdome.....no, the temple of college football is not a landmark postseason / neutral site location such as the logistically sadistic, yet breathtaking Rose Bowl....for exactly 100 years this November, the beating heart of college football has resided inside an enigmatic, monolithic thunderdome in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, deep within the inner sanctum of the most powerful & dominant 21st century super conference, surrounded and filled with the nation's most intense & dedicated fan base, a stage taken over by the greatest college & NFL players of our time....this is Tiger Stadium, the place where opponents' dreams "come to die", the stadium that supposedly never catches a drop of rain ("it never rains in Death Valley!"), the fortress where LSU have built one of the nation's perennial top 5 programs.....a battleground where earthquake-topping noise, overwhelming fan intensity, and nearly unimaginable moments of championship destiny, individual history & collective greatness come to meet....a theater of dreams for those who dare to endeavor in the last great team gladiator conquest....a senses-devouring intoxicant that has no known equal.
LSU rivals exhibit open, public reverence towards the place.....even as the stadium's hostile purple & gold clad crowd clamor for their downfall, all to the rattling beat & clanging clatter of the Golden Band From Tiger Land's deathdrums.
Erected in 1924, and opening for its first game vs Tulane on November 25th of that year, featuring a capacity of 12,000, looking like this (see below), Death Valley's iconic Roman Coliseum architecture symbolizes its own inner truth: is it not the purest cathedral of the last, final team bloodsport??? A place where one and all can let loose & get down on a level that makes Notre Dame or Ohio State fans redden with jealousy & thirsty envy???
Few could disagree without experiencing an elongating of the nose.....
Like a secret you've been let in on, or a land that time forgot, Tiger Stadium's legend, as well as its own shadow, began to grow & evolve over time....from the simple pre-WWII pigskin days to Y.A Tittle's "greatest generation", bleeding into the crewcut 1950s heyday of Cannon & The Chinese Bandits, or the wild, unhinged, mohawks of QB Steve Ensminger during the mid 70s, through to the 80s decade dominated by Wickersham & Hodson, Tiger Stadium wasn't a mere backdrop....it became a supersonic playground of sporting dreams, alongside the world's largest block party, a cultural rotisserie always seeming to reflect & influence the times.
TIGER STADIUM OVER THE YEARS:
On October 3rd, 1931, the first night game was organized and played inside Tiger Stadium, against the Springhill Badgers igniting a long standing tradition which lasts until today.
In hilarious reaction, W. J. Spencer, the sports editor of The Advocate wrote the next day, “But you can have your night football. The entire night layout has demoralized our office. But if the fans take to it, we will be in there to suffer.”
By 1936, Tiger Stadium expanded to a horseshoe construction, adding improved capacity, then at 46,000 (see below):
By 1953, the horseshoe was closed, with the stadium now encircling 360 degrees, raising the seats to 67,320; Around 1978, the west stand received its first upper deck, alongside two club level sections, on either side of the press box, raising the seating volume to over 78,000.
During the 80s, many upgrades took place, including waterproofing, expansion of the lower west side, fixing the press box's limitations, and expanding capacity to 80,150 by 1989....which would be how Tiger Stadium would remain until 2000, when the east upper level was added.
More expansion projects would take place until finally in 2014, these changes would take the stadium's crowd size well over 102,000, becoming college sports' 8th largest stadium & 18th biggest in the world (regarding capacity)....which leads us to the present day, summer 2024.......in the lead-up to a very special season at LSU.
On the occasion of Tiger Stadium's 100th anniversary birthday, LSU Odyssey present to you our selections for the 10 greatest moments in Death Valley history:
10. BURREAUX SENIOR NIGHT ENTRANCE (11/30/2019)
It was senior night....November 2019, not only was there a revenge game against A&M on the night's menu, but one final chance for Tiger fans to say "thank you" to their 2019 LSU Tiger seniors....among them was then-Heisman favorite QB Joe Burrow.....
....what many didn't expect?
Joey B. taking it upon himself to tell the Death Valley faithful in return, as well as the entire state of Louisiana, how grateful he was for their unflinching support across his 2 years in Baton Rouge:
Kicking off an iconic, legendary Tiger Stadium moment of pure college football pageantry at its finest, Joe strode out on to the field, every fan buzzing as they witnessed Joe rocking a jersey with the customized, "culturized" spelling of his last name:
BURROW evolved into BURREAUX....an emphatic tribute that made the crowd go completely crazy, echoing his full immersion as an adapted native son of Louisiana.
As his proud father Jimmy, beaming mother Robin, and older brothers looked on, Joe thanked the crowd, was forced to swap into a regulations-passing, plain old Burrow jersey, and proceeded to bludgeon A&M throughout a remarkable show of stunning force, 50-7, allowing A&M enough points (7) to match the amount of overtimes needed to beat Burrow's LSU the previous year (Joe's excalibur numbers on senior night: 23/32, 352 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 0 INTs)....
That special evening was truly a rarity in football:
An epic, unforgettable moment from the G.O.A.T, followed by an SEC West rivalry matchup that was over before it started.
How could A&M contend with that?
If you happened to be there, you are privileged.
9. "DO THE GATOR CHOMP!": LSU VS FLORIDA (10/12/2019)
One of the most electric atmospheres in recent Death Valley memory belongs to October 12th, 2019, a night where Joe Burrow's LSU delivered their customary supernaut barrage of attacking prowess at full throttle....a performance that lives on among the G.O.A.T National Championship team's greatest displays of power over 4 quarters, sealed together forever via a massive 102,000-strong trolling for the ages.
One of LSU's 7 top 10 showdowns from 15 games that fall, Dan Mullen's 7th ranked Gators sauntered into Death Valley for a nighttime brawl, and though the Tigers took their share of punches for 3 1/2 quarters, Florida were ultimately shredded clean in record-setting fashion:
The 2019 offense arguably enjoyed their best outing, nearly perfect in their efficiency, scoring 42 points from 48 total plays, featuring 5 scoring drives under 2 minutes, only 2 punts from Zach Von Rosenberg, while Ja'Marr Chase (127 yards, 7 catches, 2 TDs) & Justin Jefferson (123 yards, 10 catches, 1 TD) were monstrous & close to unstoppable.
Of course, who could forget Florida QB Kyle Trask and CB Derek Stingley Jr's mano e mano standoff, Trask beating Stingley on one touchdown before Derek enjoyed the last laugh, picking off Trask in the end zone to seal the game during a wild second half where Dave Aranda's beat up & drained defensive unit needed their crowd's defiant support.
Despite Florida's spirited effort, they would be left in shambles & tatters by Burrow and Co's offensive siege; Still, in an effort to rub massive amounts of salt in Florida's open wounds, the entirety of Tiger Stadium topped off their chills-inducing atmospherics with the greatest troll of all...taking the Gator Chomp and making it their own, right before the ESPN cameras & Dan Mullen's ambitious, crushed, overrated squad....forced to swallow the brand of rough justice only LSU fans can dish out.
Why did this specific night make our list?
Not only was it a defining performance by the greatest ever offense in college football history, LSU rode waves of momentum, took Florida's punches left, right and center, yet were still the last team left standing, owing much to their fabled home stadium's buoyant, raucous, apocalyptic atmosphere....rocking the rafters from wire to wire throughout a contest where Dave Aranda's overrun defense found themselves in need of an assist from Death Valley in order to secure one of the most entertaining victories along 2019 LSU's road to college football immortality.
8. LSU'S EXTRA PLAY VS TENNESSEE (10/2/2010)
At number 8, we have one of the most bizarre finishes to a game I've witnessed as a Tiger fan, as well as a moment which perfectly encapsulates the madness & the ugly, sometimes chaotic, at times beautiful, other times "WTF just happened" ways of Les Miles' first 6 years in Baton Rouge.
On the same grass field where Coach Miles would chomp on blades of Tiger Stadium's finest greenery, his 2010 Tigers survived a wild 16-14 escape over Tennessee...bailed out of a signature blunder of his own making:
When LSU QB Jarrett Lee drove the offense down the field 68 yards with an effective 13 play drive, things were moving smoothly, but the Tigers were down 14-10, needed a touchdown...and most importantly, lacked any timeouts.
Lee moved the Tigers up to the 2 yard line with 32 seconds left...2nd and goal; Out of nowhere, Miles threw "running" QB Jordan Jefferson into the game for an option play, throwing a wrench in what was already working (although to be fair, Jefferson rushed for an 83 yard TD earlier in the game); Perhaps more critically, Les didn't think beyond that single rushing play. Alas, Jefferson was stuffed, keeping the clock running as he hit the grass....28 seconds left.....the Tigers facing 3rd and goal...
Instead of having a second play ready, or even spiking the ball to preserve time (which would've cost LSU their 3rd down play), personnel shuffled in & out nonchalantly as the entire offense glared over at the sidelines, captured by complete & utter confusion, annoyance, and bewilderment as the seconds dwindled away....
The crowd's restlessness & disbelief about to burst at the seams by 15 seconds, but still Coach Miles' staff took their time....
...the clock kept ticking away, and LSU's confusion continued unabated, the noise exploding to a fever pitch....at 11 seconds, players were still shuffling on & off the field....
...Finally, at the 9 second mark, when any one of the 102,000 spectators losing their minds could've ran on to the field & called the play themselves, LSU starting center & current ESPN radio host T-Bob Hebert saw the seconds peeling away, led his line up to the ball, and kept LSU alive by snapping back to Jefferson, a moment Bleacher Report considered college football heroism from Hebert....although, to add an extra dose of chaos, Jefferson fumbled, falling on the ball as Tennessee defenders touched him down, nearly 15 yards back...ending the game.
Tennessee Head Coach Derek Dooley was hugging assistants, he was lifted aloft Volunteer shoulders for a micro-second as if he assumed the role of Coach Gordon Bombay, saddling up for a victorious postgame interview with a hint of sex in his step....when suddenly....the refs spotted extra Volunteers personnel on the field during the final play.
The lead official walked over to speak with the booth reviewers, put on the cans, received word of 13 players on the ball for Tennessee during LSU's last play, and delivered the news to an elated cry of pandemonium from the fans spilling over inside Tiger Stadium....the result would force a 1st down as well as a replay of the final snap.
From the 2 yard line once again, on LSU's second take & final chance, running back Stevan Ridley rushed into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as the clock truly hit triple zeroes....Les Miles' 2010 Tigers escaping in a manner so insane it left LSU fans on an adrenaline high, picking at scabs & staring through walls for days.
Whether inside Tiger Stadium or at home on the couch, beating Tennessee is always a good time to be enjoyed thoroughly, but beating Tennessee like that?
How sweet & delectable it is...
Ripping away LSU defeat from the jaws of Tennessee's victory, only to ritually drink down Volun-tears thanks to the gutty efforts of our unheralded 2010 Tigers. Let's also not forget the always timely, constantly raging Tiger Stadium crowd, who's endless noise destroyed the mental capacity of Dooley's team and staff, who somehow allowed 13 players on the field for the "controversial" play...
As far as disorganization & late game blunders, Les Miles had finally met his match in the cumbersome, hapless Derek Dooley....but a few years later against Auburn, Coach Miles' unlimited duality was found out & harshly exposed for the final time in Baton Rouge.....
Miles' dice-rolling, failure to offensively update, inability to unleash LSU's best offensive weapons year after year, and his spontaneous mental combustion (which at times produced genius moments) all came home to roost in the end......and we're not even getting into off-field allegations of which there are many.
That day in 2010 against Tennessee planted the first seeds of thought:
Was Miles going too far?? Had the Mad-Hatter truly gone Mad??
7. LSU VS GEORGIA (9/20/2003)
September 20th, at home against top 10 Georgia.....the stiffest regular season obstacle of 2003, a defining season for LSU's football program:
LSU's date against Georgia was the pinnacle launchpad that ignited the Tigers' first National Championship-winning campaign since 1958, standing as a resume-builder for Nick Saban's then-burgeoning career, a breakout game for LSU legends such as Corey Webster, Skylar Green, Chad Lavalais (nearly intercepted David Greene), Matt Mauck, plus an unforgettable impact contribution by Shyrone Carey (73 yards, 18 carries & 1 TD on the ground) carrying the Tigers through a 17-10 bloodbath, a defensive chess match between Saban's Tigers and Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs....what would eventually turn into the first of 2 matchups held within the 2003 season.
Just like the SEC Championship Game rematch, our Tigers were victorious, thanks in no small part to delirious crowd support, hyped up for the SEC on CBS afternoon kickoff.
"That Georgia game put LSU on the map," 2003 quarterback Matt Mauck told Sports Illustrated at one point during a later interview, "it was our coming out party."
A battle between the two Green(e)'s, LSU's Skylar Green and Georgia QB David Greene, this was an Old Testament, primeval, violence festival born of blood & bone...and it had it all, including rare interceptions from the Bulldogs' deadly accurate Greene, blocked field goals, a fake punt, fumbles, a 94 yard screen pass TD, but who could forget Matt Mauck's delicious, game-winning 3rd & 4 bomb for Skylar Green, Mauck taking a nasty hit right in the guts as he released one of the greatest passes of his career.
It was a tear-drop toss dripping with touch & precision...scaling right above the defense, leading Green into space & dropping into his lap........according to most witnesses, Death Valley began levitating as the officials signaled the score....even my brain at home, halfway across the country, began to feel as tripped out as that end zone font...
This was the afternoon which introduced the 2003 LSU Tigers & a then-largely unknown Head Coach Nick Saban to American college football television audiences, a winning top 10 preview courtesy of the team who would become National Champions in January.
6. THE NIGHT THE CLOCK STOPPED (11/4/1972)
Badass Bert Jones.
The Ruston Rifle.
Perhaps if you're a young Tiger fan, that name means little to you....however, if you're a die hard LSU fan, or a purple & gold devotee of a certain age, Bert Jones was the man....
A long-haired Bravado-King out of Ruston, Louisiana who was defined by a swaggering grace of ease, later named a future College Football Hall of Famer & one of the Top 25 SEC Quarterbacks of All Time, Bert Jones sealed his name as one of the greatest Tiger QBs of any era on the "Night the Clock Stopped".
On that fateful hour in November 1972, Bert Jones' towering legacy as a giant of LSU history & SEC legend was signed, sealed & delivered during another surreal evening inside Tiger Stadium....a matchup which pushed the boundaries, ruffled many feathers & forced the players & fans far beyond their limits.
Reaching 4th in Heisman voting following LSU's 1972 gauntlet, leading Cholly Mac's undefeated 6-0 LSU Tigers into battle vs Ole Miss @ Tiger Stadium, QB Bert Jones made a play that controversially continued their unbeaten run.....a moment that takes its rightful place within SEC history.
Facing a 16-10 deficit with 3:02 left in the 4th quarter, Jones led the offense inside the Ole Miss 10 yard line....4 seconds left...
One last shot....
Jones drops back, aims over the middle for Jimmy LeDeoux, and releases quickly, but the ball is deflected by Rebels safety Mickey Fratesi and the game is over....Ole Miss players & staff begin streaming on to our field, 5 here, 10 there, but they're coming...this thing is over....
Then, everyone looks up at the scoreboard and can visibly see 0:01 second left on the game clock.....LSU impossibly had one more chance.....
Despite the Ole Miss players' incredulous demonstrations & unbridled fury at officials, the lone second would remain.
Jones lined everyone up, ran a beautifully designed pick play that freed Brad Davis to his left, and the Ruston Rifle bulleted an accurate pass his way, the game now at 0:00 and the ball spiraling through the air....only God & gravity between Jones, the ball & its target....
Jones' toss traveled just inside the corner of the end zone where Davis collected the ball with an outstretched hand, almost tipping the pass to himself, maintaining possession just long enough to cross over the pylon. There would be even more cries of scandal, further protests from Ole Miss players, complaining after Davis had the ball jarred out of his grip merely a second after he maintained possession in bounds.
It mattered not, as the officials signaled touchdown; Ole Miss can have few complaints, as the film clearly shows Davis sealing possession long enough in bounds to complete the catch inside the end zone before contact.
During the mess of confusion, LSU would score the PAT and win by a single point, 17-16, remaining undefeated at 7-0....however, this wasn't over...for some players on that field, this was the game that never ended:
LSU were accused of cheating for years, many hunted down the clock operator in search of answers, although one hilarious Bert Jones quote points to the infinite mystery & mythology surrounding the "Night the Clock Stopped":
With hard to pin down traces of sarcasm, further enhancing the never-ending riddle of that night in 1972, Jones once said this to NOLA.com:
“People think that it was either my father or my brother running the clock. Really, it wasn’t anything like that. It was a distant cousin of mine that was in charge of the clock. But we were very fortunate in the sense that we ran 2 plays in 4 seconds. It could be done. Whether or not it was done legally or not will always remain a question.”
5. LSU VS USC (9/29/1979)
Talk to anyone who who was there....
I have...
Many have called it the greatest LSU game they've ever witnessed.....the fact Charlie "Cholly Mac" McClendon's #20 ranked Tigers lost to #1 USC in the final minutes, losing hold of a 9 point lead, hasn't diminished this game's epic, unforgettable place in college football & LSU Tigers' lore.
Maybe the defeat only enhanced its luminous place among LSU's many tragic "What Ifs"...
Let's look at the list of participants in that game, alone, and you'd file it away as a major event in Tiger Stadium's 100 years:
John Robinson's USC had the star power with 1981 Heisman winner & NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, 1979 Heisman winner & Hall of Famer Charles White, 3 additional Hall of Famers: the NFL's greatest safety Ronnie Lott, Anthony Munoz & Bruce Matthews (two of the best O-linemen of their generation), and even future Titans / St Louis Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher played defensive back, while LSU's underdog squad were led by guys who weren't household names, dual QBs Steve Ensminger & David Woodley, as well as a name born right out of the Louisiana morning dew.....even rhyming with "cajun": the legendary Hokie Gajan (interesting aside, all 16 Tigers who entered the 1979 NFL Draft were selected).
In what was Cholly Mac's final season in charge, playing one of the roughest schedules of any team that year, his Tigers became hellbent on sending their coach out the right way.....giving everything for 4 quarters and nearly upsetting the #1 team in America.
The fans mobilized, just as committed in doing their part. Subsequently, the fan hostility started far before the game even kicked off....as USC arrived, hundreds of LSU students denied the Trojan coaches & players from departing their buses.
"They wouldn't let us off the bus," Robinson said. "There were about 2,000 students. They were rockin' the bus. I didn't expect that. That didn't happen when we played Oregon or Notre Dame. Eventually, they got the police, and we got out of there."
As they finally exited, escorted by Baton Rouge police, the purple and gold crowd was already waiting for 'em, openly chanting, "Tigerbait! Tigerbait! Tigerbait!" At the posh So Cal stars, all of whom were left aghast & rattled.
This sheer crowd intensity inspired a ruthless, overly aggressive, in your face showing by Charlie Mac's '79 squad, punishing USC ruthlessly for 3 1/2 quarters.
Leading 12-3 into the early minutes of the 4th quarter, LSU were destined to pull off the program's greatest upset, with a whooped up, aisle-crammed, 'ludes & booze audience of 78,000+ assaulting the Trojans' senses....their pure noise & intimidating energy draining the superstars of #1 Southern California.
USC Coach John Robinson, who would later take a consulting position at LSU for their 2019 National Championship-winning season, remembered the game as a brutal awakening into the world of Tiger Stadium's otherworldly powers.
"You couldn't hear. I remember that," Robinson told The Advertiser, "I can remember talking to one of my assistants on the sideline, and he couldn't hear me. He's standing right next to me! 'DO THIS.' And he says, 'HUH?' You're damn right I was worried in the fourth quarter," Robinson continued. "We couldn't get a lot going. We struggled just to function."
"It was so loud," Ensminger recalled. "Our offensive tackles were not more than four feet away from me, and they couldn't hear the signals. They kept watching the snap out of the corner of their eye. Our fans just kept hollerin' as loud as they could..."
"All I remember is the fans and that Tiger," USC running back Charles White told the Advertiser, "We could hear him growling when we were in the locker room. It was scary."
But through a 6 play, 57 yard drive, LSU lost control of the game, Heisman-winning RB Charles White taking over for 185 total rushing yards. His 4 yard score nibbled into the lead, 12-10...the first time the crowd's siege mentality was mixing alongside creeping anxiety.
Then, LSU looked to have done it when Demetri Williams sacked USC QB Paul McDonald on a critical 3rd down inside their own territory, just around 4 minutes to play. But USC were granted a call straight from the sickly football gods themselves: a disgraceful, soft face masking penalty on Benjy Thibodeaux which gave the beleaguered Trojans a new set of downs, 15 yards, and the impetus to take the lead, 17-12, and get the hell out of Baton Rouge while they still could.
LSU would end up running out of gas, and Robinson's Trojans would limp out of Tiger Stadium by the skin of their teeth:
"The USC game, it'll go with me to my grave," McClendon said in 1993, before sadly passing away in 2001. "I don't think there's any question about it," McClendon continued, "if we had gotten that game under our belts, we could have finished undefeated. No one could have touched us."
“It was the ultimate disappointment," 1979 Tiger Mark Ippolito once said, "We won that game between the goal lines and sidelines. That game was a career experience for everyone involved. There will always be a lot of history following the USC-LSU game from 1979. I thank God for my time spent at LSU."
4. BK'S 2 POINT CONVERSION (11/5/2022)
One of the most drama-filled & intense LSU vs Alabama showdowns occurred on November 5th 2022 inside Tiger Stadium, against a backdrop of first year LSU / SEC Head Coach Brian Kelly facing off against the man he was hired to beat, as well as replicate: former LSU National Championship-winning Head Coach and then-Alabama G.O.A.T Nick Saban...the man who refused to build a dynasty in Louisiana after 1 championship, instead leaving LSU to Les Miles for over a decade while Saban won 6 titles at Alabama......
In late 2021, newly hired Head Coach Brian Kelly was the man Athletic Director Scott Woodward knew could reignite that lost, forsaken LSU dynasty, investing $100 million & 10 contracted years to sign Notre Dame's all-time winningest Head Coach.
....It was built up as a stunning heavyweight bout between the game's two premier Head Coaches, but little did we know, the 2022 edition of LSU vs Alabama would see Kelly & Saban vying for the very future of the SEC.
The night game itself was a first half defensive struggle that recalled the mid 2000s- early 2010s LSU vs Alabama matchups before the dam busted loose amid a second half shootout full of epic Jayden Daniels playmaking....a gutty, physically dominating performance in the trenches by DT Mekhi Wingo...WR Malik Nabers roasting former LSU CB Eli Ricks to the crowd's delight, controversial reviews & refereeing decisions (both going against LSU's defense)...it all played out on the Tiger Stadium stage before the loose, chaotic & deafening masses....the tension rising higher & higher until someone or something had to give.
It took overtime....and there was a feeling in the air this could go all night....such was the overwhelming competitive tapestry laid out before us over 5 quarters, stained in blood, bruises, leftover teeth, a savage hatred for this particular Bama-bating refereeing crew, and a gnashing of the senses being viscerally punished from all sides.
A battle royale which deserved its own holiday....a game neutral fans never wanted to end...a gift from two sidelines full of inspired players & two exacting head coaches, both of whom must've realized, as the game drew closer & closer, becoming more unhinged & untamed, this night would forever be a legacy defining moment.
Alabama quickly opened the first OT period with a fast touchdown, answered by a one play "drive" via Jayden Daniels' 25 yard touchdown run, racing untouched into the end zone....and then the unthinkable happened....
Instead of Brian Polian's problematic special teams unit stalking their way on to the field for a game-tying PAT, pandemonium began to ensue once everyone in the stadium realized Head Coach Brian Kelly was keeping Mike Denbrock's offense out on the field for a two point conversion attempt....opting to finish this thing here and now.
Hearts were beating & ready to burst out of chests, teeth were clenching from jaw to jaw until flakes of enamel scraped off down dry, beer-craven throats, eyes shut in total OMFG-isms, "is he really going for 2??? Is he really doing this??"
He really was...he really did...and in a blink of an eye, center Charles Turner snapped the ball to QB Jayden Daniels and as he moved to his right sharply to get the defense to bite, TE Mason Taylor was open immediately and the future Heisman winner hit him with a perfect pass; Right as Alabama hands wrapped around Taylor's arms and torso, he'd already scored the two point conversion...
As he jumped up in the air in celebration, a collective blaring of relief & mind-blown wonder leapt out of every mouth, surely causing its own earthquake once again, the players finding themselves rapidly surrounded by emptying rows of onrushing LSU students and fans flying on to the field.....in seconds, from snap to catch, fans who'd been standing hundreds of yards away in their seats above, now celebrated on the field.....among the team that delivered LSU from evil in the most staggering, swaggering, outrageously ballsy way.
Saban cut the visage of a fractured figure, a haunted man as he shook Kelly's hand among the fracas, Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette doubling as secret service agent when he guided Kelly towards the scene of Saban's dismay, and quickly to the tunnel just as storms of fans could trap their barely-anointed TigerKing.
The scenes will live forever....the vibe of that night...kickstarting the Brian Kelly era in undeniable fashion....
Whether you were for or against the Kelly hire before kickoff vs Alabama, as the clock struck midnight bleeding into November 6th 2022, just under a year after his surprise hire, you were firmly on the bandwagon now.
Winning the SEC West due to the victory, as well as qualifying for an SEC Championship Game appearance amid his first season at the helm, taking a squad with just 38 scholarship players in January 2022 and molding them into a team capable of not only beating Saban's Alabama but also winning 10 games within the toughest division college football has ever seen...Brian Kelly proved his vehement doubters wrong, bought himself plenty of trust & belief from the always demanding, "no bullshit just win" mentality of LSU's devout fanbase, while also sending a message to Nick Saban about who & what he'd be dealing with from the purple & gold for years to come.
Knowing what we know now, I believe Kelly's 2 point conversion call was a factor in Saban's retirement; Kelly's call was so unexpected, so defiant, flying in the face of other coaches' years of Saban Fear, that the call not only took Nick by surprise, it floored him....go back and watch the film right after the Taylor catch, but before he shook Kelly's hand.....you may be able to see the exact moment his coaching soul was removed from his body.....
Although it took another season before he hung up his headphones & clipboard, November 5th, 2022 will forever be remembered as the night Brian Kelly launched his tenure as Tigers Head Coach....and retired Nick Saban....
3. THE HALLOWEEN RUN (10/31/1959)
The night the Gray Ghost was born.
By the time Halloween 1959 crept up, LSU running back Billy Cannon already won a National Championship as well as a Heisman Trophy...but for all his accomplishments, awards or notoriety, it was a play vs Ole Miss on Halloween night where Cannon stamped his name as one of the all time greats to ever touch a football.......providing the undisputed #1 single play to go down inside Tiger Stadium.
What was yet another top 10 SEC matchup at Tiger Stadium on this list, sportswriters from coast to coast called Halloween's showdown the "game of the year" between undefeated #3 Ole Miss & #1 unblemished defending National Champions LSU....hype at an inescapable, all-encompassing degree...
Tickets were in such high demand, one man even "offered up his wife" (according to CBS Sports' Chris Huston) for a spot at the game, although in the end, 68,000 lucky folks would fill up Tiger Stadium.
While the game exists on paper as a grinding defensive struggle, Ole Miss leading 3-0 at the 10 minute mark of the 4th quarter, there was one man on the field prepared to settle matters in the most entertaining way possible....(I pray for whoever was taking a bathroom trip during the punt return of every Tiger fan's dreams).
Ole Miss punted the ball 47 yards deep to LSU's 11 yard line, however, the punter was instructed to boot the ball out of bounds, away from Cannon's hands. Instead, the ball bounced once, Cannon accepted the ball on the hop, and, against all orders from Head Coach Paul Dietzel (who forbade anyone, even Cannon, from returning kicks or punts in such deep, crowded territory), took off to his right.
In a football version of Diego Maradona's "Goal of the Century" during the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Billy danced away from, eluded, bounced off, and snaked through 7 would-be tacklers before chugging towards the stadium's east sideline. That's where he found daylight, racing the final 60 yards completely untouched, even faking out the cameraman who failed to capture Cannon's last few moves.
The play stunned Death Valley into feverdreaming gasps as much as walloping cheers, all 68,000 inside the place truly spooked by what they'd just witnessed.
In his 2015 biography, Cannon explained the run from his own perspective:
"After I caught the ball, the first person looking me in the eye was Larry Grantham. I knew how good he was. I wanted to go to the left toward the open field, but there he was, so I cut back to the right, and he missed the tackle. I started down field, following the sideline, picking up a few blocks, and some guys missed their tackles. Finally, I broke into the open, and there was nobody left but me and Jake Gibbs. Gibbs thought I was going to the wide side of the field, so I gave him a little head fake. Now I've got to give Jake credit on this: That was the only tackle he had missed in his entire career to that point. Of course, with the team he had around him, that was the only tackle he tried to make in four years. After I had the clear sailing to the goal line, it was a question of was I going to make it, was the referee going to beat me there, or was the cameraman gaining on both of us going to outrun the whole bunch."
At 7-3, it would be all LSU would need to win the game & remain undefeated as they chased what would've been back to back National Championships.
Sadly, LSU would lose to Tennessee by 1 point later that fall, settling for a Sugar Bowl rematch against Ole Miss.
The Rebels would get their revenge, throttling the Tigers 31-0 on NBC....the final appearance by Cannon and many others from the championship era he led over 4 seasons.....LSU's most successful era until the early 2000s.
But on that eery Halloween Night Run, Billy made anything seem possible as long as you were wearing purple and gold.....
2. 2007 HOME GAMES (2007)
For us, it really is tough to get any better than the wild, nostalgia-inducing collection of home games bestowed upon all of us throughout 2007, a pinnacle year of my youth, specifically mentioning the top 10 bout vs Florida, top 25 last second win over Auburn, and the triple overtime 48-50 loss to Arkansas...all three contests perfectly defining the trials & triumphs of the 2007 LSU Tigers in a 3 game sampler.
All three games stand as battles for the ages, arriving amid the same supernatural season, not only delighting LSU die hards, but college football fans across the country.
2007 was LSU's National Championship, almost by divine right, facing off against 3 top 10 squads as well as 5 top 18 teams amid their turbulent 14 game schedule; Even 2 losses, (in an era where 1 defeat usually meant disqualification) couldn't prevent Flynn, Hester, Dorsey, Steltz & Co from contesting the 2008 BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans that winter....but none of it would've been possible without survival in each of those 3 barnburners.
Who could forget the last second, do or die Demetrius Byrd touchdown catch to beat Auburn.....or how Les Miles' 5/5 4th down spree, behind the legs & iron will of Jacob Hester, toppled Tim Tebow & Urban Meyer's Florida Gators in heart-racing, skin-peeling, edge of the cliff / edge of paradise duality.
Even the triple overtime defeat to Arkansas, at home on Black Friday, when we all thought the title was lost, still registers as one of the greatest LSU games I've witnessed go down inside Tiger Stadium....an image of a physically shattered, emotionally drained and numbly devastated Matt Flynn sitting on the grass at the end of a 3rd overtime, believing his last shot at Tiger immortality had eluded him.....
Luckily for Matt, he had another shot during the BCS National Championship Game itself against Ohio State....and we all know how that turned out 4 touchdown passes later...
But none of it would've been possible without those gutty, embattled, mythological wins over Auburn & Florida, big thanks to an assist to the purple & gold faithful's insane atmosphere....willing their Tigers to victory against all comprehension & footballing precedent....even as they stared down the scent of defeat on many occasions...
Such were the stakes....had LSU suffered defeat in either of those games, our miraculous 2007 championship season would've been lost to the "what if" pages of Tiger history.
Instead, one unbelievable moment of profound fortune & overwhelming athletic superiority tumbled out, one monumental, game changing play against the odds, the refs, and even the clock....during that magical year, unforgettable Tiger legends were born or earned their 2nd title ring under those lights, Tigers such as Byrd, Hester, Taylor, Flynn, Steltz, Doucet, Dorsey....men who survived one of the most pressure-filled, mentally exhausting, and trial-littered seasons in modern Tiger memory...in the end standing triumphant as champions.
1. THE EARTHQUAKE GAME (10/8/1988)
From where all Tiger Stadium myths & legends coalesce during one tumultuous, earth-rattling release of sheer....joyous.....noise.....
After two early season defeats, a classic 36-33 top 10 showdown @ #1 Ohio State, as well as a defensive, tooth-removing 19-6 loss in the Swamp to Florida, LSU now faced eternal rivals Auburn (ranked 4th in the country); Before the Ohio State game, LSU was ranked 7th; following their loss to Florida, LSU now found themselves unranked....with the potential for a 3rd loss in their first 5 games if they fell to Auburn.
Instead, all Mike Archer's Tigers needed was 7 points, 6 seconds, 4 hands, and an earthquake to save their spiraling season.....
Moreover, in typical Death Valley fashion, magic would be delivered on a whole new scale (pun intended), sealing QB Tommy Hodson's legend, Eddie Fuller's image plastered all over America, from ESPN (who televised the game) to Sports Illustrated and beyond, while simultaneously we watched Tiger Stadium's reputation as a mythical college footballing temple of doom become imprinted upon the minds of an entirely new generation of players, coaches, media members, and fans.
Tiger Stadium was already cast as hell on earth by opposing teams for nearly 35 years when 1988 came around.....but with the eternal Eddie Fuller's 4th down touchdown catch from QB Tommy Hodson, just 1:41 remaining on the clock, LSU pulled off the miracle comeback win by a solitary point, 7-6.....keeping the season alive.
But of near equal significance???
The second the catch was made by Fuller, one or all....man, woman or child, criminal or clergyman, everyone let out waves of rapturous orgasmic ecstasy, the sound of a crater forming in the sky above us & the earth swallowing everyone asunder....
...Fuller's catch sent Death Valley into molten hysteria which was so out of control, it sent the seismographs at LSU's Geology department into full on Defcon 3. In fact, the crowd noise level was so intense, the noise registered as a 2.1 earthquake, according to Louisiana State seismologists.
The Tigers would win their next 4 games, including @ #18 Alabama, Mike Archer's 1988 squad climbing back up to #11 on the rankings; However, they'd finish 8-4 after a 44-3 beatdown by #3 Miami at Tiger Stadium, followed by a 13 point defeat to #17 Syracuse during the Hall of Fame Bowl.
There are nights on this list with higher stakes, against #1 ranked teams, contests where LSU was ranked #1, top 10 showdowns galore, of course higher quality games than a 7-6 win (all 7 points arriving during the last minute & a half), however this night in October 1988 defines the essence of LSU football....taking on a hardcore SEC West rival in Death Valley on Saturday night, fighting for survival every week like everyone else...the core of what it means to be an LSU Tiger, the apex of bliss & brilliant footballing synthesis one can experience at such an unmistakable gridiron theater as Tiger Stadium.....
.....but more than anything, it's all about players wearing jerseys of white, purple & gold doing whatever it takes to win a 4 quarter football game for the people in those stands, for themselves, for their teammates, for their families, for the three letters on the front of the jersey.....100 years on, and still, that's all it really has ever been about...
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
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