Moments before the LSU-Ole Miss football game on Saturday night, a friend in our group watching the telecast asked me, “What’s the best LSU football game you ever covered?”
Little did I know then that the game that night would rank right up there among the most exciting in LSU history.
LSU’s 29-26 overtime win at home, on a night celebrating Tiger Stadium’s 100th anniversary, is an example of why the 2012 stadium expansion to 102,321 was a good thing. Saturday’s attendance was 102,212.
Several games share the top crowd figure with the maximum 102,321, with the foremost of that lot being the 32-31 overtime victory over No. 5 Alabama two seasons ago. Friday’s game reminded me of that triumph, especially because tight end Mason Taylor’s game-winning catch for a two-point conversion was in the same vicinity as wide receiver Kyren Lacy’s winning touchdown catch.
Jayden Daniels to Mason Taylor. Garrett Nussmeier to Kyren Lacy. Those connections live in LSU lore with Tommy Hodson to Eddie Fuller, Bert Jones to Brad Davis and Billy Ezell to Doug Moreau.
In the 1988 home game against Auburn, on a fourth-and-10 play at the Auburn 11, Tommy Hodson connected with Eddie Fuller of Leesville for the winning touchdown. It came to be known as the “Earthquake Game” because the tumult of the crowd to celebrate the TD registered on a seismograph at the Geoscience Center some 1,000 feet from the stadium.
Jones, the All-American from Ruston, who was among several former LSU greats spotted at Saturday’s game, connected with Davis on the final play of regulation in the 1972 game under the lights against the Rebels to tie the game at 16. Rusty Jackson’s winning extra point kick ensured Jones-to-Davis would become legendary. Not to mention that LSU somehow managed to run two plays in the final four seconds to pull out the win that still haunts Rebel fans. The Ole Miss nation thought the game was over on an incomplete pass that began with four seconds left, only to look up at the scoreboard and see :01 remained.
Mention Halloween Night in the LSU-Ole Miss series and the immediate image that comes to mind is 1959 and an incredible, tackle-shredding 89-yard touchdown run by Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, “a great All-American,” who also was in on the game-saving tackle in a 7-3 win.
But there was another Halloween LSU treat, in 1964, when “Captain Easy” Billy Ezell connected with Doug Moreau for the winning two-point conversion in an 11-10 victory. Incidentally, the touchdown catch that made those heroics possible was by tight end Billy Masters, a native of Grayson, La., who is the only high school football player from LaSalle in Olla to play in the NFL.
One of the things that makes LSU’s win over the Rebels Saturday night more notable than others is that the defense was truly heroic for a change. The Tigers gave up 464 total yards; not awesome, but a gem compared with last year’s game which had no defense on either side. LSU gave up 706 total yards to the Rebels in a 53-48 loss. In the last five previous games between the two old rivals, LSU’s defense surrendered more yards in all but one of those games, even in the national championship 2019 season. That year, in a 58-37 win, the Tigers allowed the Rebels 614 yards.
Among the defensive stalwarts were cornerback Zy Alexander, awarded the game ball from Coach Brian Kelly, who had five tackles (all solo) and a critical interception that turned the momentum in the fourth quarter when LSU was down 20-16. Also, linebacker Whit Weeks evoked memories of some of the many great linebackers (Warren Capone, Bradie James, etc.) in LSU history with 18 tackles. His last was a resounding sack of quarterback Jaxson Dart at the end of regulation.
The funny thing is, Saturday’s game didn’t start so well. Neither team looked as if it was operating on all cylinders. And Nussmeier had his worse game as a starter, statistically, completing just 21 of 51 passes. Yet, he had clutch pass completions, especially two fourth-down, white-knuckle conversions, including the 23-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Aaron Anderson with 27 seconds left in regulation. Damion Ramos’ extra-point kick tied the score and forced the overtime.
And then, the first time LSU ever led in the contest was after the Nussmeier pump fake and TD pass to Lacy on the first LSU play in OT.
It’s folklore now. But the gritty, grinding, face-saving defense when the offense sputtered and when it was crucial to start the overtime — is the rock upon which this folklore was built