LSU-Ole Miss

LSU won a great game this past weekend in Oxford over Ole Miss. That brings me to this: LSU and Ole Miss have one of the most storied rivalries in college sports. This is one of my dad's Ole Miss-LSU stories.

In 1959, LSU was the undefeated defending national champion and ranked Number One in the nation. Ole Miss was also undefeated and ranked Number Three. The game was played on Halloween Night in Baton Rouge. The forecast called for rain. Rain, it did. The game was broadcast on WWL870AM radio from Baton Rouge (About 85 miles upriver from Dad's house in Kenner, LA). WWL870AM was one of the most powerful radio stations in the world at the time and it was being broadcast at night, which was always good for transmission. However, most radios then were of poor quality by today's standards.

The game: It was played in a rainstorm and the field was very sloppy. Ole Miss was content to run two plays and punt on 3rd down. They led 3-0 and LSU was doing nothing on offense. Ole Miss had a better punter and they were gaining field position every time they punted. With a little under 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss punted again on 3rd down. It landed inside the 15 yard line and Billy Cannon picked it up on the bounce at the 11. From the 11 to about the 45 yard line, he broke 8 tackles on his way to the end zone and a 7-3 LSU lead. The roar of the crowd was so loud that most listeners thought it was static and that they had lost the signal. It was about 5 minutes before anyone listening in on radio knew what happened. That was the play that won Billy Cannon the Heisman Trophy. Ole Miss took the ball on the next drive and drove to the 1 yard line where LSU stopped them. It is a game that ranks with the Nebraska-Oklahoma game of 1971 as one of the best ever.

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "It seems to be a normal human reaction to be jealous about a significant other's dating past."