Ole Miss/LSU Rivalry Bedtime Stories- Part 6

Part 6:
Part 5 ended with LSU's Dietzel finally beating Vaught in 1958 14-0 on two
exciting goal line stands. This was the 1st game between Ole Miss and LSU
inwhich the winner could very likely go on to win a NC. It would happen again in
'59 and '61. Ole Miss would also have a NC on the line in '60 and '62. And all
of these games would be as exciting as a college football game could get. These
were the years that cemented Ole Miss/LSU as the greatest college football
rivalry ever in the South and Top 4 nati onally.
And on top of that claim, one of those games was the undisputed greatest game
ever played in the South. It's the one I'll speak to tonight.
By the beginning of the '59 season, LSU had established itself once again as one
of the country's elite football programs by winning the '58 NC and coming into
the '59 season with most key players back and loaded at every position. Ole Miss
had established itself as an elite program probably 5 or 6 years prior to '59.
LSU was the defending NC and held the #1 position in all the polls all year,
easily defeating all their foes up until the showdown with #3 Ole Miss on
Halloween night in Tiger Stadium.
Last year I detailed the unique atmosphere before and during the game. I won't
go over that again in detail but just make the statement that there has never
been a game that exciting, intense, dramatic, loud or important in the minds of
those priviledged enough to have been there. I was told that by 2 rival fans who
were there- an MSU grad and fan who had seen some of the biggest games ever up
North and by a Bama fan who had seen almost all of the great Bama/Auburn games.
I wasn't there but the testimony of every person who I interviewed and was there
was all about the same. It was so exciting that from the time the teams and
coaches ran out on the field, the hair stood up on the back of your neck- the
entire game. The very large contingent of Ole Miss fans roared "Go To Hell LSU
Go To Hell" at every opportunity and the LSU fans answered back even louder. I
begged my father to take me but he wouldn't. There was probably no way for him
to find 2 tickets anyway with no ties to Ole Miss. I found out later that
tickets were being scalped at $250/seat. That would be like paying over $1K per
person today.
I could write 3 more stories on this game easily from my notes but this year
I'll refer to some ne w info I got this year on "The Game" courtesy of an article
written on it in the CA in Memphis recently.
For any of you young Tigers or Rebs, if you attended the '03 game in Oxford, you
saw an electric atmosphere and as an LSU friend of mine said later "That was
college football at it's best". I was there and I certainly agree but I know too
much about the '59 game to think that the '03 game was in that league.
In '03 there was almost a constant roar from the crowd after the game started.
In '59 the stadium was loud 2 hours before the game, full 1 hour before the game
and roaring and by gametime and every play thereafter just a constant blur of
loud noise to such an extent that "the fans often weren't sure which fanbase
they were joining in with". In a word, it was total bedlam from an hour before
till the end and beyond.
It was a misty Halloween night in BR. The field was slick. There was an eery
feeling about the who le night. LSU had a gre at team and defense. Ole Miss had an
even greater team and defense. It was highly likely that the 2 best teams in the
country played in that game. But Ole Miss stuffed the Tiger offense that night,
got ahead early on our current chancellor's FG, 3-0 and then we sat on it.
Vaught didn't believe LSU could score on our defense. We often punted on 3rd
down and several times on 1st down that night. And everything went according to
Vaught's plan. Billy Cannon hadn't gained 5 yards all night. Warren Rabb, LSU's
great QB couldn't move the team through the air. But with less than 10 minutes
left in the game Jake Gibbs punted. I still hate this so much but I'll type it
out one more time. Billy Cannon fielded a punt off a high hop on the LSU 11,
broke 7 tackles and raced 89 years into college football glory and a Heisman
trophy. And it was no fluke- Cannon was that good. LSU held Ole Miss on our
final drive [80 yards] as Cannon and Rabb stopped Elmore on the LSU 1 foot line
as the horn went off and .......it was over.
As Cannon went down the sideline past Vaught, Vaught dropped to his knees in his
Madison Ave suit into the mud. There was just a shocked silence all over the
state of Mississippi. I cried like a baby. LSU had just killed our chances for a
concensus NC. That was by far the best team Vaught ever fielded. It was voted #3
All Time College Football team by Litkenhouse during the late '90's and the Team
of the Decade in the SEC over 3 other SEC NC teams. That Reb team gave up 21
points all year.
By bowl time, LSU had unbelievably lost to a mediocre Tenn team and had dropped
to #3. We were #2. LSU was the home team in the Sugar Bowl and the Sugar Bowl
committee invited Ole Miss to play LSU in a rematch. It was the 1st rematch in
bowl history but everyone, especially us wanted to see us play one more time.
This time it was a "re" but no "match" as the Rebs dominated all stats as it had
in the regular season game and this time the scoreboard too 21-0.
This was my favorite all time Ole Miss game. I guess it was the revenge factor
but also it was Ole Miss' best team ever getting the kudos we should have.
Syracuse had a solid team, was undefeated and received most rating service's #1
ranking, we got pretty much all they didn't but I believe the country knew we
had the best team that year with LSU probably #2. Had our team been located in
the North, we'd surely have been a concensus #1 in the polls but it would be
1960 before Ole Miss folk would lose all confidence in the AP and UPI voters and
understand that it was "fixed" against us and all the Southern schools. And yes,
the LSU game would figure in again very prominently the next year and the next
and the next.