LSU-Ole Miss 1972

Great story and great game. I can remember sitting in my living room with my Dad and listening to the game on a static filled AM radio, screeming when the 4 second pass fell incomplete, and in shock when we heard 1 second remained.

I was a young teenager, but I have never been so nervous for a play since. My Dad died too before the 03 title, we both thought in 72 we were on our way to a title when luck (or a slow timers finger) had shined on LSU.

By the way the extra point was pretty stressful also

I was a worry wart too. I was thinking as I was hollering, "How horrible would it be if the PAT was missed or blocked!"

I was there. When the game ended the Ole Miss fans began throwing whiskey bottles up in the south upper. I got hit in the head with a Jack Daniels bottle. I was two days shy of eleven years old. I'll never forget that!

here's some audio files, if interested. the jones-1972.mp3 file is about a 1:10 in length, and covers the last 4 sec. of the game...but doesn't catch Rusty Jackson's PAT.

the lsu-olemiss-72.mp3 file covers the last 3:02 of the game, including Jackson's kick...has Ferguson's "pandemonium breaks loose in Tiger Stadium" call.


LINK

Great article about this game. If I've heard my dad talk about this game once he has talked about it a thousand times. I loved the detail it went into as far as the last two plays go.

The audio clip was great to hear, but it makes me realize how bad Hawthorne is

I was a freshman Tiger Band member then. A few things about that game stick out in my mind:

1. The NOISE. At that time, the capacity of Tiger Stadium was 68,000. That night, over 70,000 were in attendance. When we formed the tunnel for pregame, the team came out and we began to play the fight song. My ears hurt from the sheer volume of noise, the fans were jumping up and down, and between the fans' jumping and the players running, the earth shook below us (although it didn't register at the Geology Department!) I couldn't hear myself playing, so I pulled my trumpet away from my mouth and screamed as loudly as I could--I couldn't even hear myself scream! AMAZING!

2. The team played badly. I remember thinking that we were a ranked team about to lose to a nobody. We were flat, and Ole Miss played out of their minds.

3. Hope. When Ole Miss was up by 6, and Steve Lavinghouse missed the field goal for Ole Miss, I felt some hope.

4. Tiger Band. At that point, Band Director Bill Swor instructed us to begin playing Tiger Rag, over and over again to the end of the game. The team FINALLY started moving down the field.

5. 1 second left. When Brad Jones' pass to Jimmy Ledoux was tipped by an Ole Miss defender, the SE stands erupted (that was where Ole Miss fans were). But there was 1 second left. When Jones took the next snap, the horn sounde immediately and Jones got the pass off just as he was being tackled. When Brad Jones caught the ball, the stadium exploded. When Rusty Jackson kicked the extra point, the party was on.

6. Postgame. We played music in the stands for 30 minutes after the game, and the Tiger fans stayed and danced and sang with us. The only empty seats were in the SE stands!

What a great memory that remains!

Thanks for the audio link, wow static and all just like I remembered it.

That drive was like the Florida game last year. Two 4th down conversions. Two dropped TD passes, one on a trick play, a pass interference, 80 yards, just over 3 minutes, the crowd

Gives you chills just reading...Shows the passion in our fans

Everything in the article is pretty much correct except for the description of Davis' catch. He caught the ball on the goal line in the SE corner, falling across the pylon as he was being tackled. He later said he lost the ball in the lights and just stuck his hand up and the ball hit it.
I was there as well, in the North end zone and next to the 28-8 ND game, it was probably the most memorable game I've ever been to.