1997 LSU vs Florida Highlights

Peak childhood highlight!

I could have graduated the following spring, but slowed down to catch the 98 season mostly due to the hype/potential from this game. Should have known better based on the miserable ole miss game that followed.

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Peak childhood highlight!

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Cedric Donaldson...where ever you are, TYFYS

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I'll never forget the early 11:30 kickoff the following week vs. Ole Piss and how we shite the bed. All of the emotional high and momentum from beating #1 vanished in the blink of an eye.

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Wasn’t an OT baller growing up, so up until this game I never got to see one of the good LSU games. Dad would bring me to a UTEP game or whatever and see if we could find 2 tickets being sold outside by some black dude for a decent price.

For my bday after the Florida game he sprung for tickets to watch LSU beat Ole Miss.

Have hated them ever since.

Sat in south upper deck U17 and couldn’t hear the band it was so loud- in fact tiger stadium has never been that loud before or since and I’m talking about the ENTIRE GAME- it was otherworldly-

I was there.

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Dinardo unveiled the Bandit package on defense and it worked so well he promptly never used it again.

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Brought in Tepper as DC the next year and the rest is history.

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On the field — still have the grass in a bottle & a player’s boot cleat

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I had some under my glass on my coffee table. Its gone now, wish I still had it.

I'll always remember experiencing the ebb and flow of the crowd psyche during that game.

At the beginning NO ONE though LSU had a chance to win. Florida had absolutely dominated LSU for the better part of a decade. LSU gets the opening possession and marches downfield. Hope builds a little...then LSU fumbles and the crowd collectively goes "shite! There was our chance to get out to a good start."

LSU then gets the ball back and scores. The crowd thinks "Maybe this could happen?" Then, Donaldson gets his first INT and nearly returns it for a TD. LSU scores to go up 14-0. The crowd starts to think "Is this going to happen?"

Florida then wakes up, eventually tying the game at 14-14. Most thought at that point "Well, maybe LSU can still pull it off, but it looks like it was fun while it lasted."

Then you get to the 4th and the momentum shifts tremendously in the span of 2 plays. Donaldson gets a pick 6 and the crowd is back to believing. Florida then fumbles the ensuing kickoff and the stadium goes nuts. Shortly after Tyler scores again to go up 28-14 and EVERYONE in the stadium starts to let the thought enter their brain: "This is going to happen! Just hang on!"

People of a certain age don't fully realize just how futile LSU football was from 89-94 and how much Florida dominated not just LSU, but the rest of the SEC. There have been many great games in Tiger Stadium since. But because of how consistently good LSU has been over the last 25 years, no one has gotten to experience the feeling of watching a true underdog unexpectedly slay the giant since that night