Part 7:
Part 6 ended with a 21-0 Sugar Bowl victory over #3 LSU in the only bowl matchup
between these ancien t rivals in history. I know it was the 1st ever rematch up
till that time and I don't know of but a few since.
Before we move on to the '60 game, a little more background would be helpful.
Vaught had established Ole Miss as one of the most exciting offensive teams in
America. And the one thing his offensive teams were always noted for was a
free-wheeling style that featured one very talented player who could run and
pass. AA Charlie Conerly was the best pass/run threat in the country in 1947.
Farley Salmon couldn't throw the deep ball but beat every team he faced with his
dual threat abilities save one in '48. In '52 AA QB Jimmy Lear dazzled the
country and put Ole Miss on the national map as he was virtually unstoppable as
a dual threat QB.
But it would be 1954 before Vaught would install "the 45 degree QB Sprint Out"
offense that he would run until his retirement. And All SEC QB Eagle day would < BR>win the SEC in success ive years with it. All SEC QB Raymond Brown would run it
and pile up points in a 39-7 win over national powerhouse Texas in the '58 Sugar
Bowl. The '59 team would feature 3 outstanding QB's [All SEC Bobby Ray Franklin;
AA and 3rd place vote getter in the '60 Heisman race Jake Gibbs and eventual All
SEC Doug Elmore]. That team would pile up 350 points during that season- a total
that was almost unheard of back then. Only one of Wilkerson's great Sooner teams
could match that.
And yes, if you want to win a NC you better have a great QB and offense and we
certainly have had them. But there's an old saying that Vaught would quote that
is still true today- "A great defense will stop a great offense". And from 1958
on for years and years that's what we ran into when we played LSU and that's why
they played us toe to toe almost every year, even when we were considerable
favorites going in.
The 1960 Ole M iss/LSU game was a prime e xample of what I just said. Unbelievably
this national powerhouse LSU team was 1-4 and heavy underdogs going into the
annual Halloween battle with Ole Miss. But take a look at the scores they had
lost by:
1960: 5-4-1
Coach:
Paul Dietzel
W/L Date PF Opponent PA Location Notes
W 09-17-1960 9 Texas A&M 0 Baton Rouge, LA
L 10-01-1960 3 Baylor (TX) 7 Baton Rouge, LA
L 10-08-1960 2 Georgia Tech 6 Atlanta, GA
L 10-15-1960 0 Kentucky 3 Lexington, KY
L 10-22-1960 10 Florida 13 Baton Rouge, LA
T 10-29-1960 6 Mississippi 6 Oxford, MS
W 11-05-1960 35 South Carolina 6 Baton Rouge, LA
W 11-12-1960 7 Mississippi St. 3 Baton Rouge, LA
W 11-19-1960 16 Wake Forest (NC) 0 Baton Rouge, LA
W 11-26-1960 17 Tulane (LA) 6 New Orleans, LA

Season Totals
105 [points scored]
50 [points allowed]
Now look at the total points that the LSU team allowed the entire year- 50. The
offense was anemic with th e loss of All SEC QB Warren Rabb and AA RB Billy
Cannon but the defense and the Chinese Bandits were still there at a NC caliber.
Any defense that allowed 100 points or less back then was good; 80 or less
great; 50'ish or less was unbelievable. Although Ole Miss would win a NC that
year, it's defense would give up 70 points, which was high for Vaught's best
teams and probably at best would be Ole Miss's 3rd best team ever.
LSU would post an unimpressive 5-4-1 season record but they were 14 points total
away from a perfect season and another NC. Our '64 and '99 years would be very
similar.
I was there for that rare Ole Miss/LSU battle in Oxford in 1960. The mystique in
our stadium has been there for years but it's never quite as special as when LSU
came to town. Does anyone remember all the pumpkins in the Grove that night? I
believe we were 2 TD favorites and all us Rebs were anticipating a Tige r roast
in our back yard . But of course, as would be the pattern till this day with very
few exceptions, the underdog [LSU in this case] would play the pants off of
their favored rival. We just barely tied the game 6-6 on a late and long FG by
Allen Green and were lucky to get a tie and we knew it.
Next up, recruiting battles and the famous '61 game.