Started By
Message

re: Anyone on the board that was alive to see Cannon's return...

Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:33 pm to
Posted by oOoLsUtIgErSoOo
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2006
26411 posts
Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:33 pm to

Where do you rank this in terms of LSU moments you have witnessed throughout your life? Whether it be live, or on tv.

quote:

oldtimefootball


Name checks out, by the way.
Posted by LSU MBA
Hoover
Member since Sep 2006
157 posts
Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:36 pm to
I was there sitting in the southeast corner upper deck. It was a very humid night that made it made slightly foggy watching the game. Coach Vaught didn’t think the Tigers could make a sustained drive against his Ole Miss defense and he was probably right. Ole Miss did punt on first down some during the second half rather than risk a fumble in their territory. Cannon fielded the punt at the 12 after it took a perfect bounce to him. I think that surprised the Ole Miss players and allowed him to elude the players closest to him. It was a remarkable run and still remains the most fantastic punt return that I have seen. And it was made in a game that would have been dubbed the game of the century at that time. I also remember that after the Cannon touchdown Ole Miss drove down the field holding the ball for almost all of the 10 minutes left in the game. The Tigers stopped the Ole Miss QB Doug Elmore on the 4th down play from the 1 with about 30 seconds to go. Cannon, Warren Rabb and others made the tackle. I was lucky to be seated in the southeast corner to have a great view of Cannon starting his run and of the goal line stand that saved the game for the Tigers. The Cannon return and the goal line stand were sports memories that you never forget if you were fortunate enough to see them.
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
38851 posts
Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:46 pm to
quote:

I was there sitting in the southeast corner upper deck.


Was this the upper deck as we youngsters know it or the upper deck that is really just an extension of the south end zone bowl?
Posted by bengalfan50
Louisiana
Member since Mar 2009
2468 posts
Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:51 pm to
FreeState
quote:

Didn't see it but heard it on the radio.

Same here my Dad was jumping up and down.
Posted by BigOrangeWave
Member since Oct 2014
654 posts
Posted on 10/31/19 at 11:55 pm to
quote:

Ole Miss did punt on first down some during the second half rather than risk a fumble in their territory.

How common was punting on first down? Did they really think a fumble was that likely?
Posted by BillF
Monroe, LA
Member since Jan 2006
5106 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:00 am to
Ridgeland, I've been back in Louisiana since 2007. Seems longer.
Posted by LSU MBA
Hoover
Member since Sep 2006
157 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:02 am to
The upper deck that is part of the southeast bowl. The stadium was just the lower bowl back then and only seated 68,500. But it was loud particularly when Cannon made his run!
Posted by eltigre2
The Woodlands, Tx
Member since Feb 2019
626 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:14 am to
On Cannon’s run I was sitting parked in my car listening to the car radio outside of the country club in Ganado, TXI had driven around until I could hear the game pretty clear and parked. I yelled so loud people came running out of the bar to see what happened.

For the Blue Grass I was sitting in a Sports Bar in Northwest Harris. After KY went ahead everybody was pretty despondent. My wife, who had about 3 doubleshof Bloody Marys in her just yelled out, “We are not going to lose this game!” She did it about 3 times and all of a sudden it happened. I remember everybody turned around from looking at her when the yelling started on the giant TV. Then there was a guy on a goal post tearing it down. You could almost read his lips saying, “I believe we just lost.” Everybody was jumping around giving my wife high 5s.

At the win over OK I was at the game. When it ended I had a weird feeling come over me. I felt I was completely alone. I guess it was such an amazing moment to me that LSU won a NC.

When Morris hit the HR I was by myself in the den as my family was in Connecticu. I had gotten a pizza and turned to get a piece when I heard the bat crack and watched the ball go out in right field. The next picture was seeing the Miami SS lying on the infield grass. Like the ‘03 NC it was an unreal moment.

I have heard or seen or was at the game of many other things such as the ‘97 game against FL, the Earthquake game. I have never got over the feelings I had on numerous occasions of a sense of euphoria.
This post was edited on 11/1/19 at 12:30 am
Posted by melonheadla
New Orleans Positiger
Member since Dec 2007
553 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:14 am to
Age 14-- in my brother's bedroom, listening to J C Politz on WWL870. When Cannon scored, we jumped up and down on the bed till the slats gave way and boxsprings and mattress went to the floor. Unbridled exhaltation!! Then we had to sweat out the ensuing goal line stand.
Posted by LSU MBA
Hoover
Member since Sep 2006
157 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:18 am to
It wasn’t common to punt on first down. But it was a different game back then. The offenses focused primarily on running the ball and the best teams had great defenses that might give up 50 points or less for an entire season. That Ole Miss team held their opponents to only 21 points for the entire season. It wasn’t raining but it was very humid so the ball was probably a little slippery. I think Coach Vaught was so confident in his defense that he choose to punt on 1st down rather than risk a fumble in his territory and create a short field for the Tigers.
Posted by TigerMuskyFanMinneso
Boonies, MN
Member since Sep 2019
753 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:28 am to
Yup - it was my junior year at Baton Rouge High.....I was with a bunch of fellow members of the Acadian Teen Club in upper deck of the South End Zone stands.....will never forget it.....the lodest noise ever!!

Go Billy!!
Posted by Purplehaze
spring, tx
Member since Dec 2003
1845 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 12:28 am to
I was 9 years old in 1959, Dad had season tickets and a ticket to the Ole Miss game was promised to me. The drug store owner in our town wanted to go so my dad told him he had to make a deal with me. The deal I got for giving up my ticket was to be able to read comic books in the drug store without being told to buy one and that I got a cup of ice cream every day for a year, the kind that you ate with the little wooden spoon. It was a great deal for a 9 year old kid.
Posted by TIGER62
METAIRIE, LA
Member since Aug 2005
2219 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 5:53 am to
was in the student section
Posted by Bayou
CenLA
Member since Feb 2005
36988 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 6:22 am to
I was born 8 1/2 months after that run and named Billy!
Posted by AustinTigerBait
Austin, Texas
Member since Sep 2007
47 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 6:25 am to
I was a Boy Scout usher in the South endzone, saw the run and the defensive stop on the South goal line. What a memory. Thanks Tigers for beating Texas here in Austin. You have no idea what it is like to be around these entitled people.
Posted by LayupKing
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2011
266 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 7:00 am to
I was there. Standing for most of the fourth quarter high on the West Side. All of the excitement was in the final 10 minutes of the game. Couldn't get to sleep until about 3 in the morning. Slept at a neighbor's apartment on Nicholson Drive. My room mate had given our apartment to my parents because he didn't want them driving home in the fog that night. Never forget that night. Saw a telecast of the run the next morning from channel 4 in new orleans. A man had an antenna that would pick up that station and a friend called him and asked if we could watch the coaches show at his house at 11 a.m. Sunday morning. We counted seven Ole Miss players who hit Cannon on that play and couldn't bring him down.
Posted by oOoLsUtIgErSoOo
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2006
26411 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 7:15 am to
Awesome stories from everyone.
Posted by Bumpndnite
Hoover
Member since Feb 2012
132 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 7:35 am to
I was ten years old, and we were living in Sheffield Alabama. My Dad was a huge LSU fan (his cousin was a professor in the English Dept). He managed to get the game on the radio (probably the Ole Miss network). There was a lot of static, but we were able to follow the game. When Billy Cannon started his return, the crowd noise, and the static increased to where we weren't certain what was happening.

Needless to say, my Dad was one happy camper when he found out that Cannon scored.
Posted by Garnertigah
Member since Jan 2014
131 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 7:36 am to
Jake Gibbs was an All-American player. The fact that he had the clean shot at Cannon was part of the story that served to embellish the legend...listened on the radio...much of the commentary was not audible due to the rising crowd noise.
Posted by oldcharlie8
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2012
7808 posts
Posted on 11/1/19 at 7:44 am to
in 97, i met a lawyer who had the original clip of ferguson making the call. on the original, he says "that son of a bitch is gonna go all the way" when cannon was around the ole miss 35. now, they blend in the crowd noise so you can't hear it.
first pageprev pagePage 3 of 6Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitterInstagram