Faulk's punt returns were one of my favorite memories of him. He was one of those rare players that achieved living legend status while currently playing at his school (much like Tim Tebow at Florida right now). Faulk has the Superman logo tattooed on his arm, so the LSU Band played the Superman theme song to honor Faulk during the games. One of my favorite memories of Faulk is how went to go line up all by himself to await a punt return, and we all knew he was one of the greatest punt returners in LSU history, and the band struck up the Superman theme song, and Faulk soaked it all up, using both of his arms to get the crowd all fired up for him like he was about to do something incredible. The guy did have 832 yards on punt returns (including two returned for a TD) and 884 yards on kickoff returns (including one returned for a TD).
That game against Houston, the first game of Faulk's sophomore year, was what really shot him to the level of living legend at LSU. During that game, LSU was down 7-34 going into the fourth quarter, then LSU scored three TD's in the fourth quarter to win, sparked by Faulk's 78-yard punt return at the beginning of the 4th quarter. In that game, Faulk's 262 rushing yards (242 net) on 21 carries broke the LSU single game rushing record at the time, and his 376 all-purpose yards also broke the LSU single game record (and was #2 in SEC history).
Yeah, I figured that might have been what you were saying. Yes, Faulk never got a vote for the Heisman, which irritated me at the time. Faulk did led LSU to its first Top 25 finishes in the 90's, most significantly, back-to-back finishes in the Top 15 during Faulk's sophomore and junior years. Faulk's senior year (98), the Heisman vote was no contest -- RB Ricky Williams of Texas was the only serious candidate (although guys like Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Champ Bailey, Terry Holt, Cade McNown, Tim Couch, and Shaun King of Tulane got votes. Faulk's junior year (97), was the year that Charles Woodson of Michigan surprisingly beat out Peyton Manning of Tennessee. Others who got votes included Randy Moss, Ricky Williams, Cade McNown, and Tim Couch). Faulk's sophomore year (96), was the year Danny Wuerffel edged out RB Troy Davis of Iowa State. Others who got votes included Jake Plummer, Orlando Pace, Warrick Dunn, and Peyton Manning.
It should be remembered, for those comparing stats, that Billy Cannon played when freshmen were ineligible and there were only 10 games in a regular season with no SECCG.
i think these were voices in your head. i never remember the band playing the superman theme once for faulk, ever. anyone?
Hmmm, where I went to school, I was taught the 3 TDs = 21pts and 21+7=28. Hence, the score would've been 34-28 Houston. :huh::huh: I'm with you. In all the games I've even been to in Tiger Stadium, including when Faulk was there, I don't recall them ever playing the Superman theme either.
I was in TS for the Houston game, but that was over a decade ago. Sure, if I kept a daily diary, then I could go back and look up my thoughts from that day, but I don't keep a diary. The main thing I remember about that Houston game was that it was one of the most dramatic come-from-behind victories in LSU history, like I said, we needed three straight unanswered 4th quarter TDs to win that game. That is insane. Without looking up the stats, they way I remembered it was that Kevin Faulk scored all three of those 4th quarter TDs in LSU's amazing come-back victory. I would have told you that one was a punt return, one was an 80-yard run, and one was a shorter run. But after looking up the stats, I found that my memory betrays me, that Faulk only had one of those three 4th quarter TDs (with his punt return -- his 80 yard TD run was in the 3rd Quarter). But what I do remember from that game, like Fishhead wrote above, was that Faulk "absolutely took over that game in the second half...carried the team to a 35-34 victory." Like I said, I thought it was Faulk who scored all three of the 4th quarter TDs we needed to win that game. But the big picture is that Faulk had one of the most amazing performances in SEC history in that game, and that game was one of the most dramatic victories in LSU's history. You put the two together, and it made Faulk a living legend to us many of us Tiger fans who were rabid about LSU football at the time. P.S. LSU was down 14-34 going into the 4th, not 7-34, like I wrote above.
Was anyone here in Tiger Band from 1995 to 1998? That's the only source I'll believe. But yes, that would be funny if I thought Faulk was such a hero at LSU that I somehow just made up this whole Superman thing. You people do remember that, during the Faulk era, the LSU Band also used to play the "Empires Strikes Back" theme for big plays, right? At the time, I loved it, but now so many schools do it (including Ohio State currently), that's its gotten old. But that "Neck" song that the LSU plays now for big plays is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
