The crazy thing about that game, I really think the crowd was as loud as it has ever been when they announced USC lost. It was pandaemonium. I think it was louder at that point, then it was when Hester scored the game winning TD.
You youngsters besides the iconic Holloween Ole Miss game in 1959 there are many that deserve to be ranked above that. I will never forget when we played Notre Dame in 1972. It was electric after a goal line stand by the tigers in the 1st qtr the windows of the library shook from the noise then Tommy Casanova took 2 kicks back for a TD. Then there was Bert Jones' pass to Brad Davis with no time vs Ole Miss. We mobbed the field and the welcome signs in Ms added "turn your clocks back 1 sec" for years. Finally the best game though a loss (17-12)was Southern Cal's visit. They had 2 Hiesman backs (Charles White & Marcus Allen) their line laden with all americans out weighed us by 50 lbs a man and we playeed them off their feet until a zebra gave them a bogus call and second chance for the winning TD. After the game the USC players told SI they had never seen a place like Tiger stadium and after that Notre Dame was childs play. Tiger stadium made it's name from the late fifties through the 70's and we should always remember the games from that era. :geauxtige
CBS Sports Network (DirecTV - 613, Dish - 152) is showing Alabama at LSU from last season, starting at 8:00 AM on Friday. I still have the original on my DVR
The '97 Florida game was during my first few months living in North Texas. It was a rough time for me, and I was seriously missing coverage of my Tigers--not to mention that there didn't seem to be as many LSU alums crawling around the Metroplex as there are now. It was as if the world had turned burnt orange or maroon. My principal had demanded that all of us come in for a morning work session that Saturday, something that had certainly never happened in my 5 previous years of teaching in Louisiana, so I was bummed about that, all coupled with there being no freakin' way LSU was going to conquer Florida that night. I went with some friends to a sports bar called Humperdink's (the old one in Addison), and there was a host of Penn State fans who were watching the end of their game with Ohio State or somebody. They were ranked #2, to Florida's #1. Their game ran over with them winning, and the bar wouldn't turn to the LSU game until theirs ended. We were already up 14-0 by the time the switch was made, but many of the Penn State fans stayed on to cheer on the Tigers, which was great because I was absolutely the ONLY LSU fan in the joint. The Nittany Lion faithful were very cool, though. Now, I just got depressed thinking back to how hard it was my first year away from home.
The UF game in '97 was by far the best game of my days at LSU and the student section was livin large for that one. "Herb Tyler ladies and gentlemen" when he got up after the big hit was classic. We also watched the shortened ESPN replay later than night and finally the sun coming up the next Sunday morning. The UF game in '07 was the best overall experience I've ever had in Tiger Stadium. Defending the #1 ranking, Tebow, USC announcement, ESPN Game Day crew, great seats, 5-5 4th down conversions, Hester scoring late and intelligently staying down so he could fix his chin strap and stay in for the PAT, and riding back on the basin bridge with my dad comparing that game to all of the other great ones in Tiger Stadium that preceded it.
I too had just moved to North Texas in 97, was living in a condo called the Mansions by the Vinyard in Euless Texas. There was this smoking hot college girl that lived next door, she was about 19, as was I, and she lived with her mom and dad, they were all transplants from Florida, and Gator fans. I remember one day I tried to talk to her, and she threw her nose up in the air at me, man, you would have thought I had leprosy or something. Her family, same way, they just looked down on us, must have been the Purple and Gold. But that game I know they were home watching, and I was yelling through the walls, beating on them, and I heard nothing coming from their condo. Man that was sweet, was the biggest win I had ever witnessed for LSU to that date. There were some other big wins, but not over the number 1 team in the nation. Florida had only given up 3 points in the 1st quarter combined that entire season, and LSU scored 14 in the first quarter.
