User:Lizard the Wizard/History of LSU Tigers football draft

The history of LSU Tigers football began in 1893.

Charles Coates
Louisiana State University (LSU) played its first football game in school history on November 25, 1893, losing to rival Tulane in the first intercollegiate contest in Louisiana. Charles E. Coates, a chemistry professor at the university, assembled a group of students to create the school's first team. They wore makeshift uniforms and played in front of a crowd of 1,500 at Sportsman's Park in New Orleans. The game sparked a rivalry between the Tigers and the Green Wave that has lasted generations. Future Louisiana governor Ruffin G. Pleasant was the quarterback and captain of the LSU team. In the first game against Tulane, LSU football players wore purple and gold ribbons on their uniforms. According to legend, purple and gold were chosen because they were Mardi Gras colors, and the green of Mardi Gras was sold out. An LSU baseball team had also worn purple and gold in its first varsity game against Tulane earlier in 1893, even though LSU's official colors at the time were actually blue and white. The rules of play in 1893 were more like rugby than what might be considered modern football.

Al Simmons
LSU achieved its first victory by beating Natchez Athletic Club 26-0 in 1894. Samuel Marmaduke Dinwidie Clark has the honor of scoring the very first touchdown in LSU history. The first football game played on the LSU campus was at State Field on December 3, 1894, a loss against Mississippi. LSU's only touchdown in that game was scored by the head coach, Albert Simmons. This was the first year of play for William S. Slaughter who lettered as an end for 5 years (1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898). Slaughter was LSU's first five time football letterman. By 1895, LSU had its first win in Baton Rouge.

Allen Jeardeau
The 1896 team was the first to be called the "Tigers" and went undefeated, winning the school's first conference championship in the school's first year as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the first southern athletics conference. Coach Allen Jeardeau returned for his second but final year at LSU in 1897 for two games in Baton Rouge. A yellow fever outbreak throughout the South caused the postponement of LSU's classes starting, and the football season being cut back to only two games.

Edmond Chavanne
Another outbreak of yellow fever similar to the one in 1897 caused LSU to play only one game in 1898. By the time LSU was able to play its only game of the season, Allen Jeardeau had departed from the school as head football coach, and no provision had been made to replace him. The job of coach then fell to the team's captain, Edmond Chavanne.

John P. Gregg
New coach John P. Gregg led the Tigers to a 1–4 season in 1899, including a loss to the "iron men" of Sewanee. The only wins were in an exhibition game against a high school team (which LSU does not officially record as a win) and against rival, Tulane. It was the first year of play for LSU's second five-year letterman, John J. Coleman (1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903).

Edmond Chavanne
Chavanne was rehired in 1900, posting a lackluster 2–2 record.

W. S. Borland
Chavanne was replaced by W. S. Borland as head coach in 1901, leading the team to a successful 5–1 season. After the Tulane game, a 22–0 loss, LSU protested to the SIAA, and alleged that Tulane had used a professional player during the game. Several months later, the SIAA ruled the game an 11-0 forfeit in favor of LSU. The seven-game 1902 season was the longest yet for the Tigers and also featured the most amount of games on the road. The 1903 season broke the previous season's record for most games played (seven) with nine games.

Dan A. Killian
René A. Messa made some All-Southern teams in 1904.

Edgar Wingard
In 1907, LSU became the first American college football team to play on foreign soil in the 1907 Bacardi Bowl against the University of Havana on Christmas Day in Havana, Cuba. LSU won 56–0. John Seip ran back a 67-yard punt return The 1908 team posted an undefeated 10–0 record. Quarterback Doc Fenton led the nation in scoring with 132 points. He threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Mike Lally in the win over Auburn. The National Championship Foundation retroactively awarded 1908 LSU the national championship though it is not claimed by LSU. This season also led to an SIAA championship; but was clouded by accusations of professionalism from rival school Tulane. Auburn and Vanderbilt were among those listed as alternative conference champions.

Pritchard-Mayhew
1910 was a disastrous year for the Tigers. After a strong 1909 campaign which saw their only conference loss come to SIAA champion Sewanee, the team lost some star power. Stovall, Lally, and Seip would all be lost for the year.

Pat Dwyer
Pat Dwyer used Tom Dutton for a "kangaroo play" in which back Lawrence Dupont would crawl between Dutton's legs; supposedly very effective in short yardage situations. Alf Reid made All-Southern in 1913.

E. T. McDonald
LSU's largest loss margin came on October 31, 1914 in a game against Texas A&M in Dallas, Texas. The final score was Texas A&M 63, LSU 9. In 1916, Walter Camp gave Phillip Cooper honorable mention on his All-America team. Irving Pray and Dana X. Bible also served as the Tigers coach.

Mike Donahue
The legendary Mike Donahue left Auburn and was the seventeenth head football coach at LSU in 1923. 1924 saw the first game played at Tiger Stadium, with an original seating capacity of 12,000. Donahue retired after the 1927 season.

Russ Cohen
Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin recommended Russ Cohen for the LSU job. In 1928, Jess Tinsley made All-Southern. In 1931 LSU played its first night game in Tiger Stadium, a 31–0 victory over Spring Hill.

Biff Jones
The 1932 team tied for the Southern Conference championship in its last season as a member of the conference.

Moore & Tinsley era (1935–1954)
Under head coach Bernie Moore, LSU won their first Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship finishing with a 5-0 conference record and 9–2–0 overall in 1935. LSU played in their first Sugar Bowl game, falling to #4 TCU 3-2 at Tulane Stadium. The Tigers and Horned Frogs both took home the Williamson Poll national championship, which is not claimed by LSU. The team was led by Abe Mickal and Gaynell Tinsley, cousin of Jess. The 1936 team won the school's second SEC Championship finishing with a 6-0 conference record and 9–1–1 overall. The Tigers finished runner-up to Minnesota in the AP Poll. LSU won the Williamson Poll and Sagarin Ratings national championships, which are not claimed by the school. LSU's largest margin of victory, and most points scored in a football game came on November 21, in a game at Tiger Stadium against USL (University of Southwestern Louisiana, now University of Louisiana Lafayette). The final score was LSU 93, USL 0. The 1937 team featured Tinsley and Ken Kavanaugh and was upset by Vanderbilt using a hidden ball trick, the school's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent. The 1946 team played in one of the most notable instances of the Cotton Bowl Classic – "Ice Bowl." LSU, led by head coach Moore and quarterback Y. A. Tittle, entered the game against Arkansas with a 9-1 record. Ice, sleet and snow pelted the stadium as LSU players filled oil drums with charcoal and started fires for makeshift heaters while fans built fires in the stands. LSU dominated the game with a 271-54 advantage in total yards and 15-1 advantage in first downs, but that didn't equate to the numbers on the scoreboard. The game ended in a 0-0 tie and LSU finished the season 9-1-1.

Paul Dietzel era (1955–1961)
In 1955, Paul Dietzel became the head coach at LSU. During Dietzel's first three years, none of his teams had a winning season. In 1958, however, Dietzel came up with a unique "three-platoon system." Instead of replacing individual players during the game, Dietzel would bring in an entirely new set of players between plays and series. The three teams were called the White Team (the first-string offense and defense), the Gold (Go) Team (the second-string offense), and the Chinese Bandits (the second-string defense). The system worked, as the 1958 team won the school's first claimed national championship, beating No. 12 Clemson 7–0 in the Sugar Bowl. The only score was a pass from Billy Cannon to freshman Mickey Mangham, one of the smallest players on the team. Cannon won the Heisman Trophy in 1959. On Halloween, late in the game between No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Ole Miss, LSU was trailing 3–0. Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a TD, breaking seven tackles. This has become known as Cannon's Halloween Run. The Rebels then drove down the field but were stopped on the LSU 1-yard line as the game ended resulting in a 7–3 victory for LSU in Tiger Stadium. In the Sugar Bowl, one of the most anticipated rematches in college football history took place. This game, however, would not be the classic that transpired only weeks before. Ole Miss dominated the game from start to finish and came away with a decisive 21-0 win over the Tigers. LSU finished the season having only given up 29 points.

Charles McClendon era (1962–1979)
In the 1966 Cotton Bowl, unranked LSU upset undefeated and #2 ranked Arkansas, winning the game 14–7 and snapping Arkansas' 22-game winning streak. In 1972, No. 6 LSU survived an upset bid from unranked Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium by winning the game on a TD pass from QB Bert Jones to RB Brad Davis. Ole Miss fans say the 1972 contest featured a few seconds of free football. The Tigers trailed the Rebels 16–10 with four seconds to play. After a lengthy incompletion by Jones, the game clock still showed one second remaining. The Tigers used the precious second to win the game on the "last play," 17–16. A song was written to commemorate the game, called "One Second Blues", (track #11) which is featured on the CD "Hey Fightin' Tigers". The alleged home-clock advantage inspired a sign at the Louisiana state line (as you left Mississippi) reading, "You are now entering Louisiana. Set your clocks back four seconds." For that year, the Ole Miss yearbook reported the score for the game as "Ole Miss 16, LSU 10 + 7 ".

Stovall-Arnsparger-Archer-Hallman era (1980–1994)
LSU defeated Alabama 20–10 in Birmingham, Alabama in what would be Bear Bryant's last game coaching against LSU in 1982. At the end of the season Coach Bryant retired and died two months later. During Bryant's post-game interview, he referred to LSU's dominant defensive performance as being "an old-fashioned butt-whipping". LSU's Defense held Alabama to just 80-yards of total offense, the lowest offensive production in Alabama history. Later that week, LSU's defensive front seven of Melancon and Joiner (OLBs), Richardson & Williams (ILBs) and Marshall, Elko & Dardar (DL) were named the "Associated Press Sportswriters' Defensive Player of the Week". It was the first time an entire front-seven unit was so named. The LSU Secondary of Britt, Hobley, Dale & Clark were also instrumental in the shutdown but were overlooked for the AP honor.

In 1988, unranked LSU staged a near-literal, earth-shattering upset victory over No. 4 Auburn in Tiger Stadium, winning the game 7–6 with 1:41 remaining on a TD pass from QB Tommy Hodson to TB Eddie Fuller. The reaction of the crowd was so immense that it registered as an earthquake on a seismograph in LSU’s Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex. It has been dubbed "The Earthquake Game".

Gerry Dinardo era (1995–1999)
Wearing its white jerseys at home in Tiger Stadium for the first time since 1982, LSU upset No. 5 Auburn in 1995, winning the game 12–6 as LSU DB Troy Twillie intercepted Auburn QB Patrick Nix's 11-yard pass into the end zone with no time remaining. This game marked a return to national significance in just head coach Gerry DiNardo's first season.

After nine straight losses to Steve Spurrier-led Florida, the No. 14 Tigers shocked the No. 1-ranked defending national champion Gators 28–21 in Tiger Stadium in 1997, making the cover of Sports Illustrated. It was the first time LSU beat a No. 1 ranked team and the first time the goalposts were ever torn down in Tiger Stadium.

Nick Saban era (2000–2004)
In head coach Nick Saban's first season of 2000, LSU returned to national prominence by beating #11 Tennessee in overtime 38-31 on ESPN, after which the goal posts were torn down for only the 2nd time in the history of Tiger Stadium. The victory over Tennessee also marked the first time that LSU played in an overtime game at home. Just a few weeks later, the goal posts were again ripped down as LSU beat Alabama 30-28 on CBS in Baton Rouge for the first time in 31 years. This was the 3rd and final time that the goal posts came down in Death Valley. In 2001, #21 LSU staged an upset victory over #2 Tennessee in the SEC Championship, winning 31–20. The victory earned LSU a spot in its first Sugar Bowl since 1986, and knocked the Volunteers out of national title contention. No. 16 LSU survived an upset bid from unranked Kentucky in 2002 by winning the game 33–30 on a miraculous 75-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired known as the "Bluegrass Miracle." Kentucky coach Guy Morriss had gotten the traditional Gatorade bath right before the Hail Mary. Kentucky fans, believing they had won, had already rushed the field and torn down one goal post. In 2003, No. 11 LSU outlasted No. 7 Georgia, 17-10. With ESPN College Gameday on hand for the first time since 1997, Quarterback Matt Mauck found wide receiver Skyler Green for a 34-yard touchdown with 3:03 remaining in the game. All-American cornerback Corey Webster sealed the victory with an interception in the final minute. The game is notable for the LSU fans chanting LSU-LSU after a Georgia touchdown. Georgia head coach Mark Richt was quoted as saying, "Usually when the opposing team does well, the crowd quiets down. All I began to hear was a chant 'L-S-U, L-S-U.' It got louder and louder and louder. It was the loudest I've ever heard a stadium." The win catapulted LSU onto the national scene.. LSU won its second title and became the BCS national champion by defeating Oklahoma 21–14 in the 2004 Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship Game).

Les Miles era (2005–present)
In Les Miles' first season as head coach in 2005 at LSU was moved to Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. With one endzone painted with "www.KatrinaSRF.com" and the other with "Together We Stand" along with logos of the states of Louisiana and Arizona, LSU rallied in the fourth quarter for a 35-31 comeback victory. Trailing 17–7 in the fourth quarter, LSU returned a blocked field goal and punt for touchdowns to ignite the comeback. The lead went back-and-forth with Arizona State taking a 31–28 lead with 4:07 to play. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell then lead the Tigers on a 10-play, 91-yard drive capped with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Early Doucet on fourth-and-10 to give LSU a 35–31 lead. LSU's defense then stopped Arizona State on downs at the LSU 30-yard line to secure the victory. In 2006, Russell completed a touchdown pass to WR Early Doucet with 9 seconds to go to beat Tennessee in Neyland Stadium after a breakout performance by Tennessee backup QB Jonathan Crompton. No. 2 LSU played what was hyped as one of the most exciting games ever played in Tiger Stadium against No. 9 Florida in 2007. The game is also known for the LSU students leaving thousands of messages on the phone of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow, prompting him to give a "telephone" hand gesture to the LSU student section following an early touchdown. Florida began the fourth quarter with a 24–14 lead, but behind solid defense and being a perfect 5 for 5 on fourth down conversions, the Tigers were able to take the lead 28–24 with 1:06 left in the game after a Jacob Hester touchdown to defeat the Gators. It was LSU's first national primetime game on CBS since 1981. LSU went on to defeat No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS national championship 38–24, becoming the first school to win two BCS national championship titles and improving their BCS record to 4–0, the best of any team. They also became the first two loss team to ever play in the BCS national championship. In the 5th game of the 2010 season, undefeated No. 12 LSU trailed the Volunteers 14–10 with 0:04 left on the clock and the ball spotted on the Tennessee 2-yard line. On 3rd & Goal, after a failed QB sneak attempt and with time disappearing off the clock, LSU attempted to send in several players for a substitution package. Seeing that the time was about to expire, Center T-Bob Hebert snapped the ball before Jefferson was ready, the ball was fumbled, Jefferson was tackled, and the clock expired. On further review, Tennessee was penalized half the distance to the goalline for illegal participation. Amid the confusion in the waning seconds, Tennessee coaches sent 4 players onto the field when they saw LSU make a substitution. Only 2 players then left the field, leaving the Vols with 13 players lined up on defense. Due to the penalty, LSU got the ball back for a single untimed play on the 1-yard line. With their last play, LSU's Stevan Ridley received the toss sweep, charging forward, only to be hit near the line of scrimmage, but continued to drive forward through two Tennessee defenders and into the endzone for the game winning score – final score LSU 16, Tennessee 14.

The ninth regulation game of the 2011 season for LSU found the No. 1 nationally ranked Tigers against the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in a match called the "The Game of the Century" or the "Matchup of the Year". Both teams were undefeated and both were also coming off a bye week; viewed as important to the BCS Championship game as the "inside track" by many of the sportswriters, the press built up the game in a Super Bowl-style atmosphere. Ultimately, the game came down to field position and a series of field goals as the top-ranked defense of both teams prevented any touchdowns. Alabama missed three field goals and a fourth was blocked during regulation, leading to a 6-6 tie heading into overtime. On the first possession of OT, Alabama again missed a field goal from 52 yards out, only to watch LSU earn the win on the next possession with a chip-shot field goal. As a result, it's the second-lowest scoring matchup between No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the history of the NCAA, with a 9-6 decision. For the first time in BCS National Championship history, two SEC teams, the No. 1 LSU Tigers and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, again faced each other in the National Championship Game. Alabama won the game, 21-0. The SEC-only title game added impetus to the push for a national playoff system and hastened the death of the BCS system as implemented up to that time.