In the Old Testament, the Israelites shouted so loudly the walls of Jericho came crashing down. This passage may seem too implausible for modern society, but to LSU fans who know the noise of Tiger Stadium, the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Most LSU fans know of the famous “Earthquake Game” in 1988 against Auburn, when, on the final play of the game, LSU scored a come-from-behind touchdown and won the game 7-6.
The crowd noise after the play was so intense, it registered as an earthquake on LSU’s seismograph. Upon discovery of the seismograph readings, the game cemented itself in LSU sports history and led the university’s geoscience department to keep a consistent track of seismograph readings during LSU games. Dr. Juan Lorenzo, seismologist and professor in the geology department, archives files of many past gameday readings on his work computer.
But LSU fans aren’t content with resting in history, neither in terms of championships nor earthquake games.
So the question now is— can it happen again?
Such a task would actually not be as difficult as it sounds. One statistic shows that the Earthquake Game happened with a crowd of 79,431. With the recent expansion to 102,321, LSU fans in 2015 have 22,000 more people in the stadium than in 1988.
Another statistic shows the advantages of the 2015 season in comparison to past years. In 1988, LSU was 2-2 and unranked leading up to the ground shaking game against Auburn, and the team finished the season with an understated 8-4 record.
With ESPN placing LSU as the 4th strongest preseason team in the country and Kirk Herbstreit predicting a playoff appearance, the Tigers are poised to be in a much better position this 2015 season, and fan hype is sure to benefit. History shows that fans get more excited when it’s a top-10 matchup than when the unranked Tigers are trying to bust a better team’s perfect season, as was the case against Auburn in 1988.
History is on our side for the repeat of a crowd-induced earthquake.
Dr. Lorenzo showed me a seismograph reading of October 25, 2008—gameday against the Georgia Bulldogs (which the Tigers lost 52-38)—that revealed a clear spike in vibration from the beginning all the way to the end of the game. Likewise, the game against Auburn in 2006 gave the seismograph a huge spike when, by Dr. Lorenzo’s tracing, Brandon Lafell caught an exciting touchdown. Dr. Lorenzo even has readings of a boring blowout win against Tulane during the 2008 season that register increases in vibration.
“You will get vibrations from the stadium [every game day],” Dr. Lorenzo said.
Though it may be less enchanting to know that ‘earthquake games’ are not as rare as LSU fans might think, it does reveal even greater opportunity for the Tigers to make the Valley shake.
Fan excitement alone is not enough to bring the noise to earth-shaking levels, however. What created the 1988 uproar was a moment—a game-winning touchdown. In order to create another valley-shaking game, LSU will need to get itself into tight situations against archrivals. Luckily, this season presents that opportunity. Home games against the highly rivaled and highly-ranked Auburn, and perhaps one of the most successful renewed rivalries in the country, Texas A&M, present LSU with its villains.
And no LSU fan has been a stranger to tight situations during head coach Les Miles’ tenure. Who can forget the Mad Hatter’s history of 4th-down gambles and the mind-boggling clock management (or lack-thereof) that has led to nearly inexplicable game endings?
With all these ingredients, it seems that another, perhaps even greater earthquake game could be in store for the Tigers this season. But maybe the secret to registering on the seismograph will be merely something much simpler than 20,000 extra fans or a come-from-behind win: consistent, adequate quarterback play that LSU has been without as of late. Spending year after year dealing with quarterback competitions due to lackluster performance has made fans desperate for, at the very least, a game manager.
Perhaps that alone will lead to a collective sigh of relief from LSU fans far and wide that will cause the Valley, even the whole state, to shake.
Unfortunately, even if fans do manage to shake the Valley, the geoscience department won’t know it. The seismograph readings have ceased since the 2008 season due to expensive maintenance.
“Just to run the seismograph costs about $5,000 a year, and to buy a station costs $30,000, and that’s a cheap one,” Lorenzo said.
The seismologist mentioned any eager donations would be welcomed…