Every time someone tells the story, it gets a little better.
When Billy Cannon ran the punt back to beat Ole Miss on Halloween night, 1959, he simply darted through Rebels tacklers into the end zone.
Others added a little more to the story. One version says there was fog and Cannon could not tell the difference between an Ole Miss defender from his own team and vice-versa. Some say Cannon even broke his own teammates tackles en route to the end zone.
In reality, Cannon’s punt return gave the Tigers a 7-3 victory in Baton Rouge in 1959 and is one of the most interesting stories in the series between the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels.
No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Ole Miss both entered the game with identical 6-0 records. The Rebels held a 3-0 advantage through three quarters. The game became a punt fest, and with 10 minutes to play, Cannon made Ole Miss pay. The ball took a favorable bounce and Cannon took it in at the 11-yard line. He broke two tackles, nearly lost his balance at the LSU 20, recovered and scampered 89 yards for the only touchdown of the contest.
Cannon went on to win the 1959 Heisman trophy award. He is the only LSU player to do so.
The series dates back to 1894. In the first meeting between the two schools, Ole Miss whipped LSU, 26-6, in Baton Rouge on Dec. 3. But the Tigers lead the overall series between the rivals, 50-37-4.
LSU’s 17-16 victory against Ole Miss in Baton Rouge in 1972 stirred up controversy among Rebels fans. Trailing 16-10 late in the fourth quarter, the 6-0 LSU Tigers relied on quarterback Bert Jones to rally the troops – Jones did just that. Jones led the Tigers to the Ole Miss 10-yard line with 10 seconds left. On the next play, Ole Miss was flagged for pass interference. Four seconds remained on the clock and LSU had the ball on the Ole Miss one-yard line. Then the fun started.
Jones’ next pass fell incomplete. However, Ole Miss fans and players alike cried foul, claiming the play took longer than four seconds and the clock operator failed to start the clock. Regardless of the protest, one second remained on the clock. On the very next play, Jones connected with Brad Davis for a touchdown. Rusty Jackson added the extra point for a 17-16 LSU victory.
A few days later, a sign on the Louisiana-Mississippi border went up reading, “Entering Louisiana – Set your clocks back four seconds.”
Recently, LSU has won two of the last three meetings between the two schools. This is the Tigers’ first trip to Oxford since 2000.
In 2000, LSU used two Domanick Davis touchdowns and a stifling defense to beat the Rebels for the first time in four years. The Tigers defense held Heisman candidate Deuce McAllister to 59 yards on 24 carries.
LSU and Ole Miss met in Baton Rouge in 2001 with the Rebels exacting revenge on the Tigers. LSU led Ole Miss 24-21 after three quarters. But the Tigers self-destructed in the fourth quarter. Several punts and two fumbles thwarted the Tigers’ efforts in the fourth quarter and augmented the Rebels’ opportunities. Eli Manning hooked up with Doug Ziegler twice in the fourth quarter and Ole Miss took the game from LSU, 35-24.
Last season, the Tigers used two fourth quarter interceptions to defeat Manning and the Rebels. Demetrius Hookfin intercepted Manning early in the fourth on the LSU 3-yard line to kill an Ole Miss scoring opportunity. Midway through the fourth, Marcus Randall led the Tigers on a 74-yard drive, culminating in a 27-yard touchdown strike to Michael Clayton to put the Tigers ahead, 14-13. LSU finished off the Rebels when Corey Webster picked off a Manning pass at the LSU 22-yard line with less than two minutes to play.
The Tigers’ trip to Oxford, Miss. on Saturday should break the 5-5-1 series record at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and write the next chapter in this storied history.