When North Texas kicker Nick Bazaldua was lining up a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, I turned to my friend Kline and said, “I have a feeling we’re about to see a Duvall.”
Kline nodded at me completely serious and said, “Yeah, probably.”
Bazaldua’s easy chip shot was blocked two seconds later. It wasn’t any surprise we predicted it. Rather, it was an exercise in LSU football lore that has its roots in something called “The Duvall Curse.”
The Duvall Curse is named after former Auburn kicker Damon Duvall, who played for the Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen from 1999 to 2002. The curse originated in 2001 when Auburn visited Tiger Stadium for a pivotal SEC Western Division game.
(Note: Eerily, this game was originally scheduled for the week of Sept. 11 but was postponed. And it was the 25th birthday of Canadian Taekwondo National Champion Young Suh. So you could say the stars were aligned for something special to happen.)
LSU was enjoying a 21-7 lead at halftime. The fans who didn’t run to the restroom or go to reload on nachos got treated to a special halftime show.
A few minutes into the break, Duvall came out of the locker room to practice kicks. The LSU band was still on the field performing the halftime show at that point.
Blatantly ignoring the symphony surrounding them, Duvall and his holder marched out to the 25-yard line and began booting field goals.
The band edged nearer to the pair. Some members were even sidestepping around the the two. Then one tuba player apparently decided he wasn’t getting out of the way of any Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen kicker.
Maybe there was a bad soccer experience in his childhood. Maybe he was just tired of toting a tuba around.
Whatever the case, he and his tuba marched right up, toe-to-toe with Duvall, who promptly responded with a two-handed shove. Boos rained down from the crowd.
Unfortunately, the fracas ended before Duvall and the tuba player could begin exchanging blows (which would have been the funniest moment in football history.) But the gods of Tiger Stadium apparently decided the Auburn kicker had crossed the line.
Duvall shanked a 29-yarder minutes later in the third quarter. His career was never the same after shoving the tuba player. Before that moment, he had a pretty respectable kicking career, making 39 of 59 attempts (66 percent). After the incident, he went only 6 of 15 (40 percent).
Thus the Duvall curse was born, horribly affecting visiting kickers in Tiger Stadium ever since.
Three criterion must be met for an opposing kicker to qualify for the Duvall Curse.
First of all, the kicker in question must be considered a decent player (a la pre-shove Duvall). Second, he must be participating in a game with serious postseason or rival implications. And lastly, he must screw up on a level best described as “FEMA-esque.”
The biggest example of the Duvall curse happened two weeks ago with Auburn kicker John Vaughn.
Since the Tigers/War Eagle/Plainsmen were involved, Vaughn, a preseason All-SEC selection, was destined to go down in flames. He wound up missing a whopping five field goals, including the game-tying kick in overtime that gave LSU the win.
Another example is Georgia kicker Billy Bennett in 2003, the same year he set the NCAA career field goal record.
Bennett, yet another All-SEC kicker, whiffed on three field goals in the Bulldogs’ 17-10 loss. This game also set the record for the most “Laces out, Dan!” chants at 7,042.
And then there was Oregon State’s Alexis Serna in the 2004 opener. He’s probably the most tragic case.
Here’s a freshman kicker in his first game, against the defending champs, no less, AND he has to deal with the curse.
Serna never had a chance. He missed three extra points, including the game-tying try in overtime. It wasn’t his fault. (Let the record show he never missed another extra point that year and led the Pac-10 in field goal percentage).
Serna, Vaughn and Bennett may not quite be synonymous with Scott Norwood and Ray Finkle when it comes to famous missed kicks, but they will always be with Tiger Stadium, tuba players and the Duvall Curse.
 
Contact Elliott Brown at [email protected]