Tiger fans still are feeling the effects of a game-winning touchdown that literally shook the stadium 15 years ago.
Running back Eddie Fuller caught a pass from quarterback Tommy Hodson with less than two minutes remaining in the LSU-Auburn football game of 1988. The following extra point put the Tigers ahead 7-6, and the win moved the team back into the Top 25.
The following Friday, The Reveille broke the story that the Tiger fans’ cheers for the winning catch produced a vibration that registered on the Geology Department’s intermediate period seismograph, which is used in detecting distant earthquakes.
Vindell Hsu, who was an assistant geology professor at the time, told The Reveille the instrument was intended to record earthquakes, but it also picks up any ground motion. Hsu said the seismograph picked up the noise from passing vehicles, but the stadium noise was obviously much greater.
“Obviously the audience was excited,” Hsu said “They must have jumped up and down in the stands and caused the ground to vibrate.”
Hsu said the seismograph reading showed a large block of ink that was registered at 9:32 p.m., the time the touchdown was made. The vibration the crowd produced was larger than usual for the instrument.
Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Herb Vincent, who was the LSU Sports Information director in 1988, said an LSU victory was looking questionable prior to Fuller’s touchdown.
Fuller, who was a junior in 1988, said he actually was surprised Hodson chose to pass him the ball in the end zone on fourth down. He said in the series of downs that led up to the touchdown pass, he dropped a pass from Hodson and was then ruled out of bounds on another pass into the end zone.
Fuller said he barely remembers the moments following the play because he was so focused on the game and making the catch, but Hodson recognized the magnitude of the play.
“It’s the most emotional game I’ve ever played,” Hodson told The Reveille after the 1988 game. “That throw was the only one I had left in me. If football had five downs, I don’t know if I would have had it left in me.”
Associate Athletic Director of Operations Verge Ausberry was a linebacker for LSU in 1988.
“When Eddie caught that ball, we could feel the vibrations under our feet,” Ausberry said. “That was the first time we had felt that.”
In the Oct. 11, 1988 Reveille article, then-head football coach Mike Archer praised the Tiger defense, saying it also played a vital role in the team’s win.
Ausberry said the game was a great defensive battle. He said Auburn’s offense was among the best in the country at the time.
“It was a game we knew we had to play our hardest,” Ausberry said.
The Tuesday after the game, then-Reveille reporter Scott Rabalais, who is now a sports writer and columnist for the Baton Rouge Advocate, wrote a column describing the win as a “game for the ages.”
Rabalais said through the years, the play has lived up to his prediction. He said it has gone down in LSU athletics history along with Billy Cannon’s punt return and the “Bluegrass Miracle” as one of the best plays of all time.
“The play is actually bigger now than when we made it,” Fuller said.
Fuller said he did not realize the actual magnitude of the play until returning to Baton Rouge in the mid-1990s after playing professional football for several years.
“It’s a great feeling to be recognized and remembered in a positive manner and associated with LSU,” Fuller said.
The Athletic Department will observe the 15th anniversary of the earthquake game by showing the video of the final play and honoring Tommy Hodson and Eddie Fuller prior to Saturday night’s game.
Jenni Peters, athletic promotions manager, said fans are encouraged to wear gold to participate in the game’s “Shake, Rattle and Gold” theme.