South Bound & Down
Fansided

Five most memorable games in Ole Miss-LSU football history

By Jake Brouillette

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 20: Stevan Ridley #34 of the Louisiana State University Tigers scores the go-ahead toucdown in the final minutes of the fourth quarter against the Ole Miss Rebels at Tiger Stadium on November 20, 2010 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 20: Stevan Ridley #34 of the Louisiana State University Tigers scores the go-ahead toucdown in the final minutes of the fourth quarter against the Ole Miss Rebels at Tiger Stadium on November 20, 2010 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LA – SEPTEMBER 05: General view as lightning strikes outside of Tiger Stadium during a weather delay between the LSU Tigers and the McNeese State Cowboys on September 5, 2015 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

1959: #1 LSU vs. #3 Ole Miss

Both teams were ranked in the top three. Leading up to this game, LSU and Ole Miss combined to allow one touchdown on the year. LSU was coming off their first national championship victory in 1958 and returned their top star in Billy Cannon. Ole Miss had lost only 3 games in their last 28 contests.

Late in the game, Ole Miss was clinging to a 3-0 victory that looked like it would hold. Punter Jake Gibbs let one fly, and it was returnable for Cannon. Cannon then proceeded to break through seven tacklers on his way to an 89 yard punt return touchdown that would seal the victory for top-ranked LSU.

Still some time left

Many fans forget that the punt return was not the end of the game. Ole Miss had a chance at the goal line late in the game to steal the win from LSU; however, who else but Billy Cannon came up big on a 4th and goal stop at the one yard line to seal the victory.

Billy Cannon has heard many fan recitals of that event. In his biography Billy Cannon: A Long, Long Run, Cannon tells of his interaction with a man who left his sick wife on a stretcher just to see that fateful punt return.

Predicting the SEC finish. dark. Next

LSU football fans who were alive to see it will always remember that play. It was Cannon’s Heisman moment, as he went on to win the school’s only Heisman Trophy in 1959. The pure, defensive clash, the atmosphere of Tiger Stadium, and some late game heroics make the 1959 match-up the number one game in LSU-Ole Miss history.

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