My Wife's Last LSU Football Game

It was 1982, and some law school buddies and I got together to attend an LSU football game. We graduated in 1980 and thought it would be a good idea to bring our wives or dates.

We were able to get tickets together in the South End Zone lower section, right next to the visitors' section.

My wife of four years came with me as we played Florida State for the fourth year in a row, all at Tiger Stadium. It had not been a very good series for LSU as we lost the first three years to the Seminoles.

This year had to be different. LSU was 7-1-1, losing the week before to Mississippi State and tying Tennessee earlier in the season. Dalton Hilliard and Garry James formed a formidable backfield, known as the Dalton-James Gang, with Alan Risher playing a great Senior Season.

LSU hired offensive coordinator Mack Brown (yes, that one), got rid of the Veer offense, put points on the board, and had a dominating defense.

This was the year that LSU beat "The Bear" at Alabama for its first victory over Bama since 1970. I had attended LSU for seven football seasons, from 1973 to 1980, with hopes dashed each year by The Bear.

LSU finally dismantled Alabama 20-10, a score that did not show how badly LSU defeated Alabama, with LSU's smothering defense causing Bear Bryant to tell LSU's head coach, Jerry Stovall, "This was the worst beating they had since the '60s."

The Orange Bowl decided that the winner of Florida State and LSU would receive the bowl bid. They wanted the game on national television, but LSU, playing at home, had the right to decline.

Giving up money for both LSU and Florida State to avoid the requirement of playing in the afternoon was an easy decision for Coach Stovall. "We want them under the lights." He gave this as his reason for denial of the entire country to watch the game. That seemed to be the thing to do for LSU football fans, who treasure playing at night in Tiger Stadium.

The night became surreal as Hilliard ran wild and caught passes for a total of 233 yards out of LSU's 620. Then, as the game progressed and the obligatory oranges began to rain onto the field, the night's weather in South Louisiana near the Mississippi River added a new twist. An eerie fog began to roll into the stadium, covering the field as the game was dominated by LSU and out of reach.

I quit drinking in the fall of 1983, with the final drink of Scotch at an LSU game. Too bad I did not quit drinking in 1982. As this night wore on, the Scotch wore my caution down. The oranges, the Scotch, the Orange Bowl invitation, the dominating performance by LSU, especially by Hilliard, and the final blow of fog onto the field removed any sense of judgment that remained with me as the score finished 55-21 in LSU's favor.

Hilliard broke the record of touchdowns scored in a freshman season, previously held by Herschel Walker. He scored a touchdown in each quarter, rushing and receiving for four scores, bringing his total to 15 for the season.

In the early '80s LSU had become lax in preventing fans from going onto the field. There was no fence along the sidelines. No ROTC and State Police lined up to stop fans. There was a nominal effort to prevent running on the field at the end of the game, but there was no stopping the LSU fans this night.

It was the end of the game. I looked at my friends, and then to my wife, as she looked back at me, shocked to see me leaving her and running down to the concrete wall standing between me and the field. I stood on the wall of separation and looked back one more time, hollering and waving the throngs over, "Give me Three Hundred Spartans!"

As I jumped to the ground and raced to the field, full of vim and vigor, that last part of my remaining wisdom fleetingly passed through my mind, softly urging me to go back to my bride of four years. Fleetingly. I continued to run, thinking that this was not as much fun as I thought it would be.

I had to walk back and climb over the wall to get back to my wife, sitting alone with my one friend who dared not leave her alone in Tiger Stadium as the lights began to dim.

She said, "I will never come back to another game."  

We have been married now for 31 years, and I have gone to many games. My third child was born in 1983, and with my other two sons we have attended many games together.  

I still don't drink Scotch, but my wife has kept her promise not to attend another game. I know that my actions of that night affected her, and I wonder if it affected LSU. It was only one week later after this wonderful victory that LSU lost to Tulane at Tiger Stadium 31-28. The Orange Bowl committee was already at Tiger Stadium with the invitation.

In a quiet room with pasted, fake smiles they talked about how excited they were to have LSU play Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. We lost to Nebraska 21-20, and after two decades of up and down football, LSU finally came back to play like we expect them to play.

Maybe before I get too old and hunker down before a television set to watch LSU every week, I can convince my wife to come to one more game with me.  

I promise I will not climb the wall again. That action will be reserved for LSU losses while watching them on television in my home.