The 1958 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) in American football during the 1958 college football season. After finishing the season with a 10–0 record the team was named consensus national champion by the Associated Press (AP) and the Coaches Poll (UPI). LSU was also selected National Champions by a total of 37 selectors.
This was LSU's second national championship recognized by the NCAA and the college football community at large, the first coming when the Tigers were retro-picked as national champions in 1908 by the National Championship Foundation. However, it is the first national championship claimed by the school. It was also LSU's first undefeated and untied season since 1908, and was the last undefeated season for the school until 2019. This was LSU’s last consensus national championship until 2007.
The Tigers were coached by Paul Dietzel in his fourth season and competed in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), in which the team earned its third SEC championship and sixth conference championship overall.
The Tigers were led by a backfield of Louisiana locals Billy Cannon, Warren Rabb, and Johnny Robinson, all of whom received first-team All-SEC honors after the season. The team is perhaps most remembered for coach Paul Dietzel's unique "three-platoon system", of which the "Chinese Bandits" were a part.
Before the season Prior to the season, LSU head coach Paul Dietzel experimented with different methods of keeping players rested. Substitution rules at the time allowed players to re-enter a game only twice per quarter. Dietzel implemented his "three-platoon system", which split the team into the "White Team", the "Go Team", and the "Chinese Bandits." Each platoon was a unit consisting of eleven players. The White Team was the starting unit. It consisted of the team's most talented players who excelled on both offense and defense. The Go Team was the second string unit that played primarily on offense. The Chinese Bandits were the team's second string defense, and was made up of mainly underclassmen. Dietzel's plan was to swap players out in a platoon-like fashion in order to keep them rested throughout the game, since most starters played on both offense and defense during this era. Instead of resting individual players, he replaced all eleven players on the field. This system was part of what Dietzel referred to as "efficient football;" to attempt get the most production out of every player on the team.
Dietzel recruited a talented freshman class for the 1956 season, and had high expectations now that they were upperclassmen. However, in the preseason LSU was picked to finish ninth out of twelve teams in the Southeastern Conference. While they had talent on offense, the Tigers were young and inexperienced on defense. To utilize the team's talented backfield, which consisted of halfbacks Billy Cannon and Johnny Robinson, Dietzel adopted a wing T offensive formation. This formation favored the running game, and it was the first major change in LSU's offense since 1944. Dietzel then named the young defense the "Chinese Bandits", after characters from a Terry and the Pirates comic strip, hoping an identity would instill pride and confidence in what would ordinarily have been substitute players.
Schedule
Game summaries At Rice
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LSU opened the season on September 20 with a 26–6 upset win over the defending SWC champion Rice Owls in Rice Stadium. The Tigers were projected as six point underdogs against the Owls, whose coach Jess Neely was entering his eighteenth season with the team. Constant rain throughout the day before and during the game had muddied the field and made handling the ball difficult. This proved to be a problem for the Owls, as they fumbled the ball six times, losing two of them. LSU opened the game with a ten play, 57-yard drive capped by a quarterback scramble by Warren Rabb into the end zone. In the second quarter, LSU's Don Purvis returned a punt 27 yards into Rice territory, and the Tigers again drove down the field and scored on a two-yard run by fullback J.W. Brodnax. Tommy Davis missed the extra point, and LSU went into halftime with a 13–0 lead. Rice was unable to convert a first down until its last possession of the first half.
LSU received the ball to start the third quarter. On the first drive, Cannon ran around the right side for 25 yards. The drive stalled at the Rice 40-yard line, however, and Cannon punted down to the one-inch line. The Owls were forced to punt soon after, and the ball landed at their own 35-yard line, where Cannon picked it up and returned it 30 yards to the Rice five-yard line. Johnny Robinson scored on the next play with a run to the left side. Later in the third, Rice's Charles Knight intercepted a pass on the LSU 37-yard line. The Owls drove down the field and scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth, Mel Branch of the Chinese Bandits intercepted a pass at the Rice 30-yard line. Nine plays later, Davis scored the final touchdown of the game and kicked the extra point.
LSU had 266 yards of total offense in the game and Rice compiled 144. Passing contributed to only 48 yards between both teams as the rainy conditions forced them to stick to the running game. Cannon gained 53 yards on nine carries as the game's leading rusher. The performance by LSU impressed the pollsters, who ranked the team fifteenth after being unranked prior to the game. Coach Dietzel said in the locker room after the game:"It was gratifying to score a victory over a team coached by a man that I respect as much as coach Neely. We made mistakes Saturday night [but] we made up for them in hustle and desire. I guess you can sum up what I feel about these boys in four words...I'm proud of them. I do believe that the condition of the playing field and adverse weather conditions prevented either team from finding out their true strength or weaknesses."
At Alabama
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In the second week of play, LSU traveled to Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama and defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide, 13–3 in coach Bear Bryant's first game with the team. Paul Dietzel had previously served as an assistant coach for Bryant during his tenure at Kentucky. Neither teams' defense allowed a score in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Cannon fumbled at Alabama's 45-yard line, and Duff Morrison picked it up for the Tide and returned it to the LSU 5-yard line. Here, the Chinese Bandits had the first of their famous goal-line stands, and held Alabama to a field goal. Alabama's defensive line and linebackers made it difficult for LSU to run the ball in the first half, and they also put pressure on Rabb during passing plays. The Crimson Tide went into halftime with a 3–0 lead. Midway through the half, a section of bleachers in the north end zone collapsed and resulted in 60 spectators being injured. The collapse caused a stoppage of play while emergency responders worked to assist those injured by the collapse.
LSU took a 7–3 lead in the third quarter when Rabb threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Robinson that capped a 67-yard drive. Cannon then scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to his right in the fourth quarter. Down by ten and the game winding down, Alabama turned to its passing game but were unable to find success. LSU's pass rush did not give Alabama quarterback Bobby Smith any time to throw the ball. The Tide completed three passes in the game for a net of zero yards. In total, LSU compiled 253 yards of offense in the game to Alabama's 100. Billy Cannon was the game's leading rusher with 86 yards and a touchdown on twelve carries. The victory over Bryant proved to be a rare one for LSU, as the Tigers won only three more games against Alabama in the next 24 seasons. 2011 LSU Football Media Guide , LSU Athletic Department, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 153–163 (2011). Retrieved February 4, 2016.
Hardin Simmons
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In LSU's first home game of the season the team defeated coach Sammy Baugh's Cowboys of Hardin–Simmons, 20–6. It was also the first time the two football teams played each other, and remains the only time. Warren Rabb scored a touchdown on the Tigers' first possession with a roll-out from three yards out. The Cowboys lost a fumble at midfield on their first possession, which LSU took advantage of five plays later with a four-yard touchdown run by Durel Matherne. Hardin Simmons scored its only points of the game on a drive that started on its own 7-yard line in the first quarter, and ended with a touchdown early in the second quarter. LSU responded with an eleven-yard rushing touchdown by Cannon later in the quarter. It was the last score of the game, as neither team scored in the second half.
The Cowboys had a chance to score in the third quarter with the ball on LSU's one-yard line on first down. However, the Tigers came up with another goal-line stand, this time by the White Team with a fumble recovery. In the fourth quarter, Hardin–Simmons had another chance as it drove down to the LSU 14-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass on fourth down. The game featured much more passing than LSU had seen in the previous two games. Hardin–Simmons, whose head coach Baugh was a former star quarterback in the National Football League, was a passing-minded team. While LSU rushed for 204 yards, Hardin–Simmons passed for 201 yards on 19 completions. Warren Rabb, who was playing despite the death of his father that morning, completed six passes for 88 yards. For the third game in a row, Cannon was the leading rusher with 83 yards and a touchdown on eleven carries.
At Miami (FL)
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The Tigers had their first shutout of the season in week four, when they traveled to the Orange Bowl and defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 41–0. On its first possession LSU drove down to the Miami 49-yard line, where a pass from Rabb was intercepted and ran back to the LSU 42-yard line. The Hurricanes went three-and-out on their offensive possession and attempted a field goal, but the kick was short. After punts by both teams, the Tigers scored their first touchdown of the game on a 51-yard run by Don Purvis. Miami was forced to punt on the first play of the second quarter and it was downed at the LSU 5-yard line. LSU was also forced to punt, but the Hurricanes fumbled on the return and the Tigers recovered it at Miami's 27-yard line. After a first down run by Cannon, Rabb threw a touchdown pass to Billy Hendrix to make the score 13–0 at halftime.
Billy Cannon took the kickoff to open the second half and returned it from the goal-line to midfield. LSU drove down the field and Brodnax scored on a three-yard run up the middle. Miami quarterback Fran Curci then led the Hurricanes on a drive down to the LSU 20, but the ball was turned over on downs. Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter. LSU opened the fourth quarter with two incomplete passes, and Cannon got off a 51-yard punt down to Miami's 15-yard line. The Hurricanes were also forced to punt, and a fair catch interference penalty on Miami gave LSU the ball at the 16. From there, Rabb passed to Brodnax down to the one-yard line, where Cannon ran it in for a touchdown on the next play. Miami received the kickoff and returned it to its own 35-yard line, but a holding penalty moved the ball back to the twelve. The Hurricanes went three-and-out and punted to midfield, where Purvis received it and ran it back to Miami's 22-yard line. Four plays later, Matherne passed to Don Norwood for a four-yard touchdown. LSU's Henry Lee Roberts intercepted a pass from Curci at midfield and the Tigers drove down the field once more for their last touchdown of the game.