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coach Bob Tyler. It marked the first non-conference loss for Tyler in his tenure at Mississippi State. Tiger tailback Eddie Hill was named the Associated Press National Back of the Week for his play. Later in the season, Tiger quarterback Lloyd Patterson was named the Associated Press Back of the Week for his play against Southern Mississippi although it was Bob Orian's 91-yard return of a Golden Eagle pass that set up the win.
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Eddie Hill led the Tigers in rushing during the 1978 season with 739 yards.
1980s
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Little TOM, with trainer Louie Bell, was the first official mascot of the Tigers.
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during his tenure at MSU. The Tigers traveled to Auburn, Alabama, to play the second game of Williamson's career. Shug Jordan was entering his final season at Auburn, and the legendary coach and his team were set to meet the Tigers. The sixthranked War Eagles were stunned by the Tigers and trailed 24-0 at halftime. The home team roared back in the second half but led by quarterback Kippy Brown, tailback Terdell Middleton and receivers Earnest Gray and Keith Wright, Memphis State prevailed and won the contest 31-20. Other victories in 1975 included Florida State, Houston and Louisville and the Tigers' final ledger read, 7-4-0. Many think the 1976 schedule was the most difficult ever played by the Tigers. The team opened the season like gangbusters, beating Ole Miss and Florida State before dropping a game to Tulsa. Then came wins against SMU and Auburn. With a 4-1 record, the Tigers were ready to take on Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl. It seemed like the Tigers were set to win the rest of their games. But on Monday prior to the game, two linebackers quit the team and in a solidarity move, many black players boycotted practice. The mood of the team was disrupted and the Tigers lost the game, 42-33. MSU added two more victories before losing 21-14 to Tennessee in Memphis. Memphis State split its final two games of the year to post its second consecutive 7-4-0 season. What might have been, never was. The highlight of the 1977 season was a 21-13 win over Mississippi State and its head
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The 11th head football coach at Memphis State was Fred Pancoast. A native of Florida and a former University of Georgia and Florida assistant coach, Pancoast found a wealth of talent among the players he inherited. He quickly changed the team's look by adopting Dallas Cowboys style uniforms. The Tigers were 5-5-1 under Pancoast in 1972, but the 1973 season contained numerous highlights, including MSU's first win in history over Ole Miss in the state of Mississippi. Playing the Rebels in the third game of the season was not normal but in 1973, MSU had Louisville and North Texas State scheduled ahead of their nemesis from Oxford. Powered by the arm of David Fowler and the legs of Cliff Taylor and Dornell Harris, the Tigers prevailed 1713. Pancoast left Memphis State after the 1974 season to accept the head coaching position at Vanderbilt. He had posted a record of 20-12-1 in three short seasons and had gained wins over Ole Miss and Florida State among others. Richard Williamson, an assistant coach at Arkansas and Alabama, was hired on January 20, 1975, to replace Pancoast. Williamson, a former wide receiver for the University of Alabama who caught Joe Namath's first career touchdown pass at Alabama, was hired to direct the Tiger football fortunes. At 33 years old, Williamson was one of the youngest head coaches in the nation. A hard-nosed disciplinarian, Williamson would weather several storms
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Dornell Harris breaks loose at the Pasadena Bowl in 1971. Memphis won the game, 28-9 , over San Jose State.
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Tiger History
The latter stages of the 1970s found the Tigers having up-and-down seasons, and after a disastrous 1980 campaign, Richard Williamson was notified that he would not be retained for the 1981 season. Thus ended the Williamson era at Memphis State University. After opening the decade of the 1980s with the dismissal of Williamson, Rex Dockery, a former University of Tennessee player and the head coach at Texas Tech, was hired to direct the Tiger football fortunes. In 1981, Bob Patterson was hired to replace Billy J. Murphy as athletic director. Patterson, a former Tiger offensive lineman, had come to MSU with Rex Dockery from Texas Tech. In November 1982, Charles Cavagnaro was hired to replace Bob Patterson as athletic director at Memphis State University. Cavagnaro, a graduate of MSU, had worked as a sports writer and editor of The Commercial