LSU COTTON BOWL HISTORY 1963 COTTON BOWL BOX SCORE SCORING SUMMARY
LSU Texas LSU LSU LSU
1963 COTTON BOWL LSU 13, TEXAS 0 January 1, 1963 • Attendance: 75,500 LSU ended 1961 on a 10-game winning streak and a convincing 25-7 victory over Colorado in the Orange Bowl, but the Fighting Tigers would begin 1962 under new leadership, as coach Paul Dietzel departed Baton Rouge for the head coaching post at West Point. In Dietzel’s place came the Tigers’ 39-year old defensive coordinator, Charles Youmans McClendon, who had been an AllAmerica defensive end for Bear Bryant at Kentucky. McClendon had a wealth of talent in his maiden head coaching voyage, most notably All-America halfback Jerry Stovall and two-way tackle Fred Miller, who was a particular terror on the defensive side, as he and his mates had limited opponents to just 44 points in 11 games in 1961 and posted five shutouts. Highlighted by a punt return for a touchdown by Stovall, LSU blanked Texas A&M in the season opener, 21-0, but then suffered a shocking 6-6 tie to Rice at home, marking the second straight year that the Owls ruined any hopes of a Bayou Bengal national championship. LSU bounced back from the sister-kisser with an impressive 10-7 victory in Atlanta over fifth-ranked Georgia Tech in front of national television audience on CBS (the Tigers’ first appearance on the network that now carries the SEC), and followed that up by allowing just three points in defeating Miami, Kentucky and Florida in succession, ending the streak with a 23-0 blanking of the Gators at Death Valley. With the SEC championship on the line, the Ole Miss Rebels paid their fourth visit in the past five seasons to Baton Rouge, this time coming away with a 15-7 victory to punch their ticket to the Sugar Bowl. The Tigers again bounced back, posting shutouts of TCU and Mississippi State before mauling winless Tulane, 38-3, in New Orleans to wind up 8-1-1. The Tigers accepted their first trip to the Cotton Bowl in 16 years, where their opponent would be a Texas team that, like LSU, had tied Rice. The only difference was that the Longhorns’ 14-14 draw with the Owls was much more costly, as it denied coach Darrell Royal’s club a legitimate chance at the national championship, a crown that went to John McKay’s USC Trojans. Despite missing out on the title, Royal had put together the Longhorns’ first unbeaten regular season since 1923, and the former All-American from Oklahoma was stockpiling talent to build the 1960s most dominant college football program.
A perfect New Year’s Day greeted the Tigers and the Longhorns for the 27th edition of the Cotton Bowl, and as the record crowd of 75,500 settled in, little did they know that the Tigers would unleash one of the most potent aerial assaults in their 69-year history. As expected, defense dominated the early going, as Ted Koy’s 72-yard punt pinned LSU deep in its own territory at the 12. The Tigers kept on the ground on their second march, moving steadily downfield before being stuffed near midfield, although Stovall’s punt left the burnt orange deep in their territory at the 10. The trade of punts continued through the first quarter and into the second before the Longhorns began the game’s first sustained drive. John Genung found Joe Dixon for 17 yards to the 31, before Tommy Ford burst for 11 yards and another first down to the 42. Genung continued his passing barrage, advancing to the LSU 30, as the large Texas contingent could sense their time had come. Alas, the optimism of the Longhorn faithful was unfounded. Ford gained five yards on two tries, but Genung’s third-down pass was batted away by Ruffin Rodrigue, and Hugh Crosby’s 42-yard field goal attempt was short. A pass interference penalty on Texas gave LSU a first down at the Longhorn 39, and then Lynn Amedee found Ray Wilkins for seven and a first down near midfield. Charles Cranford’s 2-yard gain on fourth-and-1 kept the drive alive, and then with the ball at the Texas 34, Amedee hit Billy Truax over the middle for 22 yards to the Texas 12. LSU reached the Longhorn 5 with time running out in the first half, and Amedee booted a 23-yard field goal with eight seconds to play in the stanza for a 3-0 LSU lead. Amedee turned the game permanently in LSU’s favor on the second half kickoff when he recovered Jerry Cook’s fumble at the Texas 37. Jimmy Field replaced Amedee under center and hit Gene Sykes for 11 yards to the Texas 23, and three plays later, Field got away from the Longhorn pressure, took off around left end and didn’t stop until he had scored a 22-yard touchdown that gave LSU a 10-0 lead. LSU’s defense, which had allowed 10 or more points just four times in its previous 30 outings, was more than up to the task. The Tigers stalled Texas at the LSU 39 on the drive follow-
LSU FOOTBALL - 1958 • 2003 • 2007 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
7 0
3-- 0--
13 0
2nd :08 Amedee 23 FG 3rd 13:08 Field 22 run (Amedee kick) 4th 4:58 Amedee 37 FG
TEAM STATISTICS
LSU
UT
First Downs Rushes-Net Yards Net Yards Passing Passes (A-C-I) Total Plays Total Net Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards
17 58-126 133 21-13-0 79 259 9-41.8 0-0 1-15
9 28-80 92 22-8-3 50 172 8-46.8 2-2 4-44
LSU
LSU QB Lynn Amedee (11) hands the ball to Ray Wilkins.
0 3 0 0
RUSHING
ATT
GAIN
LOSS
NET
LG
TD
Jerry Stovall Danny LeBlanc Bo Campbell Steve Ward Charles Cranford Lynn Amedee Ray Wilkins Dwight Robinson Jimmy Field TOTALS PASSING
12 6 9 6 8 2 5 2 8 58
ATT
45 23 21 15 10 10 8 4 22 158
9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 22 32
36 23 20 15 10 10 8 4 0 126
8 9 10 4 6 6 4 3 22 22
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Lynn Amedee Jimmy Field TOTALS RECEIVING
13 8 21
NO.
9 4 13
94 39 133
22 14 22
0 0 0
0 0 0
Billy Traux Charles Cranford Jerry Stovall Ray Wilkins Danny Neumann Jack Gates Gene Sykes Danny LeBlanc
3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1
49 16 14 9 16 14 11 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Texas
COMP
YARDS
YARDS
TD
LG
TD
INT
RUSHING
ATT
GAIN
LOSS
NET
LG
TD
Jerry Cook Virgil Wade Tommy Ford J.P. Culpepper Ted Koy John Genung TOTALS PASSING
10 3 5 1 4 5 28
ATT
39 21 20 4 6 9 99
0 4 5 0 2 8 19
39 17 15 4 4 1 80
10 11 11 4 4 9 11
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Genung Virgil Wade TOTALS RECEIVING
9 13 22
NO
5 3 8
59 33 92
17 18 18
0 0 0
0 3 3
Ted Koy Hix Green Joe Dixon Dan Talbert Ben House Walter Sands Tommy Ford
2 1 1 1 1 1 1
15 18 17 15 13 8 6
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
COMP
YARDS
YARDS
TD
LG
TD
INT
ing Field’s touchdown run, and on the next Longhorn possession, backup quarterback Virgil Wade was picked off by Rodrigue at the Texas 47. The Tigers had a chance to put the game away by driving to the Texas seven, but led by All-America end Scott Appleton, the Longhorns stiffened with their backs against the goal line, and LSU had to turn over the ball on downs. Texas failed to move, and after another punt, the Tigers milked 5:13 off the clock in driving to a 37-yard field goal by Amedee, brining the score to 13-0 with 4:58 remaining. Fittingly, Stovall ended the final Texas drive with an interception in the waning moments to preserve the Tigers’ second straight Cotton Bowl shutout. Amedee finished as the game’s Most Valuable Player, hitting on 9 of 13 passes for 94 yards, while kicking two field goals, the first in Cotton Bowl play since 1942.