1965 LSU Tigers football team

The 1965 LSU Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1965 NCAA University Division football season. In their fourth year under head coach Charles McClendon, the Tigers complied an overall record of 8–3 with a conference record of 3–3 the SEC, placing in a three-way tie for sixth place in the SEC.^[1][2]

1965 LSU Tigers football
Cotton Bowl, W 14–7 vs. Arkansas
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 8
Record	8–3 (3–3 SEC)
Head coach	Charles McClendon (4th season)
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Seasons ← 1964 1966 →

1965 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Alabama $	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	1	–	1
Auburn	4	–	1	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
No. 7 Tennessee	3	–	1	–	2			8	–	1	–	2
Florida	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
No. 8 LSU	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Georgia	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Kentucky	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	1
Tulane	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Tennessee's game against South Carolina and Georgia's game against Clemson counted in the conference standings. Rankings from AP Poll

Back-to-back losses to Ole Miss and Alabama put LSU's bowl hopes in peril, but wins over Mississippi State and Tulane prompted the Cotton Bowl to extend a bid to the 7-–3 Tigers. The bowl's faith in LSU was rewarded when the Tigers stunned No. 2 Arkansas, 14–7, to stop the Razorbacks' winning streak at 22 games and deny Arkansas a second consecutive national championship.

Schedule

Destruction from Hurricane Betsy on September 10 put the season opener vs. Texas A&M in jeopardy. Repairs to the light towers, scoreboard and press box were made in time for the game to proceed as planned eight days later.

LSU defeated rival Tulane by a 62-0 tally for the third time in eight seasons (1958 and 1961) in the Green Wave's final football game as a member of the Southeastern Conference. It was also LSU's third consecutive shutout of Tulane at Baton Rouge.

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	Texas A&M*	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)		W 10–0	68,000	[3]
September 25	Rice*	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 42–14	67,500	[4]
October 2	at Florida	No. 5	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 7–14	47,592	[5]
October 9	at Miami (FL)*		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 34–27	43,367	[6]
October 16	Kentucky		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 31–21	68,000	[7]
October 23	South Carolina*	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 21–7	66,000	[8]
October 30	at Ole Miss	No. 5	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)		L 0–23	46,616	[9]
November 6	No. 5 Alabama		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	NBC	L 7–31	58,000	[10]
November 13	Mississippi State		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)		W 37–20	60,000	[11]
November 20	Tulane		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Rag)		W 62–0	65,000	[12]
January 1, 1966	vs. No. 2 Arkansas*		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl, rivalry)	CBS	W 14–7	76,200	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14][15][16]