1972 LSU Tigers football team

The 1972 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Led by 11th-year head coach Charles McClendon, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 9–2–1, with a mark of 4–1–1 in conference play, and finished third in the SEC.^[1]

1972 LSU Tigers football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 17–24 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 11
Record	9–2–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach	Charles McClendon (11th season)
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Alabama $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 5 Auburn	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 11 LSU	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 8 Tennessee	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Georgia	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Ole Miss	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

LSU and SEC rivals Georgia and Ole Miss became the last major universities to desegregate their varsity football squads this season.

The September 30 game against Wisconsin marked the first appearance of a Big Ten Conference team at Tiger Stadium. Only two other Big Ten teams have played at Baton Rouge since: Indiana in 1978 and Ohio State in 1987 (Maryland and Nebraska each played in Baton Rouge before joining the Big Ten, as did future Big Ten member USC). UCLA will become the third in 2024, less than two months after leaving the Pac-12.

LSU introduced a new helmet logo, a tiger head above the letters "LSU" inside a purple circle, a logo which was used through 1976. Also, player names were placed on jerseys for the first time.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Pacific (CA)*	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	W 31–13	66,574	[2]
September 23	Texas A&M*	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 42–17	68,538	[3]
September 30	Wisconsin*	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	W 27–7	69,142	[4]
October 7	at Rice*	No. 8	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 12–6	60,000	[5]
October 14	No. 9 Auburn	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 35–7	70,132	[6]
October 21	Kentucky	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	W 10–0	64,601	[7]
November 4	Ole Miss	No. 6	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 17–16	70,502	[8]
November 11	at No. 2 Alabama	No. 6	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	L 21–35	72,039	[9][10]
November 18	Mississippi State	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 28–14	60,589	[11]
November 25	at Florida	No. 8	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	T 3–3	46,391	[12]
December 2	at Tulane*	No. 11	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Battle for the Rag)	W 9–3	85,372	[13]
December 30	vs. No. 11 Tennessee	No. 10	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	L 17–24	52,961	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1972 LSU Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Ken Addy RB Jim Benglis TE 89 Brad Boyd SB 3 Al Coffee Sr OL Loyd Daniel RB Chris Dantin RB Brad Davis OL Jimmy Elkins WR Joe Fakier RB Ben Jones QB 7 Bert Jones Sr RB Jim Kadi WR Gerald Keigley OL Logan Killen WR 1 Jimmy LeDoux Sr QB 16 Paul Lyons QB 5 Mike Miley OL Phil Murray RB Steve Rogers OL Randy Russell OL Steve Streete TE Chuck Williamson	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 99 Kenny Bordelon Fr DL Tommy Butoud DB Dale Cangelosi LB 55 Warren Capone Jr DL Steve Cassidy LB Gary Champagne DL Skip Cormier DB Rand Dennis DL Jim Gainey LB Bo Harris DB Norm Hodgins DT 64 Tyler Lafauci Jr DL 91 Binks Miciotto S 17 Frank Racine Jr LB Pepper Rutland S 11 John Staggs Jr DB Mike Williams DB 38 Roland Skelton Jr DE 79 John Wood Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 8 Rusty Jackson	Head coach Charles McClendon Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Main article: 1972 NCAA University Division football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	11	9	8	9	8	8	7	6	6	6	8	8	11	10	11
Coaches	11	8	9	9	7	8	7	6	7	6	7	9	12	10	Not released

Season summary

Auburn

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Auburn	0	7	0	0	7
LSU	14	7	7	7	35

Game information

First quarter LSU – Jones 7-yard run (Jackson kick). LSU 7–0. Drive: 67 yards. LSU – Keigley 19-yard pass from Jones (Jackson kick). LSU 14–0. Drive: 69 yards. Second quarter AUB – Henley 1-yard run (Jett kick). LSU 14–7. LSU – Boyd 19-yard pass from Fakier (Jackson kick). LSU 21–7. Third quarter LSU – Keigley 19-yard pass from Jones (Jackson kick). LSU 28–7. Fourth quarter LSU – Keigley 27-yard pass from Jones (Jackson kick). LSU 35–7. Top passers LSU – Bert Jones – 10/14, 183 yards, 3 TD Top rushers LSU – Bert Jones – 8 rushes, 60 yards, TD

#9 Auburn Tigers at #8 LSU Tigers

at Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Date: October 14, 1972
• Game time: night
• Game attendance: 70,132
• ^[15]

Ole Miss

See also: 1972 Ole Miss Rebels football team and Magnolia Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ole Miss	3	3	7	3	16
LSU	7	3	0	7	17

Game information

First quarter MISS – Steve Lavinghouze 42-yard field goal. Ole Miss 3–0. Drive: LSU – Bert Jones 6-yard run (Rusty Jackson kick). LSU 7–3. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards. Second quarter LSU – Rusty Jackson 29-yard field goal. LSU 10–3. Drive: MISS – Steve Lavinghouze 38-yard field goal, 0:00. LSU 10–6. Drive: Third quarter MISS – Norris Weese 1-yard run (Steve Ladinghouze kick). Ole Miss 13–10. Drive: 16 plays, 69 yards. Fourth quarter MISS – Steve Lavinghouze 40-yard field goal. Ole Miss 16–10. Drive: LSU – Brad Davis 10-yard pass from Bert Jones (Rusty Jackson kick), 0:00. LSU 17–16. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 3:02. Top passers MISS LSU Top rushers MISS LSU Top receivers MISS LSU

Ole Miss Rebels at #6 LSU Tigers

at Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Date: November 4, 1972
• Game attendance: 70,502
• Ocala Star-Banner, 1972 Nov 05.

Bert Jones set school career records for completions, touchdowns and total offense.^[16]

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL team
Bert Jones	Quarterback	1	2	Baltimore Colts
John Wood	Defensive tackle	3	70	Denver Broncos

^[17]

References

1. "1972 LSU Fighting Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
2. "LSU gets past feisty UOP, 31–13". The San Francisco Examiner. September 17, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Jones hurls LSU past A&M 42–17". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 24, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Badgers lose to LSU, 27–7". The La Crosse Tribune. October 1, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "LSU alive and Kicking asfter Rice scare". The Shreveport Times. October 8, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "LSU's Jones passes Auburn dizzy, 35–7". Tulsa Daily World. October 15, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "LSU keeps up with Jones boy". The Shreveport Times. October 22, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "LSU whips Rebs on final play". Daily World. November 5, 1972. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Reed, Delbert (November 12, 1972). "Hot hand for Terry". The Tuscaloosa News. p. B1. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
10. "Davis sparks Alabama past unbeaten Louisiana State". Star-News. UPI. November 12, 1972. p. 2C. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
11. "Bengals strike late, 28 to 14". Pensacola News Journal. November 19, 1972. Retrieved October 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Gators save tie in stormy finish". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. November 26, 1972. Retrieved October 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Tigers nudge rugged Wave". The Shreveport Times. December 3, 1972. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Quick-striking Vols muzzle Bengals' late charge". The Commercial Appeal. December 31, 1972. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Tigers Outclass Auburn." Ocala Star-Banner. p. 2C. 1972-Oct-15. Retrieved 2022-Dec-07.
16. And the Valley Shook. Retrieved 2020-Feb-24.
17. "1973 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.