Fansided

30 most shocking moments in college football history

By Nathaniel Reeves

Boise State's Ian Johnson scoring the winning 2-point conversion during the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 1, 2007. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)
Boise State's Ian Johnson scoring the winning 2-point conversion during the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 1, 2007. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage) /
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BATON ROUGE, LA- CIRCA 2000’s: Billy Cannon of the Louisiana State University Tigers runs upfield at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, circa 2000’s. (Photo by Louisiana State/Collegiate Images/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA- CIRCA 2000’s: Billy Cannon of the Louisiana State University Tigers runs upfield at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, circa 2000’s. (Photo by Louisiana State/Collegiate Images/Getty Images) /

27. Billy Cannon’s Halloween Run

One of the most heroic individual plays in college football history fueled Billy Cannon’s 1959 Heisman Trophy run while giving LSU one of its most memorable wins in storied program history.

The Tigers were a powerhouse in the late 1950s under Paul Dietzel and were coming off a perfect 1958 season to win their first recognized national championship of the poll era. LSU pushed its winning streak to 18 games entering the 1959 Halloween tilt with Ole Miss and was atop the AP Poll thanks to an outstanding season by Cannon out of the backfield.

Ole Miss was in the midst of the best stretch in school history itself under legendary head coach John Vaught and dominated the rivalry for much of the 1950s. The Rebels were still searching for an elusive national championship and were in the running at No. 3 with a 6-0 mark ahead of the trip to Baton Rouge.

Both defenses were among the nation’s best and dominated throughout the game, with Ole Miss mustering a field goal in the second to go up 3-0. Late in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss punted to the 11-yard line, where Cannon would field the ball and break seven tackles on his way to the end zone for the only touchdown of a 7-3 victory.

Adding to the legend is the fact that Cannon apparently defied Dietzel’s instructions not to field a punt near the end zone, making his Halloween run one of the most shocking moments in the history of the sport. Ole Miss was thwarted on the goal line moments later as time expired but would get the last laugh with a 21-0 Sugar Bowl victory to be claimed national champions by many publications.

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