Rice vs. LSU

I admit that sometimes I get so caught up in the past that I miss things that are happening in the present. I was thus caught by surprise when I read yesterday that Rice is going to play LSU in football in 2018. It is, of course, a return to an old and very long rivalry. The teams played almost every year from the early 1930s through the 1950s and each game was a major event.

My favorite piece of ephemera from this long relationship is this program cover from LSU’s visit to Rice in 1932:

LSU vs Rice 1932 Huey Long

I don’t have time to look it up right now but my sense is that we won this game.

 

As governor, Long was a huge booster of the LSU football program (and it’s marching band as well) and frequently arranged for trains to bring large numbers of fans to away games. It could be a bit of a scene. One would expect events surrounding the 2018 contest to be less colorful but this being Louisiana you can’t rule anything out.

Bonus:

IMG_2446

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9 Responses to Rice vs. LSU

  1. Bob Toone (WRC 1967) says:

    Rice won the 1932 game, 10 – 8

  2. LSU games were always raucous, not the least reason being that beer was sold at non-conference games. When I was in the MOB, the band was always seated next to the cheap LSU seats, separated only by an aisle. “Interesting” interactions resulted.

  3. Jeff Ross '75 says:

    LSU motor homes would arrive in the stadium lot mid week before the game and the good times would begin to roll. Rally Club pushed a bus out there to join them. It was a perfect pairing-they had alcohol and food and we had drinkers and eaters.

  4. Tommy LaVergne says:

    Is that your “Little Willy” statue covered with grass!

  5. I grew up in Baton Rouge. For a long time, the only thing I knew about Rice was seeing it on the LSU football schedule posted at the barbershop. It sure seemed like an odd name for a university.

  6. loki_the_bubba says:

    Didn’t we play LSU every year well into the 1990s, not just to the 1950s?

  7. Krammit says:

    You are mostly correct, Loki. Nearly every year through 1983 and a couple of times after.
    http://www.tigerdroppings.com/lsu-football-history/results.aspx?Opponent=Rice
    I think it was at the 1974 game where Rice kicker Alan Pringle attempted something like a 70 yard field goal on the final play to win the game. He could make those in practice but came up well short and the game ended in a tie, 10-10.
    The games at LSU were really wild according to the players and trainers.

    • As I remember, we were glad to get home from Tiger Stadium with only a few injuries.

      Tiger Stadium has seats all the way down to the grass level, so it is a disconcerting sideline experience. Photographers had to kneel almost all the time so they wouldn’t block the view from the sideline seats.

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