Louisiana, especially New Orleans, is famous for black magic and voodoo, and although the practices of voodoo have been largely stereotyped because of their portrayal in popular culture, The Rebels may need a little bit of this bayou magic on Saturday night when they take on No. 5 LSU.
This will be the Rebels’ second game against a top-five opponent in three weeks, the first of which resulted in a 62-7 shellacking at the hands of Alabama.
Although Baton Rouge is about 80 miles northwest of New Orleans, the “Magnolia Bowl” between the Rebels and the Tigers has seen its fair share of magic throughout the years. Ole Miss and LSU battled for SEC (and even national) dominance in the 1950s and 60s. One of the most famous games during the height of this rivalry came in the 1959 installation.
Top-ranked LSU trailed No. 3 Ole Miss late in the game when the Tigers’ Billy Cannon broke seven tackles in an 89-yard punt return that would be the difference in a 7-3 LSU win. Fast forward that year, however, and the Rebels got their revenge in the Sugar Bowl, where they shut out LSU 21-0 and were declared National Champions by numerous national polls.
Eli Manning’s senior season in Oxford brought more Tiger voodoo with it. The Rebels and Tigers met in Oxford, and the winner would represent the SEC West in the SEC Championship game. The Tigers led the game 17-14 with less than two minutes to play, as the Rebels faced a long fourth down. As Manning dropped back from under center, the LSU pass rush pushed back a Rebel lineman who stepped on Manning’s foot, causing him to fall to the turf, and this essentially sealed the game. LSU went on to win both the SEC and National Championships in 2003.
The magic hasn’t all been on LSU’s side, however. The Rebels went into Baton Rouge in 2008 and upset the Tigers, winning the first installment of the Magnolia Bowl trophy. More recently, in 2009, the Tigers completed a pass to the Ole Miss six-yard line, with no timeouts and one second left on the clock. LSU couldn’t spike the ball in time, and Ole Miss held on to upset the Tigers 25-23 in the Rebels’ first home win in the series since 1998.
This rivalry has brought drama, hatred and championships, and although this year’s installment of the Magnolia Bowl will have no impact on whether or not the Rebels can represent the SEC West in Atlanta, that doesn’t mean it’s not important.
There is no love lost between these two fan bases, and Ole Miss has the opportunity to spoil a surprisingly good start to the Tigers’ season on Saturday. Playing in Baton Rouge at night is never easy, but when you’re in the land of voodoo, maybe it doesn’t matter.
Maybe, just maybe, the Rebels can tap into this supply of bayou magic and stun the
conference with an upset on Saturday in one of the nation’s most storied rivalries.
