For the first time, LSU supporters noted that LSU had adopted a logo that was placed on each side of their iconic helmet. The Green Bay gold shell with white one-inch center stripe and three-quarter-inch purple flanking stripes, now had a purple circle type of logo that featured a fierce Tiger head and gold LSU lettering within the circle. Just as the Notre Dame contest defined the ’71 season, it was the clash with Ole Miss that would make 1972 notable. All American QB Bert Jones, throwing for 1406 yards and fourteen TD’s surpassed a number of school and conference marks on his way to a ten-year NFL career, nine as a star with the Colts and he was the team’s focus, as usual, facing off against the Rebels. For fifty-six minutes, LSU was under the thumb of their rivals and with 3:02 on the clock trailed 16-10. The final drive began eighty yards from victory and with only one timeout to assist. On a fourth-down Jones pass to WR Jimmy LeDoux with fifty-nine seconds remaining, the Tigers stayed alive. LeDoux had appeared in a nationally televised game wearing a jersey emblazoned with “It’s a Girl” to mark the birth of his daughter and he and Gerald Keigley were Jones’ favorite receivers throughout the season. Tiger TB Chris Dantin, who ran for 707 yards in ‘72 rushed the ball to the Ole Miss twenty with ten seconds remaining. A penalty brought the ball to the ten with but four seconds to go. An incomplete pass to LeDoux left one second on the clock and Ole Miss howled about the inaccurate time keeping, insisting that the play had run out the game clock. With TB Brad Davis in the slot, Jones pushed the ball to him between defenders and he fell backwards across the goal line and the extra point made it a 17-16 miracle comeback win. So bitter were the Rebels that for a number of years, official highway signs at the Mississippi border stated, “Entering Louisiana. Set your watches back four seconds.” A loss to Alabama and a 3-3 tie with Florida left the Tigers at 9-1-1 and earned a Bluebonnet Bowl match-up with Tennessee, a 24-17 loss that put a damper on a fine season. The trademark LSU defense that again finished in the top ten against scoring, was led by All American LB Warren Capone, DT Tyler Lafauci, and DB Mike Williams, the first African-American to play for LSU. 

If interested in any of these LSU helmets please click on the photos below.