The earthquake in LSU football happened 36 years ago today | Sports

On October 8, 1988, undefeated No. 4 Auburn was in Baton Rouge to face LSU. But this won't be just another Saturday night in Death Valley.

Little did the 79,431 attendees who packed into Tiger Stadium that night know that the game they were about to watch would forever remain in LSU lore: a legendary Saturday night in Baton Rouge.

The Bayou Bengals rose to No. 9 in the country after victories over No. 11 inter-conference rivals Texas and Tennessee to start the 1988 campaign.

In the next two weeks, the scenario flipped. The Tigers failed two stern tests on the road to unranked Ohio State and No. 17 Florida, falling completely out of the AP Top 25 as quickly as they got there. After an up-and-down three-week road trip, LSU returns to Baton Rouge to play Auburn.

Returning to Tiger Stadium after two straight losses to play the No. 4 team in the country was crucial to the purple and gold's momentum. After all, there's no place like home.

LSU recognized the importance of its matchup with its fellow SEC Tigers.

“You'd have to live in a cave not to know the enormity of that game,” former LSU linebacker Eric Hill said.

The team was at a crossroads. A third loss in a row could send an already surging team to the point of no return. But with a win, the Bayou Bengals could turn their season around.

Hill remembers the edge in practice in the week leading up to Saturday night's kickoff. You can cut the atmosphere with a knife.

“It was tense that week,” Hill said. “I just remember [it being] Very intrusive in practice. The guys were nervous because we knew there was a big game in our backyard, and we couldn't let these guys come in and take what was ours.

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Every LSU coach and player maintained this mentality all week: Defend your backyard. Defense was the name of the game.

Auburn entered the contest with the best defense in the country, allowing just 44 points through the first month of the season.

The purple and gold defense held Auburn's offense to a meager pair of field goals in the blue-collar contest. Both teams were fighting tooth and nail to compete in an overwhelming defensive force.

LSU Tigers quarterback Tommy Hudson and running back Eddie Fuller later said it was the most physical game of their college careers.

“Some physical blows were given. You were giving and taking. This game was not for the weak,” Hill said. “Guys who dream of walking through that tunnel and being in Tiger Stadium — they understand that.” [didn’t] You want none of that. “They don’t want any part of that.”

The problem wasn't LSU's defense but rather its offense. It took the Bayou Bengals until their final offensive drive of the night to penetrate Auburn's 40-yard line.

“It was one of those classic Southeastern Conference games: low-scoring,” Hudson told PBS Louisiana. “It was 6-0 at the time, and time was running out.”

The Tigers were dying for a score, but even after the offense's repeated struggles throughout the night, there was a sense of belief on LSU's sidelines.

“During that entire drive, they methodically moved that ball down the field,” Hill said. “It looked completely different than it did on the front end of the game.”

Hudson and LSU fired into the end zone after getting down to the opposing nine-yard line. Fuller dropped what should have been a touchdown, and followed it up with a failed toe-tip attempt in the back of the end zone.

The Purple and Gold were in their final moments of life after three straight incompletions. This was the game. One Shot: Winner Takes All.

“There was no one sitting on the bench,” Hill said. “It was all hands on deck.”

Even after suffering for almost seconds, Hudson trusted his back and once again looked for Fuller. The third time was the charm. Hudson hit Fuller in the back of the end zone, this time for a touchdown.

The Bayou Bengals took their first lead of the night with just seconds left in the game. Tiger fans erupted in ecstasy.

“For him to come back to me, it was a tribute to me,” Fuller told PBS Louisiana. “I think it was a bit of redemption.”

LSU held off a 7-6 run to knock off No. 4 Auburn by a hair. When Fuller scored the final game-winning goal, the Valley was rocked. Hill, who was named Defensive Player of the Game by ESPN, says it's the loudest building he's ever been in.

“Everyone is jumping and hugging each other. We're talking, but you can't hear anything. You can't hear anything. It was so loud,” Hill said. “That landing was almost like an explosion. He was crazy, and in all my years, [I’ve] I've never seen anything like this. [I’ve] Never experienced anything like this.

Panther fans were so vocal that they appeared on the Richter scale. A seismograph located at the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex recorded the crowd's reaction to Fuller's game-winning touchdown as an earthquake.

An LSU legend is born; The rest is history.

Hill didn't immediately realize the legacy that night would hold. However, as time passed, it became clear that October 8, 1988, was no ordinary Saturday night in Death Valley.

“It never went away. Reporters were still asking you about that game three weeks later,” Hill said. “History has a way of putting puzzle pieces in place. Over time, there have been some great moments at Tiger Stadium, but everyone wants to live up to that. “And then you realize how huge that moment was.”

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