The 1961 and 1986 SEC Champions Distinguished by Superb Players
With great names such as Jerry Stovall, Coach Paul Dietzel, Tommy Hodson and Wendell Davis, it is clear the 1961 and 1986 teams are two of the best in LSU history. Looking back, it is breathtaking to see how great these teams were. The 1961 team dominated on the defensive side of the ball, while the 1986 team averaged over 400 yards a game on offense.
Members of both teams are back on the LSU campus this weekend, as the ’61 team celebrates its 50-year reunion and the ’86 squad gathers for its 25th.
In 1961, football was dominated by rushing and physical play, and the LSU team was no different. Earl Gros and Stovall sparked the Tiger offense to an impressive 2,196 yards rushing and 704 yards passing. The defense was just as tough, holding opponents to just 1,703 yards and 50 points, and it forced 30 turnovers for the entire season.
The season started out with a 16-3 loss to Rice but ended with a 10-game winning streak.
“This was the finest football team I have been around,” Stovall said. “We had a lot of depth and good starters.”
Coach Dietzel started a three-team system in the late 1950s that he continued through his years at LSU. The teams were White, Gold (Go), and Chinese Bandits. The White team was the starters, who played on both sides on the ball. The Gold team was the second-team offense, and the infamous Chinese Bandit unit was the second-team defense.
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The White squad started every quarter, and the Gold and Chinese Bandits came in midway through the quarter.
“They were going to get in every quarter of the game,” Dietzel said. “They stayed alert and ready to play at all times.”
Dietzel’s system helped the Tigers maintain their speed and strength throughout the season. It paved the way to an SEC Championship and a 25-7 win over seventh-ranked Colorado in the Orange Bowl.
“From top to bottom, this was the strongest football team I have ever coached,” Dietzel recalled.
Dietzel was always able to keep the team motivated.
“Coach always made it seem like you were the most important person on the team. It was like he was always talking to you,” Stovall said.
The Tigers possessed a team in 1986 that would win an SEC Championship and break records in the passing game during a time when football, for the most part, was still a rushing game. Redshirt freshman Tommy Hodson entered the ’86 season not knowing the quarterback-to-receiver combination that he formed with Wendell Davis would become one of the best in LSU history.
“Wendell set a bunch of records. He caught a lot of passes, had a lot of yardage, and scored a bunch of touchdowns. At the time, he was the all-time leading receiver when he finished his career at LSU. I was happy to be a part of that,” Hodson said.
Davis set records in 1986 with 80 catches, 1,244 receiving yards, 14 touchdown receptions and 14 receptions in one game against Ole Miss. Most of these records are still in the top two in LSU annals.
“It wasn’t until the end of the year when I noticed the records,” Davis recalled. “It was one of those things where it wasn’t a personal goal of mine. It just happened. I really had a great connection going and the offense fell into place for what I did. My goal was just to win the SEC, and that is what we did.”
In setting the school record with 19 touchdown passes and throwing for 2,261 yards in 1986, Hodson had an outstanding year as well.
“I was just trying to make it game-by-game. I was very fortunate that we threw the ball a lot in the 1980s. Back then we were in the forefront of throwing the football in the SEC. I was able to play in that kind of system and put up decent numbers,” Hodson said.
LSU complemented the high-powered offense with a rugged defense guided by head coach Bill Arnsparger and coordinator Mike Archer. Defensive linemen Henry Thomas, Karl Wilson and Roland Barbay, and linebacker Toby Caston anchored the outstanding unit.
The Tigers opened the ’86 season with a 35-17 win over seventh-ranked Texas A&M and went on to post a 9-2 regular-season mark. A 14-10 win over sixth-ranked Alabama in Birmingham earned the Tigers the SEC Championship for the first time since 1970.
“We had a lot of great players on that 1986 team. Toby Caston was a great linebacker, Ralph Norwood was a great left tackle, and Eric Andolsek was one of the greatest guards to ever play at LSU,” Hodson recalled.
Though known for different styles of play, the 1961 and 1986 teams share the distinction as two of the toughest SEC Champions in LSU history.