Billy Cannon's Halloween Run: The 89 Yards That Became LSU Immortality
Updated: 3 days ago
Quick answer
Billy Cannon’s Halloween Run was an 89-yard punt-return touchdown against No. 3 Ole Miss on October 31, 1959. Cannon fielded the punt at LSU’s 11-yard line, broke through multiple would-be tacklers and scored the touchdown that helped No. 1 LSU win 7-3 in one of the most famous plays in college football history.
On Halloween night in 1959, Tiger Stadium was tense, humid and primed for one of the biggest games in college football.
No. 1 LSU trailed No. 3 Ole Miss 3-0 deep into the game. Then the football bounced toward Billy Cannon.
What happened over the next 89 yards became arguably the most famous play in LSU football history.
Halloween Night 1959
LSU was the defending national champion and riding an 18-game winning streak. Ole Miss carried a 3-0 lead into the fourth quarter and threatened LSU's unbeaten run.
Third-and-17 changed LSU history
Ole Miss punted from deep in its own territory. The ball reached LSU's 11-yard line. Cannon picked it up on the bounce.
He broke or eluded seven would-be tacklers, found the east sideline and accelerated toward the end zone. Eighty-nine yards later, Tiger Stadium exploded.
LSU 7, Ole Miss 3.
The part people forget
The touchdown did not end the game. Ole Miss drove to the LSU goal line and had a chance to win. On fourth down, LSU stopped Doug Elmore short. Billy Cannon was part of the goal-line stand with Warren Rabb.
Cannon did not simply score LSU's only touchdown. He helped save the game on defense too.
What kind of player was Billy Cannon?
Cannon ran the ball, returned kicks, punted and played defense. He combined unusual size with elite sprint speed and became LSU's first Heisman Trophy winner later that year.
Why the run became mythology
The setting was almost too perfect: Halloween night, LSU and Ole Miss, Tiger Stadium, a 3-0 defensive struggle and one of the best players in America fielding a bouncing punt at his own 11.
The play outlived the score. LSU still commemorates it, younger generations still know it, and it remains one of the foundational stories of Tiger Stadium.
An 89-yard echo 53 years later
In 2012, Odell Beckham Jr. fielded an Ole Miss punt at the LSU 11-yard line and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown in Tiger Stadium—the same opponent, same starting yard line and same distance as Cannon's run 53 years earlier.
FAQ
When was the Halloween Run? October 31, 1959.
How long was the return? 89 yards.
Who was LSU playing? No. 3 Ole Miss.
What was the final score? LSU won 7-3.
Sources: LSU Athletics Billy Cannon biography, football record books and Tiger Stadium history.
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