1985 LSU Tigers football team

1985 LSU Tigers football
Liberty Bowl, L 7–21 vs. Baylor
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 20
Record	9–2–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach	Bill Arnsparger (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ed Zaunbrecher (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Mike Archer (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium

1985 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Tennessee $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	2
No. 5 Florida	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
No. 13 Alabama	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 20 LSU	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Georgia	3	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	2
Auburn	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Vanderbilt	1	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Florida ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Bill Arnsparger, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 9–2–1, with a mark of 4–1–1 in conference play, and finished fourth in the SEC.[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	12:00 p.m.	at North Carolina*	No. 12	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	TigerVision	W 23–13	50,866	[2]
September 21	7:00 p.m.	Colorado State*	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	TigerVision	W 17–3	78,491	[3]
October 5	7:00 p.m.	No. 11 Florida	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	TigerVision	L 0–20	78,598	[4]
October 12	6:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 20	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	TigerVision	W 49–7	40,962	[5]
October 19	6:30 p.m.	Kentucky	No. 17	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPN	W 10–0	78,562	[6]
November 2	11:30 a.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 16	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)	TBS	W 14–0	45,000	[7]
November 9	2:50 p.m.	No. 20 Alabama	No. 15	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ABC	T 14–14	76,772	[8]
November 16	7:00 p.m.	Mississippi State	No. 19	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	TigerVision	W 17–15	76,099	[9]
November 23	11:30 a.m.	at Notre Dame*	No. 17	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	USA	W 10–7	59,075	[10]
November 30	7:30 p.m.	at Tulane*	No. 13	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Battle for the Rag)	TigerVision	W 31–19	64,194	[11]
December 7	7:00 p.m.	East Carolina*	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	TigerVision	W 35–15	65,660	[12]
December 27	7:00 p.m.	vs. Baylor*	No. 12	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	Katz	L 7–21	40,186	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1985 LSU Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 5 Jeff Wickersham Sr QB 17 Tommy Hodson Fr RB 21 Dalton Hilliard Sr RB 23 Sammy Martin So RB 33 Garry James Sr TE 49 Brian Kinchen So C 56 Nacho Albergamo So OT 63 Curt Gore Sr G 66 Keith Melancon Jr OT 75 John Hazard Jr G 76 Eric Andolsek So WR 80 Rogie Magee So WR 82 Wendell Davis So TE 83 Mitch Andrews Sr TE 89 Karl Dunbar Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 77 Roland Barbay Jr LB 94 Michael Brooks Jr CB 12 Norman Jefferson Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 3 Matt DeFrank So K 8 Ron Lewis So	Head coach Bill Arnsparger Coordinators/assistant coaches Ed Zaunbrecher – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Jesse Daigle – Running backs Jerry Sullivan – Wide receivers Terry Lewis – Tight ends Pete Mangurian – Offensive line Mike Archer – Defensive coordinator/defensive backs Pete Jenkins – Defensive line Kurt Schottenheimer – Linebackers John Symank – Linebackers/recruiting coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Further information: 1985 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	13	13	12	9	8	8	20	17	18	15	16	19	17	13	12	12	20
Coaches	11	11	10	9	8	9	19	17	18	15	13	18	17	12	10	10	20

Game summaries

At North Carolina

LSU at North Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 12 Tigers 7 6 3 7 23 Tar Heels 7 6 0 0 13 Date: September 14 Location: Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Scoring summary 1 13:14 UNC Brad Lopp 2-yard run (Lee Gliarmis kick) UNC 7–0 1 4:04 LSU Dalton Hilliard 1-yard run (Ron Lewis kick) Tied 7–7 2 UNC Brad Lopp 5-yard pass from Kevin Anthony (Gliarmis kick blocked) UNC 13–7 2 LSU Rogee Magee 12-yard pass from Jeff Wickersham (conversion failed) Tied 13–13 3 LSU Ron Lewis 54-yard field goal LSU 16–13 4 12:20 LSU Dalton Hilliard 3-yard run (Lewis kick) LSU 23–13

See also: 1985 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Dalton Hilliard ran for 2 touchdowns and Ron Lewis kicked a school-record 54-yard field goal.[14]

Colorado State

See also: Colorado State Rams football

Florida

See also: 1985 Florida Gators football team

[15]

At Vanderbilt

See also: 1985 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

Kentucky

See also: 1985 Kentucky Wildcats football team

At Ole Miss

See also: 1985 Ole Miss Rebels football team

Alabama

Alabama at LSU

1 2 3 4 Total No. 20 Crimson Tide 7 0 0 7 14 No. 15 Tigers 0 0 14 0 14 Date: November 9 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 76,772 Referee: Joe Hicks TV announcers (ABC Sports): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, and Tim Brant

Scoring summary 1 7:57 BAMA Gene Jelks 34-yard run (Van Tiffin kick) Alabama 7–0 3 14:06 LSU Garry James 49-yard run (Ron Lewis kick) Tied 7–7 3 10:12 LSU Wendell Davis 67-yard pass from Jeff Wickersham (Lewis kick) LSU 14–7 4 1:23 Gene Jelks 3-yard pass to Mike Shula (Tiffin kick) Tied 14–14

See also: 1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

[16]

Mississippi State

See also: 1985 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

At Notre Dame

LSU at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 17 Tigers 0 3 0 7 10 Fighting Irish 7 0 0 0 7 Date: November 23 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana Game attendance: 59,075 Referee: Raymond Bower TV announcers: Harry Kalas and Jack Ham

Scoring summary 1 9:26 ND Tim Brown 18-yard run (John Carney kick) ND 7–0 2 0:00 LSU Matt DeFrank 27-yard field goal ND 7–3 4 3:26 Garry James 2-yard run (Ron Lewis kick) LSU 10–7

See also: 1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

[17]

At Tulane

See also: 1985 Tulane Green Wave football team

East Carolina

See also: 1985 East Carolina Pirates football team

Vs. Baylor (Liberty Bowl)

1 2 3 4 Total No. 12 Tigers 7 0 0 0 7 • Bears 7 3 3 8 21 Date: December 27 Location: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee Game attendance: 40,186 Referee: Otho Kortz TV announcers (Raycom Sports): Merle Harmon (play-by-play), Bud Wilkinson (analyst) and Kevin Kiley (sportscaster) (sidelines)

Scoring summary 1 LSU Norman Jefferson 79-yard punt return (Ron Lewis kick) LSU 7–0 Baylor Matt Clark 5-yard pass from Tom Muecke (Terry Syler kick) Tied 7–7 2 Baylor Terry Syler 23-yard field goal Baylor 10–7 3 Baylor Terry Syler 35-yard field goal Baylor 13–7 4 Baylor John Simpson 15-yard pass from Cody Carlson (Matt Clark pass from Cody Carlson) Baylor 21–7

Main article: 1985 Liberty Bowl

See also: 1985 Baylor Bears football team

[18]

1986 NFL Draft

Main article: 1986 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Garry James	Running back	2	29	Detroit Lions
Dalton Hilliard	Running back	2	31	New Orleans Saints
Jeff Wickersham	Quarterback	10	274	Miami Dolphins

[19]

References

1. "1985 LSU Fighting Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
2. "Another big one gets away as UNC bows to LSU 23–13". Richmond Times-Dispatch. September 15, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "LSU defense guts Colo. State 17–3". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. September 22, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Anderson runs and passes over LSU". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 6, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "James' three scores carry LSU past Vandy". The Commercial Appeal. October 13, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. David McCormick (October 20, 1985). "Third-string QB ignites LSU". The Daily Advertiser. Associated Press. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Misfortune finds Rebs". Hattiesburg American. November 3, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "LSU Tigers, Crimson Tide struggle to 14–14 stalemate". The Daily Advertiser. November 10, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "LSU edges State 17–15 as Hilliard gets 2 TDs". The Courier-Journal. November 17, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Tigers attack Irish". The Indianapolis Star. November 24, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "LSU hard pressed to top Tulane, 31–19". The Shreveport Times. December 1, 1985. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "LSU throttles East Carolina by 35–15". The Shreveport Times. December 8, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Baylor dominates LSU in Liberty Bowl, 21–7". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 28, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "No. 12 LSU Kicks Aside Heels, 23-13". Asheville Citizen-Times. September 15, 1985. p. 19. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
15. "FLORIDA ROUTS FLAT LSU, 20-0 GATORS' DEFENSE DOMINATES TIGERS' POTENT GROUND GAME". Orlando Sentinel. October 6, 1985. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
16. "ALABAMA RALLIES TO TIE L.S.U., 14-14". The New York Times. November 10, 1985. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
17. "Wickersham Passes LSU to 10-7 Victory Over Irish". Los Angeles Times. November 24, 1985. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
18. "BAYLOR TOPS L.S.U. IN THE LIBERTY BOWL". The New York Times. December 28, 1985. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
19. "1986 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2020.