The Earthquake Game was a
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
game in which the crowd reaction after an important play registered on a demonstration
seismograph.
Played in front of a crowd of 79,431 at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
's
Tiger Stadium on October 8, 1988, the
LSU Tigers upset No. 4
Auburn 7–6.
Background
The game pitted
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...
rivals
Auburn and
LSU
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
and was one of the more notable games in the
Auburn–LSU football rivalry.
Along with national rankings, the game also proved to be of great significance to that season's eventual SEC title. The stadium was filled to capacity and the game was being broadcast on
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
.
The game
The game was dominated by defense. LSU managed only one drive of over 10 yards in the first half.
The only score of the first half was a
field goal by Auburn's Win Lyle with 1:41 to go before halftime. LSU made it to the Auburn 23-yard line midway through the third quarter, but a
clipping penalty moved the team out of field goal range. On Auburn's next possession, Lyle kicked another field goal with 10:18 left in the game to make the score 6–0.
[
]
The play
Auburn led 6–0 with less than two minutes left in the 4th quarter. LSU's quarterback Tommy Hodson drove the team down the field before throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Fuller on 4th down.
The game's name resulted from the reaction of the crowd after the final pass, which registered as ground motion by a demonstration seismograph "installed on the floor" [There's more to LSU's Earthquake Game than Hodson-to-Fuller](_blank)
'' The Times-Picayune''. Stevenson submitted the reading to the Louisiana Geological Survey to have it preserved. Stevenson displayed a copy of the reading on his office window on the LSU campus that was later observed by an ESPN news crew, which was on campus doing a story sometime prior to when Stevenson left LSU in the summer of 1991. The news crew decided to do a piece on what they dubbed "The Earthquake Game." This news story helped to add more attention to the event.
Aftermath and legacy
The win brought LSU's win–loss record to 3–2 on the season and a No. 19 ranking in the AP Poll. The team finished the regular season with an 8–3 record and lost to Syracuse in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Auburn dropped to 4–1 and to No. 12 in the poll. The game was the only one Auburn lost in the regular season. The team was defeated by Florida State
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
in the Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...
.
In games played by LSU at Tiger Stadium, the winning touchdown is included in a montage that is shown at the start of the 4th quarter.
See also
Similar seismic activity has been registered during other football games:
* 2011 NFL playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints
* 2013 Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama
* Seven times at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium: first in 2011 against Miami, in 2015 against Ohio State, against Miami in 2016, against Clemson in 2017, against Notre Dame in 2018, against Miami in 2018, and against North Carolina in 2021.
*Three times at LSU since then. "Garthquake" happened on April 30, 2022. Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...
played Callin' Baton Rouge and the noise generated shook the Earth again. Then, on November 5, 2022, LSU fans generated two ground motion events back to back. First when Jayden Daniels scored a touchdown on a 25 yard run in overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
. Then another earthquake three minutes later when Mason Taylor caught the game-winning two-point conversion.
References
{{ESPN College Football
1988 Southeastern Conference football season
Auburn Tigers football games
LSU Tigers football games
American college football incidents
October 1988 sports events in the United States
1988 in sports in Louisiana
Nicknamed sporting events