1986 LSU Tigers football team

The 1986 LSU Tigers football team, represented Louisiana State University during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by Bill Arnsparger in his third season and finished with an overall record of nine wins and three losses (9–3 overall, 5–1 in the SEC), as Southeastern Conference (SEC) champions and with a loss against Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl.^[1]

1986 LSU Tigers football
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl, L 15–30 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	9–3 (5–1 SEC)
Head coach	Bill Arnsparger (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ed Zaunbrecher (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Archer (1st season)
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 LSU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Alabama	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Florida	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	7:00 p.m.	No. 7 Texas A&M*	No. 14	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–17	79,713	[2]
September 20	7:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)*	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	TigerVision	L 12–21	75,777	[3]
October 4	12:30 p.m.	at Florida	No. 18	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	TigerVision	W 28–17	74,211	[4]
October 11	7:00 p.m.	Georgia	No. 16	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	TigerVision	W 23–14	78,252	[5]
October 18	6:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 12	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	TigerVision	W 25–16	57,201	[6]
October 25	7:00 p.m.	North Carolina*	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	TigerVision	W 30–3	78,301	[7]
November 1	2:30 p.m.	Ole Miss	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivlary)	ABC	L 19–21	77,758	[8]
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Alabama	No. 18	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 14–10	75,808	[9]
November 15	7:30 p.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 12	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)	TigerVision	W 47–0	48,000	[10]
November 22	7:00 p.m.	Notre Dame*	No. 8	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPN	W 21–19	78,197	[11]
November 29	7:00 p.m.	Tulane*	No. 5	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Rag)	TigerVision	W 37–17	78,131	[12]
January 1, 1987	3:00 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Nebraska*	No. 5	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 15–30	76,234	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Further information: 1986 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

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

Game summaries

No. 7 Texas A&M

See also: 1986 Texas A&M Aggies football team and LSU–Texas A&M football rivalry

Texas A&M Aggies at LSU Tigers (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas A&M	7	7	3	0	17
LSU	7	7	14	7	35

at Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Date: September 13
• Game attendance: 79,713
• TV: ESPN
• Reference: Gainesville Sun. 1986 Sep 14.

Game information

A&M - Walker 5 yard pass from Murray (Slater kick) LSU - Martin 3 yard pass from Hodson (Lewis kick) A&M - Bernstine 13 yard pass from Murray (Slater kick) LSU - Martin 66 yard pass from Guidry (Lewis kick) A&M - Slater 22 yard field goal LSU - Williams 1 yard run (Lewis kick) LSU - Kinchen 5 yard pass from Hodson (Lewis kick) LSU - Brooks 36 yard interception return (Lewis kick) Texas A&M Murray 24/35, 208 Yds, TD, 4 INT Vick 21 Rush, 63 Yds Bernstine 8 Rec, 71 Yds, TD LSU Hodson 15/21, 193 Yds, 2 TD Martin 12 Rush, 62 Yds Davis 10 Rec, 132 Yds

^[14]

Ole Miss

See also: 1986 Ole Miss Rebels football team and LSU–Ole Miss football rivalry

Ole Miss Rebels at #12 LSU Tigers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ole Miss	7	14	0	0	21
LSU	6	3	7	3	19

at Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Date: November 1, 1986
• Game attendance: 77,758
• Gainesville Sun, 1986 Nov 02.

Game information

First quarter LSU – David Browndyke 40-yard field goal. LSU 3–0. Drive: LSU – David Browndyke 31-yard field goal. LSU 6–0. Drive: MISS – J.R. Ambrose 23-yard run (Bryan Owen kick). Ole Miss 7–6. Drive: Second quarter MISS – Tony Dentley 5-yard run (Bryan Owen kick). Ole Miss 14–6. Drive: LSU – David Browndyke 52-yard field goal. Ole Miss 14–9. Drive: MISS – Mark Young 2-yard run (Bryan Owen kick). Ole Miss 21–9. Drive: Third quarter LSU – Wendell Davis 29-yard pass from Tommy Hodson (David Browndyke kick). Ole Miss 21–16. Drive: Fourth quarter LSU – David Browndyke 21-yard field goal. Ole Miss 21–19. Drive: Top passers MISS – Mark Young – 18/31, 171 yards, INT LSU – Tommy Hodson – 21/39, 251 yards, TD Top rushers MISS – Joe Mickles – 14 rushes, 57 yards LSU – Sammy Martin – 17 rushes, 73 yards Top receivers MISS – Willie Green – 4 receptions, 54 yards LSU – Wendell Davis – 14 receptions, 204 yards, TD

At No. 6 Alabama

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 18 Tigers	0	14	0	0	14
No. 6 Crimson Tide	7	0	3	0	10

• Date: November 8
• Location: Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama
• Game attendance: 75,808
• Television network: ESPN

See also: 1986 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Alabama–LSU football rivalry

^[15]

Notre Dame

See also: 1986 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

^[16]

Vs. No. 6 Nebraska (Sugar Bowl)

Nebraska vs LSU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 6 Cornhuskers	0	10	7	13	30
No. 5 Tigers	7	0	0	8	15

• Date: January 1
• Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Game start: 2:40 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 76,234

Main article: 1987 Sugar Bowl

See also: 1986 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

^[17]

Roster

1986 LSU Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 56 Nacho Albergamo Jr G 76 Eric Andolsek Jr TE Kenny Davidson WR 82 Wendell Davis Jr TE 89 Karl Dunbar  Fr RB Tommy Edick RB Jay Egloff RB Eddie Fuller QB 10 Mickey Guidry TE Ronnie Haliburton RB Mickey Harris OL John Hazard QB 13 Tommy Hodson  Fr RB Garland Jean-Baptiste RB Victor Jones RB Randy Keiser TE 49 Brian Kinchen Jr RB Alvin Lee WR 80 Rogie Magee Jr RB 23 Sammy Martin Jr OL Keith Melancon WR 6 Tony Moss Fr OL Ralph Norwood QB Doug Powell WR Derrick Saulsberry RB 22 Harvey Williams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 98 Verge Ausberry Fr DL 77 Roland Barbay Sr S 35 Jamie Bice So LB 94 Michael Brooks Sr DB Willie Bryant Jr S 11 Chris Carrier Jr LB 69 Toby Caston Sr DB Kevin Guidry LB 48 Nicky Hazard Jr LB 58 Eric Hill So DB 35 Greg Jackson So DB 12 Norman Jefferson Sr LB Oliver Lawrence LB Darren Marlbrough NG 62 Darrell Phillips So DB James Pierson DB 7 Steve Rehage Sr LB 52 Ron Sancho So DL 97 Henry Thomas Sr DL 77 Karl Wilson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 4 David Browndyke Fr P 3 Matt DeFrank Jr K 8 Ron Lewis Jr	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 Mike Nolan – Linebackers John Symank – Linebackers/recruiting coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt