1984 LSU Tigers football team

1984 LSU Tigers football
Southeastern Conference Champion
Sugar Bowl, L 10–28 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 15
Record	8–3–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach	Bill Arnsparger (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Ed Zaunbrecher (1st season)
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium

1984 Southeastern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Florida	5	–	0	–	1			9	–	1	–	1
No. 15 LSU	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 14 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
No. 19 Kentucky	3	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Vanderbilt	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Alabama	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Mississippi State	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Florida was assessed a postseason ban following an NCAA investigation, and the SEC subsequently vacated any championship. The Sugar Bowl automatic bid for the conference champion was awarded to LSU. Under modern rules, LSU would be credited with the conference championship. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by Bill Arnsparger in his first season and finished with an overall record of 8–3–1.

During the season, Florida was placed on a postseason ban for violations, and despite finishing first, the SEC punished the program with an immediate postseason ban in addition to the two year ban imposed for the 1985 and 1986 seasons by the NCAA. The SEC also awarded LSU, as the highest placed eligible team, the automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl reserved for the conference champion. Under modern rules, a team ineligible for postseason is also ineligible for postseason awards.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	2:30 p.m.	at Florida		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	TBS	T 21–21	70,197
September 15	7:00 p.m.	Wichita State*		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 47–7
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Arizona		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 27–26
September 29	3:30 p.m.	at 15 USC*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 23–3	60,128
October 13	6:30 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPN	W 34–27
October 20	2:50 p.m.	at 16 Kentucky	No. 10	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	ABC	W 36–10
October 27	2:50 p.m.	Notre Dame*	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ABC	L 22–30	78,191
November 3	7:00 p.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 15	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Magnolia Bowl)		W 32–29
November 10	1:30 p.m.	at Alabama	No. 12	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)		W 16–14	74,301
November 17	1:30 p.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 9	Scott Field Starkville, MS		L 14–16
November 24	7:00 p.m.	Tulane*	No. 16	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Rag)		W 33–15
January 1, 1985	7:50 p.m.	vs. 5 Nebraska*	No. 11	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 10–28	75,608
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: LSUSports.net: 1984 LSU football schedule

Roster

1984 LSU Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 5 Jeff Wickersham Jr RB 21 Dalton Hilliard Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bill Arnsparger Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Further information: 1984 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

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

Game summaries

at Florida

See also: 1984 Florida Gators football team and Florida–LSU football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–12–2	1983	L, 17–31

Wichita State

See also: Wichita State Shockers football

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Arizona

See also: 1984 Arizona Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at USC

See also: 1984 USC Trojans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	1979	L, 12–17

Notre Dame

See also: 1984 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	1981	L, 9–27

vs. Nebraska (Sugar Bowl)

#4 Nebraska vs #12 LSU

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 4 Cornhuskers 0 7 7 14 28 No. 12 Tigers 3 7 0 0 10 Date: 1985-01-01 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Game start: 7:35 p.m. CST Game attendance: 75,608 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Main article: 1985 Sugar Bowl

See also: 1984 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3–1	1983	L 20–21