The year was 1893.
It had been nearly 30 years since the Civil War, or as some would call it, the War of Northern Aggression, concluded.
In Chicago, the World’s Colombian Exposition Fair was taking place, while in August of that year, one of the most important political figures in the Pelican State’s history would be born to a family in a small town known as Winnfield, Louisiana.
Almost three months later on November 25th, in front of a capacity crowd at Sportsman’s Park in Mid City New Orleans Tulane, who a week before played (and lost) its first ever football game against the Southern Athletic Club, faced off against the LSU Tigers, who was playing its first ever intercollegiate football contest. And much like what you would see when your favorite team when it takes on an FCS team early on in the season, the game was never in doubt as Tulane defeated LSU 34-0.
More importantly, it marked the beginning of a heated in-state rivalry on the gridiron.
As hard as it is to imagine, in the years prior to World War II, outside of the Tennessee-Alabama and Georgia-Georgia Tech battles, the third most notable Southern college football rivalry was the “Battle For the Rag” between the Tulane Green Wave and the LSU Tigers. First played in 1893 and on an annual basis from 1919 to 1994, the annual battle between the two schools was more than just a battle for state bragging rights, it was a battle of culture.
To LSU fans, Tulane was the school for the rich, a place where the sons and daughters of lawyers, bankers, and businessmen attended. In their eyes, Tulane people were the antithesis of everything they were, hardworking, self sufficient people.
In the eyes of Tulane fans, LSU was the school for the poor, a place in which the sons and daughters of farmers and sharecroppers of the Pelican State attended.
During the first 50 years of the 20th century, Tulane was the premier football program in the Pelican State as legendary coaches Clark Shaughnessy and Bennie Bierman powered the Green Wave to national prominence. Between 1920 and 1949, Tulane won eight conference championships, as well as as post four undefeated seasons and appear in the 1932 Rose Bowl and two of the first five Sugar Bowls. Due to the appearance in the 1932 Rose Bowl, Tulane officials used the money earned from their participation in the game to build what is now Devlin Fieldhouse. Six years earlier, New Orleans residents came together to fund the construction of Tulane Stadium, once considered the “queen of Southern stadiums” and home to Tulane football for 50 years.
More importantly, Tulane in that time period posted a 14-13-3 record against their rivals in Baton Rouge, including two three-game winning streaks in 1923-25 and 1929-31. With that success and the inclusion of the Sugar Bowl in 1935, Tulane Stadium, which seated over 30,000 when it was originally built, expanded three times in this period, first in 1937 when it expanded to over 45,000 and then again in 1939 when it added 20,000 more seats. The final expansion in this period would come in 1947, when Tulane Stadium’s capacity topped over 80,000.
By comparison, LSU, who constructed their own stadium in 1924 as part of the new campus, only expanded Tiger Stadium to 46,000 in this period. Along with that, the Tigers won three conference titles as well as appear in six bowl games, including four Sugar Bowls.
Ultimately, the days of LSU and Tulane football being neck and neck would come to a screeching halt after World War II.
In 1949, Tulane, coached by Henry Frnka, faced off against Notre Dame in what was a battle between national championship contenders in South Bend, Indiana. What was deemed to be a classic turned into a nightmare for the Green Wave as the Fighting Irish destroyed Tulane 46-7. To make matters worse, LSU would defeat the SEC champions 21-0 in New Orleans, denying Tulane a shot at playing in another Sugar Bowl and starting a streak against the Green Wave that lasted into the 1970’s.
“If Tulane makes it a competitive affair with Notre Dame or even beats the Irish,” recalled Hap Glaudi, sports editor of the defunct New Orleans Item, “the Green Wave plays Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl that year. Because they didn’t, the committee chose LSU instead, who beat three conference champions that season.”
After 1949, Tulane president Rufus Harris swung the ax on athletics, forcing football players to major in rigorous disciplines instead of physical education. In addition, the de-emphasization of athletics at Tulane allowed LSU football to move into the forefront in college football in the Pelican State, where’s it been ever since.
But for one brief moment in time, Tulane football was on equal footing with LSU.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
