Celebrating the ArkLaTex: Billy Cannon’s Halloween night run
By KTBS staff
Click here for updates on this story
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (KTBS) — On Halloween night in 1959, LSU running back Billy Cannon etched his name into college football legend with a dynamic, game-winning 89-yard punt return against arch-rival Ole Miss on the turf of Tiger Stadium.
Rick Rowe interviewed Cannon who recollected the iconic play that defined an era of Tigers football and cemented his path to the Heisman Trophy.
Trailing 3-0 late in the fourth quarter against the top-ranked Rebels, Cannon fielded a bouncing punt near his own 11-yard line before cutting toward the wide side of the field.
“It hit in front of me, and I got the perfect bounce,” Cannon recalled during an interview originally conducted in 2008. “I caught it straight up, and I’m heading to the wide side of the field.”
After breaking an initial tackle attempt when a defender slipped on the turf, Cannon maneuvered back toward the right side, where teammate Emile Fournette threw a key block near the 40-yard line that cleared out multiple pursuit defenders.
“Emile Fournette made a block there, oh, about the 40-yard line, and took three of them off my back,” Cannon said.
Navigating the final obstacle downfield, Cannon faced Ole Miss safety and kicker Jake Gibbs in open space. Expecting Cannon to rely on his speed to reach the sideline, Gibbs misread the angle.
“I’m looking the kicker, Jake Gibbs, straight in the eye,” Cannon recounted. “He thinks I’m going back to the wide side of the field and outrun him, which would have been the smart thing to do. Well, I gave him a little juke and went back to the right, and Jake missed that tackle.”
Cannon broke free to complete the 89-yard touchdown run, securing a 7-3 victory for the Tigers in what became known across the region as the “Magic Night.”
Reflecting on the legendary play decades later, Cannon maintained a grounded perspective on his legacy, noting with a touch of humor how time alters the memory of the play.
“The bad news, the film was turning yellow and the runner’s getting slower,” Cannon said. “But it is nice to be remembered and look back on.”
Cannon’s storied career was later shadowed by legal troubles in the 1980s involving a federal counterfeiting charge, for which he served prison time before re-establishing his dental practice and working as a resident dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
Rowe noted that despite his flaws, Cannon’s later years were marked by personal rehabilitation and quiet service.
“He was not a perfect man, who among us is, after all,” Rowe said. “But I also believe at the end of his life that he was a man that had sought redemption and received it. And that’s all we can ask.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.