Quarterbacks didn't know how to throw the ball away in 1971. Early in LSU's last-ditch drive, you see LSU quarterback Bert Jones' stats: 5-for-8 passing. That included at

four sacks, and not just "hurl yourself forward into the collapsing pocket and lose two yards" sacks; I'm talking "run backwards until three guys inevitably bring you down" sacks. Complete and utter drive-killers. If Jones had just thrown the damn ball away (because you could see every sack coming from a mile away), he'd have gone about 5-for-12, and LSU might have won. But quarterbacks just didn't do that.

(Nebraska quarterback Jerry Tagge, meanwhile, took a couple of the same types of sacks. Meanwhile, announcers late in the game say that Tagge has had "quite a night," going 11-for-22 for 127 yards.)

It's fun watching old games because of the random similarities -- the screens, the trick plays, etc. But quarterbacks were meant to be even-to-their-own-detriment heroes in 1971, and it caused so many awful, avoidable plays.



