Last March, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world of collegiate athletics putting an end to all spring sports for the remainder of the season. The ongoing precautions surrounding the pandemic forced the Southland Conference to postpone all conference competitions for the sports of cross country, football, soccer and volleyball until the spring 2021 semester.
 
That decision meant, that for the first time since LU revived the program there would be no football games during the fall. While there will be no marching bands, no tailgating and none of the normal sights and sounds of football during the fall at Provost Umphrey Stadium, LamarCardinals.com wanted to take time each Saturday to recap some of the more memorable games in program history.
   
The Cardinals first took to the field as a four-year program during the 1951 season. In 1970, Big Red picked up its 100^th win as a four-year school when it defeated Louisiana Tech in the second game of the season. A defensive struggle, Lamar University (then Lamar Tech) outlasted the Bulldogs 6-0 in Beaumont.
 
The 1970 battle between LU and Louisiana Tech was a contest between two defenses unwilling to give an inch. Neither team gained 300 yards of total offense on the day, and despite the fact that the Cardinals got the victory Louisiana Tech outgained their hosts, 244-167. Big Red's defense was led by six players with double-figure tackles. Then-sophomore linebacker Bruce Taylor led all players with 17 tackles, including 14 assisted stops. Junior Donald Krushall tacked on 16 stops, sophomore Thomas Gage had 11 and picked off a pass.
 
The Cardinals cracked the scoreboard midway through the second quarter when sophomore fullback Glen Hill rumbled 15 yards for the touchdown on a halfback draw. The run capped a five-play, 45-yard drive. Louisiana Tech responded by stealing some of the momentum away from the score by blocking the point after try.
 
The Cardinals' defense would make the lone score stand for the final 36:11 to secure the win. Louisiana Tech outgained the Cards, 165-48, in the second half, but the Red and White continued to come up with the key play when they needed it.
 
Louisiana Tech took the opening drive of the second half and moved the ball to the Cards' 16-yard line before the drive stalled. The Bulldogs lined up for a 32-yard field goal but pushed the kick wide. After being forced to punt on their next drive, Louisiana Tech got the ball back late in the third and moved the it down to the Cards' 27 before fumbling the ball away.
 
Three times in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs moved the ball into Cardinal territory including a trip down to the Lamar 21 with 82 seconds remaining but Big Red's defense forced a play for no gain and one for a loss before being aided by a 15-yards penalty to force Louisiana Tech to turn the ball over on downs with less than a minute to play.
 
Quarterback Tommy Tomlin completed 7-of-13 (.538) for 59 yards, while Hill led the Cardinals ground attack with 10 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Teammate Clinton Hill added 11 carries for 21 yards in a game that saw him miss most of the second quarter with an injury. The primary recipient of Tomlin's passes was Orange native Patrick Gibbs. The junior hauled in four passes for 57 yards.