team won each game, Notre Dame in 1970 and LSU in 1971. Despite all of LSU's success during this period, the Tigers only had a 4–7–1 record against Ole Miss and a 2–14 record against Bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide. 1970 was the only year in which McClendon beat both Ole Miss and Alabama in the same season. Not coincidentally, this was the only year that a McClendon-coached team won an SEC title; his Tigers finished undefeated and untied in SEC play for the first time since 1961, Dietzel's final season. McClendon was awarded AFCA Coach of the Year honors, but the Tigers lost the 1971 Orange Bowl to eventual national champion Nebraska. McClendon's tenure crested in 1973. The Tigers raced out to a 9-0 record, but lost to Alabama 21-7–a loss that cost that Tigers an SEC title. A week later, they were shut out at Tulane 14-0, their first loss to the Green Wave since 1948. They then lost to Penn State in the Orange Bowl. During McClendon's last six seasons at LSU (1974–1979), LSU had no appearances in the final AP Poll and compiled a record of 38–29–2 (.551 winning percentage). This included McClendon's only two non-winning records at LSU–a 5-5-1 record in 1974 followed by a 5-6 record in 1975. The latter was LSU's first losing season since 1957. The Tigers rebounded to a 7-3-1 record in 1976. Despite this, former LSU great Billy Cannon began campaigning for McClendon to be fired. Cannon was angered that a number of Louisiana high school stars, most notably Terry Bradshaw, passed on LSU during McClendon's tenure. In response, the LSU Board of Supervisors gave McClendon the option of resigning immediately and being paid for the remaining four years of his contract, or leave at the end of the 1978 season. McClendon opted to stay. Before the 1978 season, Dietzel returned to LSU as athletic director and persuaded the Board of Supervisors to let McClendon stay in 1979. McClendon was due to become president of the American Football Coaches Association, and Dietzel didn't want to embarrass McClendon by firing him that year. The Tigers lost to Tulane in 1979, but that was followed by a 34–10 victory over Wake Forest in the Tangerine Bowl, McClendon's final game at LSU. In addition to owning the longest tenure in LSU football coaching history (18 seasons), McClendon holds the program records for most