Rebels’ Boykin, SEC touchdown king, dead at 89

[rebeljim]

Arnold L. Boykin, surrounded by his family, died peacefully Thursday at his home in Brandon. He was 89.

Football fans of a certain age will remember him better as Showboat Boykin. His name is forever engraved in Mississippi football history and, particularly, Egg Bowl history.

On Dec. 1, 1951, Boykin ran the football for all seven Ole Miss touchdowns in the Rebels’ 49-7 victory over Mississippi State at Starkville. That’s right: Showboat Boykin scored 42 points himself, a Southeastern Conference record that still stands 67 years later.

Boykin, a senior halfback playing his last college game, carried the ball 14 times – scoring on precisely half of those – for 187 yards. And here’s the kicker: He scored seven touchdowns on the same play, a delay through the middle of the State line.

Sadly, I never talked to Boykin about the most productive single game performance in Mississippi history, but I was lucky enough to hear the story once from the famous comedian Jerry Clower, who played defensive tackle for Mississippi State in that game.

“Yeah, ol’ Showboat scored seven touchdown and I remember the last one the best,” Clower said.

Why, he was asked.

“Because he stepped right on my big ol’ stomach right as he went in the end zone,” Clower replied.

In a 2001 interview with The Clarion-Ledger, Boykin said his Egg Bowl of 1951 feat wasn’t considered that big a deal at the time. “Nobody thought that much of it after the game,” he said. “We beat State, but we always did back then.”

Boykin’s 42 points in a single game also was an NCAA record at the time. You may have heard of the man who broke the record five years later.

The great Jim Brown, playing for Syracuse in his last collegiate game, scored 43 points on six touchdowns and seven extra point kicks.

•••

A graveside service will be held for Showboat Boykin on Monday at Greenville Cemetery at 1000 S. Main St. in Greenville. Boone Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

https://mississippitoday.org/2018/08/10 ... ead-at-89/

[ThunderReb]

sad day....the original Bulldog Killer, I bet he's still scoring on them....God rest his soul....We lost a good one and a legend.