Pannebaker has season tickets to LSU games and flies down to two or three a year, but he had some bad luck in 2007.
He visited Lexington, Ky., in mid-October and saw his beloved alma mater lose in triple-overtime to Kentucky.
Five weeks later, Pannebaker traveled to Baton Rouge, La., for a game against Arkansas — another triple-overtime loss.
‘‘I told [my family] we weren’t going to any more games,’’ Pannebaker, thinking he may have been bad luck, joked.
At that point, LSU’s national title hopes appeared dead. But 50 years after Pannebaker’s squad won the school’s first championship, the Tigers got some breaks with upsets and wound up playing Ohio State last week for the crown.
Pannebaker, 70, watched the game from his daughter’s house in Saratoga, N.Y., and loved every minute of LSU’s 38-24 victory.
‘‘It was just unreal,’’ Pannebaker said. ‘‘I was tickled to death for them.’’
Pannebaker got on the phone with some friends from Louisiana to celebrate. He still has lots of friends there and even more fond memories of his college home.
‘‘I have a lot of good thoughts about Louisiana,’’ Pannebaker said. ‘‘They were good to me. It was just a wonderful time.’’
Pannebaker graduated from Juniata Joint High School in 1957 and was recruited by LSU coach Paul Dietzel.
‘‘They flew me down for a visit, and they told me they definitely wanted me to come there,’’ Pannebaker said.
LSU gave him a grant-in-aid, and Pannebaker enrolled in 1957. A year later, he was part of a team that made history.
LSU was led in 1958 by running back Billy Cannon, who won the Heisman Trophy the following year. The Tigers also had a famous defense called the ‘‘Chinese Bandits,’’ and Pannebaker was a backup linebacker on the unit.
‘‘It was a wild, reckless crew,’’ Pannebaker said. ‘‘Dietzel came up with it, and they just struck at random.’’
Pannebaker said he played some but not much during the 1958 season. Cannon and the ‘‘Chinese Bandits’’ led LSU to an undefeated regular season, and Cannon threw a touchdown pass in the Sugar Bowl to beat Clemson, 7-0, and wrap up the national title.
‘‘It was just unbelievable, something I’ll remember the rest of my life,’’ Pannebaker said.
Pannebaker later tried his luck at coaching and was head coach at Tussey Mountain High School for five seasons.
‘‘I didn’t turn out to be a very good coach,’’ he said.
The impact he had on his players suggests otherwise.
‘‘You really respected him,’’ said Wade Porter, who played for Pannebaker at Tussey in 1979. ‘‘Great man, great coach. Knowing that the guy played at that level, you really wanted to do the best you could.’’
The Tussey players knew their coach’s history, adding to their respect.
‘‘Being part of a national championship team and being one of the famed ’Chinese Bandits,’ I think that means a whole, whole lot to him,’’ Porter said.
Pannebaker still loves his Tigers to this day, and some of those he impacted still have great respect for him.
‘‘He’s one of those guys that, even 28 years later, you would never refer to him as Frank, just out of respect for the man,’’ Porter said. ‘‘It’s always Coach, Mr. Pannebaker, Coach Pannebaker.’’
