The game was the last for LSU coach Charles McClendon, who was stepping down after 18 seasons at the helm of the Bayou Bengals.
Ironically, Rein coached North Carolina State to victory over Wake Forest en route to the 1979 ACC championship.
The Wolfpack, however, did not play in a bowl game, while three other ACC teams which finished below NC State (Wake Forest, Clemson and North Carolina), did.
He was fired in February 1982 after the LSU Board of Supervisors discovered gross financial mismanagement within the school's athletic department under Dietzel's watch.
Former LSU All-American Jerry Stovall, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1962, McClendon's first year as head coach, was named Rein's successor.
The LSU Board of Supervisors cited mismanagement of athletic department finances as the reason for Dietzel's dismissal.
The Tigers lost 30-25 to Iowa in 2005 and 19-17 to Penn State in 2010 and 21-17 to Notre Dame in 2018, while defeating Louisville 29-9 in December 2016.