DEL.ICIO.USLSU pulls late comeback to avoid upset to Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Auburn, Ala. — If Georgia is to make it to the SEC championship game, the first primary returns are in for the West Division opponent: LSU.
In another memorable edition of this series, LSU’s Jarrett Lee hit Brandon LaFell for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:03 to play as the No. 6 Bayou Bengals came from behind twice in the second half to beat Auburn 26-20 Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Remember this one come December. Six times over the last eight seasons, the winner of the LSU-Auburn game has wound up in the conference championship.
“I just knew this is how we would respond,” said LSU coach Les Miles, whose team trailed 14-3 at halftime. “Our guys play in tight quarters. That’s this league.”
Auburn quarterback Chris Todd had given the Tigers a 21-20 lead with 6 minutes, 40 seconds remaining on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Robert Dunn. But given the quickness of AU’s drive — 74 yards in just five plays — LSU had plenty of time to counter with its 54-yard winning drive, becoming the first visiting team to win the Auburn-LSU game in nine years.
“The big thing was, we were trying to be smart and not turn the ball over,” Todd said of the go-ahead drive. “The defense has played great all year.”
But not on LSU’s last possession. Lee, who completed none of his first five passes in the first half — and had an interception returned for a touchdown — completed four straight on the decisive drive, finding LaFell after he slipped behind Auburn safety Zac Etheridge.
“We fought hard on defense but I thought we got tired a little bit,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “When they started going to … three receivers on one side, they just out-ran us on some speed routes and the quarterback made the throw.”
For the second consecutive week, Auburn lost the services of running back Brad Lester, the former Parkview High School star, who went out with a right leg injury mid-way through the third quarter. He started Saturday after being knocked out with a neck strain last week against Mississippi State.
Todd finished with 250 passing yards on 17 completions in 32 attempts. But Auburn, still finding its stride in a new spread offense, managed just 70 yards on the ground. LSU tailback Charles Scott ran for 132 yards.
“We did a good job at first,” Auburn defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks said. “But when they got loose, they were all over us.”
Rallying from 11 points down, LSU took a 17-14 lead late in the third period with a bit of sleight of hand specially installed for this game. Running back Keiland Williams took a pitch-out on what appeared to be an end run but then pulled up to deliver a 22-yard pass to Demetrius Byrd, who had snuck behind Auburn’s secondary for a score on the last play of the quarter.
LSU delivered a lightning strike mid-way through the third quarter, when Lee connected with wide receiver Chris Mitchell on a 39-yard touchdown pass, closing Auburn’s lead to 14-10.
Lee, a co-starter with Andrew Hatch, took over when Hatch was forced from the game on a jarring hit by Auburn’s Jerraud Powers five plays before his first TD pass.
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