(12) AUBURN 31, (10) LSU 28
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Rusty Williams capped a late drive by scoring
on a 1-yard run with 30 seconds left as No. 12 Auburn edged
10th-ranked Louisiana State, 31-28, in a Southeastern Conference
clash. The win put Auburn (3-0, 2-0 SEC) in the driver's seat in
the SEC West ahead of LSU (2-1, 1-1) and Alabama, which lost to
Arkansas. Auburn is 2-0, a half-game ahead of Arkansas, with the
other four teams in the division already saddled with a loss.
"This was one of those games that had drama, and all the
excitement of a game in our division," said Auburn coach Terry
Bowden. "This was a big game, and both teams wanted it very
badly. Both teams felt deep down in their hearts that they wanted
to win this game. We felt probably that we had a little
home-field disadvantage. This is a great place for a home team to
have a game. This is one of those great wins that comes at a time
when everyone's still hot."
After driving near midfield, LSU failed on a Hail Mary pass as
time expired, but Auburn had 12 men on the field. Since the game
cannot end on a defensive penalty, Wade Ritchie attempted a
64-yard field goal, which was blocked.
"I knew it would be an emotional game, and I thought both teams
played hard," LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said. "I thought whoever
played better would win the game, whoever executed better would
win. I thought Auburn executed better and deserved to win. Both
teams played hard. They played the game better than we did."
Quarterback Dameyune Craig starred for Auburn, going 23-of-45 for
342 yards and two touchdowns. He helped Auburn spoil a stellar
game by the injured Kevin Faulk's replacement, Cecil Collins, who
ran for 232 yards -- one short of the record for an Auburn
opponent -- and two scores on 27 carries. It was the third-best
total in school history and the first time an LSU running back
has broken 200 yards and lost.
Rondell Mealy added 129 rushes on 12 carries as LSU racked up 377
yards on the ground. Auburn won despite getting outgained, 492
yards to 407, and it was the first time the defense allowed 350
rushing yards in a game since 1989 against Tennessee. LSU
registered its best yardage total since its 1989 Tennessee game.
Before Williams' decisive TD, Collins scampered 42 yards for a
score with 13:28 left to pull LSU into a 28-24 lead.
Jaret Holmes made a 34-yard field goal with six minutes left for
the only scoring of the third period, giving Auburn a 24-21 lead.
A wild first half ended in a 21-21 tie with LSU scoring the final
two touchdowns. The Tigers jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first
quarter on a pair of 26-yard TD passes by Craig. It was the
highest-scoring game ever between the schools and stopped LSU's
streak of 17 straight wins when scoring 21 or more points.
(12) Auburn 31, (10) LSU 28
1 2 3 4 F
- - - - --
Auburn (12) 14 7 3 7 31
Lsu (10) 7 14 0 7 28
Auburn-F Beasley 26 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Poor 26 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Lsu-Collins 4 run (W Richey kick)
Auburn-R Williams 10 run (Holmes kick)
Lsu-H Tyler 1 run (W Richey kick)
Lsu-Bates 38 pass from H Tyler (W Richey kick)
Auburn-FG Holmes 34
Lsu-Collins 42 run (W Richey kick)
Auburn-R Williams 1 run (Holmes kick)
Auburn Lsu
First downs 22 19
Rushed-yards 33-65 47-377
Passing yards 342 115
Sacked-yards lost 5-34 3-4
Return yards 51 12
Passes 23-45-0 6-21-2
Punts 7-50.0 8-50.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-45 6-46
Time of possession 32:52 27:08
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Auburn-R Williams 14-47, Pennington 6-22, F Beasley
4-9, Craig 9-minus 13. Lsu-Collins 27-232, Mealey 12-129, H
Tyler 8-16.
PASSING: Auburn-Craig 23-45-0-342. Lsu-H Tyler 6-21-2-115.
RECEIVING: Auburn-Goodson 6-127, Poor 5-94, Bailey 4-29, F
Beasley 3-36, Cooper 3-7, McLeod 1-35, Lowe 1-14. Lsu-Foster
3-48, Bates 1-38, Frazier 1-18, Collins 1-11.
Att: 80,538
Courtesy: InfoBeat Sports