auburn lsu

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) ― With a second to spare, LSU kept it's national championship hopes alive and well. Matt Flynn threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd with 1 second left to lift fifth-ranked LSU to a 30-24 victory over No. 18 Auburn on Saturday night.

A week after losing in triple overtime to Kentucky and giving up the No. 1 ranking, LSU couldn't afford a second straight loss.

Now with South Florida losing earlier in the week, LSU (7-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) is certain to move up to at least third in the BCS standings, behind only undefeated Ohio State, which also won, and possibly Boston College, which was idle this weekend.

The victory also puts LSU on the inside track to win the SEC West, as the winner of the Auburn-LSU rivalry has done in five of the past seven years.

Flynn finished with 319 yards passing and three touchdowns, the last on what seemed to be a risky play called by a coach who's shown he's not afraid to gamble.

Les Miles had converted five fourth downs in a dramatic 28-24 victory over Florida the last time LSU was at home. This time, he let Flynn take one last shot at the end zone with the clock winding down when the safer play would have been to set up for a potential game-winning field goal.

LSU had a timeout left, but the Tigers cut it awfully close on their final play.

Miles said those calls come from being confident in his players, who had come back from a 17-7 halftime deficit.

"They showed great character and great resolve and want ― the way they played in the second half," Miles said.

Auburn's Brandon Cox, taking hits in the pocket but rolling out effectively when necessary, turned in a gutty performance, passing for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

His last scoring pass, a 3-yard strike to Rodgeriqus Smith, gave Auburn a 24-23 lead with 3:21 to go.

It completed an 83-yard drive, which Auburn had the benefit of engineering without LSU standout defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey on the field. Dorsey left the game in the third quarter with an injured right leg after he was caught awkwardly in a pile at the line of scrimmage.

But Auburn (5-3, 3-2), following a game-long pattern of keeping the ball away from LSU returner Trindon Holliday, squibbed the kickoff, giving LSU the ball on its 42.

"We just weren't going to kick it to their returner," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We still felt good about it. We didn't make the plays."

Flynn scrambled for 19 yards during the final drive, then took one more shot at the end zone instead of getting the ball in the middle of the field to set a field goal attempt. He floated a pass perfectly to the back of the end zone, where Byrd emerged from behind a defender and made a sliding catch, sending Tiger Stadium into a frenzy.

LSU extended its winning streak in Death Valley to 18 games. Auburn came in on a three-game winning streak that included impressive road wins over No. 14 Florida and Arkansas.

Jacob Hester gave LSU a 20-17 lead, diving for the pylon early in the fourth quarter after catching a swing-pass on third-and-goal from the 5. He also led a patient rushing attack that amassed 169 yards, all but 40 in the second half.

A flag was thrown on Hester's touchdown for LSU having not enough players line up on the line of scrimmage. But officials wanted to see a replay of the play to confirm that Hester had in fact got the pylon for a score. In doing so, they decided LSU was in fact lined up properly and picked up the flag.

Tuberville was furious and argued with officials for several minutes before the ensuing kickoff.

"That's obviously got to be looked at," Tuberville said. "There's a flag on the field. You've got to work that out before you start looking at (the replay). Unfortunately they did it the way you're not supposed to."

Auburn led 17-7 at halftime after getting touchdowns on Cox's 17-yard pass to Montez Billings and Carl Stewart's dive over the pile.

Flynn led LSU back with help from his best receiver, Early Doucet, back from a groin injury that had caused him to miss most of the last five games. Doucet made several clutch catches, finishing with seven receptions for 93 yards.

"The return with Early Doucet on the offensive side helped us a ton and we look forward to having him the rest of the way," Miles said.
BATON ROUGE ?LSU may need its defense tonight more than in any other game in the past or in the future on the schedule. Auburn� defense may be the best LSU will play all season, so points could be precious.
Auburn is No. 9 in the nation in total defense (279 yards allowed a game) and No. 12 in passing defense (169.7 yards). LSU is No. 88 in pass offense (195.7 yards) and No. 35 in total offense (428 yards a game).


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Auburn is only No. 28 in rush defense (109 yards), but it just held Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden to 43 yards on 17 carries. McFadden got 182 on 21 carries against LSU last season. LSU is No. 10 in the nation in rushing with 232 yards a game, but it has not faced a front four like Auburn�.

�or them to hold McFadden, that tremendous Arkansas runner, to less than 50 yards on 17 carries and to limit them to 190 on the day lets you know how very good their defense is,?LSU coach Les Miles said. �e understand we have to be ready for that challenge.?br>
Meanwhile, Miles was not as impressed with LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini� unit last week as it surrendered 375 yards in a 43-37 triple-overtime loss at Kentucky, including a season-high 333 in regulation and a season-high 121 rushing.

� think our defense will return to a much stiffer defensive front against the run very quickly,?Miles said. �nd that will help us attack the pass.?br>
This one will match two very good defenses and looks like a low-scoring affair. A position-by-position comparison follows:

QUARTERBACKS
Amazingly, Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox was once thought to be better than former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell and went into the 2006 season as the second-team All-SEC quarterback. Cox finished seventh in the SEC in passing last season and is seventh this season in passing efficiency. He struggled mightily at Tiger Stadium two years ago.

So far, he has proved to be better than LSU� starter this year as he has shown he can pull out games late. LSU starter Matt Flynn is 10th in the SEC in passing efficiency and 93rd nationally. If those were the only two quarterbacks playing tonight, Auburn would have the edge.

But look for LSU backup Ryan Perrilloux to finally get a chance to throw the ball again after completing 20 of 25 for 298 yards against Middle Tennessee Sept. 15. Because of Perrilloux, LSU gets the edge.
ADVANTAGE: LSU

RUNNING BACKS
Auburn just got junior Brad Lester back two weeks ago following a suspension and already has 166 yards in two games. Ben Tate has 597 yards on the season. Auburn has put up 428 yards in the last two weeks.

LSU has more horses, but it had trouble deciding which one to put in the gate last week. If a Charles Scott gains 92 yards in the first half and only sees it twice more in the second half, you�e got some issues. Miles said Kentucky adjusted to the formation Scott was gaining yards on in the first half, so Scott was not used much again. Uh, could Scott should be running out of a few more formations?

Perhaps formations should be formed around players, not the other way around.

Richard Murphy showed some promise last week catching passes out of the backfield. Why didn� we see more of that in previous weeks? Apparently, LSU� coaching needs to catch up with its backs.
ADVANTAGE: EVEN.

RECEIVERS
Rodgeriqus Smith is among the leaders in the SEC with 27 catches for 397 yards. Montez Billings and Robert Dunn are also steady. LSU has more talent here, but it is young and dropping passes and getting called for penalties.

Early Doucet will be a welcome sight as he is expected to play a significant number of snaps for the first time since the second week of the season. But how effective will he be after the layoff?
ADVANTAGE: AUBURN.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Auburn has been starting three true freshman in Ryan Pugh at left tackle, Chaz Ramsey at right guard and Lee Ziemba at right tackle, but all three have proven they can play.

LSU� offensive line has continued to play well despite injuries to center Brett Helms and right guard Lyle Hitt, who are both expected to play. Will Arnold will also be back, and Ryan Miller has looked good in relief.
ADVANTAGE: LSU.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Auburn has the fastest and most talented line LSU will see this season with defensive ends Quentin Groves and Sen�errick Marks. Groves will try to come back after batting three dislocated toes.

In his absence, Antonio Coleman has collected four sacks and eight tackles behind the line. Josh Thompson and Pat Sims are solid in the middle.
LSU All-American Glenn Dorsey has been neutralized in recent weeks and teammates like Tyson Jackson and Marlon Favorite have not been able to pick up where he left off.

This will be a huge game for LSU� line, which needs to re-establish itself as the anchor of the former No. 1 defense in the country. Miles said LSU didn� blitz a lot last week because Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson was taking only a three-step drop. But doesn� that mean less yardage to cover for the defense, particularly on inside stunts and blitzes?
ADVANTAGE: EVEN.

LINEBACKERS
Middle linebacker Chris Evans leads a young Auburn group that has played well. LSU� linebackers have played better than the line lately.
ADVANTAGE: LSU.

SECONDARY
On paper, LSU� should be better, but it performed poorly last week. Auburn is fourth in the SEC in pass defense efficiency. Cornerback Patrick Lee has two interceptions. If LSU gets a better pass rush, it will help the secondary. Here� a hint: Blitz!
ADVANTAGE: LSU.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Auburn� Wes Bynum has beaten Arkansas and Florida on the road with late field goals and has made 11 of 15 overall with a 49 yarder. He� not going to be missing five as John Vaughn did in an Auburn loss in Baton Rouge two years ago.

Colt David showed some promise by nearly making a 57-yard game winner last week. With all the talent and speed we�e heard LSU has for years now, it still can� find a punt returner. LSU is last in the league in punt returns with a 5.4-yard average. Can someone devise a blocking scheme for the talent?

Auburn� Robert Dunn is fourth in the SEC with 9.4 yards a return.
ADVANTAGE: AUBURN.

INTANGIBLES
LSU is coming off a loss and has not lost two regular season games in a row since 2001. The loss at Kentucky last week exposed some weaknesses in the defense that coordinator Bo Pelini should be able to correct. Because of the loss and what� at stake, Tiger Stadium will likely be as loud as ever.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has never been intimidated by Tiger Stadium and has won twice in it ?in 1999 as Auburn� coach by a 41-7 scored and in 1997 as Ole Miss?coach by 36-21. He is also a very good road coach because his team seldom makes mistakes.
ADVANTAGE: LSU.

PREDICTION: LSU� defense plays like a No. 1 rated defense again and sacks Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox three times. LSU 17, Auburn 7. LSU's 30-24 win over Auburn on Saturday night at Tiger Stadium will take its place beside the other memorable games between the two teams. It was, as usual, a brutally physical game. There were tough decisions, controversial officials' calls and finally the pass from Matt Flynn to Demetrius Byrd for the winning touchdown with just one second left.

Throwing in the end zone when an incomplete pass could have ended the game was a bad idea that worked.

Auburn's squib kick after it took a 24-23 lead was a bad idea that didn't work.

This one won't be easy for Auburn players to put behind them, but they have little choice. Four games remain in the regular season. If the Tigers win them, this will have been a good season. Lose one and it will have been a decent season with a decent bowl at the end of it. Lose more than one and this season will have been a disappointment.

I'll comment more tomorrow on what transpired at Tiger Stadium.

Good night, all. Another week, another set of upsets. And we had more than a few in the Top 10 again. We saw No. 6 South Carolina lose, along with No. 10 Cal and No. 8 Kentucky Saturday. But in all actuality, we only had two upsets because Kentucky's loss was not an upset.

Florida, the 14th-ranked team in the nation this week, came into the game as seven points favorites. And because of yet another Heisman Trophy worthy performance out of their do-everything-quarterback, the Gators reasserted themselves in the SEC East and avoided season suicide that would have been a third straight loss.

We predictably saw a shootout with Kentucky and Florida in Lexington and we saw Tim Tebow yet again take the Gators on his back to a crucial win that quite possibly could keep them alive in the national championship picture - albeit slim - considering how the losses seem to be mounting up for everyone in the Top 10.

Florida's defense did just enough to keep Andre' Woodson out of sync in the first half as he missed three potential touchdowns - but one of them one was Steve Johnson's fault - and deal his Heisman candidacy a little blow while Tebow elevated his. He took a beating to do so, but it's not a surprise considering he was practically the whole offense for the Gators for what seems like the seventh time this season. Tebow accounted for roughly 70 some odd percent of the Gators offense and we'll see if that shoulder injury it looked like he suffered will effect him down the road.

Urban Meyer has to get his running backs into the mix because he's going to get Tebow killed one of these games. They barely carried the ball at all Saturday with Tebow taking the bulk of the attempts. He did a great job with those play actions to himself - as Gary Danielson described them - and showed some great patience and power in a number of his runs. He also showed off his arm, connecting on big plays with his receivers - and not just Percy Harvin, either.

We finally saw some of that big play offense out of the Gators that was severely lacking against Auburn and LSU for the most part. When the Gators can rack up a handful of those 30-40-50 yard plays, they're tough to stop.

Florida showed, beyond a showdown of a doubt, that they're the best two loss team in the nation. They're Top 5 material with Top 5 talent. But they also showed how the defense has a ways to go, how young it is and how they have holes to address. Granted, Kentucky is a pretty good offense and they were going up against one of the best quarterbacks in the country. But Florida will give up yards and they did that Saturday. They're vulnerable against the pass yet they actually did what LSU couldn't against the Wildcats last week: sack the quarterback. It was a big reason why Woodson struggled in the first half and they got to him a few times down the stretch. The Gators finished with an astounding six sacks.

The Gators didn't show you the total package Saturday. But they showed you the offense is in decent shape - as long as the quarterback is.

And the agony/ecstasy of the bettors around the country. Kentucky scored that final touchdown of the game to pull within eight. But thanks to a rule instituted before the start of last season, the Wildcats didn't have to attempt the extra point at the end of regulation because it was meaningless to the outcome of the game. Had the Wildcats kicked the extra point that would have put them within seven - and the line on the game stood at 7. Good for those who had the Gators. Bad for those who had the Wildcats and the points.

Quick Hits

-- Gary Crowton showed some kind of onions with that final call that clinched the game for LSU as the Tigers completed their incredible comeback over Auburn.

LSU drove the field like a champion as time was winding down, right after Auburn scored to regain the lead. Matt Flynn directed the offense into field goal position and it looked like the Tigers would be lining up for a roughly 40-yard field goal to give them a two point win. But instead of taking a timeout, Les MIles took yet another gamble and he's incredibly lucky that it paid off. Flynn tossed a touchdown with one second remaining to Demetrius Byrd and the Tigers survived - big time. It could have backfired on him, but I don't think the clock would have expired on an incomplete pass. Byrd came down with it with a few ticks left on the clock. If it had been tipped up and batted around then that's a different story. But an incomplete pass wouldn't have destroyed the Tigers.

Champions have comeback ability and the Tigers have now comeback like champions in two big games. The Tigers came back against Florida a few weeks, down by 10 in the second half. And they were down again to Auburn late in the second half, but showed a ton of poise - most especially Flynn who rebounded with a better performance this week after last week's disappointment in Lexington. It almost looked like the Tigers turned on a switch in the second half, really getting the offense rolling. They pretty much saved their national championship hopes, and their SEC Championship hopes as well, with that drive showing us all they can. And watch out if Early Doucet is finally back in the lineup week in and week out.

The Tigers now they get a much deserved week off to gear up for that Alabama game. Les Miles is definitely going to need it considering the media onslaught that will surely follow him and the Tigers in a little over a week. But they have to work on those dropped passes. It's killing them and Flynn as well. He's gets criticized for that poor completion percentage, but he can only do so much. His receivers have to help him out a little.

Tommy Tuberville may have come up short in this one, but he nearly directed another huge win for his Tigers. He's such a good coach and doesn't get nearly enough credit for it. I think Auburn showed you a lot in this one. They've beaten Florida, maybe should have beaten LSU and have they're offense in pretty good shape right now. No one wants to play Auburn. They beat you up and take you to the brink - every time.

-- If only Steve Spurrier had a quarterback. Whether it's Blake Mitchell or Chris Smelley, Spurrier can't find anyone who can play consistently - and Mitchell can't seem to keep the ball out of opponents' hands - and it continues to cost him. This time it was Vanderbilt springing the surprising upset on the No. 6 team in the nation - in Columbia no less - and 13.5 point favorites.

But this loss should be hung on the offensive line who allowed Vanderbilt to pressure and sack the Gamecocks quarterback combo all day long. The couldn't get anything going via the running game and right now the Gamecocks offense looks like a total mess.

-- Those looking for an impressive victory for Ohio State didn't get it out of the Buckeyes against Michigan State. But at least they survived, which is more than some of the Top 10 could say Saturday.

The Buckeyes are 8-0 - albeit a soft 8-0 - despite turning the ball over too many times against the Spartans after it looked like they were going to cruise. The big play combo of Todd Boeckman and Brian Robiskie made yet another appearance on a 50-yard TD pass and Chris Wells ran for an astounding 221 yards against the soft Spartans defense. But the Buckeyes had trouble taking care of the ball and they need to thankful their defense is so good because otherwise it might be a different story. Javon Ringer was held to roughly 120 yards below his season average and Brian Hoyer did not do very much.

-- USC should have gained a little confidence out of its drubbing of Notre Dame. The Trojans had fun to the tune of 38 points and Mark Sanchez had himself a nice game with four touchdowns on 21-of-38 passing for 235 yards. But USC had too many penalties. A team that's supposed to be as good as they are can't continue to average eight penalties a game.

The Irish may have hit rock bottom as their gauntlet of a schedule eases up after this. Charlie Weis even intimated as much when he was asked as much after the game.

"I'm going to answer that very cautiously, because I don't want to be called sarcastic using New Jersey rhetoric," Weis said. "So let me just say people better enjoy it now, have their fun now."

-- There's no excuse for Cal to lose to UCLA, rivalry game or not. The Bruins are the Jekyll and Hyde of college football. You never know what you're going to get with them. But Cal should not lose to a team that lost badly to Notre Dame at home the week before. To think of the opportunity the Bears had last week, to be the No. 1 team after LSU lost before they were upset by Oregon State. Now they're going to find themselves barely in the Top 25 Sunday.

Biggest Winners: Florida, LSU, Missouri

Biggest Losers: South Carolina, Cal, Kentucky, Tennessee, Bill Callahan

Player of the Day: Tim Tebow. Here's the final stat line: 18-of-26, 256 Yds., 69.2 Pct., 4 TD, 0 INT, 202.71 Rating, 20 Att., 78 Yds., 1 TD. How is he not the Heisman frontrunner right now? He puts up a line like this every week.

Stat of the Day: 465. Oregon's total rushing yards against Washington. You read that right.

Quote of the Day: "That's the sorriest team in the SEC we lost to. We should've won that game." -- South Carolina safety Emanuel Cook on the Gamecocks loss to Vanderbilt. Cook got it wrong. Saturday, the Gamecocks were the sorriest team in the SEC. Most especially that offense.

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