LSU Claws Its Way Back And Overcomes 17 Point Deficit Against Auburn In Tiger Bowl

This SEC West rivalry between LSU and Auburn in what is always called “The Tiger Bowl” does not disappoint and it didn’t disappoint Saturday night. The LSU Tigers come all the way back after trailing 17 points in the first quarter. From that point on, LSU shut out Auburn the rest of the football game and scored three touchdowns in the process to come back and get the big SEC West victory. LSU also forced four turnovers in what also paid dividends in the win.

It did not start off looking like it would be LSU’s night though. Just like the Mississippi State game in which the Bulldogs jumped to an early two possession lead, it was the Auburn Tigers that struck first with two touchdown passes from Robby Ashford. The first score came on a busted coverage as Ashford escaped the pocket and threw a 53 yard touchdown strike to Ja’Varrius Johnson. The second touchdown came after Auburn marched down the field 99 yards as it was capped off when Ashford found a wide open Camden Brown in the back of the end zone. Just starting the second quarter, Auburn held a 14-0 lead. Auburn would tack on three more points from an Anders Carlson field goal to extend the lead, but that would end up being all the points scored by the Auburn Tigers for the rest of the night.

LSU would get on the scoreboard for the first time thanks to their defense as BJ Ojulari forces a sack fumble on Ashford and Jay Ward proceeds to scoop the fumble and return it for a touchdown. LSU’s offense struggled to get going on the road until the last drive of the first half when a hands to the face penalty by Auburn gave LSU new life. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels made a great 12 yard scramble to pick up a first down without his shoe and then found John Emery Jr. out of the backfield for a 39 yard gain to put the Tigers inside the one yard line. Two plays later, Daniels keeps it on the zone read and scores for his third rushing touchdown of the year with fifteen seconds left to go until halftime.

Auburn would take a 17-14 lead to halftime. After both offenses struggled to put anything together, LSU would then take the lead for the first time late in the third quarter when John Emery had an incredible 20 yard touchdown run breaking multiple tackles and then high stepping into the end zone. LSU would take a 21-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.

After it looked like Jarrick Bernard-Converse got an interception, Auburn would get a break as holding was called on Sage Ryan, which gave them a first and ten at LSU’s 28 yard line. However, it delayed the inevitable as when Auburn was inside the red zone to try to take back the lead, a trick play backfires when wide receiver Koy Moore throws the ball up in the air and was intercepted by LSU linebacker Harold Perkins to give LSU its second turnover of the football game.

Four plays in the drive, Jayden Daniels was pulled out of the football game by LSU head coach Brian Kelly because Daniels took a knee to knee shot in the previous drive. Garrett Nussmeier would enter the football game for Daniels and would finish the rest of the football game out. After both teams would trade a couple of punts, Auburn’s special teams makes a mistake when Keionte Scott muffed the punt inside the 34 yard line. Jarrick Bernard-Converse recovers the fumble for LSU’s third takeaway, but LSU gives the ball back to Auburn when Donovan Kaufman strips the ball from John Emery and Jayson Jones recovers for the home team.

Auburn’s offense had a chance with under five minutes left to play in the game to take back the lead, but once again, LSU’s defense stepped up when it mattered most as Greg Brooks made the play of the game intercepting Ashford when he stole the ball away from Koy Moore with two minutes left to play.

LSU would then proceed to run the rest of the clock out and clinch a 21-17 win on the road in the SEC.

LSU continues its winning streak at four games in a row while also improving to 2-0 in the SEC and 4-1 overall. Meanwhile, Auburn falls to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the SEC.

For LSU head coach Brian Kelly, he knows that his team could have executed a lot better, but it is still a huge win anytime that his team can go on the road and win in a hostile environment.

“To go on the road and not play your best and to find a way to win against Auburn at Auburn — it’s a tough place to play. The SEC is hard, and each and every week when you win, you appreciate it. Winning is hard in the SEC.”

“Our guys just kept playing and made some plays and made the big play here at the end on the interception. It wasn’t perfect, but sometimes, you learn a lot about grit and determination. We’ve got a lot of coaching to do and we got a lot of room for improvement.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly on 21-17 win

Next up, LSU will take on the number eight team in the country in the Tennessee Volunteers next Saturday at home while Auburn goes on the road to take on the number one team in the country and the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs.

Check out the final stats below!

Offensive Cumulative Stats:

STATLSUAuburn
NET TOTAL YARDS270438
NET RUSHING YARDS185101
Rushing Attempts4931
Average Per Rush3.83.3
Rushing TDs20
Yards Gained211126
Yards Lost2625
NET PASSING YARDS85337
Completion-Attempts10-2619-39
Completion Percentage38%49%
Avg Per Completion8.517.7
YAC42162
Passing TDs02
Drops (%)4 (15%)1 (03%)
TOTAL 1ST DOWNS2021
Rushing 1st Downs149
Passing 1st Downs210
Penalty 1st Downs42
TOTAL PLAYS7570
Avg Yds/Play3.66.3
Rushing-Passing49-2631-39

Offense Efficiency Comparison:

STATLSUAuburn
RED ZONE ATTEMPTS2-22-3
Red Zone Points1410
RZ TDs Rush-Pass2-00-1
RZ FG Made-Att0-01-1
RZ Turns01
3rd Downs5-156-15
4th Downs0-01-2
Penalties10-968-80
Fumbles-Lost2-16-2
Pts Off Turns70
POSSESSION TIME29:0730:53

Special Teams Comparison:

STATLSUAuburn
Punts-Avg9-44.44-46.3
Inside2052
Field Goals0-01-2
Kick Returns2-543-61
Punt Returns0-03-20

Defensive Comparison:

STATLSUAuburn
TACKLES5563
Solo Tackles3945
Tackles for Loss58
TFL Yards-15-24
Pass Breakups32
QB Hurries42
Sacks23
Sacks Yards-8-13
Takeaways FR-INT2-21-0
Forced Fumbles12
Fumble Recoveries21
FR Yards230
Interceptions20
INT Yards270
TDs INT-FR0-10-0

LSU Passing

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
5DANIELS,J8-2080004073.6
13NUSSMEIER,G2-65003340.3
PASS TOTALS10-26850038

LSU Receiving

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
86TAYLOR,M314064.774350
8NABERS,M2260171363371
27WILLIAMS,J20030210040
4EMERY JR.,J13903939333301
7BOUTTE,K14044250-61
80BECH,J12022110020
11THOMAS JR.,B000004001
6 RECEIVERS10850398.52540424

LSU Rushing

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
27WILLIAMS,J17680154
5DANIELS,J16591123.7
4EMERY JR.,J8421205.3
21CAIN,N521094.2
4 RUSHERS491852203.8

LSU Punting

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
BRAMBLETT,J940044.46552

LSU Field Goals

KickerTimeDistResult
TOTAL0-0LONG OF 0

LSU All Purpose Yards

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
EMERY JR.,J8142390001
WILLIAMS,J686800000
DANIELS,J595900001

LSU Defense

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
99J.Roy (DL)65000000
5J.Ward (DB)54000100
92M.Wingo (DL)54000000
18B.Ojulari (DE)44220001
24J.Bernard-Converse42000000
30G.Penn III (LB)4201.50010
2M.Garner (DB)32000000
6M.Jones Jr.32000000
23M.Baskerville (LB)32010100
40H.Perkins Jr.32001020
11A.Gaye (DE)2100.50000
13J.Foucha (DB)22000000
22C.Richardson (DB)21000000
33W.Weeks22000000
1S.Banks11000000
3G.Brooks Jr. (S)11001000
10J.Jenkins10000000
17Z.Carter11000000
32D.Tolan10000000
44S.Roy11000000
90J.Guillory10000000
15S.Ryan00000100
35S.Jones00000010
TOTALS5539252341

LSU Punt Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD

LSU Kick Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
BECH,J25427340

LSU Team Stats By Quarter

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st411-406-122-6-0523.11-43-30
2nd611-2911-686-11-0974.41-33-40
3rd714-933-00-3-0935.51-32-15
4th313-236-52-6-0281.52-52-11
Total2049-18526-8510-26-02703.65-1510-96

LSU Scoring Summary

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
206:33TDFUMBJ.Ward 23 yd fumble return
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)
17-7
200:15TDRUSHJ.Daniels 1 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)
11/77/1:4117-14
303:32TDRUSHJ.Emery Jr. 20 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)
7/63/3:3417-21

Auburn Passing

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
9ASHFORD,R19-383372150136.6
0MOORE,K0-10010-200
PASS TOTALS19-393372249

Auburn Receiving

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
0MOORE,K45503113.894420
4BIGSBY,T418094.5667271
6JOHNSON,J37415324.7560300
25SHENKER,J34202714650320
27HUNTER,J27006135450560
85FROMM,T135035351100150
19KELLY,O12502525110000
17BROWN,C11811818110000
8 RECEIVERS1933726117.737511621

Auburn Rushing

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
4BIGSBY,T12450233.8
27HUNTER,J6350115.8
9ASHFORD,R11190241.7
6JOHNSON,J14044
4 RUSHERS311010243.3

Auburn Punting

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
CHAPMAN,O418546.35020

Auburn Field Goals

KickerTimeDistResult
A.Carlson2nd-09:3829GOOD
A.Carlson2nd-01:5640MISSED
TOTAL1-2LONG OF 29

Auburn All-Purpose Yards

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
HUNTER,J150357045000
JOHNSON,J784740001
BIGSBY,T6345180000

Auburn Defense

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
32W.Steiner (LB)1110000000
0O.Pappoe (LB)83000010
10Z.Puckett (DB)61000000
25C.Wooden (DL)55120010
6K.Scott (CB)44010000
18N.Pritchett (DB)44010000
50M.Harris (DL)44000000
98M.Bragg44110000
1D.Kaufman (DB)32010001
29D.Hall (DL)32120001
36J.Simpson22000100
4D.James (CB)10000100
8A.Ausberry10000000
9R.Ashford11000000
20C.Bridges10000000
26A.Carlson11000000
30D.Tisdol10000000
55E.Leota (DL)11000000
77K.Zierer11000000
99J.Jones10000000
TOTALS6345380222

Auburn Punt Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
SCOTT,K32007150

Auburn Kick Returns

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
HUNTER,J24523250
SCOTT,K11616160
TOTAL36120250

Auburn Team Stats By Quarter

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st411-248-833-8-01075.64-61-5
2nd77-1212-1649-12-01769.31-32-20
3rd65-3713-825-13-01196.61-44-50
4th48-286-82-6-2362.60-21-5
Total2131-10139-33719-39-24386.36-158-80

Auburn Scoring Summary

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
112:57TDPASSJ.Johnson 53 yd reception thrown by R.Ashford
PAT kick by A.Carlson (GOOD)
6/69/1:567-0
214:04TDPASSC.Brown 18 yd reception thrown by R.Ashford
PAT kick by A.Carlson (GOOD)
6/99/2:5614-0
209:38FGA.Carlson 29 yd Field Goal7/48/2:3217-0