Auburn, a 9-point underdog, had no trouble giving coach Tommy Tuberville his third straight victory over LSU. Tuberville, in his first year at Auburn (3-0 overall, 1-0 SEC), beat LSU the past two years while coaching Mississippi.
It was supposed to be LSU's defense, especially the seasoned secondary, that dominated the game, as Tuberville tried to rebuild Auburn after a 3-8 season with a minimum of talent left behind by the departed Terry Bowden.
Auburn outgained LSU 426 yards to 342, averaging almost 6 yards per play.
LSU (2-1, 0-1), rebuilding after a 4-7 record last season, came in leading the SEC in rushing offense and passing defense. But Auburn limited the Tigers to 26 yards on 21 rushes and Leard was 16-of-23 for 304 yards. Ronney Daniels caught two passes for 120 yards, both for touchdowns, and Markeith Cooper caught five for 105.
Three plays into the game, Kenny Kelly intercepted the first pass by LSU sophomore Rohan Davey and returned it 29 yards to the Tigers 20, setting up Damon Duval's 27-yard field goal.
Duval surprised LSU when Auburn's next possession stalled at the 4. Instead of kicking a field goal, Duval grabbed the snap and ran for a touchdown.
Auburn then marched 69 yards, hitting the end zone on Leard's 36-yard TD pass to Daniels that made it 17-0 with 47 seconds left in the quarter.
LSU had no first downs, no completions, and only 15 yards in the first quarter. Davey ended the quarter with a fumble that gave Auburn a first down on the LSU 16.
After one series in the second quarter, Davey, who was 4-of-11 for 31 yards with two interceptions and a fumble, was replaced by Josh Booty.
Booty, LSU's 24-year-old rookie who spent five years with the Florida Marlins organization, was 29-of-58 for 285 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions. He managed to at least generate a few first downs, but the LSU defense couldn't shut down Auburn.
The Tigers scored a second-quarter touchdown on a bizarre 84-yard reception by Daniels, which he fumbled on the LSU 21, then recovered and took the rest of the way to the end zone for a 24-0 lead.
Clifton Robinson's 8-yard run and Leard's 16-yard pass to Jack Schwieger helped Auburn to a 41-7 lead. LSU's TD came on Booty's 12-yard pass to Ed Dangerfield.
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
--- --- --- --- -----
Auburn 17 7 10 7 41
LSU 0 0 7 0 7
First Quarter
Aub - FG Duval 27, 9:41
Aub - Run Duval 1 (Duval kick) 3:37
Aub - Daniels 36 pass from Leard (Duval kick) :47
Second Quarter
Aub - Daniels 84 pass from Leard (Duval kick)2;25
Third Quarter
Aub - FG Duval 44, 13:00
Aub - Run Robinson 8 (Duval kick) 4:12
LSU - Dangerfield 12 pass from Booty (Corbello kick) :22
Fourth Quarter
Aub - Schwieger 16 pass from Leard (Duval kick) 10:21
Aub LSU
--- ---
First downs 19 22
Rushes-yards 47-151 21-51
Passing 340 316
Return yards 68 140
Comp-Att-Int 18-26-0 33-69-4
Punts 5-228 5-195
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 5-30 4-25
Time of Possession 32:50 27:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Auburn, Williams, 15-50, C. Robinson 18-40, Evans 8-20,
Owens 2-13, Duval 1-1, Leard 2-(-18), Klein 1-(-20). LSU, Mealey
12-23, Davis 4-11, Davey 2-1, Booty 3-26.
PASSING-Auburn, Leard 16-23-0-304, Klein 2-3-0-36. LSU, Booty
29-58-2-285, Davey 4-11-2-31.
RECEIVING-Auburn, Cooper 5-105, Daniels 2-120, T. Robinson 2-22,
Schwieger 2-19, Williams 2-6, Worthy 1-40, Hooker 1-21, Willis
1-11, Diamond 1-8, C. Robinson 1-(-12). LSU, Myers 13-153, A.
Booty 5-74, Davis 4-13, Banks 3-19, Mealey 3-4, Royal 2-17,
Robinson 1-18, Dangerfield 1-12, Kipps 1-6.
A-80,562.
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