(7) LSU 31, AUBURN 19
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Who needs Kevin Faulk when LSU has great
field position and turnovers? Faulk was held to 88 yards rushing
Saturday and had his mark of six straight 100-yard games snapped,
but the seventh-ranked Tigers beat Auburn, 31-19.
Auburn planned all along to take Faulk out of the game -- and
just about succeeded. But LSU found ways to win without Faulk,
especially with the help of four Auburn turnovers.
"When you spot them 14 and lose by 12, that's as close as you're
going to get," Auburn coach Terry Bowden said.
Herb Tyler threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Kipps with 5:27
left to seal the victory for LSU (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern
Conference).
With LSU leading, 25-19, Chris Cummings intercepted a pass by
Auburn quarterback Ben Leard on Auburn's 46. Faulk then gained 26
yards on five carries to set up the clinching touchdown.
"We didn't always take advantage of turnovers," LSU coach Gerry
DiNardo said. "But we did when we had to."
LSU led, 19-17, at halftime and had a chance to blow the game
open in the third quarter, but twice failed to capitalize on
excellent field position.
Tyler was stopped on a fourth-and-1 on Auburn's 17. One
possession later, LSU moved to the Auburn 8, but Tyler fumbled
and the ball was recovered by Auburn's Rob Pate.
"There were times when we could have been a little better, so we
could separate ourselves, but we just didn't get it done,"
DiNardo said. "We made a lot of mistakes, but I think they are
correctable."
LSU wouldn't be denied after gaining excellent field position a
third time. After taking over on the Auburn 41, LSU needed only
four plays for Tyler to hook up with Larry Foster on a 29-yard TD
pass. The extra point was blocked and Brad Ware returned it 88
yards to make it 25-19.
Auburn (1-2, 1-1) quickly fell behind 13-0 at the start of the
game. Leard's pass was intercepted on Auburn's first play by
Clarence LeBlanc, who returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.
Freshman Michael Burks fumbled on Auburn's next play and LSU
recovered on the Auburn 26. Tyler's 5-yard TD run made it 13-0.
But Auburn battled back. Leard connected with wide-open Heath
Evans on Auburn's next possession for a 54-yard scoring strike
that made it 13-7.
After Auburn scored, LSU then moved 80 yards and took a 19-7 lead
on Tyler's 19-yard TD pass to Faulk. But the second quarter
belonged to Auburn, which closed within 19-14 on Karsten Bailey's
10-yard TD catch.
Auburn made it 19-17 before the half on Robert Bironas' 29-yard
field goal. The drive was aided by consecutive personal fouls
against LSU.
(7) Louisiana State 31, AUBURN 19
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
--- --- --- --- -----
LSU 19 0 6 6 31
Auburn 7 10 2 0 19
First Quarter
LSU-LeBlanc 21 interception return (Boyd kick), 12:04
LSU-Tyler 5 run (kick blocked), 9:34
Aub-Evans 54 pass from Leard (Bironas kick), 6:52
LSU-Faulk 19 pass from Tyler (run failed), 1:09
Second Quarter
Aub-Bailey 10 pass from Leard (Bironas kick), 5:25
Aub-FG Bironas 22, :00
Third Quarter
LSU-Foster 29 pass from Tyler (kick blocked), :28
Aub-Ware 88 blocked conversion return, :28
Fourth Quarter
LSU-Kipps 6 pass from Tyler (pass failed), 5:27
LSU Aub
--- ---
First downs 17 20
Rushes-yards 42-132 28-21
Passing 174 285
Comp-Att-Int 16-20-0 21-38-3
Return Yards 80 86
Punts-Avg. 5-42.4 5-40.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 7-60 6-40
Time of Possession 30:39 29:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-LSU, Faulk 21-88, Mealey 9-33, Tyler 11-9, Banks 1-2.
Auburn, Burks 14-47, Pennington 1-19, Carter 6-8, Nelsen 1-0,
Cooper 1-(minus 3), Leard 5-(minus 50).
PASSING-LSU, Tyler 16-20-0-174. Auburn, Leard 21-38-3-285.
RECEIVING-LSU, Foster 10-111, Booty 3-23, Kipps 2-21, Faulk 1-19.
Auburn, Robinson 9-130, Bailey 4-57, Pennington 3-17, Schweiger
2-22, Evans 1-54, Nelsen 1-3, Lowe 1-2.
A-85,214
