Auburn Tigers vs LSU Tigers Match Player Stats On Oct 14, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 14, 2017

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU erased a 20-0 first-half deficit and freshman kicker Connor Culp kicked two field goals in the final 2:36 to lift the Tigers to a 27-23 upset victory against No. 10 Auburn on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

LSU trailed by 20 midway through the second quarter, but the Tigers rallied by holding Auburn, which had averaged 48 points in its last three games, scoreless over the final 32 minutes.

Trailing 23-21, LSU downed a punt at the Auburn 3-yard-line late in the fourth quarter, and Auburn failed to pick up a first down and punted to the Auburn 45. LSU moved the ball to the Auburn 25, where on fourth-and-1, Culp came in and split the uprights on the go-ahead 42-yard kick.

After stopping Auburn on its next possession, Culp hit a 36-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to make it 27-23.

Left for dead after an upset loss to Troy three weeks ago, LSU (5-2, 1-1) beat a ranked team for the second consecutive week. Auburn (5-2, 3-1) lost the first of three consecutive SEC road games.

The third quarter turned into a defensive battle, and LSU tightened the score even more when D.J. Chark raced 75 yards with an Aidan Marshall punt for a touchdown that cut the deficit to 23-21 with 14:33 left. It was Chark's second punt return for a TD this season.

Auburn dominated the first half, scoring on five of its first six possessions, but it made several defensive mistakes in the second quarter that allowed LSU to cut a 20-point deficit to 23-14 just before halftime.

Kicker Daniel Carlson, who single-handedly beat LSU with six field goals in an 18-13 victory last season, made field goals of 46, 48 and 26 yards, and Auburn scored touchdowns on a 49-yard pass from Jarrett Stidham to Will Hastings on a deep post route and a 4-yard run by Kerryon Johnson.

LSU got back in the game midway through the second quarter when receiver Russell Gage took a jet sweep around left end and raced 70 yards to the Auburn 7. LSU gambled on fourth-and-1 from the Auburn, and it paid off with another jet sweep -- this one by receiver Stephen Sullivan -- to cut the deficit to 20-7.

Leading 23-7, Auburn made another defensive mistake on LSU's last possession of the first half. Cornerback Jamel Dean tried to jump an out route, but Chark caught the ball on the left sidelines and raced 37 yards to the Auburn 38.

Etling made it 23-14 with a perfect, 12-yard fade in the end zone to Gage, who laid out for the ball in the corner of the end zone.

Auburn held a 188-67 edge in total offense in rolling up their 20-0 lead.

NOTES: LSU honored the 2007 BCS National Championship team at halftime. Seventy players and head coach Les Miles got a standing ovation. That 2007 team went 12-2 and won the title with a 38-24 victory over Ohio State. ... LSU RB Derrius Guice was clearly not 100 percent, limping through the first half and gaining just 24 yards on seven carries. ... With three more field goals in the first half, Auburn K Daniel Carlson is now 14-of-18 on the year. He led all kickers last year in going 28-of-32 last year. ... D.J. Chark became the first LSU player with two punt return touchdowns in the same season since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2012.