Another photo finish. Another ridiculously entertaining game, to the final seconds.
And contributing to that: Les Miles either has the brassiest, heaviest pair in all of college football, or his mind is the size of a peanut. Or maybe both.
The scene: Tiger stadium. 30 seconds to go in the final period, Auburn leads, 24-23; but LSU has the ball on Auburn's 23 yard line as the result of an inexplicable decision to squib kick the ball instead of boot it deep.
National title hopes for LSU hang by a thread. So do Auburn's dreams of winning an SEC Championship.
Auburn's sideline is filled with that sick, queasy certainty of doom that associates said field position with a last second field goal which will torpedo their tiny lead. Tommy Tuberville stands on the sidelines, pulsing pressure waves of uncertainty as LSU allows time to tick down on 3rd and 7. Tuberville decides to save his TO to ice the kicker, because surely LSU is planning to move the ball into slightly better field goal postion, so they'll use their final--
But they're not. No timeout called. We're down to :25, then :20.
We hit :15. Flynn breaks the huddle and moves into the shotgun. What the hell?
:11. LSU appears to be in no hurry. No one's calling a timeout. This really makes no sense at all.
:10. Auburn's filling the box with four down linemen and four DBs, with one safety playing shallow and a cornerback playing man-to-man on both of LSU's wide receivers.
:09. This is a really bad idea. LSU is in field goal range. They don't need a TD here to win. This is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
:08. Ball's snapped.
:07. Flynn looks, then releases. The pigskin goes parabolic. It's headed for...
:06. Demetrius Byrd. He's streaking up the left side of the field on a basic fade route, well covered by Auburn's Jerraud Powers.
:04. No way, no way, no way... he can't.... he--
:02. It's a catch! It's a catch in the endzone! NFW! Despite excellent coverage by Powers, Byrd makes the biggest grab of his life.
:01. Clock stops at one freaking second.
ESPN's Mike Patrick's initial reaction is to go ga-ga: "Whoa! What a call! That is the call of the year!" he crows.
Then he notices the game clock at one second, and starts to think about it.
"... But look at the clock! If that ball is incomplete, they lose!"
Todd Blackledge: "Oh my god, you're right. You're right. I got so caught up watching the play, I didn't even see where that clock ended up."
Todd Blackledge: "Oh my god, you're right. You're right. I got so caught up watching the play, I didn't even see where that clock ended up."
Which, of course, is technically untrue. If the pass fell incomplete and everything else unfolded the same way, with :01 on the clock, LSU could have gone for the FG attempt. But if the clock operator was a tad slow, or the pass was thrown a heartbeat later, or Byrd bobbled it... you're looking at a big Auburn upset.
With :01 remaining, Auburn tried to do some lateral-ish stuff on the kickoff return, but failed. Game over.
Here's the kicker. Miles apparently had no idea how closely he flirted with disaster, as evidenced by his post-game interview on the field:
Holly Rowe: "Weren't you worried about the clock?"Uh, yeah. But coach, you didn't have 18 or even 16 seconds. You had 8. And if Flynn takes one extra breath, if Byrd cuts in just a little more instead of fading out, if the clock operator BLINKS, it's :00 with LSU down by a point.
Les Miles: "We didn't use our last time out, we could have called time out after that. Absolutely not. We felt like with 18 seconds, 16 seconds on the clock we were in great shape."
Ignorance is bliss, sometimes.
And the thinnest of margins separate goat from hero. One second and a catch: Miles is beloved. A heartbeat and an incompletion: Miles' skull rides on a pike high atop Tiger stadium.
But hey: it made for a hell of a college football game. Again. Thanks, Les, for being crazy in all that you do.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Byrd caught the ball with 4 seconds to go. The clock operator apparently spilled his beer when the catch was made and it delayed the clock...
I think Miles was referring to 16 seconds on the clock when they began to line up. He's not the idiot everyone thinks he is.
FEAR THE HAT!
I knew they would take a shot down the field. I just didn't know they'd let the clock run down that far! It made sense, though. Fact: the vaunted Muschamp defense got TORCHED (488 yards) in that game, particularly in the second half. Frankly, it could have been worse. It seemed like LSU got 8-15 yards every time they handed off. But, you'd get a sack on third and short. Or a drop. Or the backup QB would run backwards. Or a receiver would bobble a perfectly-thrown bomb right to a DB.
Take away the Perriloux bobble/fumble, and the interception, and we'd have been on the bad end of an UGLY score. I'm proud of how my Auburn Tigers fought (except for Chaz Ramsey's ugly chop-block), and War Eagle. LSU is a very good team, whose worst enemy is themselves...
All I can say is LSU is 29-5 under Les Miles he has to be doing something right. How many teams in the country can play in the SEC and have that kind of a record.
Ihope LSU wins out and so does Univ of Fla so they can have a rematch in the SEC championship game.
One game at a time. LSU can't lose focus on that. Each game presents a new challenge, and everytime they overcome and win that just better prepares them for the ultimate goal. It was a nice welcome to see Early back on the field to energize the guys. Keep your heads high Auburn, that was a great game! Now we're moving on over to see Nick again at Alabama. Geaux Tigers and gettem Les...
Having seen the replay a few times now it looks to me like the ball was actually caught with 3 seconds left on the clock but the officials didn't whistle it dead very quickly. That wouldn't have been a problem on an incompletion.
Still not a real bright move -- you never know when one of your players is going to pull a Cal and really screw something up.
Big deal, they win, at HOME, get EVERY call imaginable, and if the pass was incomplete, they still just kick a FIELDgoal. Nice to see Sabens recruits winning still there. And, sorry, Auburn, who scored all of 9 points against Ark. and has lost 2 games already, and now ranked what 25th?? Nice to see you could pull out a victory. When Miles losses his second game, and he will, let's see how many of you think he is this great coach then......
Regardless of the win, Auburn is showing that it is a good team. No SEC Champ, but we will be a threat.
Im a lifelong Ohio State fun BUT I like that Les Miles. That SOB just 'goes for it'. Not sure if big ba!!s or no brains but I like it nonetheless.
Myles is a good gutsy coach!! To bad though he'll never make it in Baton Rouge, who have the worst fans in the world! They're still mad at Saban and don't even take time to reason they're playing on his talent now... All I can say is LS-WHO?.. from a transplated BAMA fan living in Baton Rouge.. Roll Tide Roll!!!
Les Miles is a wanta be...he wants to be head coach of a pro team and hes not that good...He didnt do anything for the teams he coached before he went to LSU and u can be sure his time is coming...he will be on the bottom again ...I am a OU SOONER FAN and always will be
LSU is gonna lose to UF in the SECC game.
Acid, far too many "if's" that went the other way for me to take the periloux screw up out of the equation..... why was the flag picked up on the replay of the LSU TD again (there were still only 6 on the line)? How did the ref spot the ball 2 feet past where the LSU player was down on the final drive? (who ever the person is in the AU booth advising Tubby what to challenge screwed that up as well) WAY too many others too mention some on both sides. All in all a great game by both teams and I feel as good about the game as I possibly could for a loss. Les Miles is still Less Miles, that last play call was moronic at best....and it took perfect (and I mean absolutely perfect) execution to work. If I were an LSU fan I would write ole "Less" a nice note reminding him that a W by 2 counts as much as W by 6. Getting lucky doesn't a genius make either. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut even now and then......just hate AU had to be on the field when he did. And yes the chop block by Ramsey was inexcusable if it was intentional.
Yeah, we won, but...
-despite having 300+ passing yards, Flynn is still inaccurate on most passes(with exceptions, of course)
-despite a great grab by Byrd, the receivers are killing us!!
-Miles is inflexible about 'not' featuring one or even two backs...with the beasts we have, why not let one of them get into a rythmn?
-as it was in the UK game also, the tackling is suspect
-the red zone play calling is horrible...we set up house inside their 20 and could only kick field goals
But with that said, we are 7-1, # 3, and should have enough steam to win out and it is likely that BC or Ohio St. will lose one, moreso with BC...I just hope we don't run into Florida in SEC title game, at least not while we're playing like this.
And for you delusional 'Tide' fans...if LSU is tricky Nicky's talent, then the LSU/Alabama game ought to end in a tie, right?
I'd don't think it's that BAMA fans are delusional, but LSU has had trouble hanging with any team that has been ranked so for this year, Yes you better hope they don't meet up again w/Florida in the BCS SEC, because I don't think they can pull it out a second time!!! Roll Tide!!!
Auburn's kickoff strategy stinks!! Why give LSU the ball every time near the 40-yard line? The football team played good enough to win. The coaching staff had a losing strategy!!!
Uhh, BG, maybe that's because LSU has played hands down THE toughest schedule of any other school in the Top 25.
Ohio State has played exactly ONE ranked team (Purdue); BC has played exactly ONE ranked team (Ga. Tech). LSU has played FIVE ranked teams thus far and #6 (your crew) is on deck.
Having to beat UF a second time in the SEC Championship Game, if that comes to pass, will be ranked team #7. So be it. Playing in New Orleans for the National Championship would be ranked team #8.
Nobody can possibly claim LSU is backing into the title. Hands down, they will have played THE toughest schedule in all the land. That point is not even debatable.
Make sure you come back in two weeks and give Les Miles and LSU their just due, OK?
The players played great.
The officials were horrible.
What's up with the squib kicks. That stunk.
WAR EAGLE
I understand the pooch kicks.. I understand needing to keep the ball away from LSU's big return guys.... UNTIL we score late in the 4th and are hanging on with fingernails to a one point lead... Did Tommy forget that a pooch kick, and subsequently giving them the ball on the 45 about makes it only a 30 yard field to get into range.. HUGE coaching mistake to pooch there.. Kick it deep and AU wins, it's as simple as that.
If Gators had pansy schedule like OS, BC or ASU they'd be looking at #1 again (#2 at worst til SEC Championship game vs. LSU). Just another embaressing performance on national stage waiting to come for any of these wimps.
Got to say, there's College Football & then there's SEC Football!!