EDITOR’S NOTE: The LSU fans have voted and the Top 5 Night Games in Tiger Stadium history have been decided! The No. 2 game according to LSUsports.net’s fan poll was LSU’s 7-6 win over Auburn on Oct. 8, 1988.
LSU scores just in time for 7-6 win
By Teddy Allen
Staff writer
The Times Picayune
BATON ROUGE — Just when people thought LSU had forgotten how to score a touchdown, the Tigers put most of their yards and all the offensive magic they could muster into one fourth-quarter drive to beat fourth ranked Auburn, 7-6, Saturday night before 70,431 fans.
Trailing, 6-0, with 6:07 remaining, the home-Tigers huddled deep in their territory, the ball at the 24 and the fourth largest crowd in Tiger Stadium history eager to cheer for something good?anything good?after watching Auburn’s defensive lineman practice the Heimlich maneuver on the hometown quarterback most of the night.
“Please, just give me a little time.” Tommy Hodson said in the huddle. “That’s all I want. This is our last chance.”
Seventy-six yards later, Eddie Fuller grabbed Hodson’s pass in the end zone’s heart to tie the score 6-6, with 1:41 remaining. The pass came on fourth-and-10 from the 11 and was the same play the Tigers had run on first down from the point, one that ended with Fuller making the catch just outside the back of the end zone.
Amid unrestrained celebration, LSU place-kicker David Browndyke trotted on with a string of 68 straight successful extra-point kicks behind him. No one said anything to him or seemed to notice as he lined up on the 69th.
“I’m glad it was like that,” said Browndyke, whose kick made the score 7-6, although he “kind of hit (holder) Chris Moock’s finger when I kicked it.”
It was best that no LSU player or coach know that at the time. The final drive?the winning play alone?had been more than enough drums, and just enough of what LSU needed.
Said Hodson, “We didn’t get a lot of first downs (13), a lot of completions (19 of 42), or a lot of yards rushing (28). But we got the most points.”
“It was pretty hard to do, but we did it, Fate,” LSU offensive guard Ruffin Rodrigue said of the drive against the clock, Auburn, and a two-week streak of losses and frustration. “It’s the best defense I’ve ever faced and we did it. I guess it’s just fate. This puts the heart back in us just like Ohio State (a last second 36-33 LSU loss two weeks ago) took the heart out of us.”
With no timeouts remaining, Auburn took the ensuing kickoff to its 36. The LSU defense allowed just 316 yards to an Auburn team that had been averaging 510 a game, wasn’t going to give this one away. Auburn ran out of chances after four plays, and the game ended with Hodson dropping on a knee to the turf, something he had done involuntarily all night in a defensive battle.
“We did a good job and still didn’t win,” Auburn defensive tackle Tracy Rocker said. “He’s (Hodson) the glory boy now.”
The victory ended a two-game streak of no glory for the 3-2 Tigers and placed them back in the SEC race at 2-1, Auburn is 4-1 and 2-1.
Until the winning drive, LSU had hardly scratched against a senior-oriented Auburn defense. LSU drove into Auburn territory only once in the first half, and then only to the 45. Only one of LSU’s first-half drives went for more than 10 yards.
Things got no better in the second half, which LSU entered trailing 3-0 after a 41-yard Lyle field goal with 1:41 left in the first half. LSU made it to the Auburn 23 midway through the third quarter, but a clipping penalty on third down put LSU out of field position and out of the money.
Auburn put extra heat on LSU when Lyle’s 33-yard field goal made the score 6-0 with 10:18 left. But after one possession for each team, LSU took over from the 24 and began a drive that will be barber shop talk around south Louisiana as long as the Tigers play football and Cajuns’ hair grows.
Tony Moss made a catch and ran for 10 yards to the 43. Tight end Willie Williams made a catch along the sideline and took a hit after a 13-yard gain to the Auburn 45.
A pass to Alvin Lee gained five yards on third-and-five at the 40, Hodson scrambled and threw to Moss, lonely in the middle of the field. Hodson was crunched but the ball was at the 21, and 3:33 remained.
The drive should have ended on the next play, but Fuller dropped Hodson’s pass at the goal line. Hodson was dropped by Auburn linebacker Craig Ogletree after a one-yard scramble the next play.
A third down pass was incomplete, setting up the first drama. A fourth-and nine completion in the flat to Williams, who was hit, drove three yards and dived to the 11 for the first down with 2:45 left.
“That was clutch,” Hodson said.
“We cut it close,” said offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher.
After Fuller was ruled out of bounds on the first-down catch, Hodson rolled right on second and third downs and ran out of field and receivers on both. Two balls hit the dirt. But LSU’s final chance hit Fuller, who was still dazed long after the game ended because of his somewhat odd bat trick: He dropped a potential touchdown pass, caught a pass just out of the end zone, then caught the winner for keeps. “This has been the most…,” said Fuller, who just shook his head like the most of his teammates were doing.
LSU hadn’t scored less than 10 points in consecutive games since1983, and after last week’s 19-6 loss to Florida, the Tigers find themselves in a not so promising land. No one in an LSU uniform much cared about that on this night. Seven points were just enough.