LSU-Auburn series hasn’t gone by the book
Published 6:00 pm Saturday, October 14, 2017
Strange things seem to happen when Auburn and LSU get together, sometimes bordering on the paranormal.
Just the quick highlights show an Earthquake Game in Baton Rouge, the Barn Fire game that threatened to turn the Auburn campus to charcoal as the teams played on; also the year LSU Brought Back the Magic or the game the War Eagles defied Tiger Stadium’s no-smoking clause to fire up victory cigars in the end zone.
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Then there was last year, which surely was the one of the strangest — more eerie than anything — endings.
Replay review may never have played out so obviously or dramatically.
At odds was whether LSU got the apparent winning touchdown play off before the game clock struck zero.
So, as replay officials scrutinized it, there the two teams were, kneeling single file down their respective sidelines, some holding hands, while watching Auburn’s oversized big screen in the end zone for any hint.
The game would be determined by it — and the teams looked up anxiously, like a much larger, far sweatier, version of Olympic figure skaters awaiting their final scores.
When the screen revealed it obvious that LSU didn’t get the snap off in time, neither team even waited for the official word from the officials — Auburn sprinted off in celebration, LSU began a slow trudge to a loser’s locker room, the victim of six Auburn field goals in an 18-13 loss.
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That’s OK. In 2005 Auburn missed five field goals in LSU’s 20-17 overtime win.
Last year had been billed in advance as the “Buyout Bowl,” with both head coaches squarely on the hot seat going in, and sure enough LSU’s Les Miles was fired the next day.
Auburn’s Gus Malzahn survived, the game turned the War Eagles’ season around, and Malzahn now has his No. 10 team rolling into Baton Rouge where he’ll find … Les Miles.
No, Miles is still fired. Ed Orgeron used the interim tag last season to get the job full-time and will be growling on the LSU sideline.
But the Mad Hatter will be on hand — his first trip to Tiger Stadium since the downfall — as part of the celebration honoring his 2007 national championship LSU team.
Maybe LSU can bring back some of that magic — the Tigers’ 30-24 victory over Auburn that championship season was secured by one of Uncle Les’ boldest calls when he dialed up a dicey, beat-the-clock throw into the end zone for a winning touchdown when a chip-shot field goal would have served the same purpose.
So you can generally expect an oddity or two.
Even though Auburn hasn’t won in Tiger Stadium since firing up the victory cigars in 1999, a mere LSU victory today would almost qualify as another strange chapter in this weird series.
LSU (4-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) is coming off an impressive 17-16 victory over then-No. 21 Florida last week that was more gutsy that an aesthetic masterpiece. But the home Tigers are still finding their way in Orgeron’s first season.
Auburn (5-1, 3-0) is on a roll since losing a tight game 14-6 to defending national champion Clemson. It has shellacked SEC opponents in its last three games by a combined 144-47, including a 49-10 win over the same Mississippi State team that beat LSU 37-7.
Due to injuries and lack of numbers, LSU will likely take on the War Eagles’ defense with three true freshmen in the offensive line, a position where most players redshirt a season.
“If we have to start them, we have to start them,” Orgeron said.
The Tigers did play most of the Florida game with the same youth factor in play.
Today will also be a rare day game in Tiger Stadium, which always annoys the fan base.
“There’s a lot of things in life that we have to do that we don’t like,” Orgeron said. “This is going to be very challenging. But we’re going to be ready for it.”
In the series, at least LSU knows stranger things have happened.
In this Oct. 7, 2017, file photo, LSU coach Ed Orgeron takes the field with players during warm-ups for the team’s NCAA college football game against Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Saturday’s game is Orgeron’s first against Auburn as LSU coach. Orgeon initially inherited the LSU job on an interim basis after Auburn beat LSU last season, after which Les Miles was fired.
