Chark sparks LSU rally from 20-point deficit
Published 8:19 pm Sunday, October 15, 2017
BATON ROUGE — At different points Saturday, LSU’s 27-23 comeback victory over No. 10 Auburn somehow morphed its way from chaotic to embarrassing to lost cause to respectable to kind of possible to somehow realistic to almost inevitable to — nutty as it seemed —a wild, final celebration.
Quite an afternoon it was.
Trending
Or maybe just another chapter in what has always been a wild and crazy series with Auburn and what is becoming a can-do LSU team.
But when did head coach Ed Orgeron think it was possible, that LSU might actually come back from 20 points down to win — the Tigers’ biggest Southeastern Conference comeback in Tiger Stadium since at least 1949.
He didn’t have a clue, even though Russell Gage apparently made some encouraging noise in the locker room after LSU got back into it with his touchdown grab just before halftime to pull within 23-14.
Orgeron didn’t know who the hero was, either, for that matter.
“This whole team,” he growled. “It took the whole team.”
He knew one thing: “It was everything you dream about.”
Trending
And one more thing: “I knew we were going to keep on playing.”
There’s something to be said for that apparently, and, as unlikely as it seemed early, LSU handed Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) its first conference loss and the Tigers, two weeks after losing at home to Troy, are 5-2, 2-1 in the SEC and, for what it’s worth, control their own destiny in the conference.
“Gut check,” Orgeron said. “Our guys believed at halftime. There was no, ‘Hey, we can’t get this done.’ We just knew we were a couple of plays away here and there.”
It was a bit easier trailing 23-14 at halftime, but not much.
Before that the Tigers trailed 20-0 and hadn’t slowed down Auburn’s offense.
But the Tigers crept back in it, grabbing more and more momentum as the second half wore on.
Wide receivers scored all three LSU touchdowns — one by land (Stephen Sullivan’s 1-yard jet sweep), one by air (Russell Gage’s 14-yard reception just before halftime that got LSU back in the game) and one by special teams (DJ Chark’s dynamic 75-yard punt return touchdown that pulled the Tigers to within 23-21 early in the fourth quarter).
All played a role, but Chark’s run into the history of this series got the crowd believing for sure.
“The punt return really broke our back,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “We were really in pretty good shape up until that.”
The stadium crowd seemed to sense the possibility after that.
“Before that I didn’t believe that they were going to score on our defense at all,” Auburn wide receiver Ryan Davis said. “I would have to say that the punt return was the big difference in the game for both teams.”
But — nobody said it would be easy — of course, it came down to an LSU placekicker –— a position Orgeron admitted just a few weeks ago the Tigers don’t really have in a reliable variety on the team — with the comeback on the line.
It wasn’t a no-brainer decision on fourth-and-inches from the Auburn 25-yard line with just over 4 minutes to play, not for a team that doesn’t really have an easy chip shot in its repertoire.
But Orgeron sent Connor Culp out anyway.
“I just kind of believed he was going to make it today for some reason,” Orgeron said. “We needed the points.”
Culp was perfect with the winner from 42 yards out, then added three insurance points in the final minute from 36 yards.
“I’m definitely going to remember that for the rest of my life,” Culp said. “It’s just a great feeling.
“I didn’t really know where I was at. Everything went black after that. Then about a minute after, I found some composure and went, ‘Oh. I really did that?’”
The Tigers must have thought the same thing about themselves as a whole.
None of would have mattered if the Tigers hadn’t figured out a way to slow down Auburn, which made LSU look silly and confused while jumping to a 20-0 lead early in the second half.
But after giving up 23 points and 290 yards in the first half, the LSU defense shut out Auburn in the second half while allowing three first downs and 64 yards.
Auburn never threatened to score after the half.
“I think (defensive coordinator) Dave Aranda had ice in his veins tonight,” Orgeron said. “He just kept on calling plays.”
Orgeron said the Tigers even thought about dumping the defensive game plan at halftime.
Instead, they decided to fix it.
“There was one certain formation they were giving us,” he said. “We just weren’t getting it right. We challenged our team to get it right and they did.”
Linebacker Devin White, who made a career-high 15 tackles, including a sack and another for a loss, said it was as simple as moving a safety down into the box.
“We just knew we had to stop them,” he said.
Louisiana State University’s DJ Chark tip toes down the side line against Auburn University at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday, October 14, 2017.
