The No. 10 Auburn Tigers were upset by LSU, 27-23 on Saturday, thanks to a 20-point comeback from Ed Orgeron’s team in Tiger Stadium. This means a huge boost of confidence in what Coach O’s doing, but just looking at the numbers, this was an incredible comeback.
Auburn was up 20-0 and had a 96 percent chance of beating LSU. Auburn didn’t beat LSU.
The Bayou Bengals locked down on defense and got just enough big plays on offense to complete a big two-week turnaround.
Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
In fact, Auburn had a damn 96 percent chance of winning the game when it went up 20-0 in the second quarter.
No, really!
Stat via ESPN
This will go down in the record books as the biggest comeback over an SEC opponent at home.
And this was one of the four biggest comebacks in LSU history.
So what happened? Well, a lot of different things, actually.
Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda clamped down on what Auburn was doing. Part of the problem in the first half, according to Aranda, was Auburn’s wildcat QB package.
In the first half, Jarrett Stidham threw for 159 yards and a touchdown, and Auburn’s running backs averaged 5.2 yards per attempt.
The second half was one hell of a turnaround, with LSU keeping Auburn off the board entirely. Take a look at the stats from the first half compared to the second.
As far as Auburn’s offensive star goes:
Despite that, LSU was still trailing by nine points for most of the second half.
In the fourth quarter, LSU finally got a second-half touchdown thanks to an electrifying punt return from DJ Chark.
With 2:36 left, LSU kicker Connor Culp made a 42-yard field goal that gave his team a 24-23 lead.
Auburn had one last chance ... and did something weird.
On Auburn’s ensuing drive, Gus Malzahn called a timeout and decided to roll the dice and go for it on fourth-and-10, but Jarrett Stidham’s pass was broken up.
That gave LSU the ball back with 1:38 left, which allowed another field goal to take a four-point lead with 38 seconds left. Here’s And The Valley Shook on the wise decision-making from Coach O in the fourth quarter:
This time, LSU was just short on a critical 3rd down, and he had 4th and inches. LSU could either attempt a 42-yard field goal with a freshman kicker or try and get inches behind an interior line that had been getting killed all season. He didn’t trust his kicker, nor did he trust his line, but he had to choose someone.
He chose wisely, and Connor Culp delivered a 42 yarder straight down the middle to give LSU a one-point lead. Still, because this is LSU-Auburn, the game was not over. We still needed a defensive stand.
Mission accomplished. However, again, the game wasn’t over, as there was a ton of clock yet, so LSU had to run out the clock. And LSU could not get that first down. So LSU kicked another field goal and asked the defense to make a stand again, this time with the comfort that only a touchdown would lose this game.
The defense came through. The offense came through. The kicker came through. The fans came through. Ed Orgeron came through. Mike the friggin’ Tiger came through.
Stidham’s offense eventually faced a fourth-and-10, and Arden Key sacked him, sealing the LSU victory.
LSU’s two-week turnaround has been pretty great.
Remember when this team lost to Troy at home and Orgeron was on the hot seat? The Tigers followed that up with a 17-16 victory on the road over Florida and an upset over the No. 10 team in the country. That’s a pretty good way to instill confidence and preach patience to LSU fans, in my book.
For LSU, the bulk of its schedule is out of the way, with the toughest games remaining including the Nov. 4 road trip to Alabama and the season finale against Texas A&M. We’ll see what Orgeron’s team has against Alabama in a few weeks.
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