With less than three minutes on the clock on Saturday inside Jordan-Haire Stadium, LSU had a chance to come away with a last-second win. But a classic of case of clock mismanagement cost them a win over Auburn without allowing a touchdown.
Auburn struck first about midway through the first quarter with a nice 51-yarder going through the uprights by Daniel Carlson to make it 3-0. LSU would respond on the very next drive with a touchdown via Etling improvising a play with a pitch to Foster Moreau that gave them a one-point lead.
The kicking game continued to excel for Auburn with a pair of field goals in the second quarter from Carlson gave them a 9-7 lead heading into the locker room.
The second half for both teams started out as a kicking contest between Carlson and Delahoussaye with both nailing field goals on consecutive drives. Delahoussaye gave LSU the lead after LSU forced a turnover with a nice chip shot to make it 13-12.
The kicking contest continued with Carlson tying his career high with five field goals to give Auburn the lead right back with a 37-yarder.
Auburn forced LSU to score a touchdown with 2:58 remaining with Carlson blasting another one through the uprights to make it 18-13. LSU began to drive down the field behind Etling’s arm. But an illegal shift with one second remaining wound up costing LSU the game as Danny Etling initially looked to get the snap off before the clock struck zero and connected with DJ Chark for what would have been the gamewinner, but was reversed after it was seen that the snap did not get off in time.
LSU drops to 2-2 and heads back home to take on Missouri (2-2, 0-1 SEC) with kickoff set for 6 pm.
-Clint Domingue