LSU 3, AUBURN 7 (Final)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch


Quote:
AUBURN 7 LSU 3
Safety?s hit saves day in defensive struggle

Sunday, September 17, 2006

John Zenor
ASSOCIATED PRESS

</IMG> ROB CARR ASSOCIATED PRESS Auburn?s Courtney Taylor hauls in a pass over Louisiana State?s John Vaughn and Danny Perry (31) in the fourth quarter.


AUBURN, Ala. ? Eric Brock?s instructions were simple and altogether appropriate for the final play of Auburn?s latest slugfest with Louisiana State.
"The coaches told us that anything we see in front of us, you hit it," the Auburn safety said.
Brock?s game-saving tackle just a few yards from the goal line on the final play preserved No. 3 Auburn?s 7-3 win over sixth-ranked LSU yesterday. He also tipped away a fourth-down pass to end another late LSU threat as Auburn turned away the visiting Tigers again and again.
What has become the Southeastern Conference?s most rugged rivalry had all the usual elements: two punishing defenses, a pivotal call by the officials that left both sides perplexed and some follies in the kicking game.
The call went Auburn?s way.
With LSU facing fourth-and-8 from the Auburn 31-yard line and 2:43 left, JaMarcus Russell fired the ball to Early Doucet near the goal line. A diving Brock deflected the pass, but Zach Gilbert was called for pass interference, which would have kept the drive alive. Officials, however, overturned the call, although replays showed the contact came before the ball was tipped by Brock.
"I got sick to my stomach," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said about seeing the flag. "I still don?t understand it. It?s just a judgment call, and thank goodness it went our way."
LSU coach Les Miles wasn?t happy.
"If the ball is tipped at the line of scrimmage, there is no pass interference," he said. "The ball was tipped downfield. The proper explanation will be forthcoming."
Auburn (3-0, 2-0) got the ball back, but LSU stopped Kenny Irons on three straight runs. LSU (2-1, 0-1) drove to the Auburn 24 with 2.5 seconds left as Russell hooked up with Craig Davis for gains of 20 and 21 yards and Dwayne Bowe for 21. On the final play, Russell went to Davis again. The receiver caught the pass inside the 10, but Brock stopped him cold at the 6.
Auburn?s win, coupled with secondranked Notre Dame?s 47-21 loss to Michigan, could push the Tigers up to No. 2.
"This was a statement game right here," Auburn cornerback David Irons said. "It let everyone know we?re for real."
LSU had five drives inside Auburn territory end with no points in the lowest scoring game at Auburn since 1973. LSU hadn?t allowed a touchdown since last year?s SEC championship game, a string of 16-plus quarters.
"It was a very violent game," Tuberville said. "There was more speed than I?ve seen on the field in a long time.When you look at the score and the stats, everybody would think it was a boring game, but there was a lot of excitement."
Five times in the past six years, the winner of this game has won the SEC Western Division title. The past three meetings have been decided by a combined eight points.
LSU?s 3-0 halftime lead was based on two field goal attempts: John Vaughn?s 26-yard miss for Auburn and Colt David?s 42-yarder to end the half. Vaughn missed five field goals in last year?s overtime loss to LSU.
Auburn finally scored on David Cox?s 1-yard sneak with 4:53 left in the third quarter. He was surprised by the call. "I don?t think we?ve ever run that quarterback sneak on the goal line," said Cox, held to just 110 yards passing with an interception. "Usually it?s Kenny (Irons) right and Kenny left."

 

[crazybuckfan40]

What a great game.

The thing I hate is that people are going to look down on Auburn now and say they have a lack of offense. Well maybe they should open thier eyes and see who they were playing and how good the other teams D was. Craig james needs to open mouth insert foot.

I mean just look at all the players that these teams have that are going to be NFL stars.

There is no question in my mind that Auburn should be the #2 team in the country, but they wont b/c USC scored 28 on Neb, and 51 on Arkansas.

As for LSU IMO they should stay right where they were. They didnt do anything but go into one of the toughest environments and put up all they had and came up 5 yards short. I take that over a beatdown of Maryland or Rice or someone like that.

 

[4Heisman]

What a great game.

The thing I hate is that people are going to look down on Auburn now and say they have a lack of offense. Well maybe they should open thier eyes and see who they were playing and how good the other teams D was. Craig james needs to open mouth insert foot.

I mean just look at all the players that these teams have that are going to be NFL stars.

There is no question in my mind that Auburn should be the #2 team in the country, but they wont b/c USC scored 28 on Neb, and 51 on Arkansas.

As for LSU IMO they should stay right where they were. They didnt do anything but go into one of the toughest environments and put up all they had and came up 5 yards short. I take that over a beatdown of Maryland or Rice or someone like that.

I think Auburn will be voted the number 2 team, but i think they are better than OSU too. It's going to be tough, but if AU can go undefeated again then they should make the NC(LSU is normally the toughest game anyway, and UF is at home)

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

I had Auburn #2 in my BP bowl coming in to this week...obviously I'll keep them there. They have a very tough team.

same here... if the Buckeyes stumble I see Auburn winning the NC.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I think Auburn will be voted the number 2 team, but i think they are better than OSU too. It's going to be tough, but if AU can go undefeated again then they should make the NC(LSU is normally the toughest game anyway, and UF is at home)

Not sure about better, but that is splitting hairs at this point. But I agree that they have their toughest game out of the way, but you have to remember that they still have UF, Bama, and then the SEC championship game. Just another reason why it is unfair for the SEC in terms of making the BCS championship game. I mean if WVU beats the ville' they are bascially in. AU has to go through LSU, UF, Bama, SEC championship game and then the rest of the SEC, plz someone anyone tell me how that is fair.

 

[BB73]

The SEC made a clarification on the pass interference call against Auburn that was waved off by officials on a 4th down play for LSU, on their next-to-last possession. The flag was thrown for contact made on the receiver, but the ball was tipped by another defender just before the ball got there.

The clarification is saying that you can "legally interfere" with a receiver before the ball is tipped, if the tip causes the ball to be uncatchable by the receiver if he were allowed to run free.

This play made me recall the final offensive play Cincinnati had in 2002 at Paul Brown stadium. Will Allen intercepted a tipped ball in the end zone after Doss had made contact with the intended receiver. The differences are that no flag was thrown on the tOSU play, although the ball may have still been considered catchable if the receiver hadn't been hit. I always thought tOSU caught a break on that play.

si.com
SEC: Officials made correct calls at Auburn-LSU

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- The Southeastern Conference determined that officials made the right decision in reversing a pass interference call late in the Auburn-LSU game.

"Basically, the call of removing the flag would be correct because the ball was uncatchable after the defender tipped it," SEC media relations director Charles Bloom said Monday.

Auburn defensive back Zach Gilbert was flagged for interfering with receiver Early Doucet deep in Auburn territory in the 7-3 LSU loss. The flag was waved off because officials deemed that Eric Brock's tip of the ball made it uncatchable.

Another controversial fourth-quarter call that went Auburn's way was also correct, Bloom said.

An LSU interception on third-and-29 was negated because Daniel Francis was penalized for interference on receiver Courtney Taylor, giving Auburn an automatic first down.

That pass was ruled a catchable ball, Bloom said.

LSU coach Les Miles had complained after the game about both decisions, saying the interference on Taylor "didn't disable him from catching the ball."
Miles also said he believed the other play should have been pass interference because the ball was tipped downfield, not at the line of scrimmage.

The rule states only that an infraction occurs when the contact "could prevent the opponent the opportunity of receiving a catchable forward pass."

 

[BB73]

I'd like to hear the specifics about why they disagree, but this doesn't say.

si.com
LSU AD disagrees with SEC on refs

Posted: Tuesday September 19, 2006 5:45PM

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU athletic director Skip Bertman sharply criticized the officiating in last Saturday's game at Auburn as well as the Southeastern Conference's subsequent backing of the officials' decisions on two key calls.

"The SEC Office has stood by the officials' calls, and we respectfully but strongly disagree," Bertman said in a statement released by LSU on Tuesday. "We strive for excellence every day in LSU athletics, and we expect the same level of excellence from the officials that are assigned to us by the SEC."

Late in the game, Auburn defensive back Zach Gilbert was flagged for interfering with receiver Early Doucet deep in its own territory in Auburn's 7-3 win over then-No. 6 LSU. The flag was waved off because officials deemed that Eric Brock's tip of the ball made it uncatchable.

Another controversial fourth-quarter call went Auburn's way when LSU's interception on third-and-29 was negated because Daniel Francis was penalized for interference on receiver Courtney Taylor, giving Auburn an automatic first down.

That pass was ruled a catchable ball, and SEC media relations director Charles Bloom said that call also was correct.

The victory helped Auburn climb from No. 3 to No. 2 The AP Top 25 poll, while LSU fell to No. 10.

LSU coach Les Miles complained after the game about both calls.

"There were obviously a number of calls by SEC officials in our game against Auburn that had a dramatic impact on the game," Bertman said. "Coach Miles went through the proper procedure of addressing these calls with the SEC Office and I appreciate the manner in which he has expressed his dissatisfaction with the officials' decisions."