LSU wins battle of tigers 31-19

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Who needs Kevin Faulk when Louisiana State has great field position and turnovers?

Faulk was held to 88 yards rushing Saturday and had his mark of six straight 100-yard games snapped, but the seventh-ranked Tigers beat Auburn 31-19.

Auburn planned all along to take Faulk out of the game - and just about succeeded. But the Tigers found ways to win without Faulk, especially with the help of four Auburn turnovers.

"When you spot them 14 and lose by 12, that's as close as you're going to get," Auburn coach Terry Bowden said.

Herb Tyler threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Kipps with 5:27 left to seal the victory for Louisiana State (2-0 overall, 1-0 Southeastern Conference).

With the Tigers leading 25-19, Chris Cummings intercepted a pass by Auburn quarterback Ben Leard on Auburn's 46. Faulk then gained 26 yards on five carries to set up the clinching touchdown.

"We didn't always take advantage of turnovers," LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said. "But we did when we had to."

The Tigers led 19-17 at halftime and had a chance to blow the game open in the third quarter, but twice failed to capitalize on excellent field position.

Tyler was stopped on a fourth-and-1 on Auburn's 17. One possession later, Louisiana State moved to the Auburn 8, but Tyler fumbled and the ball was recovered by Auburn's Rob Pate.

"There were times when we could have been a little better, so we could separate ourselves, but we just didn't get it done," DiNardo said. "We made a lot of mistakes, but I think they are correctable."

LSU wouldn't be denied after gaining excellent field position a third time. After taking over on the Auburn 41, Louisiana State needed only four plays for Tyler to hook up with Larry Foster on a 29-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked and Brad Ware returned it 88 yards to make it 25-19.

"The defense just played and played and played," Bowden said. "The offense just didn't quite do enough in the second half to keep them off the field."

Auburn (1-2, 1-1) quickly fell behind 13-0 at the start of the game.

Leard's pass was intercepted on Auburn's first play by Clarence LeBlanc, who returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman Michael Burks fumbled on Auburn's next play and LSU recovered on the Auburn 26. Tyler's 5-yard touchdown run made it 13-0.

But Auburn battled back. Leard connected with wide-open Heath Evans on Auburn's next possession for a 54-yard scoring strike that made it 13-7.

"I made some mistakes that ultimately cost us the game," Leard said. "But they can only help me get better."

After Auburn scored, Louisiana State then moved 80 yards and took a 19-7 lead on Tyler's 19-yard touchdown pass to Faulk. But the second quarter belonged to Auburn, which closed within 19-14 on Karsten Bailey's 10-yard touchdown catch.

Auburn made it 19-17 before the half on Robert Bironas' 29-yard field goal. The drive was aided by consecutive personal fouls against Louisiana State.

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