Nix leads No. 22 Auburn to 1st win at LSU since ’99, 24-19
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Bo Nix passed for a touchdown and ran for a score and Jarquez Hunter scored on a 1-yard run with 3:11 to give No. 22 Auburn its first lead and a 24-19 victory over LSU on Saturday night.
Auburn (4-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which had not won at LSU’s Tiger Stadium since 1999, secured the victory when Bydarrius Knighten intercepted Max Johnson’s pass on fourth down at the Auburn 39 with 1:09 left.
Nix frustrated LSU (3-2, 1-1) with his feet whether he was scrambling or running by design. His 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, capped a series in which he ran on three of the final four plays for 23 yards.
The touchdown pulled Auburn to 19-17 early in the fourth quarter, and that score stood until Nix led a 92-yard, 11-play, winning drive highlighted by Hunter’s 44-yard run on a pitch to the left side.
Ducking under tacklers or spinning away from them, Nix also converted several extended scrambles behind the line of scrimmage into pivotal completions.
The most unlikely such play — arguably one of the highlights in all of college football on the day — saw Nix spin away from multiple pass rushers, traverse more than half the width of the field and rifle a fourth-down touchdown strike to Tyler Fromm moments before he was engulfed by defenders along left sideline.
The play cut LSU’s lead to 13-7 in the second quarter. Shortly before the half ended, Nix threw for first down during another fourth-down scramble, setting up a field goal that made it 13-10.
Nix finished 23 of 44 for 255 yards without a turnover. He also rushed for 74 yards.
Johnson was 26 of 46 for 325 yards, but LSU’s running backs combined for just 46 yards on 13 carries.
Auburn’s decision to try a surprise onside kick to start the second half backfired and led to an LSU field goal. And Cade York’s 51-yard field goal made it 19-10.
LSU jumped out to a 13-0 lead, starting with Johnson’s 31-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to Kayshon Boutte in double coverage. The big play came shortly after LSU had lost 22 yards on a botched shotgun snap.
The touchdown catch was Boutte’s ninth this season and gave him at least one in each of LSU’s five games.
THE TAKEAWAY
Auburn got the gutsy response it wanted from Nix after he was pulled in favor of LSU transfer TJ Finley during the second half of last week’s comeback win over Georgia State. Auburn also demonstrated perseverance and resilience, overcoming a missed field goal and a blocked field goal to finally snap a 10-game skid in Death Valley. Meanwhile, Auburn’s defensive front was able to apply relentless pressure to come up with three sacks and six QB hurries.
LSU’s continued struggles in the running game resulted in a lack of balance that made it difficult to finish drives in the red zone. Three of York’s four field goals came on drives that stalled at the Auburn 14-, 8- and 5-yard line.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Auburn should climb a few spots in the AP Top 25 after several teams ranked ahead of them lost, including Florida, Oregon, Arkansas, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
UP NEXT
Auburn hosts unbeaten Georgia in a renewal of “The Deep South’s oldest rivalry.”
LSU travels to Kentucky to play next Saturday against a Wildcats team riding high after a victory over No. 10 Florida.
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
