For the first 57 minutes, the don’t-get-fired bowl between No. 18 LSU and Auburn was the spectacularly bad football game everyone anticipated. Then, in fashion true to both Auburn and Les Miles, the closing moments were absolutely bonkers.

Auburn held a 18-13 lead thanks to six (!) field goals by Tigers kicker Daniel Carlson, and both offenses looked utterly incapable of putting the ball in the end zone. With just 2:56 left to play, and the ball at their own 25-yard line, it seemed like LSU’s night was over. Quarterback Danny Etling looked every bit the part of the Purdue castoff he was up to that point.

Then, Auburn started letting the underneath throws go, and pretty soon LSU was within scoring range with around 1:30 left to play. Still, it seemed like as the field shortened Auburn would keep LSU out of the end zone yet again.

That held true until the last possible second, literally. LSU managed to get an improbable fourth-down conversion with one second left on the clock, which stopped to move the chains. But, a late flag for an illegal shift nullified the gain, and put LSU back on fourth down with a second left. LSU had burned through all of its timeouts, so the clock was going to start as soon as the ref placed the ball. It seemed as if Auburn has essentially won the game, but not so fast.

In real time, LSU got the snap off despite multiple players in motion at the time, and Efling then fired a pass that looked to be thrown after he had crossed the line of scrimmage. But none of that mattered, and to cap the absurdity off, LSU wide receiver D.J. Chark hauled the prayer in with a tip-toe catch in the corner of the end zone. On the field, it was touchdown, and game, LSU.

Thankfully, the replay booth was paying attention. The play was reviewed and it appeared to show LSU had failed to snap the ball in time. However, none of the replays shown on ESPN, provided definitive proof the snap had not gotten off in time.

The replay officials reversed the call on the field regardless, and pandemonium broke out in Jordan-Hare yet again, only this time for the other team.

This is not Miles and LSU’s first run in with late-game clock mismanagement against Auburn. In 2007, Miles was in an eerily similar situation, and went for the touchdown as time was running out despite having a timeout left and only needing a field goal to win.

That time it worked out for LSU, and surely many Auburn fans were having flashbacks to this game Saturday night, but lightning would not strike twice in this case. As always, you should never doubt Auburn with :01 left on the clock.

Both Tigers are now 2-2, and both Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and Miles are still on the hot seat. However, Malzahan’s is a little bit cooler, while Miles’ has just turned up a few degrees warmer. Of course, both coaches may still end up being fired after this season, and this dumb game will end up even more meaningless.

[ESPN]

About Ben Sieck

Ben is a recent graduate of Butler University where he served as Managing Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Butler Collegian. He currently resides in Indianapolis.