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AUBURN, Ala. — LSU’s stagnant offense continued to put up underwhelming numbers Saturday night on the Plains.
This time the end result reflected the sputtering offensive output as No. 3 Auburn drew first blood on LSU’s perfect season, taking a 24-17 victory in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The loss drops LSU to No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series, No. 12 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Poll heading into its bye week. The Tigers’ next opponent, No. 6 Alabama, jumped two spots after drubbing Tennessee, 41-10.
Auburn, meanwhile, claimed the No. 3 spot, its highest position since climbing to No. 2 after a 7-3 home victory against LSU in 2006. It’s No. 1 in the BCS standings.
LSU’s two quarterback system of junior quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee combined for 89 passing yards and an interception, while Auburn junior quarterback Cameron Newton dominated the game with 217 rushing yards and two running touchdowns.
Lee, who was 8-for-14 with 43 yards, had a chance at a game-winning drive in the waning minutes after Auburn took the lead with a 70-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Onterio McCalebb.
Instead, Lee scrambled four yards shy of a first down on fourth down to seal LSU’s first loss of the season.
“Offensively, we just didn’t make it happen,” Lee said. “We were in the game. We could have won that game.”
Dropped passes plagued the LSU wide receiving corps, including senior wide receiver Terrence Toliver’s drop on the team’s final drive.
“That last drive was critical for us,” Toliver said. “We didn’t come up with the plays. It’s good to have a short memory, but it affects you as a receiver when you are dropping balls and not making plays.”
Junior running back Stevan Ridley, the usual consistent piece of LSU’s offense, was a non-factor most of the game.
The Natchez, Miss., native only had 41 yards on 12 carries, his lowest workload of the season.
Ridley said LSU was trying to take advantage of Auburn’s pass defense, which entered the game ranked No. 11 in the Southeastern Conference.
“Their secondary was what we were really going after,” Ridley said. “You find the weaknesses in and out each week.
Arkansas got it done through the air against them so we wanted to challenge their secondary.”
Lee and Jefferson, who finished 7-for-14 with 46 yards and an interception, shared the load under center for the fourth consecutive game and were hindered by the constant pressure from the Auburn defensive front, led by junior defensive tackle Nick Fairley.
“I thought he was a dominant force,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “[Fairley] took the game over inside. I think our front four got a lot of pressure period today.”
Fairley disrupted LSU’s passing game with six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
“Late in the game, No. 90, Nick Fairley broke loose,” Miles said. “He made about three plays in the back end of the game that were pretty significant.”
Jefferson made an impact on the ground, rushing for 93 yards on 16 carries and scoring on a 2-yard scamper in the second quarter.
But the quarterback duo didn’t do enough to prevent the season’s first loss.
“It’s kind of hard when you sit on the side for an amount of time while Auburn’s offense is driving down the field,” Jefferson said. “You’ll get out of that momentum that you have.”
The Destrehan native said it was different when he was waiting to play when Lee was rotated into the game.
“I don’t feel like I lose rhythm,” Jefferson said. “I just have to find a way to keep myself in the rhythm. If I have to throw some passes on the side … just do something to help it.”
Lee went to the locker room at the end of the second quarter with a sprained wrist but returned in the second half. Lee said his wrist felt fine and didn’t affect his play.
The bright spot for LSU’s offense came when Miles reached into his bag of tricks to tie the game at 17-17 in the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Jefferson threw to freshman running back Spencer Ware in the backfield, and the former high school quarterback launched a 39-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Rueben Randle.
“We practiced it each and every day this week,” Randle said. “It was time for me to make a play for my team. That moment was just perfect timing.”
LSU’s special teams once again tried its best to help the Tigers’ offense with good field position, downing the football within Auburn’s 2-yard line three times.
“We have to take advantage of the field position that we have,” Jefferson said. “We weren’t able to do that tonight. We just can’t lose another one.”
Miles said the mood was somber in the locker room.
“We’ll lick our wounds,” Miles said. “There’s too much character in that room to do anything but play hard.”
 
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Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]