Auburn has historically been one of LSU’s greatest rivalries. It is a game that brings out a lot of great memories for both Auburn and LSU fans. The rivalry has also brought out some of the best nicknames for games in college football history, which includes the “Earthquake Game” and the “Barn Burner.” With that being said, here are five of the most memorable games of the Tiger Bowl from the last 20 years.
Vaughn’s Absolutely Horrible, No Good Day (2005)
If you want to have friends, don’t be a kicker for the football team.
After making a routine 26-yard field goal in the second quarter, Auburn’s kicker Chris Vaughn missed five straight field goal attempts. The fifth one was the worst, for obvious reasons, as it was the one that ended the game.
Tied at 17 in overtime, Auburn won the coin toss, but elected to defend. LSU kicker Chris Jackson did what he had to do, and he drilled a 30-yard field goal on LSU’s opening possession in overtime to make it 20-17.
Auburn went three-and-out and only gained two yards on its first possession. Auburn tried a 39-yard field goal attempt to tie it and send it to a second overtime. However, Vaughn’s kick hit the left upright in dramatic fashion, sealing an LSU win. The 93,000 rabid LSU fans in Tiger Stadium exploded in jubilation, while the hapless Vaughn crumbled to the ground in absolute grief.
Flynn to Bird (2007)
If there was any play that would define Les Miles’s coaching style, it would have to be this play in this game.
No. 5 LSU trailed upset-minded No. 18 Auburn 24-23 with 32 seconds remaining in the game. After electing not to call a timeout, the clock kept running all the way down to under 10 seconds.
With eight seconds left, LSU quarterback Matt Flynn dropped back and threw a beautiful pass to Demetrius Byrd for a 22-yard touchdown pass with one second on the clock that would send Death Valley into madness.
LSU went on to finish the 2007 season as the SEC and national champions.
Cam Newton’s Heisman Game (2010)
In one of the biggest games of the year, No. 6 LSU, led by future NFL All-Pro Patrick Peterson and quarterback Jordan Jefferson, took on the No. 4 Auburn Tigers, who was led by future NFL MVP, quarterback Cam Newton.
Newton scored the game’s first points on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. With 15 seconds remaining in the first half, Jefferson tied the game at 10-10 with a touchdown run of his own for two yards.
In what is considered one of the greatest moments in this rivalry, Newton ran for a huge 49-yard touchdown run. Near the end of his touchdown run, Newton outran Peterson 10 yards before the goal line, giving Auburn a 17-10 lead in the 3rd quarter
Early in the fourth quarter, LSU used a trick play to tie the game 17-17, with LSU running back Spencer Ware tossing a 39-yard touchdown to Rueben Randle. However, with five minutes left to play in this epic battle, Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb ran for a 70-yard touchdown in what would end up being the game-winner.
Auburn ran for a whopping 440 yards in the victory, with Newton accounting for 217 of those yards. Newton would set the SEC record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season with 1,464 yards.
The Mad Hatter’s Last Stand (2016)
For a man who loved to mismanage the clock, this is the perfect ending for Les Miles.
Heading into the 2016 Tiger Bowl, there was talk that the losing coach was going to get fired, whether it was Miles or Auburn’s Gus Malzahn. Malzahn and Auburn were off to a shocking 1-2 start, with Auburn having lost six of its past seven games against Power Five competition. LSU was 2-1, having lost the opener to an unranked Wisconsin team.
In a typical Auburn-LSU matchup, the game had to come down to a crazy play in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Initially, it appeared that LSU quarterback Danny Etling threw a walk-off touchdown pass to wide receiver Travin Dural to stun Auburn. LSU players were jumping in a crazed frenzy all over the field as the Auburn fans in Jordan-Hare were silent in disbelief.
But then, as fate would have it, officials reviewed the play and saw that LSU didn’t get the snap off in time and the clock had run out before the game-winning touchdown.
If there’s a theme on this list, it’s that wild things seem to happen to Auburn when there’s a debate about time left on the clock.
LSU predictably fired Miles after the game and eventually hired Ed Orgeron as the interim while Auburn kept Malzahn, turned its season around and made it to the Sugar Bowl. Orgeron would later lead LSU to an SEC and national title in 2019.
The Ballad of Joe Burrow and Cole Tracy (2018)
For LSU fans, this was the start of Joe Burrow’s legend. Coming into the game, LSU was one of the hottest teams in college football, having upset No.11 Miami to start the season. Auburn was the defending SEC West champions and a popular pick to go to the College Football Playoff.
Auburn was up 21-13 going into the fourth quarter. However, Burrow and LSU’s offense had other plans. Burrow hit wide receiver Derrick Dillon in the middle of the field and Dillon ran all the way into the end zone for a 71- yard touchdown pass. However, due to a failed two-point conversion, LSU still trailed Auburn 21-19 with 8:18 left in the game.
After LSU forced Auburn to a three-and-out, it got the chance to score the game-winner. Aided by Joe Burrow’s calm demeanor during a two-minute drill and two defensive pass interference penalties committed by Auburn, LSU was in field goal range at Auburn’s 25-yard line with two seconds left in the game.
LSU kicker Cole Tracy, who made two previous field goals in the game, stepped up to take the kick. With Auburn fans getting louder and louder by the second, Cole Tracy iced the game and drilled the ball through the uprights. Cole Tracy and his teammates were celebrating in the middle of the field as the LSU band was playing the fight song with joyful celebration.
