A week after Florida constantly punted away from LSU receiver Skyler Green, Auburn chose to test Green’s return skills on their first punt of the game Saturday night in Tiger
 
Stadium.
Sixty-six yards later, Green was in the end zone for his first touchdown of the season, and LSU was ahead 7-0 with 5:20 left in the first quarter.
Green had not scored a touchdown since catching two in LSU’s final game of last season on Jan. 1 in the Capital One Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The last time Green returned a punt for a touchdown was Oct. 30, 2004 in Tiger Stadium against Vanderbilt. Auburn had not allowed a punt return for a touchdown since 2002.
“If they’re prideful about their coverage unit, they want to see [if they can contain Green],” LSU coach Les Miles said. “It didn’t surprise me at all.”
On Auburn’s second possession, LSU forced Auburn to punt from its own 28-yard line.
Auburn’s Kody Bliss punted a line drive toward the middle of the field. Green said he knew he had a chance to make a big play.
“I kind of thought they were going to kick away from me from the start of the game,” Green said. “I wasn’t expecting the guy to punt the ball to me. When he did, my eyes got real big, and I was like, ‘All right, let’s do something with it.'”
Green fielded Bliss’ punt at the LSU 34-yard line where he eluded Auburn defensive back David Irons, brother of Auburn tailback Kenny Irons, before finding a seam.
“As soon as I caught it, I saw one guy,” Green said. “When I made him miss and hit the hole, that was it. I saw it from the jump.”
As his teammates sustained blocks downfield, Green sprinted through the open field near the west sideline with one defender remaining in front of him.
“I didn’t really think about [getting tackled],” Green said. “When I see that purple end zone, I just think about what’s in front and not behind me.”
LSU defensive back Jonathan Zenon delivered the final block near the 10-yard line to spring Green into the south end zone.
“He did a good job of not holding and kind of making it to where I could have a decision on what to do and choose which way I wanted to cut,” Green said.
Green cut to the left and ran past the diving defender for his fourth punt-return touchdown of his career – an LSU record.
After several returns that came close to scores, Green said it was a relief to finally score and not be tackled by the opposing teams’ punter.
“It’s been a long time
coming,” Green said. “I felt good about getting into the end zone for the first time this year, and I’m looking forward to another one.”
Green also surpassed Eddie Kennison’s 947 career punt-return yards on the 66-yard scamper to place him second in LSU history with 973. Domanick Davis is No. 1 with 1,126 punt-return yards.
Head coach Les Miles said Green’s touchdown changed the complexion of the game.
“It allowed our defense to play with a lead, and it allowed our offense to move the football and not be pressured to score,” Miles said.
Green’s touchdown also altered how Bliss punted. Bliss sidestepped and punted rugby style on his other four punts with three landing out of bounds and one going to Green, who fumbled the ball but recovered it for a loss of a yard.
“I feel bad for Skyler,” LSU senior middle linebacker Cameron Vaughn said. “I told him in the locker room, ‘You messed yourself up because no one is going to kick to you ever again.’ Which is kind of sad, but I hope he gets a chance to return some more balls.”
Green said instead of getting frustrated when teams avoid punting to him, he sees it as positive for LSU’s offense.
“Our team gets the ball in better field position when they kick it out of bounds,” Green said. “They may mess up a kick, and it’s a short field for us to work with. I try to set it up so [the punter] can kick it out of bounds before the ball even gets to me.”
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