For the second straight year, LSU’s season opener came down to the final play as the Tigers sneaked past Arizona State 35-31.
LSU’s win in the “home” opener, moved to Tempe, Ariz. after Hurricane Katrina, marked the first time LSU began the season with a road win since 1987.
After a scoreless first quarter, Arizona State (1-1) jumped on the scoreboard first as Sam Keller hooked up with running back Jamaal Lewis for a 25-yard touchdown reception, giving the Sun Devils a 7-0 lead.
Joseph Addai, who rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries, tied the game at 7 with a 1-yard run with 6:15 remaining in the half.
Following a 26-yard field goal by Arizona State’s Jesse Ainsworth, LSU headed to the locker room with the Sun Devils grasping a 10-7 lead.
Arizona State extended its lead to 10 in the second half, following an 8-yard touchdown reception to freshman Rudy Burgess with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
LSU’s special teams accounted for 14 of the Tigers’ 28 fourth-quarter points. Senior Claude Wroten’s block on a 47-yard field goal attempt spiked the ball several feet in the air, which cornerback Mario Stevenson pulled down and ran 55 yards to bring LSU within three points at 17-14.
After another three-and-out by Arizona State, LSU’s Jacob Hester blocked Chris McDonald’s punt attempt, which safety Craig Steltz scooped and scored for 29 yards, which gave LSU the lead, 21-17.
“There are going to be breakdowns in a game and some are much more costly than others,” Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said. “We did have two breakdowns in special teams that cost us. In those errors, it was just a case where a blocker got beat by a rusher.”
Arizona State responded quickly on the following drive as Keller marched the offense down the field, hooking up with Lewis once again for a 26-yard touchdown as Arizona State took a 24-21 lead with 11:27 left to play.
LSU’s offense responded once again as Russell put together a seven-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run from Addai to give LSU a 28-24 lead.
With 8:26 remaining, Keller drove Arizona State back down the field, completing eight of 11 passes on the drive for 77 yards as Arizona State’s Moey Mutz pulled down a 4-yard touchdown reception to give the Sun Devils a 31-28 lead.
With 4:19 remaining, JaMarcus Russell led the LSU offense to three straight first downs to Arizona State’s 39 yard line. On fourth and 10, after three consecutive incompletions, Russell hooked up with Early Doucet for a 39-yard touchdown reception to give LSU the lead for good, 35-31.
“That was a hard way to go down,” Koetter said. “As a coach, all you can really do is ask your guys to compete as hard as they can, and our guys competed as hard as they could tonight. I’m very proud of how hard we competed.”
Contact Jeff Sentell at [email protected]