Auburn gets second chance at PAT, nips LSU

AUBURN, Ala. — The ball finally got to Courtney Taylor, the flag rescued John Vaughn and No. 14 Auburn proved itself an SEC contender.

Jason Campbell hit Taylor for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 to play and Auburn got two chances to kick the winning extra point in a 10-9 victory over No. 5 LSU Saturday.

“It was coming so slow, I was just saying, ‘Come on, get here ball’,” said Taylor, whose first career touchdown catch proved huge.

Then, he watched in shock as LSU was nearly saved again by a missed extra point. Vaughn’s first PAT attempt went wide left after a low snap, but Ronnie Prude was called for a personal foul, giving Auburn (3-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) another shot.

“(There) couldn’t possibly be a bigger relief than that little yellow thing on the ground,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn drilled his next try through the uprights with holder Sam Rives saving another bad snap for Auburn’s 191st consecutive made PAT. It prevented a repeat of LSU’s season opener when Oregon State’s Alexis Serna missed his third extra point of the game in overtime for a 22-21 LSU win.

LSU’s Ryan Gaudet instead missed the kick following LSU’s touchdown on a brilliant opening drive that was definitely not a sign of things to come.

“That’s a really tough game for our players,” LSU coach Nick Saban said. “We just had a lot of opportunities we squandered.”

Auburn’s final drive provided just about the only offensive dramatics. Campbell led a 12-play, 59-yard march that milked most of the remaining 6:38 off the clock.

Ronnie Brown had a 20-yard run and Campbell and Taylor did the rest, including a 14-yard pass on fourth-and-12 from the 28.

The score came on third-and-12, with Campbell finding Taylor in the back of the end zone.