BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 16 -- Jamie Howard threw a 4-yard pass to Nicky Savoie in the first quarter for the game's only touchdown Saturday night, lifting Louisiana State to a 12-6 Southeastern Conference triumph over No. 5 Auburn. Troy Twilley picked off a last-gasp Auburn pass in the end zone as LSU (2-1, 2-0 SEC) avenged last year's stunning loss to Auburn made Gerry DiNardo a winner in his home debut.
In last year's nightmarish 30-26 loss, Auburn returned three interceptions of Howard for fourth-quarter touchdowns, erasing a 23-9 deficit. Auburn (2-1) suffered just its second setback in 25 games since coach Terry Bowden took over the program. Savoric's score came 5:44 into the first quarter. A 41-yard field goal by Auburn's Matt Hawkins nearly five minutes later cut the deficit to 7-3, but Andre LaFleur answered with his own 41-yarder for LSU with 12 seconds left in the period. LSU then recorded a safety 10 seconds later when it tackled quarterback Patrick Nix in the end zone for a 12-3 lead. Nix was sacked when he stopped after taking the snap, with the Auburn players claiming they had heard the whistle blow. The whistle apparently had come from the stands. Howard completed 19 of 30 passes for 221 yards and an interception, becoming only the third passer in school history to throw for 5,000 yards in his career. Hawkins booted his second field goal, a 28-yarder, 5:16 into the third quarter to account for the only other scoring in the game.
