Teams' Belt Records

Previous Belt Meetings:       None

The 18^th ranked, 5-2 Auburn Tigers of coach Tommy Tuberville traveled to Baton Rouge to meet the 5^th ranked, 6-1 Louisiana State Tigers with coach Les Miles.  Louisiana State's QB Matt Flynn threw 3 touchdown passes including a 22-yard strike to WR Demetrius Byrd with 0:01 as Louisiana State overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit to claim The Belt with a 30-24 win.  Louisiana State came into the game having rallied to defeat previous Belt champion Florida before falling at Kentucky.  This game would go a long way to determining how their season would play out.  As Auburn took the opening drive, it appeared the last two games may have taken too much out of the Louisiana State defense.  Auburn drove 63 yards in 11 plays with QB Brandon Cox throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to WR Montez Billings that gave Auburn a 7-0 lead 4:50 into the game.  After the teams exchanged punts, Louisiana State tied the game as Flynn threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to WR Keiland Williams.  Midway through the 2^nd quarter, Louisiana State's back-up QB Ryan Perrilloux entered the game to run the offense.  Miles has used this tactic many times during the season as Perrilloux is a bruising runner.  This time it backfired as Auburn's S Zac Etheridge forced a fumble from Perrilloux that Auburn's CB Jerraud Powers picked-up & carried to the Louisiana State 3-yard line.  Three plays later, Auburn's RB Carl Stewart scored from a yard out & Auburn had a 14-7 lead.  Auburn's PK Wes Byrum finished the 1^st half scoring with a 22-yard field goal.  Louisiana State was able to take the first drive of the 2^nd half 56 yards but had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by All-SEC PK Colt David that closed the gap to 7 points at 17-10.  Flynn's 58-yard pass to Byrd set-up a 26-yard field goal by David that  pulled Louisiana State within 17-13 as the teams entered the final quarter.  Louisiana State capped an 8-play, 85-yard drive when Flynn connected with RB Jacob Hester on a 5-yard touchdown pass that gave Louisiana State their first lead of the game at 20-17.  Again the Louisiana State defense forced a punt from Auburn before the Louisiana State offense took 55 yards to set-up another field goal from David.  This one came from 33 yards & put Louisiana State ahead 23-17 with 8:12 to play.  Auburn's offense finally put together another drive as they drove 83 yards in 9 plays with Cox finding WR Rodgeriqus Smith on a 3-yard touchdown pass.  Leading by a point, Auburn choose to squib kick rather than risk a big return.  The strategy gave Louisiana State the ball at their own 42-yard line with 3:13 to play.  Using mostly the ground game, Louisiana State drove to the Auburn 22-yard line as the clock continued to run.  As the clock passed 11 seconds, Flynn set-up for what most expected to be a spike to stop the clock & set-up for a winning field goal.  When the clock showed 0:09, Flynn snapped the ball & dropped to pass.  As the clock passed 0:07, he lofted the ball down the left sideline towards Byrd.  As the clock passed 0:02 the ball passed just over the shoulder of the Auburn's Powers & at 0:01, Byrd made a diving catch for the spectacular win.  Flynn finished with 319 yards passing with 3 touchdowns as well as an interception.  Cox threw for 199 yards with 2 touchdowns in the loss.  The Tigers finished the season 9-4 ranked 15^th nationally while Louisiana State finished the season 12-2 as National Champions.  Auburn would play for The Belt again in 2010.