THE LUCK OF THE TIGERS: With Last Second Touchdown, Miles Looks Like a High-Roller

With luck all but fleeting for the Irish thus far, it seems to have found a new home in Baton Rouge.

Against Florida, LSU wasn't afraid to roll the dice, going 5-for-5 on fourth down—including two that went for touchdowns. Taking those chances is what allowed LSU to win. Those gambling ways continued last Saturday when, trailing with under a minute to play, time was ticking on any championship hopes LSU may have had. But, down by only a point, Les Miles’ group wasn’t out of the game yet.

Quick. If you were the head coach of a team down by one point with under a minute to play, what would you do?

You’d probably march down the field into field goal position and send out your kicker, right?

That’s actually wrong if you’re a student the Les Miles School of Coaching.

You just flunked out.

The correct answer is: go for the touchdown.

I sat in disbelief as I glanced in the corner of my television at the game clock and back at what was happening on the field. I thought, “what are they doing?” “Why isn’t the kicker trotting onto the field?” I couldn’t help but think of Cal’s brain fart the week prior.

And that’s when it happened.

When Demetrius Byrd hauled in Matt Flynn's 22-yard pass with but a second to spare, I immediately went to Expedia.com and booked Les Miles and me a flight to Las Vegas. That touchdown and the extra point that followed gave LSU a 30-24 win over Auburn, and with South Florida’s loss put the Tigers right back in National Championship contention, not that they ever left.

Auburn did put up a good fight, leading at the half. QB Brandon Cox was 18 of 28 with 199 yards and two touchdowns. The Auburn Tigers were only able to muster 296 yards of total offense against LSU’s fearless defense. Only 97 of those yards came on the ground.

I can’t help but wonder when LSU’s luck will run out, but in the meantime I’m certainly not betting against them.

Hmm, I wonder if Les Miles would be willing to send me some lotto numbers.

—R. Cooper