LSU was clearly the better team in the first half of the Tiger Bowl, but Auburn quarterback Bo Nix had the magic.
After a slow start and a series taken over by former LSU quarterback TJ Finley, Nix hit his stride. But it was a pair of 4th-and-2 plays buying time before hitting an Auburn receiver downfield that could come back to haunt LSU.
The first came in the red zone for Auburn's first touchdown of the night. Nix began to scramble to his right but there was nothing there. With LSU cutting off running lanes, he worked all the way back across the field and slipped a tackle before slinging it to tight end Tyler Fromm.
It was eerily similar to Finley's desperation TD to avoid an upset against Georgia State a week earlier.
But Nix wasn't done. On the next drive and facing another 4th-and-2 close to midfield, Auburn's QB ran all the way back to his own 30-yard line before pulling off another great escape and finding Demetris Robertson for a first down.
LSU's defense clamped down and held Auburn to a field goal, going into halftime with a 13-10 lead that probably should've been more.
LSU got off to a roaring start on its first possession, overcoming multiple negative plays for a touchdown on 2nd and goal from the 31-yard line. Kayshon Boutte caught that scoring pass, and went into halftime with 5 catches for 117 yards, though 99 of those yards came on the opening drive.
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