It was all going so well, until it suddenly wasn't.
LSU led the whole way, but an Auburn touchdown with just over 3 minutes remaining gave them their first lead of the game. What appeared to be a clutch third-down conversion to Kayshon Boutte got overturned and Max Johnson's desperation heave was intercepted as LSU fell 24-19.
LSU falls to 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play with a thud. Here are my top three takeaways from a thrilling Tiger Bowl victory.
1. CADE YORK IS A WEAPON
LSU hasn't found itself in tight enough games to this point for Cade York to be the difference, but he very much was on Saturday night.
York comfortably put through all four of his attempts, one coming from 51 yards, to help maintain the margin despite the offense getting largely kept in check after an explosive drive to open the game. The performance stood out even more because of what happened in Auburn's kicking game, with the talented Anders Carlson failing to convert on a pair of kicks from outside 50. He missed the first to the right, and the second was blocked by Jay Ward.
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In tight games, York's range and accuracy can and will swing momentum in LSU's favor. And no one -- and I mean no one -- has been better from beyond 50 yards. There are few NFL kickers that are as consistent as York from range. In his career he's hit 17 of 20 attempts beyond 50 yards, including all three this season.
It wasn't that long ago that LSU couldn't remotely trust its kicking game in gotta-have-it moments. Things are a lot different with York in town.
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2. THE RUNNING GAME IS ABSENT
When LSU actually did run the ball -- which it made a more concerted effort to do in the second half -- it was reasonably effective. The same can't be said for the first two quarters.
Ty Davis-Price had one carry for 6 yards in the first half. Armoni Goodwin had two carries for 4 yards. Things changed a bit after the break, with Corey Kiner getting in on the action for 22 yards on five carries. In the end LSU running backs managed to roll up just 48 yards on 13 carries.
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LSU's ineffective running game continues to be a point of concern, and there's no indication things will get any better. They certainly won't if the team doesn't make a commitment to make it work and do it in creative ways. The Tigers have a bad habit of leaving their defense on the field for far too many snaps -- attrition that becomes more and more obvious as the game goes down to the wire.
LSU needs to either throw caution to the wind and keep the offense wide open at all times, or find a way to earn tough yards between the tackles. But when you run the ball three times in a half of football where you never trailed, the commitment clearly just isn't there.
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3. BO NIX EXPOSES THE PRESSURE
LSU has one of the best pass-rush group in the nation. What they don't have, clearly, is the best tackling group in the nation.
Bo Nix spent the entire game with an LSU defender right in his grill, but somehow he got better in those situations. He scrambled for what felt like hours on a pair of 4th down conversions, slipped tackles, avoided direct hits and ran the LSU defense ragged all night long. For a guy who was at risk of losing his job to TJ Finley heading into the week, it was something of a redemption even in the loss.
But what it exposed is a trouble point we haven't seen for LSU to this point in the season: Rush composure.
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It's massively important for pass-rushers to be able to win their matchups and get to the QB, but when the man with the ball has scrambling ability, the equation changes a bit. The rush needs to be composed. Nix was clearly a better QB outside the pocket, and at a certain point LSU's strategy should've been to squeeze him inside of it. They couldn't do that, and they couldn't bring Auburn's quarterback down when they got their paws on him.
The rush did a better job to force a pair of Auburn 3-and-outs in the fourth quarter. They still didn't get to Nix, but they funneled him where they wanted and didn't allow him to extend longer than the DBs could cover. But the group failed in the clutch as Nix drove Auburn 92 yards on an 11-play drive for a go-ahead score and the win.
Overall LSU's defense had a solid night against a ranked opponent without their top player in Derek Stingley Jr. The combination of Eli Ricks, Dwight McGlothern, Jay Ward and Cordale Flott held up well, even without forcing a turnover. But the pass rush needs to help out the secondary by not asking them to cover for a lifetime as a QB jitterbugs around in the backfield.