Louisiana State Wins SEC West

Rohan Davey put the picture in his locker right after Louisiana State played Auburn in 1999. It showed a group of Auburn players standing on the field in Tiger Stadium puffing victory cigars.

It was the humiliating finish to Davey’s first start in a Southeastern Conference game but he turned the tables Saturday night at Baton Rouge, La., passing for 245 yards and a touchdown and adding key runs for 21 yards as he directed No. 22 LSU’s 27-14 victory against No. 25 Auburn.

“I think it was disrespectful,” said Davey, who was four of 11 with two interceptions before being chased from the 1999 game against Auburn. “If you win, take it because you were the better team on that night. To me, it was a slap in our face, so it’s been in my locker since the last time we played them.”

LSU (8-3, 5-3 in the SEC) and Auburn (7-4, 5-3) shared the SEC West title, with LSU’s victory sending it to Atlanta next week for the conference championship game against No. 5 Tennessee.

“It all goes back to their quarterback,” Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville said. “I’ve seen Rohan Davey go through the good times and the bad times, and that kind has done an outstanding job with this football team. He really has improved. They’ve got good players, but Davey is the key to their team.”

LSU had 23 first downs and 431 yards in offense compared to 15 first downs and 293 yards for Auburn.

The crowd stormed the field but police were packed six deep around the goal posts, confining the demonstration to midfield. Fans tried to storm one of the goal posts, but were repelled. They refused repeated pleas to leave, however, remaining for more than 30 minutes after the game ended.

Auburn, the defending SEC West champion, watched its grip on the outright title slip away with late-season losses to Arkansas and Alabama.

The Auburn-LSU rivalry has grown over the years, fueled by a series of close games. It reached the boiling point two years ago when Davey made his brief and humiliating appearance. A fake field goal launched Auburn to a 41-7 victory in Tiger Stadium. After the game Tuberville handed cigars to his players and they lit up on LSU’s turf.

Saturday the tone was set before the game. Auburn drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty when instead of leaving the field the team huddled on the gigantic tiger’s eye painted at midfield and jumped up and down.

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No. 16 Georgia 35, Houston 7--David Greene threw three touchdown passes and Verron Haynes rushed for 122 yards at Athens, Ga., as the Bulldogs wrapped up their fifth consecutive eight-win season.

Houston (0-11), saddled with the first winless season in school history, has lost 15 in a row, its last victory coming Oct. 21, 2000, when they beat Memphis, 33-30, in overtime.

The Bulldogs led only 14-0 at halftime.

Florida State 28, Georgia Tech 17--Chris Rix threw two touchdown passes and ran for another at Tallahassee, Fla., as the Seminoles ended its first two-game losing streak since 1991.

Greg Jones rushed for 101 yards to help Florida State (7-4) rally from a 10-7 halftime deficit. It remained unbeaten against Georgia Tech (7-5) in 10 games since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.

OTHER GAMES

Willie Parker ran for 82 yards and a touchdown as North Carolina (7-5) earned a trip to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta with a 19-10 victory against Southern Methodist (4-7) at Chapel Hill, N.C.... Woodrow Dantzler had a hand in five touchdowns and ran for 135 yards to become the first NCAA player to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season as Clemson (6-5) defeated Duke, 59-31, at Clemson, S.C.... Marchello Graddy’s interception set up Keith Boyea’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Runyon with 4:25 left, and Air Force (6-6) held off Utah, 38-37, at Air Force Academy, Colo. The Utes are 7-4.... Eli Manning threw four touchdown passes in the second half to rally Mississippi (7-4) to a 38-27 victory against Vanderbilt at Oxford, Miss.... Drew Boteler kicked a field goal with 23 seconds remaining to lift Troy State (7-4) to a 18-16 victory against North Texas (5-6) at Troy, Ala.... David Priestley threw three touchdown passes in the first half as Pittsburgh (6-5) defeated Alabama Birmingham, 24-6, at Pittsburgh.