Oregon State 21, LSU 22

1234OTT
ORST (0-1)6360621
LSU (1-0)0078722

Final

6:00 PM ET, September 4, 2004
Tiger Stadium
BATON ROUGE, LA

Oregon State kicker misses three PATs

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Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs1415
Total Yards315302
Passing231211
Rushing8491
Penalties11-704-24
3rd Down Conversions6-204-17
4th Down Conversions1-20-1
Turnovers32
Possession32:5927:01
Individual Leaders
Oregon State Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Anderson26/4723131
LSU Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Russell9/2614520
Randall7/186601
Oregon State Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Wright Jr.1785049
Cole8907
Anderson6-10015
LSU Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Vincent1548031
Broussard521015
Randall41817
Oregon State Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Newton771119
Hass550028
Gillett52919
Haines425012
LSU Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Bowe5103138
Addai565023
Vincent31809
Green216116
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERORSTLSU
TD12:08GEORGE GILLETT 6 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (MISSED KICK)
Drive info: 6 plays, 25 yards.
60
SECOND QUARTERORSTLSU
FG1:35ALEXIS SERNA 40 YD FG
Drive info: 5 plays, 52 yards.
90
THIRD QUARTERORSTLSU
TD5:41SKYLER GREEN 16 YD PASS FROM JAMARCUS RUSSELL (CHRIS JACKSON KICK)
Drive info: 9 plays, 79 yards.
97
TD0:48ANTHONY WHEAT-BROWN 4 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (MISSED KICK)
Drive info: 9 plays, 65 yards.
157
FOURTH QUARTERORSTLSU
TD1:05DWAYNE BOWE 38 YD PASS FROM JAMARCUS RUSSELL (JAMARCUS RUSSELL 2PT RUSH)
Drive info: 4 plays, 64 yards.
1515
OVERTIMEORSTLSU
TD0:00MARCUS RANDALL 5 YD RUN (CHRIS JACKSON KICK)
Drive info: 5 plays, 25 yards.
1522
TD0:00JOE NEWTON 19 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (MISSED KICK)
Drive info: 4 plays, 25 yards.
2122

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU got lucky, and Nick Saban knew it.

"We've got a lot of work to do as a team," the Tigers' coach said. "I think everyone knows that."

Oregon State's Alexis Serna missed three extra points Saturday night, including one that would have forced a second overtime, and (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) LSU escaped with a 22-21 victory over the Beavers in the season opener.

"It was a crazy finish," LSU defensive end Marcus Spears said. "We fought as long as we could fight, and fortunately he missed that extra point. I'd like to think that we had something to do with that. We got a lot of pressure up the middle and I guess he took his eye off it."

The defending BCS champion Tigers trailed throughout the game, were shut out in the first half and behind 15-7 with 1:38 left.

The Tigers seemed sure to lose when they drove to the Oregon State 2 and failed to score with 3:39 left. But their defense gave them another shot.

LSU got the ball back for their final possession of regulation with 1:38 left. After JaMarcus Russell threw two incompletions, he hooked up with Dwayne Bowe for a 26-yarder then a 38-yard touchdown to cut Oregon State's lead to 15-13 with 1:05 left.

"I told the QB to trust me," Bowe said. "I said I'm not even going to run the route you call, I'm just going to get open. I was able to do that and in two plays I scored."

On the conversion, Russell ran to the left, stretched out the football and leaped into the end zone for two points to tie it at 15 and force overtime.

Oregon State won the toss but deferred in overtime. LSU scored on its first possession. Marcus Randall, who started the game at quarterback, came in when Russell was injured, and ran for a 5-yard touchdown, giving LSU it's first lead of the game, 22-15 with the extra point.

The Beavers weren't done.

Derek Anderson found Joe Newton with a 19-yard scoring pass, pulling the Beavers to 22-21.

Serna, a redshirt freshman who kicked a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, sent the extra point wide right, giving LSU the victory.

"I told him there is not a lot you can say," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "It feels bad."

Riley said he tried to call a timeout before the PAT try to consider whether to kick or try for a two-point conversion, but was unable to get the officials attention.

"I just wanted to think about it," Riley said. "I didn't have my mind made up. But we had one timeout in the overtime period, so I was going to use it."

A heavy storm moved over the stadium just before kickoff. Officials sent the players back to the locker rooms because of lightning in the area. Kickoff was delayed almost an hour and the field was sloppy when play began.

LSU's offense was sloppy throughout. The Tigers showed no signs of the methodical offense that helped them win a championship last season.

Randall, who replaced Matt Mauck at quarterback, got off to a rough start. His first pass was intercepted and he completed only 7 of 18 for 66 yards. He was replaced at the start of the second half by Russell, who was 9-for-26 for 145 yards and threw two touchdowns.

The Tigers generated only 93 yards, 39 passing and four first downs in the first half.

"The first half we came out sluggish," Randall said. "Coach told us to keep playing hard. We just had a lot of mental errors."

Oregon State got an early break, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff to set up on the LSU 25. They followed that with three straight penalties that gave them first-and-35 on the 50.

Anderson completed 5 of 6 passes, including a 6-yard touchdown toss to George Gillett, to put the Beavers up 6-0 after Serna's first missed PAT.

Serna's 40-yard field goal gave the Beavers a 9-0 lead at halftime.

LSU had a 57-yard touchdown reception by Bowe called back by a penalty and Chris Jackson's 41-yard field goal attempt fell well short in the first quarter.

Jackson attempted a 42-yarder in the second quarter that went wide right.

Anderson, who passed for 4,058 yards with 24 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in 2003, was 26-for-47 for 231 yards and three touchdowns. He had one interception and was sacked four times.

"This really hurt," Anderson said. "I'm not going to lie. We went out there and fought. I love my team and appreciate everything we did. We tried hard out there and just came up a little short."

Russell looked as if he would have no more success in his first two series than Randall had, going 0-for-4 passing and fumbling a snap. But on his third series things clicked.

Alley Broussard had a 15 yard run and Russell completed 5-of-7, including a 16-yarder for a touchdown to Skyler Green that cut Oregon State's lead to 9-7.

The Beavers came back quickly, driving 65 yards with Anderson hitting Anthony Wheat-Brown for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 15-7 -- Serna missed the PAT -- when the third quarter ended.

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Saturday, September 4th
Middle Tennessee State Postponed
10 Florida
South Carolina 31 Final
Vanderbilt 6
Louisiana-Monroe 0 Final
Auburn 31
Georgia Southern 28 Final
Georgia 48
Oregon State 21 Final
LSU 22 OT
Tulane 7 Final
Mississippi State 28
New Mexico State 13 Final
Arkansas 63
Memphis 20 Final
Mississippi 13
Utah State 17 Final
Alabama 48
Sunday, September 5th
Kentucky 0 Final
Louisville 28
UNLV 17 Final
Tennessee 42