Tracy's kick may be LSU's first ever game-winning field goal on last play of regulation
AUBURN, Ala. — In his first night as LSU's field goal kicker, all Cole Tracy did was go 5-for-5 and tie the school record with a 54-yard boot in the Tigers' 33-17 win over No. 8 Miami on Sept. 2.
He added a 50 yard field goal for good measure in LSU's second game — a 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana a week ago.
Last Monday, he took a peek at the history of LSU and Auburn that included 16 of the previous 28 games before Saturday decided by a touchdown or less and six of those by a field goal or less. And just in case No. 17 was going to be Saturday night at Auburn, he started preparing as if he would have to kick the game winner.
And it was. But Tracy, a senior transfer from Camarillo, California, via Division II Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, added a little dramatics for his third game on his third coast.
He kicked a walk-off field goal of 42 yards to beat No. 7 Auburn, 22-21, Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. There was :02 remaining when the ball was snapped, and :00 left when his kick split the uprights.
That was the first time LSU has won a game on a field goal in regulation on the game's last play since Oct. 25, 1941, when Bernie Lipkis' 15-yard field goal beat Florida, 10-7. And Tracy's "Warren Morris" field goal may be the only one yet. Because there is some question as to if that field goal in 1941 was the actual last play, according to Todd Politz, who is the LSU athletic department's director of digital media and one of the best LSU historians in history. He was still investigating late Sunday if it was the last play of that '41 game.
Either way, what Tracy did was historical. Lafayette's Drew Alleman kicked a 25-yard, walk-off field goal to give No. 1 LSU a 9-6 win over No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 5, 2011, but that was in overtime. And Colby Delahoussaye, also of Lafayette, kicked a career-high 50-yard field goal to win at Florida, 30-27, on Oct. 11, 2014, but that was with :03 remaining. LSU still had to kick off.
By any measure, it was a once in a lifetime moment and a postgame scene for the ages for Tracy, who still has nine regular season games to go. And who knows how many postseason games? That's right. With the win over No. 7 Auburn, LSU (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) vaulted from No. 13 to No. 6 in the USA Today coaches' poll on Sunday, which was the largest leap by any team.
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The first College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday, Oct. 30. LSU will have hosted Georgia, which is No. 3 this week, by then. The Bulldogs will be in Tiger Stadium on Oct. 13 in what could be a pairing of top five 6-0 teams.
And without Tracy, LSU would not be in the lofty position it is.
"I'm proud that I got a good hit on it, and I just started running," Tracy said.
His teammates quickly caught him and lifted him in the air on their shoulders. Then he did his best arms wide Russell Crowe "Gladiator" pose to the masses - "Are you not entertained?"
One of the first Tigers to grab Tracy was former starting field goal kicker Connor Culp, who hit field goals of 42 and 36 yards in the fourth quarter of the Auburn game last year to put LSU ahead and then add to the lead in that 27-23 come-from-behind win.
"I think Connor was under me," Tracy said. "I have no clue who picked me up. I have no idea. Yeah, that was a first. But it was cool."
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So how did the first walk-off field goal in regulation possibly in LSU history feel, Tracy was asked.
"It's just awesome," he said. "It's a feeling that you can't really describe."
It was a scene that new LSU quarterback Joe Burrow — a hero in this game as well — could not make himself view. He was caught by the CBS cameras hiding his eyes just before Tracy kicked it.
"I didn't watch it," Burrow said. "I had my hands all over my head. But I mean, I trust Cole. I just didn't want to watch it that time. He doesn't miss at practice."
This wasn't practice. This was high drama with huge reward or scapegoat on the line.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron said he was very confident Tracy would make it.
"I've just seen him make a bunch of field goals in practice," he said. "I feel good about the kid. I know his character. I watch him practice. I watch him prepare. There was no doubt in my mind that he would make it."
Tracy's first rule of preparation is - free your mind and the foot will follow.
"Absolutely," he said when asked if he tries to not think about anything before kicks. "In any kick, you need to focus on what you've been doing. I've been kicking for a really long time and I know what my routine is."
Burrow's focus was also of the single-minded purpose to never surrender. And he was not doing as well as Tracy, who booted 33- and 27-yard field goals in the second and third quarters around a missed 53-yard attempt in the first quarter - his only miss of the season.
Burrow, who finished a pedestrian 15-of-34 passing for 249 yards, missed on 10 of 14 passes from the second quarter on until he threw a laser to wide receiver Derrick Dillon on a crossing route for a 71-yard touchdown that put LSU back into the game with 8:18 to play, trailing 21-19.
It looked bad before that as LSU was down 21-10 in the third quarter.
"That's kind of how I've been my whole life," Burrow said. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
Burrow was born 18 years after John Belushi made that line famous in 1978's "Animal House," so maybe he did not who or what he was channeling.
"I think of myself as a tough guy," Burrow said.
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He is. He completed a very tough pass on third and seven on LSU's game winning drive to well-covered wide receiver Dee Anderson on a sideline route. Burrow put it where only Anderson could get it. The play gained just enough for the first down.
Burrow faced a fourth and seven from the Auburn 48 near the two-minute mark, and it could have all ended without Tracy getting a shot. Burrow was just bludgeoned on a 3-yard loss the play before, but he was able to hit wide receiver Stephen Sullivan over the middle for nine yards - just enough for the first down with a yard to spare.
Then on second and 10 from the Auburn 39, LSU got its second pass interference call of the drive and third of the game, which may also not have happened since the 1940s for LSU on the road. LSU kept it on the ground from that point on to set up the field goal winner.
But Burrow is not so tough not to make friends with a competitor. Like Tracy, Burrow is getting along well with the guy he replaced - backup quarterback Myles Brennan.
"I really leaned on Myles when I came back to the sideline, asking what he saw," Burrow said. "He kept faith in me. He kept telling me, 'Keep going. Keep going.' That really got me going to have Myles say that."
And Burrow needed whatever reinforcement he could muster. He was playing in his first real football game since 2014 when he quarterbacked Athens High in the Ohio state playoffs.
"That was really the last time I played in a real football game before today," he said as the wins over Miami and Southeastern were decided long before the final minutes. "To know I can come out here in a pressure situation like that and perform really gets my confidence up."
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And more big games are likely on the way. LSU, which hosts Louisiana Tech (2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU, is already the first team in 42 years to beat two top 10 teams in the first three weeks of a season.
"I think that shows that we are a tough team," Burrow said.
"One of the things we have developed with this team is leadership and character," Orgeron said. "Obviously, we made some plays. We made some conversions when we needed to. There was going to be adversity today. In all SEC games, there is going to be adversity. We have to fight through it. Character is going to fight through that."
DRAKE DAVIS ARRESTED AGAIN: LSU junior wide receiver Drake Davis, who is currently suspended indefinitely on felony second degree charges of battery of a woman in August, was arrested and jailed again on Sunday for felony battery of the same woman, according to LSU Police.
Davis has also violated his curfew and protective orders, according to LSU Police, who also refer to him as a former LSU student.
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Before the first arrest, the alleged victim - an LSU student - with the help of an LSU official previously detailed four separate incidents over the last 18 months to LSU Police in which Davis punched her in the stomach and side, ripped an earring off her ear and threatened her.