LSU Tigers

Replay turns LSU's last-second victory into a devastating loss to Auburn

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:34 p.m. ET

Dieter Kurtenbach

LSU had won the game.

They had snapped the ball on fourth down, with what they thought was one second remaining, quarterback Danny Etling rolled to the right and hit D.J. Chark in the back of the end zone for a game-winning touchdown.

LSU’s season was saved. Les Miles’ job might have been saved. Auburn’s horrid start to the season would continue and perhaps Gus Malzahn would be the coach receiving a pink slip.

All of that happened. Only it didn’t.

Etling had not snapped the ball before time expired, it was determined — the touchdown was wiped off the board after a video replay. Auburn had, in fact, won one of the ugliest games of the season 18-13, in one of the most unsatisfying ways possible.

A difference of milliseconds — the time between hearing the referee’s whistle and starting the clock — could have massive ramifications across the landscape of college football for years to come. There’s a good chance that years from now, college football fans might still be debating if the snap got off in time.

The fallout won’t be swift — certainly not as swift as the video review — but it will likely be significant.

For a moment, LSU had won and Auburn had lost. Then, in as much time as it takes for the center to snap the ball to quarterback, the opposite was true.

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