Defense leads No. 2 LSU to 12-10 win over Auburn

Lesson No. 1: Defense still wins in the Southeastern Conference.

Sam Montgomery and the LSU defense delivered a first-quarter safety and shut out Auburn in the second half to give the second-ranked Tigers a 12-10 victory Saturday night.

Auburn led 10-9 at halftime but finished with only 183 yards — 86 rushing and 97 passing.

"We were tested and we answered the call," Miles said.

A fumbled punt return by Auburn's Quan Bray set up Drew Alleman's 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter that gave LSU (4-0, 1-0 SEC) a 12-10 lead. Alleman missed a 34-yarder with 39 seconds remaining.

Auburn (1-3, 0-2 SEC) managed only one first down after Alleman's miss. Kiehl Frazier's final pass was intercepted by Tharold Simon as the game ended.

"We didn't finish," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "There will be a day when we will. We will continue to grind and work until we can."

Montgomery led the defense with a career-high 3½ tackles for losses and challenged the team at halftime to "play like I play."

"I believe that during times of adversity, the older, veteran players have to get everybody's heads on straight to lead and go and play for the victory," said Montgomery, a junior.

Montgomery called the close win "a shock to our system."

"It was some of the younger guys' first time on the road and not knowing what to expect," Montgomery said. "A couple of veteran guys hadn't been in that situation in a long time. It was really a shock to our whole program, but we adjusted. We stuck our backs up."

LSU's only touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Michael Ford in the first quarter.

Miles called his team's performance "not perfect."

"It's something we'll certainly be able to teach from in a very aggressive manner," Miles said. "There's work to do, but we'll take a victory on the road at Auburn."

The win gave LSU its sixth straight 4-0 start and extended its streak of regular-season wins to 17, the longest in the nation.

LSU's Zach Mettenberger had two first-half fumbles but threw a 33-yard pass to running back Spencer Ware on a key third down late in the game.

"That pretty much sealed the game for the most part, or at least it got it down to the wire," Chizik said.

Montgomery tackled Tre Mason in the end zone midway through the first quarter and Ford's 1-yard TD run four minutes later made it 9-0 LSU.