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Game 6, Year 1 (2027 season): #23 LSU Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats
#23  51 -- 4-2 (3-1)
N/R  50 -- 2-4 (1-3)
Brothers Scottie Rodgers (#33) and Lucas Rodgers (#13) combined for some late game heroics to help LSU win an unexpectedly epic 51-50 decision Saturday night at Lexington.
Coming off back-to-back nail-biting games, a gutsy two-point conversion call by LSU locks up shockingly close 51-50 win over heavy underdog Kentucky in final seconds | Fueled by words from D. Geezy last year, QB Hartman lights up Tigers defense for a school-record 550 passing yards and 5 touchdowns as Wildcats nearly pull off a Saturday stunner but come up short in crunch time | For a second consecutive season, Kentucky gives new LSU head coach all he could handle; Geezy's Green Wave barely won a 55-52 double-overtime shootout versus Hartman-led Wildcats last year | Team hopes QB Rob Mason's clutch play and 5 touchdown, 0 turnover performance provides confidence boost heading into next week's rivalry game versus Auburn
Lexington, KY -- "I'm embarrassed to say I was a part of some **** like that," Tigers defensive backs coach Steve Ellis told LSU graduate student reporter Jordan Hebert as he walked off the field. In one of the wildest games in LSU football history, the Tigers defense gave up close to 700 yards of total offense, surrendering a Kentucky school record 550 passing yards and 5 touchdowns to Wildcats QB Charlie Hartman. However, thankfully the Tigers' offense also showed up to play, and that along with an incredibly gutsy call in the game's closing seconds were enough to earn a 51-50 victory over the Wildcats Saturday night at Lexington. In a game that likely evokes memories of 2002's Blue Grass Miracle for both sides, the two teams would battle back-and-forth throughout the surprisingly close contest that went down to the wire.  Kentucky QB Charlie Hartman played the absolute game of his life, throwing for an all-time school record 550 yards and 5 touchdowns versus the Tigers' surprisingly overwhelmed secondary.
LSU, who came into the game as a 15 1/2 point favorite, drew first blood when QB Rob Mason engineered a quick-play 4-play 67-yard drive to start the game, completing all 4 of his pass attempts en route to giving the Tigers an early 7-0 lead. However, as they would throughout the night, the Wildcats bounced right back with a touchdown drive of their own, which ended with a 45-yard scoring hookup between Hartman and WR Ronnie Brewer, who finished with a game-high 6 receptions for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Tigers seemingly controlled most of the first half, but on a possession following a 37-yard field goal miss by LSU PK Ross Bryant, Hartman's 27-yard touchdown throw to WR Nick Whitlock would cut the heavily favored visitors' lead to 21-19. Curiously, the Wildcats would decide to go for two and went on to fail the conversion attempt (a run by RB Joel Baker), making it a decision that would come back to haunt them later. Hartman finished the first half alone with 283 passing yards and 2 touchdowns.
"I could do nothing but shake my head with how we played tonight. We played like turd salad," said LSU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly. "Blitzing didn't work, not blitzing didn't work. Hartman was on fire and their overall team speed gave us problems all night long."
A 65-yard touchdown run by Tigers backup junior RB Anthony Johnson extended his team's lead back to 28-19 on the first possession of the third quarter, but after that, the wheels began to fall of for LSU.
A 25-yard field goal by Wildcats PK Chris Fitzpatrick cut Kentucky's deficit to 28-22. Then, following a lost fumble by LSU RB Scottie Rodgers deep in his own territory, Hartman's third touchdown pass of the night, a 9-yard connection with Baker, gave the home team its first lead of the evening at 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
"(LSU head coach) D. Geezy motivated the heck out of us tonight with his words from last year about how embarrassing it was for Tulane to have allowed Kentucky to play so close to them," said Hartman, referring to the Wildcats' narrow 55-52 double-overtime loss to Geezy's Green Wave a season ago. "He said beating us was nothing to be proud of, and that stuck with us. I wish we had finished the deed tonight, but I am proud of my team and proud to be a Wildcat tonight despite the loss."
 LSU QB Rob Mason burned the Wildcats with his legs several times Saturday night, including a 9-yard run on a wild 4th and 6 gamble from the Tigers' own 25-yard line with his team down 36-28 with 6:04 remaining.
A couple of possessions later, Mason and Burnett would connect on a 4th and 2 conversion via a 2-yard reception deep in Wildcats territory in which Burnett barreled through a tackler past the first down marker by mere inches. That allowed a drive to continue which eventually led to a 9-yard touchdown catch by S. Rodgers to tie the game up at 43-43 with 2:21 to go. Burnett, the team's #2 wide receiver, finished the night with a season-high 4 receptions for 115 yards and a score.
The two teams traded blows throughout the fourth quarter, and a 9-yard touchdown run by Wildcats RB Tony Campbell gave the underdogs a 50-43 advantage with just 0:50 remaining in the game. However, what looked to possibly be the final, game-winning knockout punch for the Wildcats was merely setting the stage for the Tigers to do what they'd done each of the previous two weeks - find a way to win.
With the game on the line with under a minute remaining, back-to-back 16-yard scrambles by Mason quickly moved the ball into Wildcats territory. Then, a couple of plays later, Mason's desperation heave into bracket coverage was hauled in by TE Lucas Rodgers, and the junior Louisiana native and older brother of Scottie Rodgers would use his 6-4 254-pound frame to drag a tackler into the end zone. At the tail-end of a frustrating night for L. Rodgers, who ended the game with only two catches after seeing extra attention the entire game by the Wildcats defense, his emphatic touchdown in crunch time made the score 50-49 with 0:14 remaining and with the extra point attempt to tie the game to follow...or not.
In one of the riskiest moves of his career, Geezy would decide to go for two and the win rather than the tie to go to overtime. And thankfully, unlike the last time he made a similar decision, it worked. An off-tackle power rushing attempt by S. Rodgers resulted in the true freshman plunging through Wildcats freshman OLB Cory Hicks and into the end zone for the conversion, giving LSU a 51-50 lead with mere seconds remaining in emphatic fashion. Ironically, it was the same exact playcall Geezy ran in 2015 versus Arkansas in the exact same game-deciding situation, however the play would come up inches short when former Green Wave star RB Reggie Moore was stuffed at the goal line for the Razorbacks to hold on for a 38-37 win at snowy Fayetville.
"It would probably be accurate to say that that was an uncharacteristic move by me tonight, but the truth of the matter is, I had seen enough and was not going to put the ball in Hartman's hands in overtime. As these young kids out here would say, we didn't want that smoke."  Head coach D. Geezy's gamble paid off as RB Scottie Rodgers' two-point conversion run put the Tigers up by one with just 0:14 remaining.
"The way the game was going, I thought the odds were better of us winning the game on one play as opposed to sending it to OT and having to win a 10, 12, 14 play scenario. With the way they were playing, I decided in the end that this is going to be decided mano-a-mano, with a power play behind our best lineman, Erik Meyer versus their DE Jeff Alexander on an off tackle power play, and thankfully it worked out. There was no hesitation on our part; we only called a timeout there because Meyer was winded and we needed him to catch his breath before putting the game in he and Scottie's hands."
With only seconds remaining, Hartman and the Wildcats had an opportunity to try to pull off a similar miracle to that of former LSU QB Herb Tyler and WR Devery Henderson back in 2002's aforementioned Bluegrass Miracle game that was played on the same field, however there would be no walk-off 74-yard touchdown on this day. LSU senior DE Lawrence Hicks saw to that and would take down of Hartman on the game's final play before he was able to get off his hail mary attempt, and the LSU sideline poured onto the field in jubilation, despite the circumstances of the win against the seemingly wildly over-matched opponent.
"I read this quote a couple of years ago in an article once after we won a close game versus Florida back when I was at Tulane, but there is no lesson you can get from losing that you can't get from almost losing," said Geezy. "Thankfully, we figured out how to dig deep and were able to come out of this thing with a win, but we certainly got a big wakeup call this evening. It's clear that we still have a long way to go to get where we want to be.
"I told the guys in the locker room to enjoy this win for the next 24 hours because they deserve it. However, come Monday, be ready for a painful film session and reality check, because the tape will be very ugly; we have a ton of work to get done to fix this thing."
LSU (4-2) has now won three straight games, including winning each of its past two games by a single point. The Tigers will take on rival Auburn (2-3) next week in Baton Rouge.
Notes: Kentucky's 685 total yards of offense are the second most ever given up by a Geezy coached team; the previous-high came in 2025, when Geezy's Tulane squad gave up 705 yards in a 49-27 loss at Southern Miss...Hartman’s 550 passing yards broke former Kentucky great Jared Lorenzen's single game school record of 528 passing yards, which was set in a 34-30 Wildcats home loss versus Georgia in 2000.
 Game Footage 
LSU scored a touchdown to tie the game up at 43-43, setting up a wild finish in the contest's final 2:21.
Box Score
| LSU Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats | | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |  #23 LSU Tigers 4-2 (3-1) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 51 |  Kentucky Wildcats 2-4 (1-3) | 7 | 12 | 10 | 21 | 50 |
1st
: 5 yd TD pass from Mason to Stephens (Bryant kick) 6:35 -- 7-0
: 45 yd TD pass from Hartman to Brewer (Fitzpatrick kick) 5:30 -- 7-7
: 94 yd kickoff return TD by Carter Jr. (Bryant kick) 5:19 -- 14-7
2nd
: 39 yd FG by Fitzpatrick 5:40 -- 14-10
: 37 yd FG by Fitzpatrick 2:17 -- 14-13
: 26 yd TD run by Mason (Bryant kick) 0:58 -- 21-13
: 27 yd TD pass from Hartman to Whitlock (2-pt run by Baker failed) 0:08 -- 21-19
3rd
: 65 yd TD run by A. Johnson (Bryant kick) 8:06 -- 28-19
: 25 yd FG by Fitzpatrick 1:39 -- 28-22
: 9 yd TD pass from Hartman to Baker (Fitzpatrick kick) 0:01 -- 28-29
4th
: 65 yd TD pass from Hartman to Brewer (Fitzpatrick kick) 7:30 -- 28-36
: 66 yd TD pass from Mason to Burnett (2-pt run by S. Rodgers) 5:35 -- 36-36
: 61 yd TD pass from Hartman to Concepcion (Fitzpatrick kick) 5:06 -- 36-43
: 9 yd TD pass from Mason to S. Rodgers (Bryant kick) 2:21 -- 43-43
: 9 yd TD run by Campbell (Fitzpatrick kick) 0:50 -- 43-50
: 43 yd TD pass from Mason to L. Rodgers (2-pt run by S. Rodgers) 0:14 -- 51-50
Game Statistics
#23 LSU
Code:
Passing RATING COMP ATT YDS TD INT
7-QB *Rob Mason(jr) 182.0 18 32 322 4 0
5-QB Matt Harris(rs-so) 75.2 1 2 6 0 0
Rushing ATT YDS TD
7-QB *Rob Mason(jr) 11 66 1
33-RB Scottie Rodgers(fr) 10 55 0 (2 two-point conversions, 1 fumble lost)
46-RB Anthony Johnson(rs-jr) 3 72 1
14-FB/TE Josh Edwards(rs-sr) 1 6 0
Receiving REC YDS TD
1-WR Brady Carter Jr.(fr) 5 74 0 (10 kr, 290 yds, 1 td | 1 pr, -1 yds)
87-WR Joe Burnett(jr) 4 115 1
33-RB Scottie Rodgers(fr) 4 36 1
13-TE Lucas Rodgers(jr) 2 53 1
4-WR Glen Walker(jr) 2 27 0
10-WR Russell Stephens(jr) 2 23 1
Defensive Leaders TAK SOLO AST TFL SCK INT
99-OLB Will McNeal(fr) 8 8 0 2 2 0
8-FS *Trey Wade(jr) 8 6 2 1 0 0
2-CB Ryan Carter(fr) 5 4 1 0 0 0
28-S/CB Mario Reed(jr) 4 2 2 0 0 0
90-DE/LB Matt Manning(rs-jr) 2 2 0 0 0 0
Kicking FG MADE FG ATT LONG MISSED XP MADE XP ATT
3-PK Ross Bryant(fr) 0 1 n/a 37 5 5
Key Team Stats:
Total Offensive Yards: 527
Rushing Totals: 25 att 199 yds 2 tds
Sacks Allowed: 3
3rd down conversions: 4-11 (36%)
4th down conversions: 2-2 (100%)
Offensive Turnovers: 1
Penalties: 6 for 49 yards
Time of Possession: 17:10
Kentucky
Code:
Passing RATING COMP ATT YDS TD INT
7-QB Charlie Hartman(so) 225.4 32 42 550 5 0
Rushing ATT YDS TD
5-RB *Joel Baker(rs-sr) 17 118 0
7-QB Charlie Hartman(so) 5 -10 0
22-RB Tony Campbell(rs-jr) 4 22 1
Receiving REC YDS TD
13-WR Ronnie Brewer(jr) 6 154 2 (5 kr, 92 yds | 2 pr, 9 yds)
5-RB *Joel Baker(rs-sr) 6 58 1
89-WR David Lacey(fr) 5 93 0
87-WR Joe Scott(rs-so) 4 40 0
26-FB Darren Concepcion(jr) 3 99 1
83-WR Nick Whitlock(rs-so) 2 43 1
82-TE Napoleon Andrews(so) 2 19 0
12-WR Lester Pino(jr) 1 41 0
Defensive Leaders TAK SOLO AST TFL SCK INT
18-CB Brian Hall(so) 7 5 2 0 0 0
55-MLB *Allen Shaw(sr) 5 3 2 0 0 0
4-CB Kenny Lawrence(rs-fr) 4 3 1 1 1 0
8-FS Ronnie McGuire(fr) 4 2 2 0 0 0 (1 fr)
91-DT Jesse Rhodes(rs-jr) 3 3 0 3 1 0
9-MLB Cory Hester(fr) 3 3 0 1 0 0 (1 ff)
54-OLB Brandon White(rs-so) 3 1 2 1 1 0
Kicking FG MADE FG ATT LONG MISSED XP MADE XP ATT
17-PK Chris Fitzpatrick(so) 3 4 39 59 5 5
Key Team Stats:
Total Offensive Yards: 685
Rushing Totals: 27 att 135 yds 1 td
Sacks Allowed: 2
3rd down conversions: 6-12 (50%)
4th down conversions: 0-0 (0%)
Offensive Turnovers: 0
Penalties: 10 for 85 yards
Time of Possession: 18:50
Photo Gallery
QB Charlie Hartman, who nearly led his team to a huge SEC win over head coach D. Geezy's Tulane squad a year ago, had his game face on and would eventually play unquestionably the best game of his life.
QB Rob Mason pumps his fist after an opening drive 5-yard touchdown pass to WR Russell Stephens gave the Tigers an early 7-0 advantage.
LSU true freshman LB/DE hybrid Will McNeal celebrated after knocking down a pass attempt in the first half. The Opelousas, Louisiana native and former 4-star recruit had a big evening, finishing with a career-high 2 sacks, and leads all Tigers defenders with 4 quarterback takedowns on the year.
WR Brady Carter Jr., a 4-star recruit out of Campbellsville, Kentucky this past off-season, saluted a few of his friends and family members in the stands following his first career kickoff return touchdown. Playing in his home state, the speedy true freshman wideout had the best game of his career to date, hauling in 5 receptions for 74 yards along with the return touchdown that gave LSU a 14-7 first quarter lead.
QB Rob Mason saw a lot of blitz looks from the Wildcats defense, but here he hit RB Scottie Rodgers out of the backfield for what would turn into a first down gain in the second quarter.
Mason headed back to the sideline and celebrated with senior DE Lawrence Hicks after a quick 4-play drive netted the Tigers a 28-19 advantage less than a minute into the third quarter.
Just as he did last year when Geezy faced the Wildcats at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome back during Geezy's Tulane coaching days, Kentucky RB Joel Baker had a huge game, racking up 176 scrimmage yards and this 9-yard touchdown reception gave the Wildcats a stunning 29-28 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Wildcats WR Ronnie Brewer burned the Tigers defense for a 65-yard touchdown that extended his team's lead to 36-28 in the fourth quarter. The lightning-fast junior ended the night with 6 receptions for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns, all game-highs.
WR Joe Burnett, who finished with a season-high 4 receptions 115 yards, flexed his bicep with Mike the Tiger following his spectacular 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown that helped tie the game up at 36-36 with 5:35 to play. The big score came just one play following a crazy 4th and 6 gamble from the Tigers' own 25-yard line that was converted via a 9-yard run by Mason.
Pic 1 of 3: Trailing 50-43 with less than 0:20 remaining, Mason launched a pass into the direction of TE Lucas Rodgers.
Pic 2 of 3: Despite being double-covered as he had been for most of the night, the Tigers' leading receiver this season with 29 catches for 480 yards hauled in Mason's desperation pass.
Pic 3 of 3: Rodgers would refuse to be denied the end zone, dragging Wildcats true freshman FS Ronnie McGuire past the goal line to cut his team's deficit to 50-49 with 0:14 to go. One play later, Rodgers' little brother Scottie would power his way into the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Similar to the Blue Grass Miracle in 2002, Kentucky fans could do nothing but look on in shock and agony after losing a close home game versus a heavily favored LSU squad in excruciating fashion once again.
Tigers players taunted the Lexington crowd by waving goodbye to them at the end of the game.
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Last edited by Deegeezy; 04-05-2020 at 10:43 AM.
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