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Kentucky upsets No. 1 LSU in three overtimes

Oct 14, 2007 - 4:12 AM LEXINGTON, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Andre' Woodson picked apart the nation's top-ranked defense to help Kentucky knock off the country's top-ranked team.

Woodson passed for three touchdowns - including the game-winning score in the third overtime - to rally 17th-ranked Kentucky to a wild 43-37 upset of No. 1 Louisiana State in a Southeastern Conference thriller Saturday.

The Wildcats (6-1, 2-1 SEC East) posted their first victory over the nation's No. 1 team since defeating Ole Miss on September 26, 1964.

"I just can't say enough about these young men," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. "Whenever it starts to look dark, that's when they dig down and find something extra. They did it again tonight."

Meanwhile, LSU (6-1, 3-1 West) became the latest top-five team to suffer an upset loss this season, joining Southern California, Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, California, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Golden Bears entered Saturday ranked second nationally before dropping a 31-28 decision to Oregon State.

"I give credit to the Kentucky effort - I thought they played their tail off," said LSU coach Les Miles, whose team rallied for a 28-24 win over SEC rival Florida last week. "You have to be ready to play any time you go on the road in this conference. You see this brought to life again today."

Cal could have taken the No. 1 spot thanks to LSU, which had its national-best 13-game winning streak snapped. The Wildcats beat the Tigers for the first time since 1999 and avenged last year's 49-0 loss in Baton Rouge.

"I'm not amazed. I'm very pleased," Brooks said. "To go from 49-0 last year to a win tonight - I think that's pretty significant improvement."

"We've been saying all along we're a good team, and we have to prove that with big wins," Woodson added. "We did that tonight and hopefully we can do it next week, too."

Kentucky took the lead in the third overtime thanks to Woodson, who floated a 13-yard completion to Dicky Lyons on 3rd-and-4 from LSU's 19. The Wildcats finally scored six plays later when Woodson withstood a fierce blitz to hook up with Steve Johnson for a seven-yard score.

"Andre' is an amazing quarterback," Kentucky guard Christian Johnson said. "When I look at him and see where he's come from, he's a great success story. He's gone from being someone who was fighting for a starting spot to one of the best quarterbacks in the country."

However, Woodson's pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion attempt, leaving Kentucky's lead at 43-37.

But the Wildcats' defense closed the door on the ensuing possession, as linebacker Braxton Kelley tackled LSU fullback Charles Scott short of a first down on a 4th-and-2.

"They had two fullbacks in motion to the right, and they had a down block on the end," Kelley said. "The fullback got to the ball, and I didn't get blocked at all. I ran through the gap in the middle and made the tackle.

"I had to make a play in the backfield, and there was no doubt in my mind that (Scott) hadn't gotten any yardage."

Kelley's game-saving tackle completed an amazing comeback in which the Wildcats outscored the Tigers, 29-10, after falling behind by 13 late in the third quarter.

"The guts, the backbone and the character to keep coming back when things didn't look good (was incredible)," Brooks said. "They were going through us and we weren't doing much. All of a sudden, we come back and start making plays."

Most of the plays were made by Woodson, who completed 21-of-38 passes for 250 yards. Woodson, who was intercepted twice, developed a nice rapport with Johnson, who finished with seven catches for 134 yards.

"The biggest thing is confidence," Woodson said. "No matter who believes in us or who doesn't, we stick together. We're a family and that's what drives us."

After a personal foul moved Kentucky to LSU's 15-yard line on the first overtime's opening possession, Woodson rifled a 12-yard completion to Johnson on 3rd-and-8, moving the ball to the 1.

Two plays later, Derrick Locke bulled into the end zone from a yard out to give the Wildcats a 34-27 advantage.

LSU answered the call, however, forging a 34-34 tie with a four-play drive capped by Richard Murphy's two-yard TD run.

Despite being slowed by a five-yard penalty and a sack on their next drive, the Tigers took a 37-34 lead on Colt David's 38-yard field goal.

But despite three incompletions by Woodson, Kentucky forced a third overtime when Lones Seiber calmly drilled a 43-yard field goal.

"Lones Seiber for two weeks in a row has been perfect," Brooks said. "He's gone from the doghouse in everybody's mind probably to the penthouse. He made some clutch kicks."

Starting from its own 15-yard line on the final possession in regulation, LSU marched 45 yards to the Kentucky 40 over a span of four minutes, 12 seconds. Facing a 4th-and-9, Les Miles opted to attempt a potential game-winning field goal.

But although he had enough power behind kick, David hooked the 57-yard attempt wide of the left goalpost, sending the game to overtime.

"I had a feel that Colt David could hit it," Miles said. "He certainly got a nice leg into it, but it wasn't meant to be."

Trailing, 27-21, entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats clawed their way into a tie thanks to a pair of short field goals by Seiber.

Seiber's second field goal, a 27-yarder, capped a 53-yard drive in which the Wildcats failed to convert a 3rd-and-1 from the Tigers 7.

LSU got on the board thanks to Scott, who rumbled for a 55-yard run down to the Kentucky 1 on the final play of the first quarter. The 226-pound Scott scored from a yard out on the first play of the second quarter, forging a 7-7 tie.

After David's 31-yard field goal made it 10-7, Scott bruised his way for a 13-yard TD run to give LSU a 10-point cushion with 1:48 remaining in the first half.

But the Wildcats needed just 44 seconds to draw within 17-14, gaining 78 yards on just five plays. Woodson lobbed a 51-yard pass to Johnson with 1:15 left, before scampering up the middle for a 12-yard TD run with 64 seconds remaining before the break.

The Tigers scored 10 straight points in the third quarter on Matt Flynn's four-yard TD pass to tight end Richard Dickson and David's 30-yard field goal.

But Kentucky answered with 1:13 remaining in the third, as Woodson found tight end Jacob Tamme for an eight-yard TD to cut the deficit to 27-21.

"We just continued to believe," Woodson said. "The defense kept them out of the end zone and set up field goals instead. We kept believing that we could move the ball."

Flynn went 17-for-35 for 130 yards and one interception while Scott finished with 94 yards on just seven carries for LSU.

"We are shocked," linebacker Darry Beckwith said. "Any time you lose, it hurts. We just have to keep our heads up and we have a ton of games left. You can't win them all."