2006 LSU Tigers football team The 2006 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the college football season of 2006 – 2007 . The team ' s coach was former Oklahoma State coach Les Miles . They played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge , Louisiana . The team won a bid to play in the Bowl Championship Series Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans , playing No . 11 Notre Dame on January 3 , 2007 . Previous season . 2005 was a successful season under first year head coach Les Miles . He led the team to an 11 – 2 record and an appearance in the SEC championship game despite the distractions caused by Hurricane Katrina . Pre - season . The 2006 LSU Tigers football team was ranked in the top 10 in the country by multiple publications and were expected to compete for the SEC championship . Schedule . Game notes . UL - Lafayette . This game was the Season opener for Tigers . The game was being played in front of the home crowd in Death Valley . Last years season opener was a 35 to 31 win for the tigers . LSU V UL - Lafayette , Already five minutes into the game LSU had a 14 – 0 lead off an offensive drive down field and a defensive turnover . From this point on , LSU rolled on to win the game 45 to 3 . Arizona . This game was broadcast around the nation on ESPN2 . This game was played at home . The game was over when JaMarcus Russell threw his first TD of the night late in the first quarter to make it 17 – 0 LSU . The LSU defense limited Arizona to 156 total yards and recovered four Wildcats turnovers . Arizona ' s third - down efficiency was only one of the Wildcats problems in Baton Rouge . Auburn . Last year LSU pulled it out against Auburn , beating them 20 to 17 in overtime . This was a game between No . 3 Auburn and No . 6 LSU . This was the first away game for the Tigers , and it would be controversial one . LSU came into the game with a string of 14 quarters without allowing a touchdown , they also came in with the best defense in the country . It would go down to the last play of the game . This game would have two elements : two punishing defenses , a pivotal officials ' call that left both sides a bit perplexed and some follies in the kicking game . With LSU facing fourth - and - 8 from Auburn ' s 31 and 2 : 43 left , JaMarcus Russell fired the ball to Early Doucet near the goal line . A diving Eric Brock deflected the pass , but Zach Gilbert was called for pass interference that would have kept the drive alive . The officials overturned the call , although replays showed the contact came before the ball was tipped by Brock . On the whole , there were anywhere between 5 and 8 questionable calls against LSU , and LSU fans felt cheated by the outcome , giving this game the nickname Grand Theft Auburn . The Tigers drove to Auburn ' s 24 with 2 . 5 seconds left as Russell hooked up with Craig Davis for gains of 20 and 21 yards and Dwayne Bowe for 21 . On the final play , Russell went to Davis again . The receiver caught the pass inside the 10 , but Brock stopped him cold with a jarring hit at the 4 . " It was a low throw on the final play , but it was not JaMarcus ' fault " , Davis said . " I was expecting it to be a jump ball in the end zone . " Underscoring the physical nature of the game , the two teams combined for less than 2 yards a rush on 61 combined carries . Tulane . LSU brought Tulane ' s 14 - game span away from New Orleans to a merciless and painful end . Early Doucet caught two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as the No . 9 Tigers jumped out to a large early lead in a 49 – 7 victory over Tulane on Saturday night . Mississippi State . JaMarcus Russell , who orchestrated the Tigers ' 48 – 17 throttling of the Bulldogs . He finished with three TDs on 18 - for - 20 passing and 327 yards . Mississippi State put the ball on the ground , but they didn ' t move it forward . On 20 rushing attempts , the Bulldogs gained just 24 total yards . Florida . It was over when JaMarcus Russell pass was intercepted by Tony Joiner of Florida with 3 : 00 left in the game . Fresno St . . There was a lot of excitement when this game was scheduled because Fresno State had been a top 25 team the previous season . In fact , they took No . 1 USC down to the wire and almost beat them . For this reason , ESPN decided to telecast this game nationally . Unfortunately , Fresno State underperformed this season and LSU took advantage of this early and often , winning 38 – 6 . Tennessee . LSU QB JaMarcus Russell threw a touchdown pass with 9 seconds remaining to give the LSU Tigers a 28 – 24 victory over Tennessee . The Vols looked good at times during the game , but could not make a stop on LSU ' s final drive of the game , which consumed 7 : 14 from the clock . QB Erik Ainge , starting with a sore ankle , was replaced in the 1st quarter by redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton . Crompton performed well for his first significant action , connecting on two long touchdown passes to Robert Meachem . On Defense , Tennessee intercepted Russell 3 times and recovered 1 fumble . Arkansas . The No . 9 ranked LSU Tigers final regular season game was in Little Rock , Arkansas against the No . 5 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks . The Razorbacks only loss to this point of the season was a 50 – 14 defeat at the hands of the No . 3 ranked USC Trojans . LSU lead most of the game holding a 14 – 12 half time lead , but in the fourth quarter Arkansas made their push . With 10 : 31 remaining in the fourth quarter Darren McFadden scored on an 80 yard touchdown run to cut the LSU lead to 24 – 19 . LSU responded with a 92 yard kickoff return by Trindon Holliday . Holliday ' s kick return proved to be the difference in a 31 – 26 LSU win . Notre Dame . In a game that was advertised as a battle between the nations top - 2 quarterbacks ( LSU QB JaMarcus Russell vs . ND QB Brady Quinn ) , Russell and the LSU Tigers made sure the praise was one - sided . Russell set career high marks for yardage and TD ' s ( 3 ) before sealing a 41 – 14 victory . Russell would use this to springboard himself to the top of the 2007 draft boards as he was selected number 1 over by the Oakland Raiders , while Quinn , a hopeful number 1 overall pick himself , fell all the way to the Cleveland Browns at pick 22 .