Deflected 'Hail Mary' wins game for LSU

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- LSU practices desperation pass plays every

Thursday, but quarterback Marcus Randall said they never work.

On Saturday, the Tigers made one of them work when they

absolutely needed it.

---

Devery Henderson caught a deflected 75-yard touchdown pass from

Randall as time expired to lift the No. 16 Tigers (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 AP) to a stunning

33-30 victory.

"We always say we need to play for 60 minutes,'' said LSU coach

Nick Saban. "There is the reason why.''

LSU (7-2, 4-1 SEC) appeared headed for a second straight league

loss after Taylor Begley's 29-yard field goal with 11 seconds left

put Kentucky (6-4, 2-4) ahead 30-27.

Hundreds of blue-clad fans crowded the sidelines and were poised

to charge onto the field as the Tigers got the ball back at their

own 13-yard line. Before the final play, the Wildcats doused Coach

Guy Morriss with a cooler of Gatorade.

Randall passed to Michael Clayton at the 25, and LSU called a

timeout with 2 seconds left. Saban gave Randall simple instructions

on the sideline.

"Coach Saban just told me to throw it as far as I could,'' said

Randall, a sophomore making just his third career start.

Randall took the snap, avoided the rush to his right and heaved

the ball more than 60 yards.

"I've never thrown a ball that far,'' Randall said.

"He doesn't have that strong an arm and, then he throws it from

his 20 to our 30,'' said Kentucky cornerback Leonard Burress, one

of eight Wildcats who had a chance to make a play on the ball.

As the ball sailed through the air, fireworks exploded out of

the Kentucky scoreboard, and Wildcats fans attacked the goal post

at the east end zone.

At the other end, Kentucky linebacker Morris Lane and two other

Wildcats tipped the ball, and Henderson caught it inside the 20.

"I don't know who it was, but I thought we had a chance to

intercept it,'' Morriss said. "I don't know just how it happened,

but we had our hands on the ball.''

Cornerback Derrick Tatum missed a diving tackle, and Henderson

reached the end zone as Kentucky fans continued to pull on the goal

post at the other end, oblivious to the incredible outcome.

"I caught it, and then I slowed down,'' Henderson said. "I

said, 'Lord, just let me get to the end zone with it.' I just kept

running.''

The jubilant Tigers raced to mob Henderson, who finished the day

with three TD catches.

"It was the biggest play of my life,'' Randall said.

Kentucky fans slowly realized what had just happened. Many sat

at midfield as a small group of LSU fans celebrated.

"I saw it all happen. I can't believe it,'' said Kentucky

junior kick returner Derek Abney. "From one emotion to another,

it's utter confusion.''

The bitter defeat was Kentucky's 13th in a row against a ranked

SEC opponent.

"It's always hard when you come back in a game like this and

something crazy like that happens to you,'' Saban said of Kentucky.

"I've never been on a team that had it completed, but I've been on

teams that's had it completed against them.

"It's a little bit of disbelief.''

Jared Lorenzen threw three touchdown passes to Aaron Boone, and

SEC-leading rusher Artose Pinner had 143 yards on 27 carries, his

seventh 100-yard game of the season.

"That's the kind of thing you only see in movies,'' Pinner said

of the final play.

Lorenzen led a 98-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, the

longest scoring drive of the season against LSU, which had the

nation's top-ranked defense.

LSU appeared as if it would punt early in the second quarter

when facing a third-and-9 from its 30. But Randall took the snap

and shovel-passed to Henderson, who was heading in the other

direction. Henderson turned upfield and outran the Kentucky defense

for the score to tie the game at 7.

Randall found his rhythm in the closing minutes of the first

half, going 7-of-13 for 157 yards with two TD passes.

On LSU's first offensive play of the second half, Joseph Addai

swept left and sprinted untouched for a 63-yard touchdown against

the SEC's worst rushing defense for a 21-7 lead.

After Kentucky cornerback Deion Holts blocked a punt, Lorenzen

threw a 3-yard TD pass to Chase Harp with 3:43 left in the third

quarter.

John Corbello tied his career-best with a 49-yard field goal

early in the fourth quarter to give LSU a 24-14 lead. Lorenzen

connected with Boone again for a 25-yard touchdown play with 10:05

remaining.

Abney fumbled a punt in the fourth quarter, and LSU's Adrian

Mayes recovered. Corbello kicked a 19-yard field goal with 6:02

left to give LSU a 27-20 lead.

Four minutes later, Lorenzen hit Boone to tie the game at 27-27.