College Football as Futbol: Group B World Cup Results (Auburn, LSU, Boston College, Arizona State)

Who will join Florida State and Clemson in the knockout round?

Group B

LSU 49, Auburn 27

In perhaps the first true upset of the tournament, the LSU Tigers use three second half touchdowns to blow past the SEC champion Auburn Tigers. After a Cody Parkey 49-yard field goal opened the scoring for Auburn, the two teams traded two TDs each before Auburn's Nick Marshall punched it in from 2 yards out to give AU a 24-14 first quarter lead. The second quarter was all LSU, with the Tigers scoring a pair of TDs on the arm of Mettenberger. The third quarter was much the same as the second as LSU added a pair of TDs while Auburn could only muster a field goal. A 6-yard Terrence Magree fourth-quarter touchdown run sealed the blowout victory for LSU. With the loss, the seeded Auburn Tigers fall into an early hole in Group B play.

Arizona State 34, Boston College 24

In their first game of the tournament, Boston College falls to the Pac-12 South champion Arizona State Sun Devils 34-24. ASU's Marion Grice won the battle of the RBs, rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. BC's Andre Williams was held mostly in check, finishing under the 100-yard mark (92) on 18 carries. The Sun Devils took a 20-10 lead to the locker room and extended their lead to 27-10 after three, but a pair of Rettig passing TDs (5 yards to Amidon, 12 yards to Sinkovec) made the final score respectable; very important if the Eagles hope to get out of the group and advance to the knockout round.

Boston College 33, Auburn 29

In what may very well hold up as the most shocking result of the whole tournament, the Boston College Eagles topple Auburn 33-29 on the legs of -- who else but -- Andre Williams. Williams exploded for a game-high 193 yards on 28 carries, including a 51-yard rushing TD to open up the scoring in the second half. Auburn pulled within 1 point late in the third quarter on a 40-yard Cody Parkey FG and reclaimed the lead early in the fourth quarter on a Corey Grant 5-yard TD run. But BC comes roaring back. Freese is true from 45 yards to cut the Auburn lead to 29-27 with 4:58 to play.

On the ensuing possession, Auburn takes the ball from its own 14 to the 49, but is forced to punt. BC, starting from its own 26 with 1:32 to play, works the ball down to the Auburn 6-yard line on the legs of Williams and the arm of Rettig. On second and goal from the 6-yard line, Rettig finds C.J. Parsons who walks into the end zone for the go-ahead score. Oddly enough, Mr. Reliable Nate Freese misses the PAT. 33-29 BC. Auburn takes over on its own 35 with 20 seconds to play, but a pair of sacks from Nick Lifka and Matt Milano, followed by a deflected pass and an incomplete gives BC the game.

Boston College picks up a huge 3 points while Auburn is almost surely out of the World Cup after its first two games.

LSU 34, Arizona State 16

LSU running back Jeremy Hill has a combined 194 all-purpose yards and a pair of touchdown (1 rushing, 1 receiving) and Zach Mettenberger completed 12-of-17 passes for 187 yards and 2 scores as the Tigers take care of Arizona State, 34-16. LSU marched out to a 24-3 halftime lead before a pair of Zane Gonzalez field goals (44, 38) and a 7-yard Marion Grice TD run made things interesting. Hill's second touchdown of the day, an 8-yard pass from Mettenberger, sealed the W for the Bayou Bengals.

With six points in its first two games, LSU is all but assured a spot in the Round of 16. BC and Arizona State battle for the second spot in the knockout round.

LSU 42, Boston College 31

It was a tale of two quarters for the Eagles, who, after falling behind 17-0 in the opening quarter, scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 24-17 lead to the locker room. Rettig found Sink (1 yard), Crimmins (54) and a healthy Spiffy Evans (5) in the end zone to jump ahead of LSU. Williams put BC up 31-17 midway through the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run. But that would be all the scoring BC would muster in this one as the Eagles' oft-maligned D surrendered -- wait for it -- the last 24 points of the game.

In the fourth quarter, LSU would get touchdowns from Jarvis Landry (48 yards), Odell Beckham (21) and Jeremy Hill (3 yards rushing) to once again rip out Superfans' hearts. LSU sweeps Group B with nine points, while BC must scoreboard-watch the result of the following game:

Auburn 31, Arizona State 27

Things looked bleak for about three quarters, but Auburn eventually showed everyone why they were one of the seeded teams in this World Cup. The Tigers would rip off 24 fourth-quarter points to overtake Arizona State, 31-27. Auburn notched the victory despite finishing with just 25 passing yards. The other 289 yards all came on the ground, including 104 and two scores from Corey Grant. RB Tre Mason added another 93 yards on 26 carries to secure the victory.

Final Group Standings

Group B Winner: LSU, with 9 points and a +51 point differential, wins the group.

Group B Runner-Up: The remaining three teams all finish with three points, but it's Arizona State that squeaks past BC and Auburn to take second in the group. The Eagles fail to advance to the knockout stage despite the upset of Auburn, which, lame. BC's fourth quarter defensive meltdown against LSU becomes the stuff of folklore and legend; remembered fondly along with all the other WTF losses of yesteryear.

SEC champ Auburn plays the role of 2014 Spain, a seeded team unceremoniously bounced from the group stage of the tournament.