Lee with glee

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 21, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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AUBURN, Ala. — Jarrett Lee won’t graduate from teenager status for another 8‰ months.

But there shouldn’t be any lingering doubt the LSU freshman quarterback arrived at a major growth spurt Saturday night.

All of 19 years old, Lee shrugged off a miserable first half and delivered a relief performance for the ages as No. 6-ranked LSU surged back to knock off 10th-ranked Auburn 26-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Lee passed for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all in the second half, to spark LSU to its first victory on the Plains of Alabama since 1998.

Running back Keiland Williams added an unexpected 22-yard scoring throw on a halfback option.

Charles Scott also played a huge role with 132 bone-rattling yards rushing, becoming the first LSU back to crack 100 yards at Jordan-Hare.

As usual, the LSU defense did its major part, forcing momentum into an about-face with a key stop to open the second half and limiting Auburn to 70 rushing yards.

But undoubtedly the key to LSU’s stirring rally was Lee, who struggled in the first half but was forced into action when starter Andrew Hatch suffered an apparent concussion midway through the third quarter.

“It was unfortunate that (Hatch) went down, but I knew I had to come in and make plays,” said Lee, who threw a first-half interception that Auburn’s Gabe McKenzie returned 24 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead. “In the first half I made some poor decisions, but in the second half I knew I had to come back and make some plays for my team.”

Lee made a bunch of them, got plenty of help from his talent-laden teammates and likely quieted — once and for all? — whatever quarterback confusion existed with the LSU offense before a magical, unlikely and crowd-quieting comeback.

“We’ve all seen Jarrett throw and play,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “Just getting him comfortable on the field and comfortable with the calls, that was really the issue. You watched him grow up (Saturday). He had fun and he certainly made plays.”

No plays were more important than the handful on LSU’s final drive when Lee flipped an 18-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell with 1:03 left in the game.

Stifled for 2‰ quarters by Auburn’s defense, LSU (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed most of the final three quarters.