LSU coach Ed Orgeron brought in Joe Burrow to play quarterback because he needed a smart, gutsy leader on offense.

He brought in Cole Tracy because he needed a gutsy, accurate placekicker.

After Saturday, the gut feeling is Orgeron made two good choices.

Burrow’s playmaking helped the No. 12 Tigers take a 10-0 lead on Auburn. But more important, his toughness and savvy helped LSU withstand 21 consecutive points by Auburn and get in position to win at the end.

And Tracy was dead solid perfect on a 42-yard field goal as time expired, giving Orgeron his biggest win in 24 games as LSU head coach, a 22-21 gut-check in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

LSU has had quarterback limitations for years, predating Orgeron. When the Tigers ended spring practice, Orgeron hadn’t seen what he was hoping to see from Myles Brennam, Lowell Narcisse or Justin McMillan.

So when Burrow started looking around for a new school after graduating from Ohio State, where he was a quarterback understudy, he found Orgeron waiting with open arms.

Burrow was a solid prospect who could make plays with his arm and legs, but his smarts immediately sold Orgeron and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger on him as the starter.

In the season opener against Miami, Burrow’s poise more than anything else suggested Orgeron and Ensminger had chosen wisely. The junior stood firm and, when necessary, moved adroitly and chose sensibly to help the Tigers roll to a 33-17 victory.

Burrow made a few plays a week later, but little was needed from him in a 31-0 cakewalk against Southeastern Louisiana.

Then came the trip to the Plains.

No. 7 Auburn and its menacing defense awaited Burrow in his third career and first SEC start. It was going to be a physical, hot, humid battle to the end.

Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Burrow had his ups and downs – nice start, ineffective middle and perhaps season-turning end.

He outplayed Jarrett Stidham, Auburn’s more experienced quarterback and one of the better ones in the SEC.

For the most part their statistics were even – Burrow completed 15 of 34 for 249 yards and a touchdown, Stidham completed 16 of 28 for 198 yards and a touchdown. But Stidham threw two interceptions, one on his first throw of the day, leading to an LSU touchdown.

Burrow has yet to turn the ball over as a Tiger. In fact, no Tiger has turned the ball over through three games.

A 71-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Derrick Dillon pulled LSU within two points (Burrow missed on a two-point conversion pass) midway through the fourth quarter. But a bunch of less spectacular plays comprised Burrow’s signature on this win.

After Stidham’s first interception, Burrow completed a 6-yard pass to Jonathan Giles on third and 4 and on third and 11 he completed a 15-yarder to Justin Jefferson.

The bookend to that possession was the winning drive, during which he teamed with Dee Anderson for 8 yards on third and 7, then on fourth and 7 he threw to Stephen Sullivan for 9 yards.

Joe Burrow was only 2-for-6 on LSU's winning drive but one completion converted a third-and-7 play and another came on fourth and 7.

That’s five crucial plays – a game-changing touchdown that covered nearly three-quarters of the field, three third downs that became first downs and one fourth down that became a first – on which Burrow hit five different receivers.

He and LSU were aided by a few defensive pass interference penalties, which are less likely to happen when an offense doesn’t have a credible passing threat.

LSU has often lacked one, but now it doesn’t thanks to Burrow.

As for Tracy, he too is a graduate transfer, coming from Division II Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., where he made 27 of 29 field goals last season. LSU’s tag team of Jack Gonsoulin and Connor Culp was a combined 16 of 27 last season.

Tracy was 5 for 5, including two kicks from 50 yards or more, in his first two games as a Tiger. On Saturday he missed from 53 yards, then converted from 33 and 27 to help put LSU in position to win at the end.

Forget the first eight field-goal attempts. Tracy’s ninth, after Burrow had driven the Tigers 52 yards in 14 plays, was the type of situation for which Orgeron brought in Tracy.

The senior perfectly split the uprights and sprinted up the field toward his teammates in celebration. The scene was remarkably reminiscent of one nearly seven years earlier, some 160 miles northwest of Auburn, when Drew Alleman celebrated his winning field goal in LSU’s epic 9-6 overtime win against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

After exactly three games, Joe Burrow and Cole Tracy have written themselves into the heart of LSU football lore.