BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – LSU can thank an Oregon State kicker who could not make extra points for its season-opening victory.

Alexis Serna missed three extra points Saturday night, including one that would have forced a second overtime, and No. 4 LSU escaped with a 22-21 victory over the Beavers.

The defending BCS champion Tigers trailed throughout the game, were shut out in the first half, and behind 15-7 with 1:38 left.

The Tigers seemed sure to lose when they drove to the Oregon State 2-yard line and failed to score with 3:39 left. But their defense gave them another shot.

The Tigers got the ball back for their final possession of regulation with 1:38 left. After JaMarcus Russell threw two incompletions, he hooked up with Dwayne Bowe for a 26-yarder then a 38-yard touchdown to cut Oregon State’s lead to 15-13.

On the conversion, Russell ran to the left, stretched out the football and leaped into the end zone for two points to tie it at 15 and force overtime.

In the overtime period, Oregon State won the toss but deferred. LSU scored on its first possession. Marcus Randall, who started the game at quarterback, came in when Russell was injured, and ran for a 5-yard touchdown, giving LSU it’s first lead of the game, 22-15 with the extra point.

The Beavers weren’t done.

Derek Anderson found Joe Newton with a 19-yard scoring pass, pulling the Beavers to 22-21.

Serna, a redshirt freshman who kicked a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, sent the extra point wide right, giving LSU the victory.

A heavy storm moved over the stadium just before kickoff. Officials sent the players back to the locker rooms because of lightning in the area. Kickoff was delayed almost an hour and the field was sloppy when play began.

LSU’s offense was sloppy throughout. The Tigers showed no signs of the methodical offense that helped them win a championship last season.

Randall, who replaced Matt Mauck at quarterback, got off to a rough start. His first pass was intercepted and he completed only 7 of 18 for 66 yards. He was replaced at the start of the second half by Russell, who was 9-for-26 for 145 yards and threw two touchdowns.

The Tigers generated only 93 yards, 39 passing and four first downs in the first half.

Oregon State got an early break, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff to set up on the LSU 25. They followed that with three straight penalties that gave them first down and 35 on the 50.

Derek Anderson completed 5 of 6 passes, including a 6-yard touchdown toss to George Gillett, to put the Beavers up 6-0 when the point after Serna’s first missed PAT.

Serna’s 40-yard field goal gave the Beavers a 9-0 lead at halftime.

LSU had a 57-yard touchdown reception by Bowe called back by a penalty and Chris Jackson’s 41-yard field goal attempt fell well short in the first quarter.

Jackson attempted a 42-yarder in the second quarter that went wide right.

Anderson, who passed for 4,058 yards with 24 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in 2003, was 26-for-47 for 231 yards and three touchdowns. He had one interception and was sacked four times.

Russell looked as if he would have no more success in his first two series than Randall had, going 0-for-4 passing and fumbling a snap. But on his third series things clicked.

Alley Broussard had a 15 yard run and Russell completed 5-of-7, including a 16-yarder for a touchdown to Skyler Green that cut Oregon State’s lead to 9-7.

The Beavers came back quickly, driving 65 yards with Anderson hitting Anthony Wheat-Brown for a 4-yard touchdown making it 15-7 – Serna missed the PAT – when the third quarter ended.