Auburn coming off a bye week, and a strong performance against Georgia Bulldogs, should have been a team heading in a positive direction in week seven. That was not the case as Auburn falls on the road versus LSU 48-18. Coming in it was undeniably a tough match-up for Auburn going up against the best offense in the LSU. Despite the defense playing well through four games, they were no match for Jayden Daniels. The LSU quarterback passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Kyren Lacy had 111 yards off four catches and one touchdown. The Auburn passing game struggled like it has all season. As a team, they passed for 154 yards and one touchdown. It snapped their streak of not throwing for at least 100 yards against a power-five opponent. As a team, they rushed for 139 yards with Jeremiah Cobb leading the way with 69 yards. LSU totaled 563 yards in the game.
Auburn Falls on the Road Versus LSU
Auburn Meets Early Deficit
The game could have not started much worse for the Auburn Tigers. LSU opened with a quick touchdown pass from Daniels to Malik Nabors. Then, the Auburn offense could not get out of their own way on their first possession. After a quick three and out, the SEC’s best offense went to work again. After a 26-yard run by Daniels and a 17-yard completion to Nabors that put LSU at the Auburn 13, they were held out of the endzone. LSU kicker Damian Ramos made it 10-0 with 6:39 in the first with a 30-yard field goal.
The Auburn offense once again went three and out. In six plays LSU added to the score to make it 17-0 with 2:29 left in the quarter. John Emery was the star of the series. On the second play of the drive, he caught a pass off a wheel route to go 49 yards. That put the Tigers at the Auburn 17. Four plays later he would run it in from two yards to make it a three-score game early. When Auburn got the ball back, they found success through the air. Quarterback Payton Thorne found receiver Camden Brown on back-to-back plays to get Auburn into LSU territory. The two plays combined for 27 yards. As the quarter ended, they were in scoring position at the LSU 14.
Auburn Settles In
Two plays into the quarter Jarquez Hunter found his way into the endzone to make it 17-7. The two-yard touchdown was set up by a Robby Ashford pass for 10 yards to Brandon Frazier. Against the LSU offense, holding them to a field goal is considered a win for the defense. That is what Auburn did holding LSU to another Ramos field goal after they drove the ball down the field. The 35-yard kick made it 20-7 with 10:21 left in the second.
Still, up 20-7 with 2:50 until halftime, LSU was looking to deliver possibly a knockout punch. Auburn got their biggest play of the game so far when D.J. James picked off Daniels at the Auburn 34. Daniels looked to go over the middle, but Jaylin Simpson stepped in front of Nabors to tip the pass. The Auburn offense used up 2:41 of clock but was unable to cut into the score. On third and ten near midfield, Thorne was sacked by Mekhi Wingo with 27 seconds left. Oscar Chapman would punt it to the LSU six, and that would end the half.
LSU Creates Distance
Auburn opened the second half with the ball and went fully with Ashford at quarterback for the possession. It proved to be productive, and Auburn made their first big play in the passing game. After two positive runs by the quarterback, he connected with Frazier for 39 yards to get into LSU territory. Cobb got Auburn into the red zone after consecutive runs. Then Ashford was introduced to Harold Perkins of LSU. On second and five he forced Ashford to throw early, and then got a sack on him on the third down. That led to a 38-yard field goal by Alex McPherson to cut the score to 20-10.
If Auburn gained any momentum after that score, LSU quickly took it back. They would answer by scoring touchdowns on their next two possessions to extend the lead to 34-10. The score came off a 25-yard pass from Daniels to Lacy. After an Auburn punt, LSU would score in four plays and 67 yards. Daniels found Lacy for 57 yards to get to the Auburn 10. A few plays later after a penalty, running back Josh Williams caught a 13-yard touchdown. LSU now had their biggest lead of the game.
LSU Adds to Lead
Auburn would open the final quarter with a touchdown in a drive that started in the third quarter. With 14:56 left in the game, Ashford connected with Frazier for a three-yard touchdown. Frazier also caught the pass on a two-point conversion to make it 34-18. Thorne and Ashford split time on the drive. Two key passes from Thorne were a 13-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson and a 32-yard reception by Jay Fair in tight coverage. The Johnson caught was helped by a facemask penalty for 15 yards.
That would be the last time Auburn would put points on the board. LSU would add in two more scores to make the final 48-18 as Auburn falls on the road versus LSU 48-18. After the Auburn score, LSU went on an 11-play, 75-yard drive. The drive featured the run game with Daniels and Logan Diggs. Daniels had a 23-yard run early in the drive, and Diggs capped it off with a five-yard touchdown run. After Auburn turned the ball over on downs, LSU scored on a one-yard run by Williams to go up 48-18 with 2:28 left. The defeat drops Auburn to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the SEC.
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