AU-LSU: Season on the brink for LSU, Auburn
Bo Nix and the Auburn Tigers play host to the LSU Tigers this Saturday. (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Two teams coming off of big wins square off on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in a game that will be pivotal to both.
LSU, favored by a field goal, seems to have found its offense with its best performance of the season last weekend against South Carolina. Auburn, an underdog at home, escaped Ole Miss with a win last week, making enough plays in another nail biter to improve to 3-2.
“I think it is a really big game,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “You look at LSU and you see a team that each week has improved. They are probably playing their best game overall and have a bunch of new guys, like we do, and you can tell they are improving. Last week for us was a big road win. I am really proud of our guys the way that they won that battle and wanted to win. Three out of the four close games, our guys have found a way to win, which I think will help us moving forward.”
For Auburn, a loss would leave the Tigers with a .500 record and a future schedule that makes it difficult to improve on that standing. For LSU, it’s a similar fate except the Tigers would fall under .500, have the same future as Auburn in addition to having a postponed game with Florida on the back of the schedule.
The game will be televised by CBS at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Auburn and LSU is always a great matchup,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “Sometimes comes down to the last play, sometimes will come down to special teams play. Whatever it is, I have a lot of respect for Gus Malzahn and his offense. The things that he does can give us problems. I know we're going to have to have our best game on defense this year to be successful at Auburn.”
LSU had only a win at Vanderbilt heading into last week’s game and starting quarterback Myles Brennan on the sidelines with an injury. In his place, freshman TJ Finley completed 17 of 21 passes for 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns and ran for 24 yards and another touchdown in a rout of South Carolina.
“I was very impressed with the young guy,” Malzahn said. “They ran the football, and he made some good throws in tight coverage. The big thing is that they were able to run the football successfully with Finley at quarterback.”
Brennan might return for this week’s game, but it’s clear Orgeron believes his 6-foot-6 freshman can handle the role in the meantime.
“The thing that helps TJ is his length,” Orgeron said. “Being 6'6", he sees over all those linemen, he has a cannon for an arm. He lost some weight. He has quick feet. He studies football all the time. He's a football junky. If (Brennan) is not 100% healthy, there's any chance of injury, I'm not playing him. TJ will be fine. But if he's healthy, we're going to play him.”
LSU will bring the conference’s third-rated total offense and scoring offense to Jordan-Hare this weekend. Auburn will counter with a defense that ranks third in the conference in scoring and sixth in total defense.
And Auburn got away from turnovers in its win at Ole Miss, relying a little more on the rushing of Tank Bigsby, who comes into Saturday’s game as the top-rated all purpose runner in the league.
“I think it was just an overall way of getting back to playing good old hard-nosed Auburn football was the big thing,” Malzahn said. “On the sidelines we had guys picking each other up. We handled adversity extremely well. That feeling on the sideline from our guys was that we’re going to win the whole game, no matter the score was or circumstances.
“There’s no doubt (quarterback Bo Nix) was definitely locked in. We were able to run the football. That helps everything -- helps the line, helps the quarterback, helps the receivers. That’s Auburn football. That’s what we talked about going in, and our guys did a good job of that. I think for the third week in a row, we’ve rushed for 200 yards. We just have to keep building upon that.”
The game, as always, will be decided in the trenches where LSU’s improving defensive front will challenge Auburn’s young offensive front.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to be a test,” Malzahn said. “I think they’re leading the league in sacks and they have two guys who can flat-out get after the quarterback, especially on the edge. We’re going to have to do a really good job whether it’s scheme or whether it’s situational. When they pin their ears back and they know it’s pass, they’re very effective and impressive watching them on film.”
Orgeron said he was “very pleased” with the switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 alignment this fall.
“You're not playing four techniques, you’ve got ends rushing wide,” he said. “We have more athletic people on the field. It's LSU football. It's what I grew up watching. We did that in Miami, we did that at USC. It was time to go back to it. I'm happy (leading the conference in) all those categories … but we’re still 2-2. We’ve got to play better defense. There's no excuse for it.”