LSU never had a chance.
From the opening kickoff to the final whistle, No. 5 Auburn (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) dominated No. 15 LSU (4-2, 0-2 SEC) in virtually every aspect of the game in its 41-7 victory.
Auburn racked up 566 yards of total offense while limiting LSU to 280. It garnered seven tackles for loss while giving up just one. It converted half of its third down chances while LSU failed to convert even one in 13 attempts.
It was total domination.
“We are a work in progress,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “Certainly a group of men that are committed to fixing things. But, frankly, we did not get it done today.”
It did not take long for the home team to take a firm grasp of the contest it would refuse to relinquish.
Auburn took an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter after scoring on its first three drives of the game, gaining 176 yards on 18 plays. Meanwhile, LSU went three and out on its first three drives, earning just 16 yards on nine plays.
LSU fired back when freshman quarterback Brandon Harris found freshman wide receiver Malachi Dupre for a 52-yard gain, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Kenny Hilliard on the next play.
Unfortunately for LSU, that would be the only time it would fire back.
Harris finished the game completing just three passes on 14 attempts and 58 yards before being replaced by sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings in the third quarter.
“The night was awful from start to finish,” Harris said. “I flat out came out and played terrible. I can’t even put a grade on it. It was an awful game.”
LSU’s offense seemed to become more stagnant as the game progressed.
LSU found some success on first downs during the first half, but that seemed to be the only time it could move the ball. In its first seven drives of the game, LSU had garnered 115 yards of total offense, 112 of which were earned on first down.
Things only got worse for LSU in the second half. After putting up 112 rushing yards on 21 carries in the first half, it was only able to muster 26 yards on 15 carries in the second half.
“The piece for us was that we took some first and ten’s and could not get a third down conversion,” Miles said. “We kept putting the defense on the field. We tackled, we played hard, but offensively we did not execute.”
LSU’s defense may have played hard, but that didn’t keep Auburn’s offense from looking like a national championship contender.
Auburn finished the first quarter 247 total yards more than it had accumulated an any quarter since head coach Gus Malzahn took the helm last season.
Senior Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall methodically picked LSU’s defense apart in the first half, throwing 12-for-16 for 182 yards and two passing touchdowns in addition to 81 rushing yards and two more touchdowns on 10 carries.
“He seems faster to me,” Miles said. “He could get seven to 10 yards in a pretty comfortable fashion. I went up to our defense and said ‘Hey guys, that guy is pretty fast.’”
The LSU defense did eventually find a way to slow down Auburn, but only after giving up 379 yards of total offense and falling behind 31-7 in the first half.
“Auburn had an excellent game plan,” said sophomore defensive back Tre’Davious White. “They executed well and they blocked well. They just made the plays they were supposed to make, and that’s why they came out on top.”