LSU football coach Les Miles had been fielding questions for the last two weeks about where the LSU offense was hiding.Many of those questions were answered Saturday night, as sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson accounted for three touchdowns and freshman Russell Shepard ran for a 69-yard score to propel LSU (6-1, 4-1) to a convincing 31-10 win against Auburn (5-3, 2-3). LSU remained at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls after the victory. “We still want to run the football with balance and have the ability to do both,” Miles said. “We always want to be 50-50. If the opponent wants to stop our run, we want to have the opportunity to throw the football.”Jefferson threw a 14-yard fade route pass to junior wide receiver Terrance Toliver to open up the scoring after a 3-minute, 9-second drive aided by three Auburn penalties — LSU’s first touchdown on an opening drive this season.Shepard woke up the LSU running game Saturday night with his burst between the tackles with 1:09 left in the third quarter. His 69-yard run was LSU’s longest offensive play of the season and the longest by an LSU running back since an 87-yard run by Jacob Hester against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 10, 2007. “Tonight I was really a running back,” Shepard said. “When I was running I was like, ‘This cannot be true.’ I experienced the positives of college football tonight, and I look forward to helping my team out some more.”LSU junior offensive tackle Joseph Barksdale said Shepard’s touchdown was crucial for the offense to put more points on the board quickly.”[Shepard’s run] was amazing,” Barksdale said. “That’s what we expect Russell to do. It was a relief that he scored because that would have been a long drive.”Toliver was Jefferson’s favorite target throughout the night, catching a career-high nine passes for 86 yards and his third receiving touchdown of the season and seventh of his career. Toliver said it “felt good” to complete long pass plays, something Miles emphasized the importance of during the bye week.”We executed the deep ball well today and made plays,” Toliver said. “I feel like we could’ve been doing this all year.”Jefferson finished 21-of-31 for 242 yards and rushed for his first touchdown of the season. He was the first LSU quarterback to throw and rush for a touchdown in the same quarter since Marcus Randall against Arkansas on Nov. 26, 2004. The sophomore set a career high in passing yards, and although he was sacked three times, he said the offensive line stepped up in protecting him. Before Saturday, the offensive line had allowed 18 sacks, No. 11 in the Southeastern Conference. “We focused on our protection during the bye week, and [the offensive line] really made sure they gave me time to throw,” Jefferson said. “The offensive line is working hard, and you have to respect all our linemen. I expected them to block for me, and they had a great game tonight.”LSU won the turnover battle Saturday night. Senior safety Danny McCray recovered two fumbles, one by Auburn senior quarterback Chris Todd and another on a muffed punt by Auburn redshirt freshman wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis. LSU senior cornerback Chris Hawkins also made a one-handed interception of Todd after LSU had opened up a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. The Auburn rushing attack was held to 112 yards, an average of 2.7 yards per carry. Miles said LSU made a visible improvement from its loss to Florida, and the team knows more needs to be done down the stretch.”You’d have been proud of this team if you watched them in the open week, coming off a tough loss to a nationally ranked team,” Miles said. “This is a nice win … one we’ll choose to improve on ambitiously.”—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]