The 9th ranked LSU Tigers took a page from the Saints playbook on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Build an early lead and force turnovers. That recipe led to an easy 31 to 10 win over Auburn.
LSU Quarterback Jordan Jefferson did his best Drew Brees impersonation, completing 21 of 31 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He completed passes to nine different receivers. Wide Receiver Terrance Toliver was the biggest recipient, catching a career high 9 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
"I feel like we could've been doing this all year," Toliver said. "We executed the deep ball well and we made plays."
Jefferson's night ended when he was sacked in the 4th quarter. The Destrehan product didn't see the blitz and took a vicious hit, which knocked his helmet off. LSU Coach Les Miles said after the game that Jefferson was okay.
"During the off week we focused on a lot of things that we made mistakes on," Jefferson said. "Coming out and executing the way we did offensively really gave us a confidence boost."
LSU Coach Les Miles was pleased with the play of Jefferson and his offense, but he understands there's still room for improvement.
"This is a nice win, certainly, but not one that we are going to rest and reflect on but choose to improve on ambitiously," Miles said.
The Tigers defense gave a tremendous performance, holding Auburn to a season low 193 total yards. Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard led the way with 13 tackles, and fellow linebacker Harry Coleman had two sacks. The Tigers had four sacks on the night and the defense forced two turnovers. A muffed punt by Auburn led to a total of three turnovers.
The game got off to a good start for LSU, who scored on their first drive. Jefferson threw a nice pass to Toliver on a fade route for a 14 yard touchdown pass. The Tigers were assisted by 35 yards in penalties from Auburn. Jefferson was able to gain some confidence, as the offensive line gave him plenty of time to throw. The sophomore completed 3 of 5 passes for 46 yards. It was the first time LSU scored on its opening drive since the season opener.
Auburn went 3 and out in its next possession. When LSU got the ball back, they quickly got back into Auburn territory thanks to two more War Eagle penalties. But Josh Jasper missed a 48 yard field goal try. The drive had some momentum, until running back Charles Scott was stopped for a two yard loss, and Jefferson threw an incompletion on 3rd down. Miles elected to kick a field goal, even though it was 4th and 1 at the Auburn 34 yard line.
But LSU's defense quickly came up with a big play to keep the momentum on their side. On third down, Coleman hit Auburn quarterback Chris Todd forcing a loose football. Safety Danny McCray recovered the ball at the Auburn 16 yard line. It was LSU's first sack since the Vanderbilt game.
Three plays later, Jefferson would run it in from 15 yards to make the score 14 to 0 LSU with 1:10 left in the 1st quarter. It was a good decision by Jefferson, who found no one open down field, but plenty of real estate on the far side of the field.
The first quarter would end with LSU up 14 to 0. The Tigers dominated the opening 15 minutes, out gaining Auburn 95 to 32. Jefferson had a good 1st quarter, completing 6 of 9 for 71 yards, one touchdown pass, and a 15 yard touchdown run. Auburn had 6 penalties for 59 yards.
The Tigers defense made another big play to start the second quarter. On 1st and 10 at the LSU 46, Todd fired a pass to the near sidelines, and cornerback Chris Hawkins made a leaping one-handed interception, and returned the ball to the LSU 41 yard line.
The interception set up the opportunity for LSU to deliver an early knock out punch. The Tigers would drive the football all the way to the Auburn 1 yard line. Instead of giving the ball to Scott, Jefferson ran it on 1st down and lost two yards. On 2nd and goal, Jefferson ran it again on a bootleg, but the QB coughed the ball up near the goal line and Auburn recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.
But Auburn's offense couldn't do much against LSU for the rest of the 2nd quarter. On Auburn's final two drives of the 1st half, they had only one first down and they finished the half with just 43 yards in total offense. The SEC's second leading rusher, Ben Tate, was held to just 26 yards on 7 carries for the half, and finished the game with 67 yards.
A muffed punt by Auburn led to LSU's final score of the 1st half. Phillip Pierre-Louis couldn't handle Derek Helton's high punt, and the Bayou Bengals recovered the loose football at the Auburn 36 yard line with 1:33 left in the 2nd quarter. Six plays later, Jasper hit a 32 yard field goal to make it 17 to 0 LSU at halftime.
The third quarter began with LSU taking the opening drive and quickly scoring a touchdown to make it 24 to 0. Jefferson threw his second TD pass, a jump ball to Brandon LaFell in the end zone to complete a 17 yard pass play. The drive started in Auburn territory as Chase Clement took a short kick and returned it 19 yards to the 45 yard line. A 27 yard completion to Trindon Holliday set up the touchdown pass to LaFell.
Auburn finally got on the scoreboard with 9:21 left in the 3rd quarter. Wes Byrum hit a 25 yard field goal to cut LSU's lead to 24 to 3. Byrum's field goal ended an 8 play 53 yard drive. Tate had 31 yards rushing to help set up the field goal.
LSU would put the game out of reach late in the 3rd quarter, when true freshman Russell Shepard scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 69 yard run. Shepard was lined up at running back, took the hand off from Jefferson, and found a seam on the left side of the line. Shepard hit the hole hard and turned on the after burners to run away from the Auburn defense. It was the longest play from scrimmage for LSU's offense this year.
LSU didn't score in the 4th quarter, as back-up quarterback Jarrett Lee saw his most significant playing time of the season. Lee almost threw a pick six on his first pass, as he tried to hit LaFell on a slant pattern, but the ball fell harmlessly to the ground. Lee finished the night by completing 1 of 3 passes for 12 yards.
Auburn completed the scoring with a touchdown with just three seconds left. LSU's defense has allowed only four touchdowns in the last three games.
NEW FULLBACKS
As promised true freshman Dominque Allen saw his first playing time of the season. LSU also used sophomore Stevan Ridley and Charles Scott as fullbacks. But during the 2nd and 3rd quarters, LSU used primarily three and five wide receiver sets.
RUSSELL SHEPARD GETS BACK ON THE FIELD
Shepard was heavily involved in the offense from the opening drive. Not only did he line up at quarterback, but he also saw time at running back and wide receiver. Shepard had an unimpressive performance, until he scored on a 69 yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter. Shepard said afterward that scoring the touchdown was a dream come true and he wanted to sleep in the end zone after he crossed the goal line.
CHUCK THE TRUCK STILL NEEDS A TUNE UP
Miles talked about getting Scott plenty of carries early, in the hopes they can get his motor revved up. Scott got the ball on the 1st play from scrimmage, but he didn't get many chances after that initial run. The senior finished with just 20 yards on 10 carries.
UP NEXT TULANE
LSU's offense should have another good night next Saturday when they host the Green Wave. Southern Miss trounced Tulane 43 to 6 in Hattiesburg. This is the Tigers final tune-up before a critical game against Alabama on November 7th.
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