Fresh off their first shutout of the season, LSU took a road trip to the Plains to take on an Auburn team that was on top of the world. While a 31-0 victory over Mississippi St was certainly impressive for Lane Kiffin’s team last week, fellow first-year head coach, Alex Golesh, secured his first marquee win for his Tigers with a 27-24 upset win over the #1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Athens.With all of the momentum in the world, the question was whether or not they could stay hot against LSU or were they do for a hangover. Sam Leavitt and company did their part to make sure it was the latter, showing up in Jordan-Hare and dominating Auburn with an explosive offensive showing for a 38-17 victory. That score included a late touchdown by Golesh’s Tigers that made it look even closer than it actually was. The win improved LSU to 6-2 overall (3-2 SEC) and propels them in to their bye week for some much needed rest. Auburn dropped to 4-3 overall and now sit below .500 with a 2-3 record in the SEC. Kiffin’s team faces a two game gauntlet coming out of their bye as Alabama and Texas come to Baton Rouge in consecutive weeks for what will essentially be playoff elimination games. The Tigers carried over their momentum from their shutout win over the Bulldogs last week, racking up 552 yards of total offense, while only allowing 271 on defense. Leavitt was phenomenal, finishing 32-45 for a career-high 387 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air. Despite his compromised hamstring, he still found a way to add 54 yards rushing and another touchdown on the ground Jackson Harris continued his ascent as one of the top wide receivers in the SEC, delivering a 178 yard, 2 touchdown performance on 9 receptions. He’s been outstanding since week 4. In the first 3 weeks of the season, he only had 5 receptions for 117 yards and 0 TDs. Starting against Texas A&M in week 4, he now has 31 receptions for 517 yards and 7 TDs in five games. Leavitt needed someone to step up as his top target after Trey’Dez Green went down in that week 3 loss ot Ole Miss. Harris has done just that. Speaking of Green, he returned a couple of weeks earlier than anticipated. When the first injury report came out last Wednesday and he was noticeably absent, it came as a giant surprise. Everyone then began to wonder how recovered is he actually, and how much would he play. He was out there from the very beginning and ended up playing 49 of 83 offensive snaps, hauling in 5 receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown of his own. His return, along with Harris’s emergence, is exciting for Kiffin’s offense. Game Flow The explosion started slow, as it typically seems to do for this LSU offense. After Auburn went 3 and out on the opening possession, drove down for a field goal, which was answered by Golesh’s Tigers. Leavitt and the offense would then be off to the races from that point on, scoring their first of 4 touchdowns in the 1st half. While about to get drilled in the pocket, the Tiger quarterback hung in there and delivered a perfect throw over the middle for Harris’s first touchdown of the day to jump to a 10-7 lead. After three consecutive 3 and outs between both teams, LSU’s most impressive drive of the day came on a 14 play, 95 yard touchdown drive that was capped off with Green’s 15-yard score to go up 17-3. That drive included a gutsy 4th down conversion in their own territory on a beautifully drawn up trick play by Charlie Weis Jr. Auburn was finally able to answer, as Byrum Brown orchestrated an 11 play, 75 yard touchdown drive. His running ability was the biggest concern for Blake Baker’s defense going in to this game and he showed why with a 34-yard run to make it 17-10. With a little less than 6 minutes left in the first half, LSU had the chance to milk one final scoring drive before getting the ball to start the second half, but Harris had other plans. On a 3rd and 5, he caught the ball on a middle crossing route and turned on the jets to outrun two Auburn defenders on his way to a 70-yard touchdown, his second of the day. After another quick 3 and out for Brown and his offense, LSU then got their milked final drive, going 74 yards on 10 plays, capped off by Leavitt’s fourth touchdown, a 4-yard run to give his Tigers a 31-10 halftime lead. While scoring came to a halt in the 3rd quarter, it became the LSU defense show, as Baker’s unit smothered the Auburn offense. Golesh’s Tigers were only able to manage 67 rushing yards, far short of their 182 yard per game average. What the Tigers were able to do against Brown and his legs was a mirror of what they did to Marcel Reed a few weeks ago. The big Auburn QB finished with just 21 yards rushing on 19 carries and was sacked a whopping 6 times. He wasn’t much better through the air, finishing 15-24 for only 160 yards. Jordan Ross showed up big for the second week in a row, accounting for 2 of the sacks on Brown and 2.5 tackles for loss. The SEC’s second-leading sacker, Princewill Umanmielen, returned from his head injury that knocked him out of the Mississippi St game after just 7 plays and recorded a sack and 1.5 TFLs of his own. LSU’s final nail in the coffin came early in the 4th quarter on a 7 play, 67 yard drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown run by Dilin Jones. While Leavitt, Harris, and Green garnered much of the praise, and deservedly so, Jones produced yet another outstanding day on the ground. He finished with 92 rushing yards on 21 carries for a 4.4 yards per carry average, while adding 4 receptions for 27 yards. His touchdown made it 38-10. Auburn was able to get the garbage time touchdown after backup QB, Tristan Ti’a took over and scrambled for a 7-yard run to make it 38-17. The score came with just 24 seconds left in the game. Summary It was LSU’s most complete game of the year. Although the shutout over the Bulldogs was nice the week prior, it came against a backup quarterback and at home. This win at Auburn secured Kiffin’s first SEC road win as the head coach of the Tigers. It also snapped a 735 day streak since LSU’s last conference road win, which came on October 19, 2024 when the Tigers defeated Arkansas in Fayetteville. Kiffin’s team will head in to their bye week as preparations begin for a critical matchup in Tiger Stadium on November 7th. The #10 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to Baton Rouge for a 2:30 pm kickoff. With both teams sitting at 6-2, next Saturday is likely a playoff elimination game.