Although it had its ups and downs, Auburn got past the first of two Louisiana teams that will visit Jordan-Hare Stadium; topping Louisiana Tech by a final of 45-17 to up their record to 4-0. The Tigers weren't going to lose, but they didn't look too spectacular, leading the Bulldogs by a score of just 24-10 through three quarters. That's when Quan Bray decided enough was enough. He caught his second TD pass of the day from Nick Marshall from 44 yards out on fourth down no less to extend the lead to 31-10 and then returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 38-10 and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way for Auburn. Now Auburn will have to face a much sterner test from Louisiana State. Linebackers Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost were injured against Louisiana Tech as was right tackle Patrick Miller. Head coach Gus Malzahn didn't provide any updates on their conditions after the game. So obviously at this point, it's unknown as to whether or not those guys will be in there against LSU. I'm sure most already know, but in case you couldn't guess, LSU also calls their team the Tigers; hence the Tiger War title. Dating back to 2007, LSU has won 6 of the last 7 meetings between the two schools. The only Auburn win came in 2010 when they had some guy named Cam Newton as their QB. Last year's meeting was a 35-21 LSU victory in which they outscored Auburn 21-0 in the first half. Although Auburn played better in the second half, it was a little too late as Gus Malzahn was handed his first loss as the head coach at Auburn.
Good news for Auburn this year is some of the faces that killed them a year ago are no longer at LSU. The biggest culprit was running back Jeremy Hill. He rushed for 184 yards and three TDs on 25 carries. Hill is now in the NFL as the number two running back for the Cincinnati Bengals as a power compliment to starter Giovani Bernard. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry who caught six passes for 119 yards and a TD is also gone. He is now with the Miami Dolphins. Although Auburn was able to hold WR Odell Beckham Jr. in check for the most part (5 catches for 59 yards), he is now in the NFL with the New York Giants. LSU usually doesn't rebuild though, they reload. While they are younger, make no mistake, there's a ton of talent in Baton Rouge this year. At running back, they like to get a lot of guys involved. Perhaps the most notable of their tailbacks is a true freshman, Leonard Fournette. He has gotten Adrian Peterson comparisons and is considered by a number of recruiting experts to be the best running back to come out of the high school ranks since Peterson himself. Another freshman, Darrel Williams and two seniors, Kenny Hilliard and Terrance McGee, will also see some carries.
Wide receiver is another young but talented group. The leading receiver up to this point is redshirt sophomore Travin Dural. Going into LSU's game vs. New Mexico State, he had 18 catches for 494 yards and 4 TD catches. Yes, he was averaging nearly 27.5 yards per catch. That's insane! Another one of the talented pass catchers for LSU is true freshman Malachi Dupre. He has just nine catches through five games, but he's made them count as four of them have been for touchdowns. True freshman Brandon Harris will be making his first career start at QB for LSU. Harris was once thought to be an Auburn lean during his recruitment, but he wound up at LSU. He came off the bench in relief of sophomore Anthony Jennings in LSU's 63-7 win over New Mexico State in which he threw for 178 yards and 3 TD passes while adding two more rushing TDs. Jennings has been LSU's starter the first five games, but given how Harris has outperformed him by a considerable margin to this point, it was an easy choice for head coach Les Miles. The best offensive lineman for LSU has to be senior La'el Collins. He is projected as a first round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft at this point.
Same deal on defense for LSU, young but extremely talented. Auburn receivers D'haquille Williams, Sammie Coates, Melvin Ray, Ricardo Louis and Quan Bray will have their hands full with the secondary led by Jalen Mills, Ronald Martin and Tre'Davious White. On the defensive line, watch out for experienced defensive ends Jermauria Rasco and Danielle Hunter. The biggest name that jumps out at me at linebacker for them is junior Kwon Alexander. I believe he is their best player at the position; he's another guy Auburn was on during recruiting season a couple years back but instead chose LSU. These Tigers will come to Auburn with a record of 4-1 and ranked 15th in the country in both polls. They got convincing wins over the likes of Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Monroe and New Mexico State, had to come from behind to defeat Wisconsin by 4 and lost at home to Dak Prescott and Mississippi State by a final of 34-29 in their only SEC game to this point.
One thing that will have to be different for Auburn if they are to take down LSU for just the second time in eight meetings is Nick Marshall will have to take care of the ball much better in this one than he did a year ago at Tiger Stadium. Nick threw two interceptions and also lost a fumble. He was a bit shaky against Louisiana Tech in this regard. Even though he had no turnovers, there were a couple passes which could have been picked off by Bulldog defenders. It'd be hard to imagine him getting away with some of those same mistakes against SEC level defensive players. The Auburn crowd could play a factor in this one. Harris has looked good and no doubt he's very talented, but a first true road test in front of a hostile crowd is not an easy task regardless of how good someone is. I'd expect Harris to play well, but I like the experience of Nick Marshall and the experience as a whole for Auburn as well as the homefield advantage to come out on top in this one. Marshall comes out sharp and stays that way for a majority of the game and an improved Auburn defense does just enough. This will be their best overall effort since the second half of the Arkansas game.
My Call: Auburn 34, LSU 27
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