What to watch for in LSU’s Week 5 contest vs. Auburn
LSU and Auburn are slated to meet Saturday night for the 57th time in the history of the two programs.
Auburn has won the last two meetings, after delivering a blowout loss in 2020 and riding Bo Nix to a win in Baton Rouge in 2021. This will be Brian Kelly’s first taste of the series and could very well be Bryan Harsin’s last.
LSU lost its opener to Florida State but has since rebounded well. Jayden Daniels has started to settle in, and LSU’s defense has strung together dominant performances.
Auburn started 2-0 before getting blown out by Penn State at home. Last week, Auburn welcomed Missouri to town and won in overtime, but it was an ugly game.
When LSU has the ball
AP Photo/Matthew Hinton
LSU will be without RB [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] and OL [autotag]Garrett Dellinger[/autotag], two players who won’t make or break the day for LSU but are still important pieces on this offense.
[autotag]Miles Frazier[/autotag] will slide back to left guard in place of Dellinger, and [autotag]Anthony Bradford[/autotag] will start on the right side. LSU’s pass protection has been improved thus far and Dellinger has been a big part of that.
Auburn has some serious players inside and out on that defensive front. Frazier and Bradford will need to handle Marcus Harris, Jayson Jones, and Colby Wooden. LSU’s offensive tackles will already have their hands full with Derrick Hall and Eku Leota on the edge.
LSU will need Daniels to keep taking steps forward. Daniels is fast, but so is the Auburn defense.
Daniels can’t afford to panic if Auburn’s pass rush is hitting home. LSU’s wide receivers will have chances to make plays against the Auburn secondary, LSU needs to be patient.
Bottom Line
Auburn’s pass rush will have success, but the speed of Daniels and the depth and talent of LSU’s wide receivers will provide it with scoring opportunities. LSU needs to be efficient in the red zone and not waste good drives.
When Auburn has the ball
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Auburn has its own speedy quarterback in Robby Ashford, but he doesn’t offer much in the passing game. Ashford is completing just 57.4% of his passes and has a 72.3 NFL passer rating.
LSU’s secondary is holding opponents’ completion percentage under 60% and allowing just 6.4 yards per pass. Auburn has been able to create some big plays at times. Explosive plays have been allowed by LSU’s defense here and there thus far and Auburn might be able to break a few on Saturday.
However, LSU’s pass rush and secondary are not a good matchup for this Auburn offense.
LSU has the pass rushers to hit home and has big, physical corners that are going to make it tough for Auburn pass catchers to find space.
Auburn will resort to the run game, but will then be forced to deal with [autotag]Mekhi Wingo[/autotag]. The LSU defensive tackle has been one of the best in the SEC and a force against the run.
Bottom Line
LSU’s defense is heads and heels above Auburn’s offense, but Auburn has a chance if they can create some big plays. LSU is going to force Auburn into plenty of third downs. As long as the LSU defense holds, Matt House’s crew should have another good day.
Special teams
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Auburn ranks 25th in SP+ on special teams, giving Harsin’s group the edge. LSU’s special teams unit ranks 125th, which is almost as bad as you can imagine.
LSU has looked better in this department recently, but more needs to be shown. LSU needs to hold strong in field goal protection and avoid muffs or penalties in the return game.
How does the LSU offense distribute touches?
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
With [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] returning, LSU will have plenty of options in the passing game. Boutte, [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag], [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Bech[/autotag], [autotag]Jaray Jenkins[/autotag], and [autotag]Chris Hilton[/autotag] are solid options.
Boutte tends to receive a lot of attention from opposing defenses, but with other guys starting to step up now, we might see Auburn back off double-teams. Boutte needs to have a breakout game sooner or later. He might have that chance this weekend.
With Goodwin out, [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] will get most of the touches at running back. Since Emery returned against Mississippi State, his 20 carries lead the team.
In that same span, [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] have combined for 16 carries. Cain, who ran for 94 yards against New Mexico, should see an increased workload in Goodwin’s absence.
