The Auburn Tigers could not continue last week's momentum as they lost their third game of the season with a 38-17 defeat to No. 18 LSU.
In the upset victory over Georgia last week, Auburn was able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. In defeat to LSU, Auburn lost the battle in week eight. LSU made a point to slow down the rushing of Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown and put plenty of pressure on the signal caller. Brown gained just 21 yards on 19 carries and was sacked seven times. He did have a big run of 34 yards to the one-yard line with Auburn down 17-3 in the second quarter. Brown capped off that drive with a score of one-yard to make the game 17-10 in the favor of LSU with 9:48 in the second quarter.
The LSU offense
took the game over after that score for 21 unanswered points, and carried a 31-10 lead into halftime. The Auburn defense was the biggest letdown on Saturday. In the first half alone, Auburn gave up 346 yards and 18 first downs on 44 plays. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt looked like an All-American in the game. In the first half, he was 21-of-27 for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Leavitt finished the game with 387 passing yards and 54 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown. LSU's total yards in the game were 552.
That is not the standard of this team or the defense.
"Definitely not the standard to our defense. We just have to come out, play faster, and start fast," linebacker Elijah Melendez said postgame.
The Auburn run defense did not have much luck either in the loss. LSU rushed for 165 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Dilin Jones led the way for LSU with 92 yards and one touchdown. On the Auburn side, they only rushed for 67 yards in the game. Running backs Jeremiah Cobb and Omar Mabson combined for just 27 yards. "We just weren't good enough, and we didn't find enough creative ways to create the run game," said Alex Golesh after the game.
A big part of LSU's scoring drives in the first half was the Auburn defense's inability to get off the field on key third and fourth downs. LSU was 5-of-13 on third down, but they were also 3-of-4 on fourth down. When the Auburn defense has struggled this season, getting off the field in key situations has been a major contributor.
Things will not get easier for the defense next week when they face one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Ole Miss signal caller Trinidad Chambliss.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Jordan's Review: Auburn defense was a letdown in loss to LSU
