Live from the Bayou: 3:25 left - No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 21
Matthew Stevens
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Good afternoon and welcome to Tiger Stadium for this early Southeastern Conference as No. 11 Auburn (5-1, 3-0 in SEC) travels to LSU (4-2, 1-1 in SEC) today at 2:30 p.m. on CBS where Auburn will travel .
NOTE: To follow this blog, simply continue to refresh this page and live updates throughout the game will be posted here and subsequently posted on Twitter at @matthewcstevens, @DuaneRankin and @MGMSports.
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14:33 left – No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 21 – LSU TD – DJ Chark takes a punt back for a touchdown. First time an Auburn opponent has done that since 2015.
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5:33 left in 3rd – No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 14 – Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham is 1 for his last 7 because LSU is developing a pass rush and forcing him into quicker throws & decisions.
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9:39 left in 3rd – No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 14 – LSU gets past midfield but drive stalls after Auburn pass rush finally gets to Etling.
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HALFTIME - No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 14 – ANALYSIS: After Auburn runs up a 20-0 lead, LSU used jet sweeps and timely passes by Danny Etling to make a competitive football game again. Auburn defensive lineman needs to wrap up Etling when they have a sack opportunity because their secondary is having trouble today with LSU receivers.
Auburn’s red zone problems sprouted up again in the second quarter when they had to settle for field goals. Another problem for Auburn is Kerryon Johnson already has 20 carries and Kamryn Pettway doesn’t look heathy enough for a solid second-half workload.
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0:32 left in 2nd – No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 14 – LSU TD – After a near INT that Daniel Thomas drops, Etling lifts a flag route pass that Russell Gage and we suddenly have a ball game in Baton Rouge.
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2:16 left in 2nd – No. 11 Auburn 23, LSU 7 – AUBURN FG – Carlson with his 3rd FG. Auburn bleeds four minutes off the clock and Kerryon Johnson has 116 yards on 20 carries in the 1st half.
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9:19 left in 2nd – No. 11 Auburn 20, LSU 7 – LSU TD – Auburn’s defense allows a 70-yard run and then stuffs LSU three times from inside the five. A stretch play sweep to WR Stephen Sullivan gets LSU on the board.
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12:50 left in 2nd – No. 11 Auburn 20, LSU 0 – AUBURN FG – 48-yard FG by Carlson completes 3:37 drive highlighted by a perfect deep ball to Eli Stove near LSU sideline.
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End of 1st – No. 11 Auburn 17, LSU 0 – Auburn has led LSU to 67 total yards. Kerryon Johnson already has 70 rushing yards. Enough said.
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3:30 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 17, LSU 0 – AUBURN TD - Auburn completes a 52-yard screen pass to Ryan Davis. One play later Johnson scores from the wildcat.
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5:57 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 10, LSU 0 – With Kyle Davis out today for an unknown reason, Auburn is playing tight end Sal Cannella much more. Caught the first pass today.
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8:16 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 10, LSU 0 – On a 3rd and 1 play near midfield, LSU forgot to block Nick Coe. That’s a problem.
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11:31 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 10, LSU 0 – AUBURN TD - Blown coverage on LSU leads to Stidham going up top for a 49-yard TD pass to Will Hastings. That drive took 36 seconds after the turnover.
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12:07 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 3, LSU 0 – First big play of the game is a completed pass to DJ Chark. Chark fumbles and recovered by Auburn CB Javaris Davis.
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13:07 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 3, LSU 0 – AUBURN FG - A 46-yard field goal by Carlson is good. He still has the only points against LSU in the last 62 minutes of play vs. LSU after kicking six field goals last year in a 18-13 win. A pass to Sal Cannella, a run by Johnson and a stupid late hit penalty put Auburn in FG range.
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14:00 left in 1st – No. 11 Auburn 0, LSU 0 – Two plays into first drive (a pass to Canella and a run by Johnson) Auburn is already in Daniel Carlson’s field goal range.
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15:00 left in 1st- No. 11 Auburn 0, LSU 0 – LSU wins the coin toss and will defer to second half. Auburn will get the ball first.
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2:10 p.m. UPDATE – LSU preparing to start 2 freshman OL and a first-time starting sophomore – With injuries continuing to hit LSU’s offensive line, according to Advocate beat reporter Ross Dellenger, the home Tigers are looking in pre-game warmups like they’ll start two freshman (RG Ed Ingram, LT Saahdiq Charles) and a first-time starter (Adrian Magee).
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2:05 p.m. UPDATE – AUBURN LG Mike Horton out with ankle injury – Auburn sophomore left guard Mike Horton is not active today after suffering another ankle injury that took him off the field last weekend against Ole Miss. Expect Auburn’s starting offensive line to look like this (from left to right): Wanogho, Golson, Dunn, Smith, James.
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2 p.m. UPDATE – AUBURN LB Tre’ Williams inactive with shoulder injury – Auburn linebacker Tre’ Williams, who reaggravated his shoulder injury in the 44-23 win over Ole Miss last week, is not dressed for today’s game at LSU. Williams missed the game at Missouri and most of the game against Ole Miss since suffering the injury at Clemson. Expect Montravius Atkinson to get another start at linebacker today for Auburn.
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1:55 p.m. UPDATE – AUBURN RB KAMRYN PETTWAY DRESSED; STATUS UNKNOWN – Auburn junior tailback Kamryn Pettway (right leg) is dressed and going through pre-game warm-ups but remember folks, he’s done this already and not played a down twice this season. Pettway was taking reps from third-string walk-on quarterback Devin Adams.
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1:46 p.m. UPDATE - LSU RB Derrice Guice 'limited' - LSU junior tailback Derice Guice is listed as “limited” with a knee injury in the pre-game injury notification. However, I checked with Gannett Louisiana writer Glenn Guilbeau (who did the pre-game Q&A with us) and he confirmed that isn’t any different than the star tailback’s status has been the last few weeks.
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1:32 p.m. UPDATE - LSU LB ARDEN KEY STILL TARGETED BY AUBURN - LSU linebacker Arden Key might have arrived out of shape after his offseason surgery and only has .5 tackles for loss and .5 sacks but he's still on the mind of Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.
"Key is one of the dynamic players defensively in our league and you can tell that he’s starting to ge tin shape and is starting to really play," Malzahn said Tuesday. "Nobody needs to point him out. We're all going to know where he's at. I think it's just part of dealing with an impact player. Schematically, you've got to do the best you can to not give your guys a disadvantage or give them an advantage. You've got to play football. We'll know where he's at but you've got to put a plan together."
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As we're 90 minutes from kickoff, in case you need some pre-game material to digest, here's the pre-game box:
FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY
1.Have a cigar: It’s a pretty well known fact by now that Auburn hasn’t won in Baton Rouge since the legendary ‘Cigar Game’ in 1999 when Auburn players were photographed lighting victory cigars at midfield of Tiger Stadium. So since it’s been 18 years since Auburn has walked away from the Bayou State with a win, the careers of head coach Gus Malzahn, Jarrett Stidham, Kerryon Johnson and other players at Auburn could obviously be cemented by ending such a streak as No. 11 Auburn embarks on the beginning of a three game road stretch at LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
2. The Key to LSU’s defense is No. 49: Arden Key has returned to LSU’s defense after missing the first two games of the 2017 season but so far hasn’t looked like the player that dominated in opposing backfield’s last season. So far through four games Key only has 0.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks but that doesn’t mean he’ll be forgotten by the Auburn coaching staff. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn says they’ll know exactly where No. 49 is on every play and he’ll be accounted for.
3. Stidham travels to Death Valley No. 2: The seemingly always positive and upbeat Jarrett Stidham said Sunday he’s excited for his first trip to Baton Rouge and that’s a good sign for Auburn’s quarterback because the last time Auburn went to Tiger Stadium was the last time Jeremy Johnson was considered a high profile player in the Auburn program. If Stidham can continue to be efficient with the football and continue to lead the Southeastern Conference in pass completion percentage after this week, then Auburn is likely to come away with a victory.
4. Mr. Versatility Austin Golson: Auburn’s most versatile offensive weapon may just be an offensive lineman from Prattville. Golson joked on Sunday that he’s played all six offensive line positions in his three-year Auburn career including blocking tight end. If Mike Horton can’t physically be at 100 percent health following a severe ankle sprain against Ole Miss last weekend, then expect the left guard spot to be taken by Golson and Prince Tega Wanogho to take over at left tackle once again.
BY THE NUMBERS
12: Auburn tailback Kerryon Johnson leads the nation with 12 rushing touchdowns, 11 of which have come in Southeastern Conference play
KEY MATCHUP
Auburn DT Derrick Brown vs. LSU center Will Clapp
Beyond the shifts, movement and what Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele calls “eye candy” before the snap, the only consistent element of LSU’s offense right now is running Derrius Guice in between the tackles. However, Guice had just 76 yards at Mississippi State, 50 yards at Florida and 14 yards vs. Syracuse. In order for him to have holes to run to, LSU’s interior offensive line is going to have to move the emerging Derrick Brown at the five technique position after Brown had a career high six tackles and two tackles for loss vs. Ole Miss last week.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jarrett Stidham, QB, Soph., 6-3, 214
In his last national television exposure against a powerhouse program, Stidham was sacked 11 times and Auburn only gained 15 yards of total offense in the second half of a 14-6 loss at Clemson. Stidham says he’s ready for redemption and he’ll get that chance Saturday in his first CBS appearance in an Auburn uniform. Since the Clemson game, Stidham has completed 79 percent of his passes (72 of 91) for an average of 270.25 yards per game. If he has those type of numbers against an aggressive LSU defense, Auburn will win in another blowout fashion.
PREDICTION
Auburn 21, LSU 10
This game can be broken down to one crucial element and question. Can LSU quarterback Danny Etling throw the ball vertically down the field well enough or at all to steal a home upset from a potential Top 10 team and against an elite defense like Auburn’s. I say no and the statistics back up my prediction on this. If not, LSU has trouble moving the ball all afternoon and Auburn’s offense will wear down a tired LSU defense.
THE GAME
When: 2:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Tiger Stadium (102,321)
Records: No. 11 Auburn (5-1, 2-0 in SEC); LSU (4-2, 1-1)
Line: Auburn by 6
On the Air: TV – CBS. Radio – WLWI-FM 92.3 FM, WMSP-AM 740, Sirius 145, XM 190
Twitter: @matthewcstevens, @DuaneRankin, @mgmsports