A pair of two-loss teams face off this weekend in Death Valley, as the 3-2 Auburn Tigers travel to take on the 4-2 No. 20 LSU Tigers in a SEC West showdown.
Auburn is coming off its bye week after nearly upsetting No. 1 Georgia two weekends ago.
LSU avoided a scare in Missouri last week, taking down the then-undefeated Missouri Tigers 49-39 in a game that saw a combined 1,060 yards of total offense.
LSU’s offense has been humming all year, led by Heisman candidate [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] and wide receiver [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag]. Their defense has been the Achilles heel for the team, however, as they’ve allowed nearly 47 points per game this season.
Auburn’s story of the season is nearly the exact opposite, as the offense has struggled mightily while the defense has become a top unit in the country.
Auburn’s inept offense is one of the main reasons why they are 11.5-point underdogs in this game according to BetMGM.
Will a deeper dive into the tale of the tape show Auburn has a higher chance of ending its two-game losing streak than the experts believe? As always, we’ll start by looking at the quarterbacks.
Auburn has struggled to throw the ball all season with quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag]. Through the first five games, Thorne has thrown for 643 yards (128.6 YPG), 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.
The junior transfer has also run the ball 45 times, collecting 195 yards on the ground and scoring twice.
LSU quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] has more than tripled that production. In six games, Daniels has thrown for 1,969 yards and 19 touchdowns. He has thrown just 2 interceptions.
The senior has also done damage on the ground, rushing the ball 75 times for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns.
LSU has the clear advantage at quarterback, and it’s not anywhere close. The offensive skill position-player difference tells much of the same story.
Auburn has failed to get much of anything from pass-catchers not named J[autotag]ay Fair[/autotag] or [autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag], while LSU has arguably the best receiver in the nation in [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag] and a contingent of solid players behind him.
Nabers alone has tallied 771 yards and 6 touchdowns through 6 games. The 771 yards are just 10 less than all Auburn pass-catchers combined, albeit in one extra game.
[autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] has been the preferred second option for [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag], as the junior has collected 603 yards and scored a team-leading 9 touchdowns this season.
[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag]’s team has also been better rushing the ball, as they’ve rushed for 5.7 yards per carry compared to Auburn’s 4.8 this season.
LSU is leaps and bounds better than Auburn right now on the offensive side of the ball.
The same can’t be said for the defense, as the road team has the clear advantage in this one.
Even after getting pounced by [autotag]Carson Beck[/autotag]and [autotag]Brock Bowers[/autotag] in the fourth quarter two weeks ago, Auburn’s defense still ranks 31st in the country in total yards allowed per game (349) and 26th in points allowed per game (19.5).
LSU’s defense, on the other hand, is not good. The Tigers are giving up an outrageous 36.8 points and 470.8 yards per game.
Auburn’s contingent of playmakers on the defensive side gives them a clear advantage in this one.
The LSU offense is elite, the defense is not.
The Auburn defense is elite, the offense is not.
This game is going to come down to which team takes advantage of the other side’s weakness first. If the Auburn defense can play the way they’ve been playing, and the offense can take advantage of a bad LSU defense, they have a chance to end their losing skid at two games.
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