3 takeaways from Auburnâs 48-18 loss on the road to No. 22 LSU
Coming into Saturday night, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze had only ever coached at LSU’s Tiger Stadium wearing an Ole Miss logo on his chest.
As the Rebels’ head coach from 2012 to 2016, Freeze went 0-3 within the confines of Tiger Stadium.
After a 48-13 loss to Brian Kelly’s 22nd-ranked LSU Tigers (5-2, 4-1 SEC) on Saturday night — the most points Auburn has ever allowed LSU — Freeze is now 0-4 under the lights of Death Valley.
In his first year as head coach of the Auburn Tigers (3-3, 0-3 SEC), Freeze is also winless in the SEC and has yet to see Auburn put together an even decent-looking game on the road.
Here are the takeaways from Auburn’s third-straight loss of the season.
Auburn’s stage fright on the road still evident early
Prior to Saturday night’s game at Baton Rouge, Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers had yet to put together anything that remotely resembled a complete game on the road.
Auburn was slow to shake awake when it was out west in Berkeley, Calif. during Week 2 and fell on its face at College Station on Sept. 23.
And everyone figured a night game at LSU’s Tiger Stadium wouldn’t do Auburn in favors as it looked to shake off its road game woes. But, boy, Auburn’s start Saturday night couldn’t have gone any worse than it did.
After winning the coin toss and electing to defer, the Auburn defense folded to the explosiveness of Jayden Daniels and LSU’s offense, allowing the Bayou Bengals to put together a four-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabors.
Come Auburn’s offense’s turn on the field, the showing mirrored that of road games of the past: ugly.
Auburn’s first offensive snap never got off before it was halted by a false start as Payton Thorne and Co. started their first drive directly in front of LSU’s student section.
Just two plays after the false start, Freeze was forced to burn a timeout to avoid another pre-snap penalty, only for his offense to nearly turn the ball over out of the timeout as center Avery Jones sent a snap flying at Thorne, who evidently hadn’t called for the snap as the ball ricocheted off his hands.
Fortunately for Auburn, the fumbled snap was recovered by running back Jarquez Hunter, allowing Auburn’s Oscar Chapman to flip the field.
Auburn’s defense forced Daniels and LSU to settle for a field goal in their second possession – a win considering the potency of LSU’s offense.
However, giving up points – no matter how few – still spells trouble when wearing the same jerseys of a struggling offense.
In Auburn’s second possession, Thorne and the Tigers traveled a mere two yards on three plays before being forced to punt it away again.
While LSU traveled 141 yards and scored 10 points on its first two drives, Auburn managed to go eight yards backwards and was forced to punt twice on its first pair of drives.
If you combine Auburn’s first two offensive drives in each of its three games away from home this season, you come away with just 33 yards of offense, five punts and a fumble.
Not exactly the starts a team wants when playing in enemy territory.
Jayden Daniels and LSU’s offense is as advertised
Freeze endorsed LSU’s offense time and time again in the days leading up to Saturday’s game in Baton Rouge.
“I think to this point — and I haven’t watched the future opponents, so nobody… somebody will use it for bulletin board material — but to this point, it’s the best offensive personnel I’ve seen in this league, to this point,” Freeze said of Daniels and Co. during his Monday morning press conference.
And against Auburn Saturday night, the LSU offense operated exactly as advertised: a well-oiled machine capable of combusting at any moment.
Daniels, who Freeze believes is more than worthy of being in the Heisman conversation, had his way with the Auburn defense.
With his legs, Daniels tallied 93 yards. However, it was Daniels’ ability to extend plays with is legs and later make throws that really spurned the Auburn defense.
Through the air, Daniels finished 20 for 27, good for 325 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
Malik Nabors lived up the hype of being LSU’s leading receiver and tallied six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, LSU running back Logan Diggs toted the ball 18 times for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Auburn’s quarterback rotation returns in Baton Rouge
If Auburn fans thought Freeze and the Auburn offense had put the quarterback rotation on the shelf for good, they were mistaking.
Two weeks ago, Thorne took the vast majority of snaps against No. 1 Georgia, while backup quarterback Robby Ashford had a much more passive role against the top-ranked Bulldogs.
The one-quarterback approach was different than what the Auburn offense had used to that point as Thorne and Ashford both took a handful of meaningful snaps in each of the four games leading up to the Georgia game.
But Auburn’s two-quarterback rotation returned against LSU as both Thorne and Ashford shared duties under center against the No. 22 team in the country Saturday night.
Like every game this season, Thorne was Auburn’s starter, but Ashford got his fair share of action – especially in the red zone and early in the second half.
Primarily used for his athleticism, Ashford rushed for 19 yards, while Thorne also added 19 yards on the ground.
Together, the tandem finally snapped Auburn’s six-game streak of not passing for more than 100 yards against FBS teams as Thorne and Ashford combined for 154 passing yards and a touchdown.
Thorne was Auburn’s leading passer as he went 12-for-23 for 102 yards.
Meanwhile, Ashford added 52 passing yards on a 3-for-4 passing effort, including a big 39-yard pass and a 3-yard touchdown pass – both going to tight end Brandon Frazier.