Auburn first-year head coach Hugh Freeze wasn’t around the SEC when Joe Burrow and the LSU offense were carving away at opposing defenses.

But since returning to the league last November, Freeze has kept a careful eye on what Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers have cooking on the offensive side of the football. And throughout that span, Freeze — an offensive mind himself — has been left impressed.

“I think their offense is the most explosive that I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Freeze said of LSU, again adding that he wasn’t around the league when Burrow and the Tigers won the national championship in 2019.

And much like that title-winning team, much of the success of this year’s offense has centered around the play of the quarterback.

Senior quarterback Jayden Daniels has been the one piloting the LSU offense, building on his first season under Kelly’s regime at LSU last fall. Prior to LSU, Daniels played three seasons at Arizona State.

Through his first six games of the 2023 season, Daniels has passed for just south of 2,000 yards, 19 touchdowns and just two interceptions. The athletic signal caller has gone on to add another 511 yards of offense with his legs and four touchdowns.

With more than 500 rushing yards, Daniels stands as LSU’s leading rusher.

“Just no one has stopped him, and he plays so effortless,” Freeze said Monday. “Literally, he runs 40-yard touchdowns and looks like he’s jogging, yet no one’s catching him.”

And though Freeze doesn’t get a Heisman vote, if he did, Daniels would be on Freeze’s shortlist.

“This quarterback, if he’s not in the Heisman discussion, there’s a problem,” Freeze said of Daniels. “But he’s playing at an incredibly high level with dynamic receivers, and there’s not a weakness on that offense. It’s impressive to watch.”

Daniels’ 1,969 passing yards and 196.7 quarterback rating are both marks that lead the SEC. Meanwhile, his 72.9% completion percentage places in the top four in the conference.

As an entire offense, LSU’s 3,290 yards of total offense leads the SEC, while the team’s 2,026 passing yards is good for second in the conference.

The task of stopping it all is a tall one.

“Obviously, we’re not going to talk about game plan, but I don’t think you stop him,” Freeze said of Daniels on Monday. “There’s too many weapons around him, and he’s too good.”

Surrounding Daniels on LSU’s offense are wide receivers Malik Nabors and Brian Thomas Jr.

Together the tandem has tallied 83 of LSU’s 97 receptions, 15 of LSU’s 19 receiving touchdowns and are both averaging more than 100 receiving yards per game.

And while Daniels has served as LSU’s most efficient rushing threat, running back Logan Diggs has added 488 yards of offense on the ground and four touchdowns.

Freeze is careful to give LSU’s offense too much credit — not because he believes he doesn’t deserve it, but because you sometimes have to walk on eggshells in this league, so not to leave future opponents disrespected.

“I think to this point — and I haven’t watched the future opponents, so nobody, somebody will use it for bulletin board material,” Freeze said. “But to this point, it’s the best offensive personnel I’ve seen in this league, to this point.”

Averaging more than 325 passing yards per game, Auburn’s pass defense will be stressed on Saturday night against LSU.

Through six games, Auburn has allowed an average of 153 pass yards per game – a mark that ranks 32nd in the country and No. 5 in the SEC.

Auburn defensive back Jaylin Simpson is also tied for first in the nation for the most interceptions this season, having tallied four of Auburn’s six total interceptions this fall.

When Simpson went down in the fourth quarter of last week’s game against Georgia, Auburn learned just how vital the veteran defensive back is to the secondary as it was a massive blow to an already-depleted Auburn secondary.

“Obviously, losing Keionte (Scott) was tough, and then (Simpson) going out in the fourth quarter was very, very difficult for us also,” Freeze said of Simpson, whose absence was immediately picked on by the tight end Brock Bowers and the Georgia offense.

Fortunately for Auburn, Freeze said Monday that Simpson — who has been dealing with a calf injury since the game against Georgia — has felt a bit better each day. As such, Freeze is hopeful and expecting Simpson to be active against LSU on Saturday.

And boy, will Auburn need him and the rest of the defensive secondary as close to full strength as possible.

“I think you look, (and) the keys of this game is: Can we hold them to field goals?,” Freeze said.