After a week off, Auburn football is back as it arrives in Baton Rouge to face No. 22 LSU on Saturday.

The game will be under the lights of Tiger Stadium, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. CT. The game will be aired on ESPN.

It will be the 58th meeting of the two in this rivalry. LSU leads the all-time series 32-24-1 — though that does include three LSU wins vacated according to NCAA sanctions. Auburn has won two of the last three games in this series including the most recent trip to LSU in 2021. But the two wins in 2020 and 2021 are Auburn’s only two wins since 2017.

Auburn is 6-19-1 all-time in Baton Rouge.

Coming into this year’s game, Auburn is 3-2 and coming off consecutive losses to Texas A&M and No. 1 Georgia before the bye week.

Here are three questions that could have a big impact on Saturday night’s outcome:

1. LSU has an elite offense. Auburn likely won’t stop it. But can Auburn slow down LSU?

On Monday leading up to this game, head coach Hugh Freeze said it’s going to be tough to stop LSU’s offense. He went as far as to mention it in the same sentence as the 2019 LSU offense.

This LSU offense is fantastic, albeit maybe not quite on the level of that Joe Burrow-led national championship team. Freeze said Auburn’s best route is then to force LSU to kick field goals instead of score touchdowns.

Auburn does have one of the best redzone defenses in the country — ranked in the top 15 overall and the best in the SEC — which could be crucial in forcing field goals.

Auburn is also going to need some health on its defense. Defensive back Keionte Scott won’t be back yet due to his ankle injury, but safety Jaylin Simpson was seen working with Scott during an open practice session Tuesday and separate from the rest of the team. Freeze said Monday that he expects Simpson to play against LSU. He was injured in Auburn’s loss to Georgia. Auburn is going to need Simpson, who leads the nation in interceptions and has been Auburn’s best defensive player, to have a shot at slowing LSU.

So it comes down to two factors: Can Auburn have enough health in its experienced secondary, and can the defense, which has been very good this season, step up to this challenge of the best offense it has faced, even if stepping up just means holding LSU to below 40 points?

2. How does Auburn solve its ineffective offense on the road?

Auburn’s offense has scored 17 points in two road games this season. Well, technically Auburn has scored 24 but there’s a touchdown from linebacker Eugene Asante in there from the Texas A&M loss.

Whether it was the early September win over Cal or the late September loss to Texas A&M, Auburn’s offense has been a disaster on the road.

In two road games, Auburn is averaging 215 yards per game, including just 75 passing yards per game. Auburn has yet to pass for 100 yards against any Power 5 opponent.

Auburn is a combined 7-27 on third downs on the road.

List any stat about the offense all season on the road and it’s probably not good. While Auburn’s offense isn’t good enough to “outscore” LSU like Freeze said, it is going to have to at least keep up.

While LSU’s potent offense against Auburn’s defense may appear a strength against strength, the Auburn offense will be facing an LSU defense in clearly a weakness versus weakness. If there is a get-right game for Auburn’s offense, it would be against an LSU defense that is ranked in the bottom 10 nationally for total defense.

But, it also could be a get-right game for LSU’s defense against a bad Auburn offense. If Auburn is going to figure it out on the road, this is the defense to do it against. But it’s still a group that is talented on paper and nighttime in Baton Rouge is a very difficult environment. It’s still going to be a challenge getting things going on the road.

3. What might Robby Ashford’s role look like?

Is it fair to call Ashford the cliche X-factor? It might be.

His role has been a question mark throughout this season and certainly will continue to be one going forward. After Auburn’s loss to Georgia, Freeze said there was a package for Ashford but he still wished he used Ashford more.

Ashford’s most prolific role game in the first game of the year against UMass where he scored three touchdowns and played almost exclusively once Auburn was in the redzone until the result of that game was in hand.

Since then, Auburn has played a see-saw two-quarterback system that has lacked consistency week-to-week. Freeze has said that Ashford is such a good athlete that he must have a role in the offense but also said that Auburn needs less quarterback rotation so that Payton Thorne could find some element of comfort.

Ashford has been effective with the ball in his hands rushing for five yards per carry. Nor is that number skewed by any long runs because he’s been used in short-yardage situations frequently. He leads the team with five rushing touchdowns and is fourth overall in rushing. Auburn found success with both quarterbacks against Georgia when they were able to get to the perimeter running with the ball. Ashford is certainly a more dynamic rusher than Thorne if Auburn would choose to use a similar running strategy out of its run-pass-option plays.

The problem is Ashford has been totally ineffective as a passer. His time on the field almost entirely telegraphs Auburn is highly likely to run the ball.

Freeze has a lot to balance here. There isn’t an obvious right answer.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]