THE GOOD
You do not want to get carried away with one game and LSU is obviously in rebuilding mode however LSU did destroy the South Carolina team that beat Auburn two weeks ago. Auburn could not just show up and beat LSU, they had to want it and they had to play their guts out. They did both. The orange and blue Tigers showed up with a mad on after three straight losses to LSU and everyone in the country saying Auburn only won their games because of lucky calls. We can start where every game is won and that is on the line of scrimmage. Auburn dominated the line of scrimmage paving the way for this beatdown. The offensive line paved the way for 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing while the defensive line held LSU to just 32 yards rushing and less than 250 yards total offense before trash time.
It all starts on the line of scrimmage and while LSU is not Georgia or Bama this season they still have some good young talent and my hat is off to the Auburn linemen in this one. Tank Bigsby averaged almost five yards a carry and scored two touchdowns behind this line and Bo Nix turned in maybe his finest game as an Auburn Tiger. He rushed for over 80 yards with a touchdown and passed for a spectacular 300 yards and three touchdowns on 18 or 24 passing with 124 of those going to Anthony Schwartz. Nix made the right move every time when he decided to run. He led an all-out assault on the LSU defense that resulted in three touchdowns in the second and third quarters. Bo Nix was simply incredible today. The 91 yard touchdown pass to Schwartz was absolutely gorgeous.
You could say though that the defense got everything started and gave the offense many of those opportunities. It was a 0-0 game and Seth Williams had just fumbled the ball back to LSU when Nehemiah Pritchett picked off LSU quarterback T.J. Finley and returned it 48 yards to set the Auburn offense up and Eli Stove then took it from there and made a nifty move to get in the end zone. A few possessions later the Auburn defensive line collapsed on Finley again causing him to fumble and Christian Tutt came flying in and scored on an outstanding scoop-and-score. That gave Auburn the momentum and then the offense put up maybe their most outstanding drive of the season. They drove !!! 99 YARDS !!! for their third touchdown of the second quarter with Nix hitting Ze'vian Capers.
Again Auburn is still running the Malzahn offensive system. That will never change but Chad Morris like Chip Lindsey in 2017 is making a few good changes or tweaks within the system. The most important one was emphasized by Capers' touchdown, Morris is spreading the ball around. For so many years Malzhan would not spread the ball around. Opposing defenses would not seriously cover players and Auburn would never make them pay. It seems Morris has at least convinced Malzahn of his folly. In this game the ball was spread around almost equally between Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove and J.J. Pegues. I know some of those are basically runs but the principle is still the same IF you do not tip your plays by subbing which hopefully Auburn is getting better at not doing as well.
The Auburn offense then came out in the second half and did something Malzahn teams rarely do, they started fast and dominated the third quarter. The orange and blue Tigers took their first drive 75 yards with Nix running it in. The defense then made another big play with Big Kat Bryant intercepting a tipped ball and the offense took advantage with Tank Bigsby taking it in a few plays later. The Auburn defense then forced a three-and-out and the offense took over and drove 70 yards for another touchdown with Bigsby taking it in again. Auburn was up 42-3 but it was just now the end of the third quarter. One more blow had to be administered for the knock-out and when Auburn took over on their own nine yard line after the defense stopped LSU again they ended the fight with that 91 yard touchdown toss.
THE BAD
Um lets see well Seth Williams did fumble, the starting defense let LSU kick a field goal right before the half and Anders Carlson missed an extra point that would have made it 49-11... I think that is about it.
THE UGLY
As I said three weeks ago I cannot stand Dan Mullen. He is just as I read someone else calling him, a troll. He is a decent coach but acts like such a jackass it is hard to appreciate anything else he does. Again he falsely slandered Marlon Davidson last season and then a few weeks ago he encouraged Florida to pack the stadium regardless of anybody's safety concerns before coming down with COVID 19 himself along with several players where Florida had to shutdown the program for more than a week. Well after making that big of an ass of himself he was back at it this weekend confronting the refs after a missed call and seemingly encouraging a brawl with the Missouri players plus inciting the crowd on his way out and then denying everything during an interview. I mean wow, this guy is something else.
THE LAST WORD
The last time Auburn was this impressive against a big rival on the CBS 2:30pm game was in 2017 against Georgia and Bama. That seems like a long time ago even with the big Iron Bowl win last season. It was so nice to just sit down and enjoy a big Auburn win against a big rival on a beautiful day. I really enjoyed every minute of it. As I wrote last week this game was huge for both teams for fulfilling their realistic goals this season. I think Auburn now has a chance at seven wins which frankly at this point would be a huge accomplishment. Auburn now gets a bye week before traveling to play a reeling Mississippi State team and then returning home to play the Vols. Auburn can get to six wins with just solid outing in these two games and reach their goals. They now have the momentum.
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