BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - The LSU offense was as good as advertised Saturday night, going for 563 total yards on the way to a 48-18 routing of the Auburn Tigers.
It started off hot for LSU, and it never seemed to slow down. “We had no answers for them,” said head coach Hugh Freeze after the loss. “They beat us every way that you could.”
The Heisman hopeful, Jayden Daniels, certainly made his case for why he should be in the running tonight. LSU's Senior quarterback went for 325 yards through the air, and added 93 yards running the ball.
“Jayden [Daniels] is a great player,” said Junior linebacker Eugene Asante. “He’s a Heisman candidate and I truly do believe that.”
To keep up with the firepower of LSU’s offense, it would certainly take a good start, but Auburn had far from the ideal start Saturday night. After Auburn’s first two offensive drives totaled -8 yards, the Tigers quickly found themselves in a 17-0 hole.
“We got off to a slow start,” said Senior tight end Brandon Frazier, who was one of the bright spots for Auburn. “And you can’t really do that against good teams if you want a chance to win.” The 100,000 plus inside Tiger Stadium looked to cause issues early, and they certainly played a part in Auburn’s rough start. “That was certainly not what we needed,” added Freeze on the opening drive.
On a positive note, Brandon Frazier scored his first touchdown in orange in blue after certainly paying his dues. The senior finished with three catches for 56 yards with a touchdown and two point conversion. “I finally got to get in the endzone,” said Frazier. “It was fun to get the ball.”
Coach Freeze also had high praise for Frazier, and the tight end room as a whole. “Those tight ends go to work every day in that room,” said Freeze. “That’s one of the better rooms we have all around truthfully, and it is good to see Brandon Frazier get some balls going his way.”
The words for Auburn going forward will be honesty and accountability. After a brutal loss like this one, it’s the responsibility of not just the coaches, but also the leaders in the locker room to get the team trending back in the right direction.
“It’s a big reflection piece for all of us,” said Asante. “We need to look ourselves in the mirror and not play the blame game, but honor what’s on film and prepare better in practice.” There was certainly no one player at fault in the 48-18 defeat, and it will be crucial for the Tigers to recognize and address the mistakes from the game.
Captain and Senior offensive lineman Kam Stutts echoed Asante’s comments after the game. “Just being brutally, brutally honest with ourselves,” said Stutts when asked what needed to happen moving forward. “Making sure we’re honest with ourselves and fixing the things we need to fix.”
After losing three straight games, the Tigers face no easy task righting the ship. Next up on the schedule is another high flying offense in 13th ranked Ole Miss. Auburn will be happy to be back in Jordan-Hare, as they will welcome in the Rebels next Saturday. The game will kick at 6:00 p.m. CT and should provide an electric environment inside the jungle.
