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The offense kept humming, the defense kept improving and No. 22 LSU led wire to wire in a 48-18 rout of Auburn on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
LSU (5-2, 4-1 SEC) scored on its first 4 possessions and the struggling defense built on a solid second half in a 49-39 win at Missouri a week earlier to hold Auburn (3-3, 0-3) to 293 yards.
The offense was balanced as Jayden Daniels passed for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns, and the passing attack was complemented by 238 rushing yards.
LSU rolled to a 17-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and the closest Auburn could get was 10 points on 2 occasions, the last being 20-10 on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter.
But LSU’s next 2 possessions ended with Daniels touchdown passes of 25 yards to Kyren Lacy, who had 111 receiving yards, and 13 yards to Josh Williams.
Player of the Week: RB Logan Diggs
It would be easy to give it to Daniels (418 total yards and 3 touchdown passes) once again, but it’s time to acknowledge someone else, and Diggs was extremely important.
On the 2nd play of the game he broke free for a 35-yard run that led to Daniels’ 29-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers. On the 2nd possession, Diggs rushed for a total of 21 yards on a field-goal drive, and he added a 5-yard touchdown run that provided a 3-score margin midway through the 4th quarter.
Diggs set the tone right away that the running game was going to be as important as the passing game. He made things easier for Daniels as a runner and in the play-action game, and his touchdown provided a dagger.
Freshman of the Week: KR Kaleb Jackson
Jackson only touched the ball once, but he made it count in a game otherwise devoid of significant impacts from 1st-year players.
Auburn was in its best position since falling behind 17-0 when it drove to a field goal on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter to pull within 20-10, but Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Auburn 39. LSU rode the momentum of Jackson’s return to Daniels’ 25-yard touchdown pass to Lacy that put the home team in control with a 27-10 lead.
Biggest surprise: The complete defensive effort
The 14-point second half against Missouri was encouraging after 8 consecutive poor quarters against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Missouri. But it wasn’t suggestive of a performance as strong as the one LSU had for 60 minutes against Auburn.
The 293 total yards allowed were the 2nd-fewest this season, as were the 154 passing yards. The run defense was solid as well, limiting Auburn to 139 yards. Auburn converted just 3 of 12 3rd downs and 1 of 3 4th downs and possessed the ball for less than 26 minutes.
It was easily the best defensive performance in a month, since the win at Mississippi State to begin SEC play.
Biggest concern: The penalties
There were minimal blemishes on the performance, but the penalties stood out. LSU was penalized 12 times for 100 yards. The offense and the defense were equal culprits, each being penalized 6 times.
The offense lost 40 yards on 3 false starts, an illegal motion, an illegal block and a holding penalty. The defense donated 60 yards to Auburn with a smorgasbord of infractions – holding, pass interference, delay of game, offsides, facemask and roughing the passer.
Developing trend: Harold Perkins’ dominance
LSU took an if-it-ain’t-broke-try-and-fix-it-anyway approach to its preseason All-America linebacker early in the season by moving him from the edge to the middle of the defense. It has been a week-to-week adjustment to try and fine-tune his role, and he has started to dominate as he did last season.
Perkins was notable by his lack of impact in the season-opening loss to Florida State, but he has mostly been an impact player since SEC play began. He was especially disruptive Saturday night, finishing with 5 tackles (4 solo), 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.
If the defense is going to continue to improve, it will require Perkins being continually disruptive.
Key stat: 563 yards of offense
It wasn’t just the impressive number of total yards, but the balance that produced that number – 325 passing yards and 238 rushing yards. Nabers and Lacy combined for 200 receiving yards and each had a touchdown, Diggs and Daniels both flirted with 100 yards on the ground, John Emery Jr. had 91 total yards and Josh Williams had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.
The 563 yards weren’t as many as LSU had against Ole Miss (637) or Grambling (622), and its 48 points made this just the 4th-highest scoring game. The rushing yards weren’t as many as LSU had against Missouri (274) or Grambling (302) and the 325 passing yards were just the 4th most. But the running game and the passing game both were productive and consistent for 60 minutes.
First impression about Week 8: vs. Army
The defense’s improvement should continue for at least another week.
Army (2-4) has lost 3 games in a row, scoring a total of 40 points after a 19-0 home loss to Troy on Saturday. The Black Knights had just 255 yards, including a mere 78 passing. Army converted 2 of 13 3rd downs, 1 of 5 4th downs, lost 3 fumbles and gave up 6 sacks.
The LSU defense should have a dominant performance before heading into its open date and preparation for its Nov. 4 showdown at Alabama.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
