Podcast: Reacting to LSU blowout win over Auburn

BATON ROUGE – Jayden Daniels and the LSU offense registered 563 total yards on Saturday night, while the defense posted a formidable outing of their own, en route to a complete 48-18 win over Auburn in Tiger Stadium.

Tonight is LSU’s second-largest margin of victory over Auburn in series history, second to LSU’s 45-10 win at home in 2011.

“Proud of our guys and the development of our team,” said head coach Brian Kelly postgame. “We played really well. Got off to a good start. That’s a good football team that we beat tonight, and we beat them in a manner that doesn’t happen quite often.”

On the opening drive of the game, LSU’s offense picked up right where they left off, putting together a 75-yard touchdown drive on four plays, spanning just one minute and 39 seconds – culminating in a 29-yard Daniels to Malik Nabers connection.

With 2:15 left in the first quarter, the Tigers had already accumulated 216 yards gained on offense and -3 yards allowed on defense, feeding a rowdy and loud Tiger Stadium crowd early in the contest. 

Auburn would score their first touchdown of the game with 14:22 to play after a 75-yard drive ended in the end zone with a 2-yard scoring rush from Jarquez Hunter.

Daniels spearheaded another effective outing for the LSU offense, finishing 20-27 for 325 yards passing for three touchdowns and an interception. The offense posted 48 points for 563 total yards, 325 coming through the air and 238 via the ground.

“This game is still about getting the ball to the players that make plays,” Kelly said postgame. “(Mike) targets the playmakers. That’s what you have to do because they aren’t going to be here long. Get them the ball and let them do their thing.”

Running back Logan Diggs led the way with 97 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Senior Kyren Lacy had his best performance of the season, leading all receivers with 111 yards on just four catches with a touchdown, averaging 27.8 yards per reception. Nabers reeled in six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

With 8:07 to play in the third quarter, Daniels found Lacy for a 25-yard touchdown reception over the middle of the field to create some separation from Auburn, extending the lead to 27-10. 

Lacy continued to make impact plays as a 57-yard catch with 3:53 in the third quarter set up a Josh Williams score to put LSU up 34-10.

It marked the first career 100-yard game for Lacy and his reception of 57 yards also marked a career long (previous career long at ULL was 55 yards (10/12/2021 vs. App State).

“It feels amazing,” Lacy said postgame. “We put in so much work, and I just had to take advantage of my opportunity.”

No LSU team has totaled 500+ yards of total offense in six-straight games – until now. Daniels is also the first SEC player with three passing touchdowns and 50 rushing yards in three-straight games since 2012.

Some individual milestones were achieved too. Senior running back John Emery surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards while Daniels hit 5,000 career passing yards at LSU with that an 11-yard completion to Kaleb Jackson in the second quarter.

Zy Alexander led the team in tackles with nine, along with two pass breakups. Omar Speights tallied seven tackles, while Andre Sam and Greg Penn III had six of their own. Junior defensive end Paris Shand made an impact of his own, finishing with six tackles, one for loss, with a pass breakup.

“Each player now understands the whole structure of the defense,” Kelly said on the improvements of the defense. “We were searching for the right defensive structure. We’ve committed to four down, with Perkins at the SAM. Everybody is comfortable in knowing what their assignments are.”

With the win, LSU improves to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Auburn falls to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the SEC.

“This team controls its own destiny at this point,” Kelly said. “We need to continue to improve on the defensive side of the ball and continue the consistency from an offensive standpoint, but I’ll put this team up with anybody in the league right now.”

The Tigers will return to Death Valley next Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff against Army on the SEC Network.