Auburn football couldn’t survive a rally from LSU to stay undefeated in SEC play. What did we learn from the all-Tiger showdown in Death Valley?
Week 7 looked like it was going to be a bit of a letdown compared to the big games of prior weeks. There were no games featuring two Top 25 teams. That didn’t stop it from becoming the most chaotic weekend of the year so far. It started on Friday as No. 2 Clemson fell to Syracuse and No. 8 Washington State lost to Cal.
Then Auburn threw their hat into the ring. Despite mounting a three score lead, the Tigers found themselves on upset alert in the fourth quarter against unranked LSU. Sometimes you have to throw out the records when two conference rivals meet.
LSU entered the game 4-2 (1-1 SEC) while Auburn was 5-1 (3-0 SEC). The two teams could not have been coming from more different directions, but that didn’t stop them from playing a classic at Death Valley on Saturday. Auburn was a pick by some to contend for spot in the College Football Playoff. That seems like a long way off after watching the first few weeks of the 2017 season.
It appeared that Alabama, Georgia and Auburn were the trio atop the SEC with a lot of mediocrity on the next level. After Saturday Auburn has fallen closer towards the pack. What else we learn from an all-Tiger SEC matchup in Week 7?
3. Auburn is close, but not quite there yet
The wheels are turning for the Tigers but they haven’t clicked into full gear just yet. Auburn scored on their first three drives against LSU on Saturday. The Tiger defense forced a fumble and back-to-back punts from LSU. All the momentum was in Auburn’s favor and it looked like this was going to be another thrashing for LSU to endure.
Yet LSU found a way to fight back and make this a ball game. Auburn hasn’t won at Death Valley since 1999. So part of that was the home field magic that’s been a part of this rivalry for decades. But another piece is something that’s hard to put a finger on.
When you look at this roster on paper it doesn’t have a glaring weakness. The wide receivers had a rough outing on Saturday, but it wasn’t egregious. The offensive line has had their ups and downs, but Jarrett Stidham and the running backs have had strong seasons. The defense continues to be one of the best units in the SEC, if not the country.
That’s why the Tigers continue to hang around the Top 10 but haven’t joined the group of elite teams at the very top. When you watch this team play you see what they could be if everything works the way that its supposed to. Instead they find themselves trailing LSU in the fourth quarter. Auburn could figure it out and make a deep post season run, but for now they’re still figuring some things out.
2. Auburn running back depth is incredible
Auburn has not one, but two running backs capable of exceeding 100 yards on any given Saturday. There are several dozen college football teams that would love the luxury of one complete back, let alone two.
Kamryn Pettway, Auburn’s lead back a year ago, has played sparingly in three contests before the game against LSU. Injuries have kept the Tiger star largely unproductive, save for a 34 carry, 128 yard and three touchdown game against Mercer earlier this season.
Last season Pettway rushed for 1,224 and seven touchdowns. He’s been sidelined with injuries for most of the season. Reports before the game said he was “close to 100 percent”. While he did play on Saturday, it was another uneventful outing for the junior running back. He carried the ball four times for seven yards.
Usually losing the services of your 1,000+ yard rusher is a major set back. Not for Auburn. Pettway’s “backup” Kerryon Johnson continued a productive season in Pettway’s stead with a huge day on Saturday against LSU. Johnson picked up 156 yards on 31 carries with one touchdown. No matter who is in the backfield, Auburn has proved they can run the football.
1. This is exactly who LSU is this year
The Tigers shutout out a terrible BYU team and were upset at home by Troy. That just about sums up the weirdness that is this 2017 LSU squad. The Tigers just about summed up their year to date with their performance against LSU on Saturday.
Auburn roared out to a 17-0 first quarter lead, silencing the home crowd and bringing memories of the Mississippi State game to surface. Was Ed Orgeron’s team going to crumble again? Auburn would add a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter before the LSU offense began to wake up.
LSU started with a six play, 90-yard touchdown drive to put themselves on the board for the first time. After a Daniel Carlson field goal LSU worked an eight-play, 75 yard touchdown drive and followed that up with a D.J. Chark punt return touchdown to cut the deficit to three points. From a blowout to a slugfest, all in the span of a quarter.
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Frenetic, unbalanced and unpredictable. Points coming from all sorts of strange places and a defense that was both opportunistic and lucky. LSU is not a great football team. They might not even be good, but they’re so frustratingly unpredictable that they’ll always have a chance. That’s no the ceiling that Tiger fans were hoping for, but it’s going to make them watch every game from start to finish.