LSU Football: 3 takeaways from takedown of top-10 Auburn in Week 9

LSU football survived a top-10 encounter with Auburn in SEC West play, setting up a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown against Alabama in two weeks.

LSU was able to run out the clock on a tense battle of Tigers, staying among a thinning group of undefeated teams. Auburn came to Death Valley and pushed the Bayou Bengals to the brink, but ultimately Gus Malzahn’s team succumbed to a 23-20 victory by the home team on Saturday evening in Baton Rouge.

Ed Orgeron’s crew set up what will likely be a No. 1-vs-No. 2 showdown against Alabama in Tuscaloosa in two weeks, thanks to the big division victory over the biggest potential spoiler that remained on either team’s schedule leading up to the November 9 duel between LSU and the Crimson Tide.

After a season that began with a come-from-behind upset of Oregon and showed lots of top-10 promise, Auburn will likely fall out of the top 10 of the AP Top 25 for good this season. It will take victories over Georgia and Alabama to get Gus Malzahn’s Tigers back to the loftiest heights of the major polls and the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings.

What should we take away from this survival by the home side on Saturday afternoon in Week 9? Here are three lessons from the big win by the LSU Tigers against their Auburn counterparts.