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Staff Predictions - Auburn vs LSU

Tigers vs Tigers, who ya got?

Alabama State v Auburn Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

Tomorrow. 2:30 CST. Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn. LSU. Huge stakes early on.

If Auburn wins, they’ll have the best resume by far early on this season. If LSU wins, then they’ve likely got the best resume by far early on this season. It’s a big game and could send one team on the path for greatness in the SEC West. So what do we think is going to happen?

AUBURN vs LSU

“I think I went on record on the pod as 27-10 Auburn. There’s no reason Auburn shouldn’t control this game, and you can’t convince me LSU is going to be able to move the ball against the Auburn defense. Perhaps a special teams gaffe or turnover in Auburn territory allows LSU some points. But, this game is in Jordan-Hare. Auburn doesn’t lose at home.” - Ryan Sterritt

“Au-burn Tigers, Au-burn Tigers, Au-burn Tigers, Au-burn Tigers! Man I love “Tiger Rag.” I think Auburn is the better team in this game, and Auburn is at home. I could see this being a very close game until the beginning of the fourth quarter, but then I think talent will win out. I could also see this being a 2014 beat down, which last year’s game should have been (shudders). Auburn 24, LSU 10.” - Son of Crow

Strangely, I’m a lot more confident in this game than I probably should be. While LSU did beat Miami in Week 1, I think the Hurricanes were grossly over ranked by the national media as their offense continues to struggle. Credit to LSU though, they took full advantage of that in their Week 1 Victory. If LSU is going to win this game, they will need Joe Burrow to be more than a game manager. While LSU seems to have found yet another running back to carry the load, I’m just not that sold on Burrow. Here’s a stat I saw from CFB Film Room: Burrow has been pressured on about 40% of his drop back passes and is only 2-15 on passes while under pressure. This will be one of the best defensive lines he has to face all year. That said, LSU’s defense is quite stout in it’s own right and if Auburn’s OL doesn’t make improvements, Stidham might be scrambling quite a bit as he was in the Washington game. Prediction: I said for the Washington game, I think the first team to 20 wins. Auburn 21-13.” - Will McLaughlin

“I get why some think AU might roll in this game considering the struggles of LSU’s offense at times against one of the best defenses in the country while playing in Jordan-Hare Stadium. But I think a lot of people are discounting the fact that LSU has one of the best defenses in the country again under Dave Aranda. I don’t trust our OL enough to feel confident that AU’s offense rolls. To make matters worse, it appears LSU has a weapon of their own at kicker so they will get points if they can get into scoring range. I think this is gonna be a defensive battle similar to Auburn’s opening game against Washington where both offenses struggle in the redzone. AU wins thanks to the dark magic of Jordan-Hare and a late turnover that probably happens because the ball bounces off like three dude’s helmets. Gimme Auburn 19, LSU 16.” - AU Nerd

“After the first week, I was really nervous about this game, but after seeing week 2 I am feeling a bit better. LSU marches in the #104 ranked offense, a team that was held to just one TD in the second half against SE Louisiana (and that was after a snap went over the Lions QB’s head at the goal line and returned to their own 20 yard line) into Jordan-Hare to face THIS defense. I expect Kevin Steele and Co. to test Joe Burrow in ways he hasn’t imagined yet and put pressure on the young man who is seeing action in just the 8th game of his college career (3rd start). On the other side of the ball, it was somewhat be the same, the only difference is, Auburn has a veteran QB who has a ton of young weapons ready to go off in this marquee match up in the Division, Conference and Nation. The key here will be how much Auburn has corrected the offensive line issues from the Washington game. If they have locked it up and this line has gelled, then go ahead and get the bottle of Eagle Rare ready for a fun after noon. If not....grab the Dickle 12, cause this will be a white knuckler. I go with the line holds just enough and Auburn cruises in the end. Orange and Blue Tigers - 24-9.” - Drew McCracken

“This game is going to be close and low-scoring. I think Auburn has more firepower on offense and the better overall defense, but LSU is not going to make it easy. As long as Auburn doesn’t shoot itself in the foot or get too predictable, it should be a win, but I won’t go so far as to say they’ll cover the 10ish points. Auburn 23 - LSU 14..“ - James Jones

“I’m in my feelings on this one and it’s probably totally due to last year’s collapse. After seeing what happened in that voodoo den in 2017, I won’t feel comfortable in this game until there are zeroes on the clock and Auburn leads. I’ll feel that there’s the possibility of total insanity to allow LSU to come back into this game and make it tight. A special teams play, a key turnover, a defensive score, a la last year. I think Auburn’s 22 on offense and defense are better than LSU’s 22, but this rivalry is all about the unexpected.

With my heart, I think it’s going to be close and stressful. Auburn’s defense gets more big stops than LSU’s defense does, and we see the home team put up a couple of early touchdowns that are enough to hold on once the visitors adjust on defense. Low-scoring. Tough. With my head, I don’t think there’s a way that LSU scores much at all. Once their defense is on the field for as long as I think it will be, they’ll start to sag, and Auburn posts a couple late scores. I’ll split the difference and say that Auburn wins, doesn’t cover. 21-13.” - Jack Condon

War Eagle!