LSU football at Auburn: Highlights, final score and analysis

LSU football faced its toughest SEC test so far this season on Saturday. The Tigers traveled to the always hostile Jordan-Hare Stadium for their first true road game of the year. While they went into the game as 8.5-point favorites in the eyes of oddsmakers, it became obvious early on that the Bayou Bengals would need to scratch and claw their way out of the Plains with a win.

In the end, that’s exactly what happened. It took grit from Brian Kelly’s men, but they were able to flip the game on its head by the time the clock reached triple zeros at Pat Dye Field. LSU improved to 4-1 overall (2-0 in the SEC) and earned its most impressive victory yet. Let’s get into some of the highlights, as well as some analysis, from the dramatic 2022 Tiger Bowl.

LSU football at Auburn: Highlights, final score and analysis

Auburn was undoubtedly the fiercest test LSU has faced since the opener against Florida State. However, Saturday’s game also saw the Bayou Bengals play their worst 60 minutes of football this season. The offense was horrendous for large parts of the night, there were broken coverages everywhere you looked on defense and the special teams unit had errors of their own.

The Tigers found themselves staring defeat in the face as Bryan Harsin’s side took a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. A huge play from some of the biggest playmakers on the defense saw momentum shift in the visitors’ favor, and LSU was on the board. The Tigers would go on to score 21 unanswered points to close it out and earn their fourth win of the year

Here are the highlights from LSU’s 21-17 victory on the Plains:

If this game taught fans anything it’s that the Tigers are going to have to lean on their defense to win them games this season. There were some mistakes from Matt House’s unit as the defensive backs rotated in and out of the game. As long as those errors can be corrected going forward, it’s safe to assume that LSU has one of the best defenses in the SEC.

Running back Tank Bigsby—Auburn’s best offensive player—was held to just 45 yards rushing on the night. Even though Robby Ashford tallied over 300 yards passing, the Tigers’ defense came up with two interceptions and held him to a completion percentage of 50%. Most importantly, the hosts went the entire second half without scoring a single point.

In the end, it was a ‘bend don’t break’ performance from the defense. House’s men showed up when they were needed most. The offense was inefficient all evening but the Bayou Bengals’ defense stood its ground in this victory. All of the credit in the world should go to the defense as it had three turnovers that earned the Tigers the win in the end.

Going forward, the offense will need to pick up the slack as the way LSU won on Saturday is simply not sustainable. If Kelly’s team wants to keep this win streak alive, there needs to be more consistency in the passing game. Nevertheless, Daniels and Co. did enough to scrape by Auburn and improve its winning streak to four games.