LSU-Auburn matchup isn’t same this time

Auburn and LSU went from high-flying Southeastern Conference contenders with top-10 national rankings to teams trying to salvage their seasons.

One of those teams can take a significant step in that direction when the SEC West’s two sets of Tigers meet today at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn (3-2), at one point ranked No. 7, narrowly escaped with a win over Ole Miss last weekend. Reigning SEC and national champion LSU (2-2) has taken quite a fall since opening the season ranked No. 6 and is coping with an injury to quarterback Myles Brennan. Freshman T.J. Finley is expected to start in his place after leading LSU to a lopsided win over South Carolina last Saturday.

LSU has won the past three series meetings, but the games have been decided by a collective 14 points the past four seasons.

“They get up every year for LSU, and LSU gets up for Auburn,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “It’s just been a good battle, cause there’s a lot of great athletes and a lot of great coaching going on in the game.”

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has some painful memories of the past few meetings.

“We’ve had three games that went down to the end, and we came up on the short end all three times,” he said.

At least one of the teams has been ranked in 24 of the past 25 meetings. Auburn put LSU through a tighter test than anyone last year before losing 23-20 when both teams were ranked in the top 10.

A few other freshmen have emerged as major contributors for LSU — namely, cornerback Eli Ricks, defensive end BJ Ojulari and tight end Arik Gilbert.

Ricks’ pick-six against South Carolina was his team-leading third interception this season. Ojulari had three sacks in that game, bringing his season total to a team-leading four. Gilbert is second on the team in catches with 16, receiving yards with 204 and tied for second on the team in touchdowns catches with two.

“We’re selling that to our recruits,” Orgeron boasted this week. “If you want to play as a freshman, have success, come to LSU.”