Earning their stripes
Auburn, LSU set for big SEC West clash
AUBURN, Ala. — Chandler Cox expects today’s LSU-Auburn game to be intense.
The senior H-back for No. 7 Auburn figures that’s standard for the rivalry with No. 12 LSU and sees no reason the latest confrontation between the Southeastern Conference foes will be any different.
“It’s always hot. It’s always sweaty. Always bloody,” Cox said. “It’s one of those games that’s a bloodbath. It’s going to come down to the wire. We’ve got to expect that.”
The winner of this year’s first big SEC West clash could emerge as the most likely challenger to No. 1 Alabama in a division with four teams in the AP Top 25 and two others receiving votes in the poll.
Auburn and LSU are both 2-0 overall entering SEC play, each with a win over a team ranked in the top 10 during the first full weekend of the season. LSU beat then-No. 8 Miami and Auburn topped then-No. 6 Washington in neutral-site matchups that were followed by predictable routs of overmatched opponents.
For Auburn, memories are fresh from blowing a 20-0 lead on the way to a 27-23 loss to LSU last season. LSU guard Garrett Brumfield, a fifth-year senior, gave his teammates a reminder of what’s ahead shortly after last Saturday’s win over Southeastern Louisiana.
“He told us how big a game the Auburn game is,” sophomore safety Grant Delpit said. “He said that we can’t take it for granted that we’ll win this game just because we have won the first two games. He told us that we have to come out punching because we stole one from them last year.”
These games might be bloody, but it’s certain they are rarely boring. LSU’s last visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium two years ago ended with an apparent winning touchdown that didn’t count because time ran out before the snap. A day later, LSU fired coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.
Auburn is a 10-point favorite in this one.
“This is a better football team than Miami. We know that,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “It’s a big
rivalry for the LSU Tigers. It’s SEC play. It’s physical football. It’s going to take our best to beat them.”
The home team has won 16 of the past 18 meetings in the series. Auburn has been much better at Jordan-Hare, nursing a 13-game home winning streak that includes victories over Georgia and Alabama last season when each of the opponents was ranked No. 1. Auburn’s last home loss was to Texas A&M, 29-16 in September 2016.
“When we play at Jordan-Hare,” Auburn cornerback Jamel Dean said, “we have the mindset that we don’t lose at home.”
Dean and LSU quarterback Joe Burrow initially signed with Ohio State in 2015. Burrow is a graduate transfer. Dean left after he was medically disqualified from playing because of knee injuries.
Said Dean: “I’m pretty sure, if he felt like how I felt, he’ll probably have a chip on his shoulder and he probably wants to prove to Ohio State why he should have been there playing.”
They won’t be the only players in this game with something to prove. LSU running back Nick Brossette backed up Leonard Fournette, Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams the past three years before finally getting his chance to start as a senior this season.
His response has been two games with at least 125 rushing yards. This week looks to be a tougher test, though: Auburn has allowed an average of less than 100 yards per game on the ground this season.
Auburn, LSU and Vanderbilt are tied for the SEC lead with nine sacks, with eight Auburn players recording at least one. Auburn’s Big Kat Bryant and LSU’s Delpit both have a pair of sacks.
Auburn’s defense has an SEC-leading four interceptions. While Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham hasn’t been picked off this year, his team lost four fumbles last Saturday against Alabama State, with reserves mostly to blame for the miscues.