Previewing Auburn vs. LSU

Where: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La.

“If there’s an opportunity for the quarterback to carry the football, we certainly want him to carry it”, Miles said. It is the 16th straight game between the teams where at least one of the teams were ranked and both were or are ranked in 11 of those contests. None of that cost Auburn (2-0) a defeat going into the Southeastern Conference opener, but it left them looking like anything but a league contender. One game into his time at LSU, the Tigers pass rush is on track to get better results. That was good, beating Auburn would be better, and with Syracuse and Eastern Michigan up next, and winnable games against South Carolina on the road, Florida, and Western Kentucky, a win over the other Tigers should mean a 7-0 start – if the team plays up to its potential – before the showdown at Alabama on November 7th. S.C. has won four of the last five meetings and has averaged 39 points in the last four Georgia games. The Tigers opened the season with a 31-24 win over Louisville in Atlanta. It was an overtime game against Jacksonville State, in which they won by the final score of 27-20.

The Gamecocks recovered the fumble but were called for excessive celebration and penalized half the distance to the goal. Hansbrough rushed for 1,084 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2014. Auburn took over at the JSU 31.

“It’s a game I’ve marked my calendar numerous times during the offseason, since I’ve heard about it. I just look forward to going out and showing how much we’ve grown since that Auburn game”, Harris explained. It would have been the biggest upset by point spread in Vegas history.

Auburn made even Tom Petty proud this week with their free-falling routine-dropping from #6 down to #18 in the AP Poll-after a less than impressive showing against FCS foe Jacksonville State, albeit a victory.

The over/under is 48.5 points at Las Vegas casinos.

A win for Auburn would be their first at LSU since 1999.

Auburn is outscoring teams 29-22 this season. In that game, Prescott touched the ball 46 times and gained 373 yards – 268 passing and 105 rushing. On defense, Auburn is allowing 422 total yards per game including 222 passing and 200 rushing yards.

LSU quickly fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter as the offense went three-and-out the first three times it had the ball. The Tigers have forced six sacks and haven’t allowed one yet. Cody Kessler and Juju Smith and the Trojans have marched through 2 games scoring 114, but they haven’t been tested against a Power 5 team yet.

Even defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has scored his first two career touchdowns.

Gus Malzahn says he never thought about inserting White as Johnson struggled last week against Jacksonville State. Another back-up QB Tyler Queen is out for the season with an elbow injury. LSU’s task will be to tempt him into bad decisions and keep Duke Williams (five catches, 62 yards) from going off.

Only tailback Peyton Barber and wide receiver Ricardo Louis have been consistent playmakers, and big plays have been mostly scarce.

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The caveat is a doozie: The Rebels beat UT Martin and Fresno State while putting up those numbers.