After a four-week hiatus from SEC play, Auburn dives back in with a massive West Division clash against LSU on Saturday night. Auburn cruised to a 4-0 start with only one game decided by fewer than 24 points, aligning Gus Malzahn’s squad for a shot at another SEC championship -- and possibly a national title run.
How to watch LSU vs. Auburn: Game guide, TV/streaming, odds
It’s do-or-time for Auburn’s national title hopes, and LSU is making a quarterback change.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday night's game in Jordan-Hare Stadium comes against a LSU team finally making the switch at quarterback from Anthony Jennings to Brandon Harris. Jennings, a sophomore, started LSU's first four games but has completed just 50.6 percent of his passes with five touchdowns to three interceptions. He played probably his worst game last weekend against New Mexico State, going 2-of-5 for 11 yards while throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. In comes Harris, the dual-threat freshman who's 22-of-30 for 394 yards, six touchdowns and one interception to start his college career.
Facing No. 5 Auburn on the road is one heck of a first start for a freshman quarterback, but Les Miles believes Harris is up to the task. Auburn is also dealing with injuries to three starters, including linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy. LSU will take any advantage it can find for Jennings, and with Frost and McKinzy still unknowns for Saturday, he could find just the opening LSU's looking for.
How to watch, listen, and stream
Game time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN (Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe)
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Our sites on these teams
The numbers
Rankings and records: Auburn is 4-0 (1-0 SEC) and ranked No. 5 in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches’ Poll. LSU is 4-1 (0-1) and No. 15 in both polls.
Vegas: Auburn opened as a nine-point favorite and is now a 7.5-point favorite. The over/under is 56.5.
Weather forecast: Sunny with a high of 69 and a low of 42.
Two things at stake
Auburn’s hopes of repeating as SEC champions and making a national title run hinge on its upcoming brutal stretch of games. After LSU on Saturday, Auburn faces No. 12 Mississippi State (road), South Carolina, No. 11 Ole Miss (road), No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 13 Georgia (road) and No. 3 Alabama (road). That’s brutal as brutal gets.
LSU has been pushing hard in game prep since losing to Mississippi State two weeks ago, pumping in crowd nose and pitting first-team units against each other in practice. The SEC West is, again, purely insane this year, but LSU has as slim a margin of error as anyone with a freshman quarterback getting his first start this weekend. With a trip to Florida on tap for next weekend, LSU needs every boost it can get at this point. Upsetting Auburn would be, obviously, quite huge.
One big matchup
LSU’s passing game vs. Auburn’s secondary. It has to be this, considering LSU’s high-profile switch to Harris at quarterback. With Jennings mainly at the helm, LSU averaged 236.6 passing yards per game, 66th in the country. Its 10.3 yards per attempt, however, rank fifth. Harris -- albeit with a smaller sample size -- is averaging 13.1 yards per attempt after throwing 30 passes. Considering LSU’s immense talent at the skill positions -- five players are averaging more than 16 yards per reception -- Harris has a tremendous opportunity to elevate LSU’s passing attack. Auburn, for the record, ranks 52nd with 222.5 passing yards allowed per game.
Further reading
For more on Auburn, check out College and Magnolia. For more on LSU, head to And The Valley Shook.
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