Keys to victory against Auburn

[Herb]

 

You like old school SEC run dominated games?  Then this week is for you.

The winner of this game will be the team that wins the time of posession war, because it will be a run dominated slugfest.  Auburn's feature backs are both freshmen:

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
JaTarvious Whitlow	22	150	6.8	22	1
Shaun Shivers	14	124	8.9	26	1

Not  bad stats.

Shivers is the kid to watch...he's a pretty nifty runner if you've seen any of his highlights so far. Keep in mind that so far this year Auburn has run the ball about 30% more than LSU and they have a lot of people in the game with sweeps, reverses, etc.,. (Things that LSU has not really shown this year.)

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Nick Brossette	41	262	6.4	50 (TD)	2
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	16	51	3.2	7 (TD)	1

Edwards-Helaire is due for a breakout game, but given our OL play so far that might not be happening this week.

Through 2 games, here are the total rushing stats for each team:

Auburn

104

576

5.5

26

7

 

LSU

76

340

4.5

50

4

 

Their QB:

NAME	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	YDS/A	TD	INT	RAT
Jarrett Stidham	32	47	386	68.1	8.21	2	0	151.1

I think DBU forces Stidham and Auburn to rely on smash mouth football.  This is especially true given the thin depth we have at LB right now.

This puts the onus on LSU's front 7 to come through, keep Stidham contained, and not give up the big run.  As good as our front 7 is, this is going to be a big challenge with 2 pretty productive freshman running backs.

Rushing-wise, Stidham is only averaging 2.4 yards a carry and we need to make sure he does not pop off anything significantly longer. 

Our QB:

Burrow:

 

NAME	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	YDS/A	TD	INT	RAT
Joe Burrow	21	44	291	47.7	6.61	2	0	118.3

Auburn is going to come after Burrow early and often. The OL really needs to step up their game from what they have shown so far. Burrow alsoo needs to get rid of the ball a split second sooner...I think that will come over time as Joe and his receivers become better synched. It might be too early to expect that this week.

Size-wise, Burrow and Stidham are almost physical carbon copies of one another. Stidham is 6'3" and 215 pounds, whereas Burrow is 6'4" and 216 pounds.

Stidham has more career game experience by far. Stidham was a 5 star recruit and originally played for Art Briles at Baylor.  He left the program when the sexual assault program hit the fan.

The parallels between Stidham and Burrow are there. Both left the programs they were recruited to (albeit for different reasons). Stidham has the edge in experience and perhaps in talent as well. 

This is seen in the receiving stats as well:

Team

REC

YDS

AVG

LONG

TD

LSU

21

291

13.9

40

2

Auburn

34

411

12.1

57

2

But...Auburn's stats are not overwhelmingly better. Stidham has connected on about 10 more passes and has roughly 100 more yards.  Can't help but think how the stats would compare had LSU receivers not dropped a few passes in game 1.

My take on the game is what I led off with...Stidham has to go through DBU and survive LSU's pass rush to have a good to great game.  I don't see that happening. 

Both teams are going to pound the hell out of the ball and whoever wins the time of poseesion war will likely win the game.  It might come down to who has last possession.

[Hatchertiger]

Joe Bayou is right. We HAVE to throw the ball to win.

[dachsie]

I just hope no one gets injured.

[Fishhead]

I honestly think it's gonna be a good tight game.  Hopefully it comes down to the kicker and we get the ball last.

[paducahmichael]

For the first time in a while I won't hide my eyes when the kicker comes on for a FG. It's a good feeling.

 

[Just Me]

9 hours ago, Fishhead said:

I honestly think it's gonna be a good tight game.  Hopefully it comes down to the kicker and we get the ball last.

I hope you are right. I have not had a good feeling about this one. Reading that we have a couple of guys back on the offensive line helps, though.

[Herb]

15 hours ago, Hatchertiger said:

Joe Bayou is right. We HAVE to throw the ball to win.

We need to pass wisely.  We can't try to outgun Stidham because he is too familiar in his own offense and has worked with his receivers longer. 

I think our defense can shut down their offense fairly well. We just can't give them the ball for long stretches. 

I'm hoping the passing game is short to intermediate passes so we can eat up the clock.  I was encouraged last week to see Foster Moreau more a part of the game plan.  I'm guessing he might play a larger role this week.