LSU vs. Auburn | Tiger notes

LSU (3-1, 1-0 SEC) returns to SEC action on Saturday when the Tigers travel to face Auburn (3-1, 1-0) at 6 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The game will be televised on ESPN with Joe Tessitore (pxp), Greg McElroy (analyst) and Katie George (sideline reporter) on the call.

LSU is coming off a 38-0 non-conference win over New Mexico last week, while Auburn posted a 17-14 overtime victory over Missouri. Last year, Auburn outscored LSU 14-0 in the fourth quarter to overcome a 19-10 second half deficit to win in Tiger Stadium, 24-19.

LSU enters the contest with one of the nation’s top defenses as the Tigers are allowing only 257.8 total yards per game (112.3 rushing, 145.5 passing), while limiting opponents to just 33 percent conversion rate on third down (17-of-51).

Offensively, LSU has scored 30 or more points in three straight games and is averaging 39.3 points per game and 487.0 total yards per contest (198.8 rushing, 288.3 passing). QB Jayden Daniels ranks among the top 10 in the SEC in both rushing yards per game (65.5) and passing yards per game (208.8). LSU’s rushing offense has produced three straight 200-yard games, the longest streak since 2016. Defensively, LSU has allowed only 20 first half points this year and has held its last two opponents to only a second half field goal.

· Brian Kelly will bring a team to an SEC venue for only the third time on Saturday when LSU plays at Jordan-Hare Stadium. In 2006, Kelly’s Central Michigan team played at Kentucky (lost 45-36) and in 2019 his Notre Dame squad dropped a 23-17 decision at Georgia.

· LSU has won 9 straight games, including 3 in 2022, when reaching the 30-point mark.

· In 4 games as LSU’s starting QB, Jayden Daniels has accounted for 8 TDs (6 pass, 2 rush) and he’s completed 73 percent of his passes (81-of-111) for 835 yards, 6 TDs and no interceptions. He also leads the team in rushing with 262 yards and 2 TDs on 44 carries.

· In his LSU debut, Daniels became first QB in school history to pass for 200 yards and rush for 100 yards in a game decided in regulation

· In 10 fourth quarter possessions as LSU’s QB, Daniels has led the Tigers to 7 scoring drives (6 TDs, 1 FG).

· Last week, LSU started 4 true freshmen, including 3 on offense. LB Harold Perkins became the fourth true freshmen to start for the Tigers this year, joining LT Will Campbell (4 starts), RT Emery Jones Jr. (2), and TE Mason Taylor (3).

· Offensively, 5 LSU receivers have at least 10 receptions with Malik Nabers leading the team with 20 for 264 yards and a TD. Jaray Jenkins leads the Tigers in TD receptions with 3.

· LSU is limiting opponents to just 5-of-8 on redzone opportunities (3 TDs, 2 FGs).

· The Tigers have held its last 3 opponents to just 6-of-34 on third-down opportunities (Southern 2-of-10; Mississippi State 3-of-14; New Mexico 1-of-10).

· LB Harold Perkins leads LSU in tackles (22) followed by S Jay Ward (19).

· 10 players have been credited with at least a half-sack with DE Sai’vion Jones (2.5) leading the way.

· LB Harold Perkins, DE BJ Ojulari and DE Sai’vion Jones leading the way with 1.5 each.

Since 1988, the LSU-Auburn series has become one of close calls and one in which the teams and the fans have come to expect the unexpected.

• The following is a listing of some of the notable happenings in the series since 1988:

1988: LSU’s Tommy Hodson hit Eddie Fuller in the back of the endzone on fourth down with 1!41 left to lift the Tigers to a 7-6 win over fourth-ranked Auburn. The noise from the stadium crowd after the play registered on a seismograph across campus prompting the game to be titled “The Earthquake Game.”

1994: Auburn intercepted five passes in the fourth quarter, returning three for TDs as the Tigers rally to post a 30-26 win over LSU in a game that become known as “The Interception Game.”

1995: LSU donned white jerseys at home for the first time since the early 1980’s and promptly went out and upset fifth-ranked Auburn, 12-6. LSU preserved the win with an interception in the endzone on the last play of the game. The contest was dubbed the “Bring Back the Magic” game.

1996: With the old Auburn Sports Arena burning to the ground a couple hundred yards away, LSU beat

Auburn, 19-15, in a game titled “The Night the Barn Burned.”

1997: Titled “The Comeback,” Auburn QB Dameyune Craig engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to spark the Tigers to a 31-28 upset of 10th-ranked LSU.

2004: Titled “The Call,” Auburn appeared to have missed an extra point with 1!14 left that would have left

the game tied at 9-9. However, LSU was called for a penalty on the extra point, thus giving Auburn a second chance at winning the game. The second PAT was good, and Auburn held on for a 10-9 win, snapping LSU’s 10-game winning streak.

2005: Auburn missed five field goals, including one in overtime, as LSU held on for a 20-17 win over Auburn in Tiger Stadium. The win helped propel LSU to the SEC Western Division title and the game is now known as the “Field Goal Game.”

2007: “Can’t See Me” Demetrius Byrd caught a 22-yard TD pass from Matt Flynn with just one second left to send LSU to a 30-24 win over Auburn in Tiger Stadium. The play seemed to have caught Auburn off-guard as the Tigers could have attempted a 39-yard field goal for the win. However, LSU took one final shot at the endzone as Flynn connected with Byrd for the score, who then gave the “Can’t See Me” gesture to the LSU student section after coming up with the catch.

2008: Freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee led LSU on a 7-play, 54-yard capped with an 18-yard TD pass to Brandon LaFell as the LSU Tigers rallied for a 26-21 win over Auburn. It marked the second straight year that LSU scored in the closing moments of the game to beat Auburn.

2010: Cam Newton rushed for 217 yards and 2 TDs in fourth-ranked Auburn’s 24-17 win over undefeated and sixth-ranked LSU in Jordan-Hare Stadium. As a team, Auburn rushed for 440 yards, the most ever given up by an LSU team.

2011: LSU stepped out of its usual home attire and donned the Nike Pro Combat uniforms and responded with a 45-10 win in Tiger Stadium in what was the most lopsided victory (for either team) in the series.

2012: Trailing 10-9 at the half, No. 2 LSU held off an unranked Auburn team using a third-quarter field goal to prevail 12-10. Drew Alleman’s field goal proved to be the only points for either team in the second half. Sam Montgomery had a safety and finished with 3.5 tackles for loss.

2016: Quarterback Danny Etling drove LSU the length of the field and connected with DJ Chark on 15-yard game-winning touchdown drive with no time remaining on the clock. The call was overturned by video review citing no time remaining on the clock and LSU fell to Auburn, 18-13. On the previous play, LSU was flagged for an illegal shift after picking up a first down at the Auburn 2-yard line with 0:01 to play. With the clock starting on the official’s whistle, Etling - who rolled out of the pocket and found Chark for a tip-toe grab in the back-right corner of the endzone - was ruled to have received the snap after time had expired.

2017: Trailing 20-0 early in second quarter, LSU rallied for a 27-23 win to mark the largest comeback victory in a SEC game in Tiger Stadium for the Tigers. DJ Chark’s 75-yard fourth quarter punt return got LSU to with 23-21 and then Connor Culp provided the go-ahead points on a 42-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 24-23 with 2:36 to go. Culp added a 36-yard field with 38 seconds left for the final margin.

2018: Down 21-13 midway through the fourth quarter, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow connected with Derrick Dillon for 71 yards on the first play of the drive to make it a two-point game at 21-19. After a defensive stop by LSU and with just over five minutes left in the contest, Burrow marched the Tigers down the field on a 14-play, 52-yard drive to the Auburn 24 where Cole Tracy drilled a 42-yard field goal as time expired, sending LSU to a 22-21 win over seventh-ranked Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Tracy’s field goal marked the first time in school history LSU won a game on a field goal on the final play of regulation.

2019: No. 2 LSU overcame a pair of turnovers to defeat No. 9 Auburn, 23-20. Defensively, LSU held Auburn to 287 yards, forced 10 punts and had three sacks, as quarterback Bo Nix managed only 15-of-35 passing for 157 yards with a touchdown and an interception. LSU was led by quarterback Joe Burrow, who posted career highs in passes (32) and attempts (42) for 321 yards with a touchdown passing and another rushing that put the homestanding Tigers ahead by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. It was the closest game LSU had in the 2019 perfect season.

2021: Auburn erased a 19-10 second half deficit, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to knock off LSU, 24-19, in Tiger Stadium.