Auburn to take 'all of the confidence in the world' to LSU after four straight wins

Auburn to take 'all of the confidence in the world' to LSU after four straight winsAuburn to take 'all of the confidence in the world' to LSU after four straight wins

Oct. 9, 2017

By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - If the Auburn Tigers have their way, they'll be taking a page out of Prince's playbook Saturday night. The one about partying like it's 1999, the last time Auburn won in Baton Rouge.

"That's definitely something I want to change," said defensive lineman Derrick Brown, who tied career highs with six tackles and two tackles for loss in Auburn's 44-23 win over Ole Miss. "I feel like if we change that next Saturday, we become a big part of history."

The SEC's offensive player of the week, Kerryon Johnson, welcomes the challenge.

"I love playing there," said Johnson, the first SEC player in 20 years to rush for at least three touchdowns in three straight games. "I love their stadium. I love the crowd. I love the atmosphere there. This is going to be a big game for us, but coming off these recent weeks, we have all of the confidence in the world. We know we can do it."

LSU rebounded after losing at home to Troy by beating Florida in Gainesville, 17-16.

"They're not going to give up," Johnson said. "That's not how their built. That's not how they're wired. We've got to come out and be prepared for the ups and downs of the game. Be prepared for crowd noise and play our game."

Auburn's earlier road trip to Clemson will help prepare the Tigers for the raucous reception they'll encounter at LSU, quarterback Jarrett Stidham said.

"I've heard it's a crazy place," Stidham said. "This will be our second Death Valley to play at. We're looking forward to it. Any time you can go on a road environment like this it's really exciting. We were excited as a team going into Clemson. We were just as fired up going into Missouri, and we're going to be just as fired up going into Death Valley."

Last season, Auburn beat LSU 18-13 when Daniel Carlson kicked six field goals at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Time ran out before the Bengal Tigers scored what initially appeared to be a game-winning TD, ultimately nullified upon review.

"After we beat LSU last year, we got that confidence that we can play with anybody if we can play with LSU," said Auburn fullback Chandler Cox. "I think the same thing this year. We've had some good games but this week we have to go play hard and we've got to play the best football game that we've played all year."

During Auburn's four-game winning streak, Stidham has completed 79.1 percent of his passes for 1,081 yards and five touchdowns.

"He's putting the team on his back," said Cox of his roommate. "I think that's what we're going to need for this next stretch of games."

That stretch includes three consecutive October road trips, to LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M, before returning home for Amen Corner, Georgia and Alabama in November.

"All these big games, we're going to have to get on Jarrett's back and he's going to have to lead us," Cox said.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer