AUBURN, Ala. – With no football game last weekend, the Auburn players took full advantage of the bye week.
Next Game:
at LSU
Oct. 14, 2023
6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Gunner Britton went hunting back home. Marcus Harris went home and attended his little brother's high school football game. Jaylin Simpson stayed in town, carved pumpkins, and spent his Saturday watching football. Oscar Chapman played a lot of golf.
It was just what the Tigers needed to reset for the second half of the season.
"Just having this time to recover your body, this is a long season," Harris said. "We just played two very physical, good teams. It was a good little break we had. It was perfect timing. Now we're about to play another great team. Just having an off week before we play LSU, it's very good. Hopefully we can capitalize off that."
"Guys can get healthy," added Larry Nixon III who went back home to see his son. "That's one big thing for us. Everybody was able to take some time off and get healthy. When you take time, you realize how much it means to you to be out there playing. You miss it. Everybody feels that. I'm looking forward to seeing the fire in everybody this week."
There was a new energy in the building this week when the players returned and not just because of the time off but because of what lies ahead. A road trip to LSU.
Auburn and LSU have played some epic games over the years with 13 of the last 19 meetings decided by seven points or less. Auburn snapped a long losing streak in Death Valley two years ago, winning 24-19, and this year's team would love nothing more than to do it again.
It won't be easy, however, against an LSU team that ranks No. 5 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 44.8 points per game.
"I think their offense is the most explosive that I've seen in a long time," Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. "I wasn't coaching when they had their run with Joe Burrow, but this quarterback, if he's not in the Heisman discussion, there's a problem. He is playing at an incredibly high level with dynamic receivers. There's not a weakness on that offense.
"It's going to be a great challenge for our kids and a great college environment. I'm excited as heck about it, and I know our kids will be."
Auburn and LSU will kick off at 6 p.m. CT from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be televised on ESPN with Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Katie George on the call. You can also listen to Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and Will Herring who will have the radio call on 94.3 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the Auburn app.
Three questions with DB Jaylin Simpson
Q: How did the bye week help the team reset before LSU?
A: It was real big. We're going to Death Valley. We're going to play the LSU Tigers in Death Valley. I can't wait. You've got to have a good reset for this game. We've just got to be ready because they're a high-powered offense. They're going to have the crowd roaring the whole night. From a defensive standpoint, this is going to be a fun game for us. They've got elite receivers. They've got an elite quarterback. It should be fun.
Q: What do you remember from winning at LSU two years ago?
A: That game was fun because it was like 20-something years we hadn't beaten them there. So, we wanted to win real bad. What I'm trying to do right now is get everybody to understand that since I've been here, I'm 2-2 against LSU. This is the tiebreaker because we don't play them next year. You've got to be pumped for it. We've got to go there and get a W.
Q: How do you keep getting interceptions week after week? You've had one in every game but one this season.
A: I'm really supposed to have one in every game. That one in the A&M game, the sun was blocking the ball when Evan Stewart scored. I couldn't see the ball, but that would have been an easy one. But the interceptions, I'm getting the call, and I'm just doing my job. That's all it is. There's not really too much magic to it. I wouldn't say right place, right time. I just get the call, play my keys and do my job, and it just hits me in the hands.
Inside the Series: LSU
Auburn trails the all-time series with LSU by a 32-24-1 count. The home team has won 18 of the last 23 in the series. Thirteen of the last 19 meetings have been decided by seven points or less, including the four games from 2016-19, which were decided by a total of 14 points.
LSU leads 19-6-1 in games on its home field. However, last time at LSU (2021), Auburn won in Baton Rouge for the first time since 1999 with a come-from-behind 24-19 victory. The offense drove 92 yards to score the go-ahead touchdown, a 1-yard run from Jarquez Hunter with 3:11 to play. Bydarrius Knighten snagged an interception to seal the win.
Last year at Jordan-Hare Stadium, LSU was a 21-17 winner.
Since the SEC moved to two divisions in 1992, LSU leads the series 17-14. In 25 of the last 28 meetings between Auburn and LSU, at least one of the teams was ranked at the time of the game. In 14 of those, both teams were ranked. From 2002-14, at least one team was ranked in the AP Top 10 at the time of the matchup, with both teams ranked in the top 10 three times during that stretch (2006, 2008 and 2010).
By the Numbers
21: With 219 rushing yards against Georgia, Auburn moved up to No. 21 nationally (No. 3 in the SEC) in rushing offense at 202.0 yards per game. Twelve of the Tigers' 17 offensive touchdowns this season have come via the ground game.
4: With four interceptions in the first five games, Jaylin Simpson is one of two FBS players tied for the national lead in interceptions (0.80 per game). He was the first Auburn player with interceptions in three straight games (UMass, Cal, Samford) since Jerraud Powers in 2007, and he added his fourth pick the last time out against Georgia.
71: Oscar Chapman was the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week last week for his performance against Georgia, highlighted by a career-best 71-yard punt, fourth longest in FBS this season and third longest in Auburn history. His five punts totaled 256 yards.
18: Since the 2000 season, Auburn is 18-9 after an in-season bye week (11-4 at home; 7-5 on the road). In 2021, the Tigers knocked off No. 10 Ole Miss after the bye.