After a 17-6 conference victory over the unranked Florida Gators Saturday, the No. 20 Tigers (5-2, 3-1 SEC) gained the confidence they'll need to face the No. 1 LSU Tigers (7-0, 4-0 SEC) away in Baton Rouge this weekend.
"Great opportunity for us this week," said coach Gene Chizik. "Obviously, we have a huge, tall order in front of us going to Baton Rouge, but we're going to embrace it. It's going to be a lot of fun.
"We'll have to play a great football game to have a chance to win--the best we've played all year. That's what you have to do to have any chance whatsoever to beat the No. 1 team in the country.
"They are a great football team. They are solid everywhere. There are really no weaknesses to their football team. So, you have to play your best game, offense, defense and special teams, to have a chance to win."
Chizik announced Tuesday that sophomore quarterback Clint Moseley will replace junior quarterback Barrett Trotter as starter. Trotter was replaced by Moseley midway through Auburn's game against Florida.
"We spent the last 48 hours really evaluating and looking again at what we think is the best for Auburn, and we're going to start Clint Moseley," Chizik said. "It doesn't mean Barrett Trotter doesn't get his chance to win, it just means that we've been struggling offensively the last few weeks. I don't think that's a secret.
"I feel like we need a spark there. I feel like in the second half of the Florida game, Clint came in and gave us somewhat of a spark when we needed it. I think he's earned the right for the opportunity to start, so he'll be starting in Baton Rouge Saturday."
The opposing Tigers will be Auburn's toughest opponent to date for the 2011 season. Defensively, LSU is a force to reckon with, allowing only 11.7 points per game compared to its own 38.4 points per game average.
"As we all know, LSU's defense is fast, it's physical," Chizik said. "They're one of the best in the country. The challenge is certainly going to start with our offensive line. There's no question about it.
"There's no way we're going to be able to win the football game if we don't improve everywhere offensively, starting with the offensive line first. There's just a level of improvement that's going to have to happen this week for us to have a chance to go in there and win, and it's going to all start there."
Auburn's offense will likely have to compensate for LSU's strong defensive front, but after the permanent loss of senior offensive lineman Jared Cooper and the slow recovery of junior wide receiver Emory Blake following his ankle injury, the Tigers have ground to make up.
"Jared Cooper just had surgery yesterday, so he's out for the year," Chizik said. "Chad Slade played last week, and Chad's improving. I don't know the status on Emory right now. Really and truly, that's probably 50-50. We were hoping it would be more in favor of him playing, but right now I can't say that that's true. So again, we'll continue to monitor that as we go."
LSU averages 369.1 yards of total offense per game and allows 251.9 to their opponents. Auburn averages 360.9 offensive yards per game and allows 404.4.
"This has to be the best defensive game we've played all year for us to have a chance to win," Chizik said. "Their running game is extremely physical. They don't try to trick you. They're going to line up, and they're going to run their plays. They're going to out-physical you. They're going to run the ball downhill. They're going to play-action pass and hit you over the top.
"Case-in-point, in the Florida game where they did that a couple of different times with some huge plays over the top when they get your corners isolated because they have the speed out there to do it. Nothing fancy, just really good physical football and good one-on-one matchups. There are no secrets to it."
Moseley's replacement of Trotter also begs the question of whether the offense will have difficulty adapting to a new quarterback within a small window of time.
"I don't think so," Chizik said. "No. 1, he's been around here a long time so certainly that helps. No. 2, he's followed right along with the game plan, and he's been right in there, again, I think preparing as if he were going to be the starter. As far as a limited play book for him, that's really not going to be an issue."
Along with the uncertainty of the team's quarterback change-up, Auburn faces recent inconsistency by sophomore kicker Cody Parkey.
While he opened the season a seemingly strong asset, Parkey missed two field goals during the game against Florida and one before previously against Florida Atlantic University last month.
"Obviously, I never want to miss any field goals," Parkey said, "but my teammates picked me up and told me I was going to have a bigger kick to make later in the game, and they were right.
"I had to go in and make that kick, so it's just one of those things where sometimes kickers miss, and I've got to bounce back from it, get better and just continue to work hard."
Despite a few occurences of what some would consider bad luck, Parkey still leads the SEC and is second in the FBS with 21 touchbacks. He hopes the week of practice will strengthen his technique in time for LSU.
The game will mark Auburn's third against top-10 opponents in the past four weeks.
"Obviously it's a huge challenge, but I think there are a lot of schools that are exactly like LSU in terms of being a big challenge and going on the road in a very tough environment and winning," Chizik said. "So, I mean, is it a difficult place to play? No question about it. But there are a bunch of difficult places to play in this league."
Auburn and LSU will meet for the 45th time Saturday, with LSU holding an edge at 23-20-1 in the series. Auburn is 5-14-1 against LSU in Baton Rouge, and LSU has won the last five meetings in Death Valley.
Auburn's last win at LSU was in 1999.
The Auburn Tigers return to action at 2:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
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