Gus Malzahn's HUNH offense has been a victim of a few slow starts this season.
The Tigers struggled mightily on third down against Louisiana Tech in the first half, even with their number one national ranking on third down conversions.
The Tigers were 6 of 14 on third down against the Bulldogs.
"We weren't very good on third down," said offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. "We've gotta get our guys in some good plays in those situations."
Several of the third down attempts for Auburn were third and longs, which Lashlee said is a situation no team ever wants to be in.
"It doesn't matter who you are, where you're playing, or who your quarterback is. Third and long is third and long," Lashlee said. "Third and seven plus is a lot lower percentage of picking up than third and six or less."
Lashlee added that a few sloppy plays contributed to Auburn's early struggles.
"We had a couple more negative plays than we have in the past," Lashlee said. "We had a couple plays that got us behind the chains. Things that are a little uncharacteristic of us."
Saturday, the LSU Tigers, Auburn's only regular season defeat last year, will come to town looking to slow down the Tigers offense for a whole game.
"It's always a great game," Lashlee said. "John Chavis (LSU's defensive coordinator) has done it for a long time."
Revenge will undoubtedly be on the mind of the Tigers when they hit the field Saturday night.
"They whipped us last year, especially in the first half," Lashlee said. "Our guys should be very motivated to play better in this game. There's no question, we've struggled against LSU. It's a credit to them and coach Chavis and what they do. They're good at what they do."
As far as matchups, Auburn's offense should see some success against the Bayou Bengals. While LSU is 17th in the nation in total defense, their run defense will come into Jordan Hare allowing 159 yards per game, good for a ranking of 73. Through four games, Auburn is averaging 262 rush yards per game.
The biggest for Auburn will be through the air, where LSU is only allowing 137.8 yards per game, giving them a national ranking of seven.
"It's going to be a good challenge for us to try and redeem ourselves," Lashlee said.
Another source of motivation, at least for Duke Williams, could be the fact that he is a Louisiana native, and was heavily recruited by LSU before committing to Auburn, but Lashlee said narratives like that don't get discussed all that much.
"He's (Williams) a competitor and he's ready to play every week, it doesn't really matter who we're playing," Lashlee said. "Louisiana being his home state, I'm sure this is a special, important game for him. We're not gonna talk about it a lot. We're gonna go on with our business."
Williams has been a spark for the Auburn receiving corps, as has senior Quan Bray.
Against LA Tech, Bray had three receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown, his second of the year.
"He played great," Lashlee said. "That was one of his best all-around games he's had. He graded out and played well the whole game."
Bray, Williams and the rest of the offense will have their work cut out for them Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Jordan Hare Stadium.
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