Offensive stall in second half leads to crushing loss in Death Valley for Auburn

Auburn started fast at Tiger Stadium on Saturday as they raced out to a 20-0 lead, but that lead didn't last long, with Auburn falling to LSU 27-23 after a tumultuous second half plagued by a stalled offense.

Slow starts have plagued Auburn in recent memory at LSU as this was the first time Auburn has scored a first-half touchdown at LSU since 2007. 

It was the second half of this game that would ultimately kill Auburn’s chances at the key road win. 

LSU would gain momentum at the end of the first half with a touchdown in the final minute. Auburn’s offense stalled in the second half, and LSU would kick two field goals in the final minutes to beat Auburn, 27-23. It would become LSU’s biggest comeback at Tiger Stadium since at least 1949.

For LSU, DJ Chark was the spark for LSU that led them to victory.

He had the biggest play of the game, a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, that completely changed the game.

“Scoring on special teams was something we wanted to do today and they did it," said Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson. "It was a gut shot when he ran that punt back.”

Chark had 4 catches for 25-plus yards and ended the game with five catches for 150 yards. He had 223 all-purpose yards when the punt return is added in.

“At halftime, we felt good,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said, “Offensively, third down was the key. We only had one third-down conversion in the second half. The biggest play of the game was the punt return. This is not going to be the end of the world though. We will rebound.”

Jarrett Stidham started 6-8 passing, but it went downhill in the second half, for him, too.

He went 2-13 passing in the second half, and finished 9-26 on the game with 165 passing yards and a touchdown. 

Johnson would record a career high in carries with 31 rushes for 156 yards. Auburn would run the ball on first down 17 straight times at one point during the game and got stuck in a lot of third and longs. Auburn only recorded one first down in the second half as the offense sputtered.

The game plan for Auburn was to emphasize the run game as it worked well in the first half. 

“We stuck to the game plan and our run game was working well in the first half, and we tried to stick to that in the second half,” said receiver Ryan Davis.

Auburn drops to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in SEC play. 

“This isn’t the end of the road for us. We didn’t execute as well as we should have in the second half.” Stidham said, “Coach Malzahn told us after the game that Auburn lost here in 2013 and still won the SEC.”

Auburn still has not won at LSU since 1999. The offense needs to find the rhythm that it has had the past few weeks and in the first half at LSU to be successful the rest of the year. Auburn drops to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in SEC play. Next week is crucial for Auburn as they travel to Arkansas.