Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
A spirit that is not afraid

Report card: Grading out Auburn's 22-21 loss to LSU

<p>Jarrett Stidham (8) hands the ball off to Shaun Shivers (25) during Auburn football vs. LSU on Saturday, Sept. 15, in Auburn, Ala.</p>

Jarrett Stidham (8) hands the ball off to Shaun Shivers (25) during Auburn football vs. LSU on Saturday, Sept. 15, in Auburn, Ala.

After leading 21-10 in the third quarter, No. 7 Auburn once again blew a double-digit lead to LSU, this time being at home. 

Sloppy mistakes kept the Bayou Bengals in the game, and late penalties sunk the Tigers for good in a 22-21 upset-loss to end a 13-game winning streak inside Jordan-Hare stadium.

Quarterback: D

Jarrett Stidham had arguably the worst game of his Auburn career Saturday afternoon. He threw two interceptions, one of which came on his first throw of the game, which led to an early LSU touchdown. 

Stidham finished 16-of-28, throwing for only 198 yards and one touchdown. His stat line doesn’t show the magnitude of how poorly the starter played however, considering how much Heisman hype he has received.

Both of Stidham’s turnovers had the Tigers stumbling to recover most of the game.

Running back: B+

Although the running game wasn’t dominant against a very capable LSU defense, JaTarvious Whitlow and Shaun Shivers were bright spots on what was a below-average day for the Auburn offense. 

With Kam Martin slowing fading into a limited role, Whitlow has started to emerge as the Tigers workhorse they’ve been looking for. The redshirt freshman had 22 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown and Shivers, who is sneaking into a more prominent role, finished with seven carries for 25 yards and one touchdown.

Wide receiver: B-

The wide receivers were underwhelming for most of the afternoon, with the only exceptions being veteran Darius Slayton and true freshman Seth Williams. Slayton had three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown, and Williams showed why he was highly sought after out of high school. 

Although he only had two catches for 35 yards, the freshman flashed his skill on an impressive catch on a throw that was behind him over the middle of the field, throwing an LSU defender to the ground in the process.

Offensive line: D-

The Auburn offensive line struggled once again Saturday. Apart from 14 unanswered points before halftime, the Tiger offense rarely had the chance to get in to a rhythm against LSU. 

The O-line put the offense into third-and-long, obvious passing downs all day with holding penalties and just overall poor blocking. Starting center Kaleb Kim showed his inexperience.

Front seven: C

The defense was not what most people were expecting, giving up 22 points to LSU's offense inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn’s defense couldn’t manage much pressure at all on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, despite a banged up offensive line. 

The Tigers finished with one sack and gave up 121 yards on the ground.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Auburn Plainsman delivered to your inbox

SECONDARY: C-

Most of the focus will be on the questionable pass interference calls, which were unlucky for this defense, but the Tigers secondary made mistakes all afternoon that put them in the situation where it was possible to lose on a last-second field goal. 

Auburn had nine penalties for 111 yards and, on top of that, gave up 249 passing yards to a team that is not known for being an air threat.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

Anders Carlson missed his only field goal attempt of the day, a 52-yard try that could have given the Tigers a 24-13 lead to possibly put the game out of reach.


Share and discuss “Report card: Grading out Auburn's 22-21 loss to LSU” on social media.