In the 55th edition of the Tiger Bowl between Auburn and LSU, the Auburn offense rolled with the theme of Halloween on Saturday as it terrorized the LSU defense in the 48-11 win.
The win marked the largest margin of victory for any team in the all-time series since its inception in 1901.
“Our guys, they were extremely motivated,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “It was a complete game. I’m really proud of our team. I’m really proud of our coaches.”
The first quarter saw both defenses perform similar to last season’s matchup, with yards tough to come by and several punts. Both teams combined for just a mere 155 total yards, and the game remained scoreless after the first fifteen minutes of play.
LSU opened the second quarter with a missed field goal from 54-yards out, and Auburn took over at its own 36. Bo Nix and company drove to the LSU 19-yard line when Nix threw a jump ball to receiver Seth Williams.
Williams made the catch around the one-yard line but fumbled the ball out of the end zone. It was ruled as a touchback, and the LSU offense took over at its own 20-yard line.
On the ensuing LSU possession, Nehemiah Pritchett gave Auburn the spark it needed. The sophomore intercepted a T.J. Finley pass and returned it for what was first ruled as a touchdown. The play was reviewed, and it was determined that Pritchett stepped out of bounds at the Auburn four-yard line.
However, it was no issue as Nix dumped a pass off to Eli Stove a couple of plays later for the Auburn touchdown.
Auburn took a 7-0 lead, a lead that the Tigers never gave up.
Later in the quarter, Finley fumbled the ball, and it rolled around on the ground for a few seconds before being scooped up by Auburn defensive back Christian Tutt.
Tutt returned it 20 yards for a touchdown, extending the lead 14-0.
Auburn added another touchdown later in the quarter on perhaps its most impressive drive of the season. With 3:36 left until halftime, the Auburn offense was backed up deep into Auburn territory, starting at the one-yard line.
Nonetheless, Nix captained a 99-yard drive that shaved 2:56 off the clock and was capped off by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Ze’Vian Capers with 40 seconds left in the first half.
Auburn led 21-3 at halftime.
Out of the locker room, Nix orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive on the opening possession. The drive ended in six when Nix ran it in himself from five-yards out, and after the extra point, Auburn was up 28-3.
Nix was Auburn’s leading rusher, with 81 yards on 11 carries.
“We do a good job of emptying out the box and spreading guys out to where there are running lanes,” Nix said. “When I have a chance to run, I just try to run fast and quick and be hard to tackle.”
Already facing a large deficit, LSU’s first play of the second half did not help its chances of mounting a comeback.
A Finley pass was batted high in the air and picked off by Auburn’s Big Kat Bryant at the Auburn 21-yard line, the second of his career. The interception was the third turnover forced by the Auburn defense.
Auburn extended its lead to 35-3 a few plays after Bryant’s interception with a Bigsby touchdown. The freshman back added another rushing touchdown later in the quarter, and Auburn took a commanding 42-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
On a drive that started on the Auburn nine-yard line, Nix hit speedster Anthony Schwartz early in the fourth quarter for a 91-yard house call to push the lead to 48-3.
“I think we played our best game,” Malzahn said. “We played four quarters of football. We played 60 minutes."
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