Top Ten Matchup in Death Valley

The No. 9 Auburn Tigers are set to face the No. 2 LSU Tigers this Saturday in Death Valley.  Last year, LSU beat Auburn 22-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the final seconds of the game. Auburn has not won in Death Valley since 1999. They’ll have a chance to change that this weekend.

LSU

The Tigers are undefeated and have been nearly unstoppable thus far.

Since implementing a spread offense, LSU has looked like a completely different team. They currently have the second best scoring offense in the country averaging 52.5 points per game.

In addition, quarterback Joe Burrow sits atop the Heisman watchlist. Burrow leads the nation in touchdown passes, 29, and has a total of 2,484 yards passing this season.

The only QB in college football since 2000 to have 25+ Pass TD and a completion percentage of at least 75% after seven games:@LSUfootball’s Joe Burrow 🎯 pic.twitter.com/RCcRL2buEH

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 22, 2019

“You look at LSU offensively, and it looks like a video game when you watch them on film,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Auburn’s defense will be put to the test.

Auburn

The Tigers are currently 6-1. They suffered their first loss at the beginning of the month to the Florida Gators. Auburn could not handle the noise in the Swamp.

Head Coach Gus Malzahn is “expecting [his] guys to handle the noise better and communicate better” than they did at Florida.

During their bye-week and last week the Tigers focused on handling crowd noise by pumping crowd noise and music into their practice facility. The Tigers have also focused on communicating better as a unit. Death Valley is, arguably, one of the toughest places to play in all of college football.

Freshman quarterback Bo Nix will have a shot to prove himself in, yet another, tough environment this weekend. Nix currently has a 62.3 QBR, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Auburn’s defense is key if the team wants to find success in Death Valley. The Tigers’ defense has not allowed more than 24 points in a single game this season. Those 24 points were in Auburn’s loss to the Gators.

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown leads the Tigers’ defense with 28 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and five tackles for a loss. Not only is he a leader for the Tigers, but he is also likely a first-round draft pick.

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on CBS this Saturday.