After three straight nail-biting victories, LSU fans deserved a stress-free game. They got it on Saturday night as the Bayou Bengals overwhelmed the Auburn Tigers 48-18.
It was another great night for quarterback Jayden Daniels as he had 325 yards passing and tossed another three touchdowns. Daniels also rushed for 93 yards. His Heisman chances should increase, especially since reigning Heisman winner and USC star Caleb Williams had a three-interception night in South Bend in a loss to Notre Dame.
What was really encouraging about this game, other than a solid effort by the defense, is that several different players stepped up.
CB Zy Alexander
Seven games into the season and the former Southeastern Louisiana star has emerged as LSU’s top cornerback. He led the Tigers with nine tackles and two pass break ups. His two break ups came in the second quarter as Auburn was trying to stay in the game. His confidence seems to be growing.
“We challenged him to really play the ball in the air and I thought he did a great job in that, that’s what they wanted to do early, they wanted to throw fades and he took that away from them, I give our defense a lot of credit, they’ve been under a lot of scrutiny, to see that kind of development is fun to see,” said Coach Brian Kelly.
LB Omar Speights
Speights has missed a couple of games this season due to injury, but he looked healthy on Saturday as he racked up eight tackles. Speights return to the field meant less playing time for freshman Whit Weeks. It appears Kelly would rather go with the more experienced Speights when he is healthy.
DE Paris Shand
Saturday was a breakout game for the Canadian as the transfer from Arizona had a career-high six tackles. Shand also had 1.5 tackles for a loss, and he knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage. Each week you are looking for someone on the defensive line to make plays and Saturday night it was Shand.
WR Kyren Lacy
Lacy has experienced some ups and downs during his time at LSU. Drops have been a problem for the Thibodaux native and he had another one on Saturday. But he came back to have a big night as he caught four passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. His 57-yard catch was fun to see as he made several would be tacklers miss. Lacy finished with 65 yards after the catch.
“He drops one and he comes to the sideline and says coach I owe you one, and I said no you owe me two,” said Kelly. “Last year maybe Kyren doesn’t respond the right way and drops his head a little bit, he’s matured so much, he stayed positive and said coach when I get my chance, I’m going to make it up and it was great to see.”
OT Lance Heard
LSU right tackle Emery Jones Jr went down with an ankle sprain, and he’ll be evaluated on Sunday. No word on how much he’ll miss. Former five-star prospect Lance Heard got his most playing time of the season. He had a shaky start that included a holding penalty, but eventually settled down. Kelly said Heard performed well against the pressure Auburn brought.
With Army coming up and then a bye week, LSU has the luxury to rest Jones for the next two weeks before the big match up against Alabama.
RB Kaleb Jackson
This freshman from Baton Rouge is fun to watch. Jackson caught a couple of passes and ran over an Auburn defender in the process. He also had a 60-yard kickoff return after Auburn cut the deficit to 10 points in the third quarter. His long return led to an LSU touchdown and the rout was officially on.
“There were a couple of things tonight he did that were part of his growth and development in the run game and in pass protection, so it was nice to see that kind of development six games into it, he’s going to be a fine player,” said Kelly.
