LSU offensive lineman Liam Shanahan had a blunt assessment of the Tigers 48-11 loss to Auburn.
"We just got punched in the face," Shanahan said. "We got absolutely killed so, you know, but but we have to respond. Now it's tough to say that now, you know, It stings a lot right now that we just got embarrassed on a national stage."
The loss was one of the biggest since 1996, a 56-13 to Florida, and drop the Tigers to 2-3 on the season.
"We just never really got anything going really through the entire game, you know," Shanahan said. "We weren't really able to establish the run game early. We turned the ball over, that was killer. (We) fall behind and then you know, it just seems like when it rains it pours.
"The second half a really got got out of hand really quick."
LSU's which scored more than 50 points and rushed for 276 yards in last week's win against South Carolina, managed only 32 yards rushing against Auburn.
LSU averaged just 1.2 yards per carry and Ed Orgeron said he was surprised the Tigers struggled as much as they did to run the ball.
"We tried," Orgeron said. "We couldn't block those guys. And I saw other people block their fronts I really was surprised that we couldn't block them I though we could run the football I was worried about our pass protection a little bit I thought we needed to chip a little more we gave the left tackle a little bit more help I knew they were good pass rushing but I was really surprised we couldn't run the football."
LSU also committed three turnovers in the first half that resulted in 21 points for Auburn. Freshman quarterback TJ Finley who had a stellar debut against South Carolina was intercepted twice by Auburn which gave the Tigers great field position and fumbled the ball on a sack. That fumble was returned for a touchdown.
Ed Orgeron said he didn't blame Finley solely for the turnovers as he was facing heavy pressure from the Auburn defense.
"I can't expect them(freshman QBs) to perform well if we can't block," Orgeron said. "Those defensive lineman were all over these guys. (They) were running for their life and you always gotta start with protection. So I can't put it on the young quarterbacks we need to do a better job of protection."
