Auburn defense holds LSU without third-down conversion
AUBURN – The Auburn defense kept No. 15 LSU from moving the chains on third down in a 41-7 smack down before a sellout crowd of 87,451 at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night.
LSU (4-2, 0-2 SEC) failed to convert on any of its 13 third downs, the first Auburn opponent to go 0-for since Mississippi State went 0-for-14 in a 3-2 Auburn win in 2008.
"That's unbelievable by our defense," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "On third down they were as good as I have seen."
LSU did convert on a fourth down, going 1-for-4 on those attempts.
It was the best showing of the season for the Auburn defense, which allowed 280 yards on 60 plays.
"We know as a defense that we can be a premier defense in this league, as well (as) in the country," linebacker Kris Frost said. "We're showing that each week."
LSU entered the game averaging 226 yards rushing but could not find success against Auburn, which held the Bayou Bengals to 138 yards and one touchdown, a one-yard run, on the ground.
Heralded freshman running back Leonard Fournette had just 42 yards on 10 carries.
"We know LSU is mostly a run team so we tried to stop that," defensive tackle Montravius Adams said. "Whenever we stopped the run they would have to throw the ball and we stopped that too. We played a complete defensive game and that's what we wanted to do.
"We've been working on stopping the run and holding third downs. We got better today on defense, and we will continue to get better."
It was a particularly strong outing by the Auburn secondary as LSU true freshman quarterback Brandon Harris was just 3-for-14 for 58 yards and Anthony Jennings went 5-for-10 for 84 yards.
Harris called his first career start an "awful" performance.
"That's big time," said cornerback Trovon Reed, a Louisiana native. "They got a lot of young guys but in this league you got to grow up fast.
"That's a big confidence booster for the defense going into this next game (against Mississippi State) because you know they got a real tough offense."