LSU went into Jordan-Hare Stadium having lost eight consecutive SEC road games, a streak extending more than two full calendar years.
The Tigers snapped that streak in convincing fashion Saturday, blasting Auburn 38-17.
Fresh off a massive upset of top-ranked Georgia last weekend, Auburn looked flat from the start and simply never had an answer for LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt and his favorite target, Jackson Harris.
LSU opened the scoring with a 30-yard Scott Starzyk field goal before Auburn answered with a field goal of its own to tie the game at 3.
From there, LSU took control.
Leavitt and Harris connected repeatedly on LSU’s second touchdown drive, with Harris finishing it off by hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass to give LSU a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter.
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Harris finished with nine catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns, continuing his emergence as Leavitt’s top target.
“They've really come along and if you look at the last two weeks and basically three quarters of play both times,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said of the duo’s connection. “I bet his numbers are off the charts efficient"
In the second quarter, LSU welcomed back star tight end Trey’Dez Green, who had been sidelined since suffering a knee injury at Ole Miss.
Green capped a 95-yard LSU drive with a 15-yard touchdown reception from Leavitt to extend the lead to 17-3. Green finished his return with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Auburn briefly answered when quarterback Byrum Brown scored on a 1-yard run to cut LSU’s lead to 17-10.
It took LSU only a little more than a minute to respond.
Harris caught a short crossing route from Leavitt and raced 70 yards for his second touchdown of the game, stretching the lead back to 24-10.
Leavitt added a 4-yard rushing touchdown with 17 seconds remaining in the half to send LSU into the locker room with a commanding 31-10 advantage.
He had accounted for 279 total yards and four touchdowns by halftime.
LSU slowed the tempo considerably after the break and leaned on its running game and defense to close out the win.
Running back Dilin Jones put the game completely out of reach with a 12-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving LSU a 38-10 lead.
Jones led LSU on the ground with 92 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Leavitt finished 32 of 45 passing for a career-high 387 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He added 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground, giving him 441 yards of total offense and four total touchdowns.
It marked Leavitt’s second consecutive game without a turnover after throwing at least one interception in each of LSU’s first six games.
LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC) piled up 552 yards of total offense while holding Auburn (4-3, 2-3) to just 271. The Tigers threw for 387 yards and rushed for another 165. Auburn managed just 67 yards on the ground.
LSU’s defense spent much of the afternoon in Auburn’s backfield, recording seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Jordan Ross recorded two sacks, while Davhon Keys, TJ Dottery, Princewill Umanmielen, Ty Benefield and Lamar Brown each added one. PJ Woodland led LSU in tackles.
Brown finished 15 of 24 passing for 160 yards and was held to just 21 rushing yards after running for 115 yards in Auburn’s upset of Georgia one week earlier.
Backup quarterback Tristan Ti’a scored on a 7-yard run with 30 seconds remaining to provide Auburn’s final points.
The win gave LSU its first SEC road victory in more than two years and snapped an eight-game conference road losing streak.
LSU gets an open date next week before returning to Tiger Stadium to host Alabama on Nov. 7.
