Baton Rouge, La. (EETV) - No. 10 Auburn fails to put together two half's in Death Valley, losing to LSU 27-23.
Auburn started the game fasting, scoring a Daniel Carlson field goal on their first drive of the game.
The Auburn Tigers kept their offense explosive in the first quarter with quarterback Jarrett Stidham hitting Will Hastings for a 49-yard touchdown.
Kerryon Johnson was able to cap the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown, putting Auburn up 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.
"We started out quick and that was really what we thought would be the key to the game," said coach Gus Malzahn.
The Johnson touchdown would be the last Auburn touchdown of the game, poising LSU for a comeback.
LSU shut out Auburn in the second half, holding Auburn to only 3 first downs in the second half.
"I think if we would have hit a couple of those third downs it would have been different," said Malzahn.
Johnson was held to 33 yards in the second half, finishing the night with 156 rushing yards.
It was all LSU in the second half scoring 20 unanswered points marked by a 75-yard punt return by D.J. Chark to start the fourth quarter.
"The biggest play of the game was the punt return," said Malzahn. "Kid hit the sideline and they had a couple blocks right there."
Chark would annihilate the Auburn secondary in the second half, finishing the game with 150 receiving yards on 5 catches.
LSU held Stidham to 3 passing yards in the second half, forcing the Auburn passing game to be a non-factor.
Auburn was given the chance to win the game with 38 seconds on the clock down six, but Stidham could not pull it off missing his targets 3 times before being sacked by Arden Key on fourth down.
"We gotta win out...we're going to finish this season strong," Malzahn said. "And there's no doubt in my mind our players feel that same way."
Auburn has yet to win in Baton Rouge since 1999. For Auburn to keep their postseason hopes they will have to win out the rest of their season schedule needing wins over No. 4 Georiga and No. 1 Alabama.
The Auburn Tigers will continue their road series traveling to Arkansas next weekend.
