AUBURN, Al (EETV) - The No. 9 Auburn Tigers will travel to Baton Rouge for a big SEC showdown against the No. 2 LSU Tigers on Saturday. This week nine game is a big road test for Auburn, and their College Football Playoff future depends on this game.
Auburn travels to Tiger Stadium in hopes of a win, which Auburn has not had in Death Valley in 20 years. Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn commented on the match up saying, “It's a big road game coming up against a very good team at a tough place to play.”
Since Auburn’s loss to Florida on Oct. 5, Auburn has been working hard to keep their playoff dreams alive. In their loss against Florida, the crown noise in the stadium caused some Auburn players to get nervous and make multiple errors. Malzahn has since then been training the Auburn players on noise control and said, “We didn't handle the noise very well at Florida. We've been focused on that on the off week and even last week. So we're really expecting our guys to handle the noise better and communicate better than we did at Florida.”
As Auburn continues to play without running back JaTarvious Whitlow, the Tigers have to look for new ways to spark their offense. In last weeks game against Arkansas, Malzahn put multiple players in to fill that roll, which he felt was essential to them getting experience. “They got that experience and we got a lot of trust in them,” Malzahn said.
On the other side of the ball, some stars for Auburn in recent weeks have been Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson. Combined this season, they have 53 tackles, eight and a half sacks, and four forced fumbles. “They’re impact players,” Malzahn said, “ they're both playing at a very high level right now. They have the ability to change any game.”
As Auburn prepares for this top 10 matchup, Malzahn is focused on not repeating what happened the last time Auburn was in Tiger Stadium. He commented on the loss two years ago and said, “we had an opportunity two years ago and we didn't finish the game. So if we get that opportunity again, we have to do a better job of finishing.”
The Auburn Tigers are set to take on the LSU Tigers from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Kick off it slated for 2:30 p.m. CT and the game can be found on CBS.
