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No. 15 LSU collides with No. 5 Auburn Saturday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 10/4/2014  at  5:51:00 AM
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LSU TIGERS (4-1)
at AUBURN TIGERS (4-0)

Kickoff: Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Auburn -7.5, Total: 57.5

No. 15 LSU goes on the road to face No. 5 Auburn on Saturday in a highly-anticipated SEC matchup.

LSU was rolling in 2014, going 3-0 both SU and ATS to start the year, but could not keep the perfect season intact as Mississippi State left Baton Rouge with a 34-29 victory as seven-point unerdogs two weeks ago. The Bayou Bengals rebounded last week though, defeating New Mexico State 63-7 as 44-point favorites while dropping 563 yards of total offense. The win was very sloppy with each team turning the ball over four times, but the Tigers held the Aggies to a meager 3.1 yards per pass. Auburn has its heart set on a trip to the first college football playoffs and has looked good thus far with four consecutive SU victories while going 2-2 ATS. Last week, the blue and orange Tigers were unable to cover the large 33-point spread against Louisiana Tech, but still secured a comfortable 45-17 victory by outgaining their opponent 473-321 and forcing two turnovers. This is a classic matchup that has seen LSU win straight-up in each of the past three years while Auburn holds a 2-1 ATS edge. In 2013, LSU was the victor by a score of 35-21 as a 17-point favorite at home after holding a 21-0 halftime lead. Bettors should keep an eye on the fact that LSU is 10-8 ATS (56%) in the first half of the year since the start of the 2012 season while Auburn is a stellar 10-1 ATS (91%) when playing with six or less days of rest over the past two years. The injury report has DB Dwayne Thomas (undisclosed) out for LSU while LB Cassanova McKinzy (undisclosed) is questionable for the host team.

Which school of Tigers will roar to victory on Saturday? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. The experts went a combined 19-17 ATS (53%) in the past two weeks, highlighted by StatFox Scott's 5-2 ATS mark and StatFox Gary's 4-3 ATS record.

LSU has not really excelled in any one area on the offensive side of things but has certainly been better at running the ball with 226.2 YPG (30th in FBS) on the ground while putting up 41.4 PPG. Freshman QB Brandon Harris (394 pass yards, 6 TD, 1 INT) has been named the starter, and is 17-for-23 (74%) for 318 yards (13.8 YPA) in his past two games played while adding 108 yards (6.8 YPC) and three touchdowns to the ground game on the year. The youngster will be joined by fellow freshman HB Leonard Fournette (322 rush yards, 4 TD) and senior HB Kenny Hilliard (298 rush yards, 4 TD) who each has more than 50 carries and have combined to average 5.5 YPC. Harris has the talented WR Travin Dural to throw to, and he has 534 receiving yards (25.4 avg) with 5 TD catches in 2014. He has gone over the century mark in three of his five games this year. The defense for the Tigers has been stingy, allowing seven or fewer points in 3-of-5 games while surrendering 292.2 YPG (12th in FBS). DLs Jermauria Rasco (19 tackles, 2 sacks) and Danielle Hunter (25 tackles, 1 sack) can give any offense headaches and should be a tough matchup for Auburn.

Auburn has rushed for 260.6 YPG (17th in nation) this year while getting 219.5 YPG through the air and 42.3 PPG (15th in FBS). QB Nick Marshall (548 pass yards, 6 TD, 1 INT) has a fairly low 56.2% completion percentage, but is coming off his best passing game versus Louisiana Tech as he went 10-for-17 for 166 yards and 3 TD (0 INT). His biggest threat is his ability to run the ball effectively, as he has compiled 273 rushing yards on 42 attempts (6.5 YPC) while scoring twice. In addition to Marshall, HB Cameron Artis-Payne has been tremendous in the rushing attack with 468 yards (5.4 YPC) and five touchdowns while being a workhorse who has 22+ attempts in three of four contests. WR D’haqhuille Williams (357 rec. yards, 3 TD) has far-and-away been the No. 1 option in the passing game and has twice posted 110+ yards in a game this year. The defense has been consistent and has not allowed more than 21 points in any game while giving up only 16.3 PPG (15th in FBS). The big name on this side of the ball is LB Cassanova McKinzy (29 tackles, 1 sack) who has a tough task ahead against LSU, and is a question mark to even play.


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