L.S.U. 45, Auburn 10: L.S.U. Routs Auburn, Last Season’s National Champion

Top-ranked Louisiana State’s 45-10 rout of 19th-ranked Auburn on Saturday set the stage for the most anticipated game of the season — a showdown with No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. No. 2 Alabama defeated Tennessee, 37-6.

The second-largest crowd in Tiger Stadium history chanted “We want Bama!” as the final seconds ticked off in the most lopsided outcome in the 46-game series between L.S.U. and Auburn.

Bye weeks for L.S.U. and Alabama next weekend ensure the first regular-season meeting between unbeaten Southeastern Conference teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2. The last time two top-ranked teams in the Associated Press poll faced off in the regular season was Nov. 18, 2006, when No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 2 Michigan 42-39.

There should be no shortage of hype surrounding the showdown, a contest many analysts consider a de facto play-in game to the Bowl Championship Series title game. “We’ve put ourselves in position at this point to play a very significant game,” L.S.U. Coach Les Miles said. “There’ll be a lot of aspects to it, certainly the glare of the media.”

He added: “The good news is you get to play a big-time game. Our guys will enjoy it. We’ve always enjoyed those games.”

The Tigers could hardly have been more impressive Saturday. They dominated Auburn, the last season’s national champion, in every phase, never trailing and steadily extending their lead with each quarter. The blowout victory avenged a 24-17 loss to Auburn last season.

“We have one goal, and that’s to get to the national championship,” L.S.U. defensive end Michael Brockers said. “I feel like we did what we had to do.”

L.S.U. (8-0) is off to its best start in 38 years by playing Alabama-style football. As they have all season, the Tigers relied Saturday on a formula the Crimson Tide patented for success years ago: a dominant defense and efficient, error-free offense.

Quarterbacks Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson combined to complete 16 of 23 passes for 219 yards and 3 touchdowns. More important, neither committed a turnover. It was the Tigers’ fifth consecutive game without an interception or fumble, the kinds of mistakes that haunted L.S.U. teams in past years. L.S.U.’s last giveaway was an interception against Mississippi State on Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, the Tigers’ defense continued its opportunistic ways. They made life miserable for the sophomore quarterback Clint Moseley, who was making his debut as a starter for Auburn (5-3). Even without the ballhawking skills of Tyrann Mathieu, who was suspended for the game, the Tigers forced two critical turnovers, sacked Moseley six times and held Auburn to a season-low 248 total yards.

A fumble recovery by Tahj Jones on a kickoff return and an interception by Ron Brooks, which he returned 28 yards for a touchdown, sparked a 21-point outburst in a head-spinning 2-minute-24-second stretch of the third quarter.

Brooks was starting in place of Mathieu, who, along with running back Spencer Ware and cornerback Tharold Simon, missed the game while serving a one-game suspension, reportedly for failing a drug test. The takeaways gave L.S.U. an 18-3 advantage in turnovers this season.

“I thought that Sweet Water in high school was bad,” Moseley said of his prep rival at Leroy High School in Alabama. “This is a whole different league. I have definitely never been under that kind of heat before.”

The Tigers’ performance was even more impressive considering that they did it without their leading rusher and two of their top three cornerbacks. The suspensions of Mathieu, Ware and Simon were the latest in a series of off-field problems for the Tigers.

Jefferson missed the first four games of the season because of his involvement in a bar fight. He was reinstated on Sept. 28 after a grand jury reduced his felony second-degree battery charge to a misdemeanor. Receiver Russell Shepard missed the first three games because of an N.C.A.A. rules violation.

Those two have been part of the Tigers’ success on the field. Against Auburn, Jefferson threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Rueben Randle in the second quarter and Shepard scored on a 10-yard reception in the third.

“We understand how special this season is and how we want it to be,” Lee said. He added: “We have a special thing going, and we have a special group of guys. We just have to continue to stay focused and play hard.”

The off-field drama has not affected the Tigers on the field. They have trailed for only 6:33 of the season, a span that stretches to the second quarter of their opener against Oregon. They have won their past four SEC games by an average of 31 points.

“We’ve improved; we needed to,” Miles said. “We don’t think we have hung the moon in any way.”

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Minus 3 Players, No. 1 LSU Hosts Auburn

The charismatic, grass-eating coach known as the "Mad Hatter" is going to have to do it at least once more when No. 19 Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) visits LSU (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday.

LSU will take the field without three key players who were suspended this week for violating the team's drug policy. Star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu is among LSU's best players, Spencer Ware is their leading rusher and Tharold Simon plays in the five-defensive back formation that LSU uses most of the game.

Miles has declined to discuss the suspensions, saying only that he is dealing with an internal matter. However, people familiar with the suspensions confirmed them to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Miles said his team has already proved that it can handle distractions, such as the early season suspensions of quarterback Jordan Jefferson and starting receiver Russell Shepard. Mile said he liked the way the Tigers looked at practice this week.

"I like the position that we're in," Miles said. "We have a very capable football team."

This LSU squad is the first in school history to win its first seven games by double digits.

And the timing could have been worse. LSU doesn't play at No. 2 Alabama, which could be the biggest game of the season, until Nov. 5. The week before that, LSU has a bye.

Without Cam Newton, Auburn no longer resembles the team that went undefeated en route to last season's national title — and handed LSU its first of only two losses last season.

"I guess you could say there's going to be a little revenge coming at them," LSU running back Michael Ford said.

Auburn also will be fielding a first-time starting quarterback in sophomore Clint Moseley.

Yet Auburn is no pushover and appears to be getting stronger as the season wears on.

Its running game has been strong behind Michael Dyer's 752 yards rushing and eight TDs. Its defensive line has begun to recapture some of the swagger it lost with Nick Fairley's departure to the NFL. In recent weeks, Auburn contained South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore in a 16-13 win over the Gamecocks and held Florida to 66 yards on the ground in a 17-6 victory.

The 6-foot-3, 223-pound Moseley completed several key passes and managed the offense well enough in the second half of the Florida game to give coach Gene Chizik the confidence to start him this week.

"Clint came in and gave us somewhat of a spark when we needed it," Chizik said. "I think he's earned the right for the opportunity to start."

Moseley has no illusions about how difficult it can be for a quarterback to make his first start against a top-ranked LSU squad in famously loud Death Valley.

Yet the competitor in him loves that.

"I kind of almost wouldn't want it any other way," Moseley said. "It's going to be huge for us this week, preparing for them, especially me having hardly any experience and zero starts. When we get in there, I've heard stories about just how loud it is."

Although he won't have to deal with Mathieu or Simon, LSU's defense as a whole remains strong and deep, with experienced senior defensive backs Ron Brooks and Derrick Bryant able to step in.

Meanwhile, LSU's running game has been effective even when Ware is not on the field. Michael Ford's six TDs rushing are tied with Ware for the team high. Ford has averaged 5.4 yards per carry, and LSU has another strong running back in Alfred Blue, who has averaged 4.5 yards per carry and has four TDs.

LSU also has gone with a two quarterback system lately in which Lee, the team's leading passer, comes out to make way for Jefferson, who runs the option and has averaged 5 yards per rush to go with two touchdowns on the ground and one TD passing.

Lee, who still starts but has seen his snaps diminish since Jefferson returned from his four-game suspension stemming from a bar fight, said he cannot argue with the results.

"We're moving the ball, we're putting points on the board and we're winning games, so whatever we've got to do to keep doing that, that's what we're going to do," Lee said. "We each bring something a little different to the table."

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No. 1 LSU Crushes No. 19 Auburn 45-10

Randle caught scoring passes of 42 yards from Jordan Jefferson and 46 yards from Jarrett Lee, and No. 1 LSU once again overcame off-the-field distractions in style with a 45-10 victory over 19th-ranked Auburn on Saturday.

"It just seems like no matter who goes down or who's out, we have guys who are ready to step in ... and not just to fill a spot but to go in and dominate," said LSU center T-Bob Hebert.

LSU was without star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, leading rusher Spencer Ware and defensive back Tharold Simon — all suspended one game for violating the team's drug policy. They watched the game on TV, teammates said, after being told to stay away from Tiger Stadium.

Yet LSU continued to make team history with its eighth double-digit win in as many games this season, a streak that started with a season-opening triumph over Oregon without then-suspended Jefferson and receiver Russell Shepard.

"I almost feel like everybody else makes a bigger deal about it than we do," Hebert said of the periodic lineup upheaval, and the public scrutiny of the misbehavior that has caused it.

"It's not distracting to us. This team is so good about staying focused, one-track mind, not letting anything on the outside get to them because we don't want to have any regrets."

Off next week, LSU (8-0, 5-0 SEC) will be unbeaten entering what is bound to be a highly hyped showdown at No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 5. The Crimson Tide were playing at home Saturday night against struggling Tennessee.

The beneficiary of Ware's absence was freshman Kenny Hilliard, who scored the first two touchdowns of his career while rushing for 65 yards on only 10 carries.

Randle finished with five receptions for 106 yards.

"We all know our roles on this team and we know if we come out and do our jobs that we are going to be tough to beat," Randle said. "Kenny came in and really stepped up when we needed him."

Lee was 14 of 20 for 165 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 10-yarder to Shepard. Jefferson completed two of three passes for 54 yards.

"I feel really comfortable with the rhythm that I have with both quarterbacks," Randle said. "That was shown in both touchdown passes today."

With Michael Ford leading the way (12 rushes, 82 yards), LSU gained 174 yards on the ground.

Even without two key defensive backs, LSU held Auburn first-time starter Clint Moseley to 145 yards passing, sacked him six times and intercepted him once.

"It's really difficult to really assess how he did," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said of Moseley. "That was an anemic job of protecting the quarterback. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of research to do to figure out how to stop the bleeding in that regard."

If anyone questioned how deep LSU could really be at defensive back, it was none other than Mathieu's replacement, Ron Brooks, who made the interception and returned it 28 yards for a score that made it 42-3 only half way through the third quarter.

Shortly after Brooks scored, the message: "I see you Ron baby!!! THATS WHAT WE DO ..." appeared on Mathieu's Twitter page.

"I just tried to keep myself calm, not try to do too much and just play within the game plan and do what the coaches were asking me to do," said Brooks, a senior who has been part of LSU's six-defensive back formation for three seasons.

Auburn (5-3, 3-2) was held to 87 yards rushing, led by Michael Dyer's 60 yards.

"The reality of it is we got beat in just about every phase of the game," Chizik said. "They did a lot of whatever they wanted."

All season, LSU has appeared increasingly galvanized by each potential pitfall and coach Les Miles even mentioned several weeks ago that adversity seems to strengthen his tight-knit team's resolve.

"That is the mark of a great team," Miles said.

It's getting pretty hard to argue with that, considering LSU responded to its latest crisis with the most lopsided victory by either team in the 46-game history of the LSU-Auburn series. It was Auburn's worst loss since a 51-10 demolition at the hands of then-No. 1 Florida in 1996.

Wearing special edition uniforms, LSU defenders and coverage teams swarmed to the ball like blazing streaks of white, delivering crushing hits that provoked collective gasps from the Death Valley crowd.

One such hit was delivered by safety Eric Reid, who jarred the ball from kickoff returner Tre Mason. LSU's Tahj Jones found the football while losing his helmet, rising in celebration with his dreadlocks aflutter at the Auburn 22.

That set up Hilliard's second score on a 1-yard dive to make it 35-3.

Hilliard's first touchdown came on a 9-yard run on game's opening drive, giving LSU the lead for good. The Tigers still have not trailed since the second quarter of their season opener against Oregon.

Auburn was threatening to tie it at 7, but Barkevious Mingo's second sack of the game forced Auburn to settle for Cody Parkey's 42 field goal.

That was as close as it ever got.

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L.S.U. Suspends 3 Players for Auburn Game

Top-ranked Louisiana State will be without its two best players for Saturday’s game against Auburn, according to multiple reports.

Spencer Ware has scored 6 touchdowns this season for the Tigers.

Interviews, insight and analysis from The Times on the competition and culture of college football.

Tyrann Mathieu, left, has emerged as one of the college game's top defensive players.

The dynamic cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and the bruising tailback Spencer Ware have been suspended, along with a reserve defensive back, Tharold Simon. In a news conference Wednesday night, L.S.U. Coach Les Miles would not confirm the suspensions, calling the situation a matter of “internal discipline.”

After overcoming an early suspension to the starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson, L.S.U. (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) appeared to be on a seamless path to meet No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 5 for a slot in the SEC title game. The winner of that contest is expected to have an inside track to the national title game.

But Saturday’s game in Baton Rouge against No. 19 Auburn (5-2, 3-1), the defending national champion, suddenly becomes more problematic. L.S.U. had been listed as a three-touchdown favorite.

Mathieu, a New Orleans native, has emerged as a folk hero in Louisiana, earning the nickname Honey Badger for his fearless play. He has been considered an outside contender for the Heisman Trophy after beginning the season by scoring a special-teams touchdown after ripping the ball away from Oregon’s Kenjon Barner on a punt return in the season-opening blowout of the Ducks.

Since then, Mathieu has emerged as the country’s most aggressive ball hawk. He has forced fumbles, nabbed two interceptions and registered 1.5 sacks. At just 5 feet 9 inches and 175 pounds, Mathieu has become a larger-than-life figure, with Honey Badger Takes What He Wants T-shirts becoming the rage on campus.

Ware is not as flashy, but his 512 yards lead L.S.U. and his 6 touchdowns are tied with the backup Michael Ford for the team lead.

Simon’s absence will also hurt the Tigers. He is the team’s fourth-leading tackler and might have started against Auburn, which runs a frenetic spread offense that forces teams into schemes that employ multiple defensive backs.

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Video: State of Auburn football

Chris Low on what to expect from Auburn next season.

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Video: What's next for Auburn

Outside The Lines talks about the ongoing investigation at Auburn over Cam Newton and the implications it may have on this season's title.

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No time for Auburn to slip up now

Auburn has cleared every hurdle this season.

It hasn’t always been pretty. The defense has looked vulnerable at times, and now there are the Cam Newton allegations to deal with during the most important stretch of the season.

Nobody on the Plains seems to be blinking, though, which brings us to Auburn’s oldest rival.

[+] Enlarge John Reed/US PresswireGene Chizik knows the stakes are getting increasingly higher for his football team.Georgia comes to town this Saturday in a rivalry that’s the South’s oldest and a rivalry that has produced more than a few memorable moments over the years.

For Georgia, ruining Auburn’s shot at a national championship would be at least some consolation for a season that hasn’t met anyone’s expectations in Athens.

For Auburn, these next few steps will be the hardest.

“Everybody knows as you keep winning, the stakes get higher,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said.

And as it gets closer and closer to that final weekend of the season, winning becomes increasingly more difficult.

The Tigers (10-0, 6-0) have occupied either the No. 1 spot or the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings each of the past three weeks. There is no margin for error at this point, at least in terms of playing in the BCS National Championship Game.

With it being this late in the season, one loss would knock Auburn out of the race.

But the Tigers also know that if they keep winning, they control their own destiny.

Newton, who declined to address the cheating allegations that surfaced Tuesday from his time at Florida, also said that he’s unconcerned about what some of these allegations may or may not do to his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.

That’s because the only candidacy that he's focused on at this point is Auburn’s for a championship.

“I’m not up here trying to impress anybody, trying to win brownie points,” Newton said. “I’m going to continue what I’ve been doing. I don’t want to think about the Heisman Trophy. My whole focus right now is trying to beat Georgia.”

Auburn and Georgia are both in the same boat in that this will be their 11th straight week without a bye. They both are also coming off easy routs over outmanned foes last week.

The Tigers remain thin in the secondary, especially with some of their injuries. This will be the best passing offense they’ve seen since the Arkansas game on Oct. 16. Auburn pulled away from Arkansas for a 65-43 win, but the Hogs passed for 428 yards and five touchdowns. Backup Tyler Wilson did most of the damage, too, as Ryan Mallett was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the first half.

Auburn is 11th in the SEC in passing defense, so it’s obvious where Georgia will try and attack the Tigers, especially with A.J. Green back in the fold.

“Georgia will make plays,” Chizik said. “So it's going to be about how our secondary responds to the next play and not letting that play beat you twice.”

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