Last Saturday, Auburn went into Athens as a three-touchdown underdog and walked out the winner over the No. 1 team in the country.
Byrum Brown finally got going as he ran the ball 26 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. That is a new season high for Brown rushing, and he completed 15 of 26 pass attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown pass.
Although not a flashy game in the stat column, it is a huge win nonetheless.
Now the Tigers come home to a bigger problem, and that is proving that beating Georgia wasn't a fluke.
Let's look at how Auburn's offense can win this week against LSU, point out which players need to step it up this week, and predict who potentially has a big day ahead of them on Saturday.
How does Auburn win on Saturday?
LSU boasts a star-studded roster after seemingly landing every big name that entered the transfer portal this offseason, and Princewill Umanmielen leads the defense with eight sacks this year. Umanmielen will be active after there were health questions coming off the Mississippi State game last week.
Sacks have been a problem this year for Auburn's offensive line, and that is where Lane Kiffin wants to keep Auburn pinned. Being forced to throw the ball every play because they need big yardage to catch back up. That is how Umanmielen wins his matchup so much because it is easy to play downhill with the lead.
LSU's greatest weakness, however, is the opposing offensive line moving forward. Just like at Kentucky, when their line started moving forward against LSU's defense, Kentucky made plays. Lane Kiffin is really lucky Mississippi State didn't have Kamario Taylor, or else last Saturday's game could have been much closer.
Princewill is not as strong against the run as people think, and Auburn can use that to their advantage. Jacob Strand possibly had his best game yet against UGA. Letting Strand or Stanton Ramil move forward and attack the LSU defense is what keeps them from being under the gun.
This leads me to my player who needs to step up this week.
Who HAS to step up this week for Auburn
This isn't going to be a player so much as a whole position group. The entire wide receiver room has to step up this week.
There were too many drops this past weekend, even though Auburn won the game against the number one team in the nation. It still is something to be said when Brown throws a perfect pass, and it hits the wide receivers' hands, and they don't catch it. There used to be a golden rule amongst skill players that was said: "If the ball hits your hands, you catch it."
That goes for running backs and tight ends as well. They just have to make catches when the ball hits them in the hand. If the offense is to go anywhere, they can't just rely on focusing on Chas Nimrod as the primary weapon in the passing game. Others have to get involved and catch the balls that are catchable.
LSU is a team that capitalizes on mistakes and tries to force mistakes with their corners. Winning the battle at the line of scrimmage, creating separation, and then completing the job by catching the ball keep the chains moving.
Who will have a big game for Auburn?
I believe that Strand has the biggest day for Auburn as we see him go one-on-one with Umanmielen, who is supposed to be back from injury.
Strand already showed out for Auburn this week, and it shouldn't seem too crazy to potentially see him dominate again. I look for Auburn to run right at Umanmielen and let Strand be the aggressor. If Strand wins his matchup like I believe he will, you will see Jeremiah Cobb and Omar Mabsen make some big runs for Auburn.
Then, for LSU, seeing their best player get pushed back and potentially beaten at every point of attack should strike fear in the rest of the defense.
If Umanmielen has a bad game, watch how fast LSU fans will run to say he was injured. If Strand has a big day, Auburn wins.
I am not sure why it has taken so long to figure out that Strand was the better left tackle, but beating LSU will solidify it.
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