With injuries piling up and the Tigers struggling to close out road games, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is preparing to explore changes to his lineup and schemes. The timing could prove crucial, with No. 18 LSU heading to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face an Auburn team fresh off a statement win over Georgia.
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“We know we’ve had a lot of injuries,” Kiffin said on The Lane Kiffin Show at WBRZ on October 23. “So are there, with two weeks, are there things we could move around and try different schemes or players at different spots in those things and at the same time too recruit, you know later in the week as coaches.”
The plan gives LSU the chance to review its personnel, but the pressing problem is Saturday’s game against Auburn. Kiffin has had some reason for confidence since the 31-0 win over Mississippi State, but LSU’s 5-2 record also includes two losses.
The Tigers lost 35-34 to Kentucky in overtime and then 32-24 to Ole Miss. Both games showed how quickly narrow margins can turn into losses when a team makes a mistake at the crucial moment. Kiffin doesn’t believe the issue is simply a lack of opportunities. Instead, he said, LSU just hasn’t been able to take advantage of the chances it gets.
“Well, I think it helps, like I said, because so many guys are new and we’re coming together. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make plays in critical situations,” Kiffin added when discussing the team’s road performances. “We’d be sitting here with a different feeling about playing on the road if we’d won those situations.”
Auburn, meanwhile, has already shown it can perform when it counts, having beaten then top-ranked Georgia 27-24. A fumble recovery set up senior Alex McPherson’s game-winning field goal, a result that should give the Tigers confidence heading into this game.
Kiffin is also a bit wary of Auburn’s defensive approach under coordinator DJ Durkin, with whom he previously worked at Ole Miss. Auburn’s defence has been susceptible to the run in SEC play, but Kiffin cautions against judging the unit by the stats alone.
“They disguise their fronts and their pressures and do a really good job of changing things up,” Kiffin further said. “Stats can be misleading. They’ve played a really hard schedule, and that has a lot to do with it. But they have really good players, and they pressure the quarterback a lot.”
For LSU QB Sam Leavitt, recognizing those disguises will be key. Against Mississippi State, he went 31 of 38 for 289 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. It was his first turnover-free game of the season after he threw eight interceptions in LSU’s first six games.
Against Auburn, however, LSU will be without LB Whit Weeks, and LB Dashawn Spears is also on the injured list. Edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen left the game against Mississippi State with a head injury, and receiver Jackson Harris left with an apparent lower leg injury.
Kiffin also stressed that LSU can’t afford to ignore the little things against Auburn, especially in that kind of environment.
“You’ve got to limit mistakes,” Kiffin added. “That’s what tends to happen on the road. You make mistakes. You have false starts, you put yourself in bad positions, or you tend to turn the ball over more. All those things are in our control.”
So Auburn will be another test for the Tigers. Afterward, LSU will have the bye week to assess itself before facing Alabama on November 7.