LSU’s search for its first road win of the Lane Kiffin will end shortly in the unanimous estimations of ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew.
Anaylsts Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit and celebrity guest-picker Dalton Kincaid, the Buffalo Bills tight end and former Utah star, all predicted the Tigers to come home Saturday afternoon victorious at Auburn.
The group collectively cautioned that the often-chaotic SEC matchup will likely be close and presents definite challenges, but all circled LSU in their ultimate forecast.
“Well, LSU’s gonna have to overcome the haunted house, man,” Saban, the former LSU and Alabama coach, said with some dramatic emphasis. That place is tough to play. It was tough to play when I was at LSU and we played there, and I don’t know if we ever won there. But I think LSU is gonna overcome it today.”
Herbstreit broke down his perceived blueprint for the purple and gold, focusing on continuing the defensive play coordinator Blake Baker’s unit has shown most of the season and building on last week’s efficient passing showing by quarterback Sam Leavitt against Mississippi State.
“What (Auburn) did last week (to upset Georgia) was they created turnovers,” Herbstreit said. “Leavitt has eight picks, but he played well last week. That’ll have to continue. And the other thing is: Can you keep (Auburn quarterback) Byrum Brown in the pocket if you’re Blake Baker, the defensive coordinator for LSU? He’s running, he’s throwing, he’s doing everything for this offense. You’ve gotta take him away if you’re LSU, make someone else beat you and make him play from the pocket. I’ve got LSU.”
Howard pointed to the anticipated return of junior tight end Trey’Dez Green, who was absent from this week’s official injury reports for the first time since being knocked out of the Tigers’ loss Sept. 19 at Ole Miss.
“I just think that LSU, they have too much firepower,” Howard said. “Trey’Dez Green is supposed to play. That’s gonna really infuse their offense with a lot of energy. So I’m going with the Bayou Bengals.”
McAfee echoed the sentiments of the boost Green would provide, as well as the momentum of Leavitt and difficulty of Auburn coming home from its upset of No. 1 Georgia and matching the same performance in consecutive weeks, as his rationale for picking LSU.
“I think LSU gets a win, but this is gonna be very close,” McAfee said. “Auburn just beats Georgia. I think it’s gonna be tough to go back-to-back weeks with that greatness. LSU close, I think.”
Kincaid also shared his doubts that Auburn could go back-to-back against Georgia and LSU.
