AUBURN, Ala. — Wow, where to even start. LSU’s thrilling 22-21 upset of Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium was a roller coaster of emotions from kickoff through the moment the game-winning kick left Cole Tracy’s foot.
It started off promising, with LSU scoring the game’s first 10 points, and yet felt ominous because the lead certainly could have been larger. Auburn then rattled off 21 unanswered points before LSU scored the final 12 for a stunning victory.
There’s a lot to dissect and digest from a wild football game. Let’s go through some of the big takeaways in this week’s edition of the Stock Report.
STOCK UP: Passing Game
After two uninspiring weeks, the LSU passing attack showed up when LSU needed it most. Joe Burrow pushed the ball down the field all afternoon, finishing 15-of-34 for 249 yards. His biggest throw of the game came on the 71-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Dillon, in which he thread the need on a deep post to hit the receiver in stride. Justin Jefferson (five catches for 97 yards) was his go-to receiver, big Stephen Sullivan and Dee Anderson came up with the clutch receptions to keep the game-winning drive alive. Credit the offensive line for the job they did protecting Burrow, too.
STOCK UP: Grant Delpit
This is hardly a new development, but LSU’s sophomore safety is a bad man and a fantastic football player. Delpit got LSU off to a dream start by intercepting an off-target throw from Jarrett Stidham on the second play from scrimmage, which led to an early touchdown and a 7-0 LSU lead. He nearly created a takeaway on the following series, too, but a would-be fumble was ruled an incomplete pass. Delpit finished with a team-high 10 tackles, including seven solo stops and a tackle-for-loss. It was the latest standout effort for the blossoming star of LSU’s secondary.
STOCK DOWN: Faking It
The aggressive gameplan devised by Ed Orgeron and Steve Ensminger certainly paid off, but in the future, they may want to leave the throwing to Burrow. LSU came out of halftime trailing 14-10 and faced a fourth down near midfield. They dialed up a fake punt in which Zach Von Rosenberg took the deep snap, charged forward and tried to loft a jump pass to a streaking Foster Moreau. The gamble backfired as Von Rosenberg overshot the open receiver and Auburn promptly stuck the ball in the end zone for what felt like a back-breaking touchdown at the time.
STOCK DOWN: Penalties
This one should apply to both teams after a game during which 18 total penalties were accepted for a whopping 202 yards. LSU accounted for half the flags and 91 of the yards, most of which came during a frustrating first half. An illegal block and some procedural penalties negated a hot start for LSU, and a roughing the passer call against Andre Anthony kept an Auburn drive alive that led to the go-ahead score before halftime. Some flags are to be expected in a physical game that was tightly officiated, but LSU knows it has some things to clean up down the road.
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