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    Auburn Football Practice Report Tigers hold final practice prior to Saturday's game at LSU.
    Terrell Zachery

    Terrell Zachery

    Oct. 22, 2009

    AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn football team held its final practice prior to Saturday's game at LSU, working out for more than an hour and a half late Thursday afternoon at the Athletics Complex practice fields.

    Thursday's practice was a situational workout in shorts and helmets with no contact, as the Tigers went over final preparations for Saturday's game. The squad went through all aspects of special teams and also worked against the scout teams.

    Auburn will be looking for its first win at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge since 1999 Saturday night. LSU leads the all-time series, 23-19-1, with each of the last five games being decided by less than a touchdown.

    LSU has had a few struggles on offense, ranking 12th in the SEC in total offense (295.0) and 11th in scoring offense (23.0). Charles Scott leads the team with 327 yards rushing and has 30 career rushing touchdowns, which ranks fifth in school history. Jordan Jefferson has thrown for 1016 yards and seven touchdowns this year, and many of his completions have gone to Brandon LaFell, who ranks third in the SEC in receptions per game (4.5) and has caught at least one pass in 34 straight games.

    At his Tuesday press conference, Auburn head coach Gene Chizik spoke about the challenge that the LSU offense presents to Auburn's defense.

    "They are very talented starting up front with their offensive line," said Chizik. "They are like always, big and physical. Jordan Jefferson is a very athletic and talented young man. He has three or four great receivers including the tight end Dickson - he is a very athletic. He is an older guy that has been around and has seen and done a lot of different things. They are all big targets and also fast. They also have three senior tailbacks. So they are very athletic and talented. They have some good things that can pose problems for a defense."

    Defensively, LSU is solid as usual, ranking 14th nationally in scoring defense (14.5) and 35th in total defense (322.5).

     

     

    Chizik also noted that the LSU secondary is one of the top units that Auburn will face this season, as the Bayou Bengals rank 22nd nationally in pass efficiency defense (101.05).

    "They are very big and athletic, just like they always are," said Chizik. "They give your receivers problems because they get their hands on you with press coverage. They do a nice job of being physical at the line of scrimmage. So this is going to be a bit of a different challenge for our receivers in terms of having to really play physical. They are big and strong but if they lose you at the line of scrimmage they still have great recovery speed to catch up. So they are a tough group to go up against."

    Auburn (5-2, 2-2 SEC) will be playing its first game against a nationally-ranked team this season. LSU (5-1, 3-1 SEC) enters the game ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Auburn has won nine of its last 14 games against teams ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll.

    Saturday's game will kick off from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

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