LSU 38, Auburn 17: Leavitt and Harris break it open in the second quarter

No. 18 LSU settled this one in the second quarter. Sam Leavitt threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third in the period, and LSU went to halftime at Jordan-Hare Stadium up 31-10 on the way to a 38-17 win over Auburn on Saturday.

Leavitt finished 32 of 45 for 387 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson Harris caught nine of those passes for 178 yards and two scores, including a 70-yarder that answered Auburn's only touchdown of the first half 73 seconds later.

LSU moves to 6-2 and has won two straight since the one-point loss at Kentucky. Auburn falls to 4-3, a week after beating No. 1 Georgia on the road.

How it was won

The first quarter was even for a while. S. Starzyk and A. McPherson traded field goals of 30 and 23 yards, and it stood 3-3 until Leavitt found Harris for a 10-yard touchdown with 3:48 left in the quarter.

The second quarter is where the gap opened. Leavitt hit Trey'Dez Green for 15 yards to make it 17-3. Auburn responded with a Byrum Brown 1-yard run at 5:42, which cut it to 17-10. On the next possession, Leavitt and Harris connected for 70 yards. Leavitt then ran in from 4 yards out with 17 seconds left in the half to make it 31-10.

Neither side scored in the third quarter. Dilin Jones opened the fourth with a 12-yard touchdown run, and Tristan Ti'a added a 7-yard score for Auburn with 24 seconds remaining.

The box score matches the scoreboard. LSU outgained Auburn 552 to 271 and had 29 first downs to 16. It ran for 165 yards, led by Jones with 92 on 21 carries and Leavitt with 54 on eight. LSU held the ball for 33:41.

Auburn could not run. It finished with 67 rushing yards, and Brown carried 19 times for 21. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards without a touchdown. Keshaun Singleton led Auburn with four catches for 64 yards, and DeShawn Spencer had four for 41.

Neither team turned the ball over. Both went 5 for their third downs, LSU on 13 attempts and Auburn on 16.

Against the number

LSU closed as a 7-point favorite and won by 21, a comfortable cover. The moneyline closed at LSU -285 and Auburn +230, so the market had the visitors as clear favorites, and the result was never close to testing that after halftime.

The total closed at 51.5 and 55 points were scored, so the over cashed. It came late. After Jones scored early in the fourth, the game sat at 48 points through a long stretch without scoring, and it took Ti'a's touchdown with 24 seconds left to push it over.

Full pricing history is on the game page.

What's next

Auburn turns around quickly with a trip to No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday, October 31, on SEC Network. It is Auburn's third road game against a ranked opponent this season, after the loss at Tennessee and the win at Georgia.

LSU does not play on October 31. Its next game is at home against No. 13 Alabama on Saturday, November 7. LSU is 3-0 against ranked opponents at home this season, with wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi State, and its only loss to a ranked team came at Ole Miss.