College football Week 9 winners and losers: LSU's disastrous season as the defending national champs continues

It would be an understatement to say this season hasn’t gone according to plan for LSU. 

The defending national champion lost a ton of production from its historic 15-0 title team. Some sort of drop off was expected. But nobody expected this big of a drop off. 

The Tigers fell to 2-3 with a 48-11 loss to Auburn on Saturday and are on pace for the worst season of the Ed Orgeron era in Baton Rouge — even in a pandemic-shortened season. LSU went 9-4 in Orgeron’s first season as the full-time head coach before winning 25 of its next 28 games. " data-reactid="22">The Tigers fell to 2-3 with a 48-11 loss to Auburn on Saturday and are on pace for the worst season of the Ed Orgeron era in Baton Rouge — even in a pandemic-shortened season. LSU went 9-4 in Orgeron’s first season as the full-time head coach before winning 25 of its next 28 games. 

It was a tight game early, but a pair of turnovers by true freshman quarterback TJ Finley directly led to 14 Auburn points. First, Finley air-mailed a pass that was intercepted by Nehemiah Pritchett and returned to the 5-yard line to set up an Auburn score. Later in the second quarter, Finley fumbled on a sack and the loose ball was scooped up by Christian Tutt and returned for a touchdown. 

And to make things even more demoralizing for LSU, its defense allowed Auburn to march 99 yards in eight plays to go ahead 21-0 before halftime. Auburn opened the second half with another touchdown and grew its lead as large as 48-3 at one point in the second half. 

It was the latest ugly performance from Orgeron’s Tigers. LSU finished the afternoon with 347 yards on offense — more than a third which came in the final 10 minutes — while allowing Auburn, a team that had been averaging 385 yards, to go for a season-high 506 yards. It marked the third time this season that LSU’s defense has allowed 40-plus points under first-year defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.

Myles Brennan against South Carolina was positive. And he looks to have a promising future alongside other talented freshmen like cornerback Eli Ricks, defensive end BJ Ojulari, tight end Arik Gilbert and receiver Kayshon Boutte. But the 52-24 final score was a bit misleading. " data-reactid="46">Finley’s debut start last week in place of injured starter Myles Brennan against South Carolina was positive. And he looks to have a promising future alongside other talented freshmen like cornerback Eli Ricks, defensive end BJ Ojulari, tight end Arik Gilbert and receiver Kayshon Boutte. But the 52-24 final score was a bit misleading. 

Fourteen of LSU’s points came via a pick-six and a kick return TD and Pelini’s defense did not make any major strides. South Carolina’s running backs gained more than nine yards per carry, its quarterback averaged more than 10 yards per pass and South Carolina’s kicker missed three field goals. Those deficiencies showed up against Auburn, and the result was a blowout.

Things won’t get much easier as the season progresses, either. LSU has a bye next week, but a visit from mighty Alabama, the current No. 2 team in the country, looms on Nov. 14. From there, LSU will travel to Arkansas and No. 8 Texas A&M, before closing the season vs. Ole Miss and at No. 10 Florida. 

LSU is trending toward cementing its status as the worst defending champion in the modern era. " data-reactid="49">With the way LSU is playing right now, it’s hard to find many wins among that group. As we wrote earlier this month, LSU is trending toward cementing its status as the worst defending champion in the modern era. 

— Sam Cooper

Clemson RB Travis Etienne: The senior is now the leading rusher in ACC history. Etienne broke NC State RB Ted Brown’s longtime record for career rushing yards with an 84-yard performance in the No. 1 Tigers’ 34-28 win over Boston College. Etienne now has 4,632 yards in his Clemson career and seems a good bet to eclipse 5,000 yards before his season is over. Brown, who played at NC State from 1975-1978, had 4,602 rushing yards in his career. 

Cincinnati: There is no doubt that the Bearcats are the class of the AAC. After beating previously undefeated SMU last week, Cincinnati dismantled Memphis 49-10 on Saturday. QB Desmond Ridder was 21-of-26 passing for 271 yards and five total touchdowns while Jerome Ford rushed for 116 yards and two TDs on just nine carries. The Bearcat defense held Memphis to just three total yards rushing as no Memphis player had more than 16 yards on the ground.