Why Auburn Is the New Team to Beat in the SEC

AUBURN, Ala. — Saturday was a day of carnage in the Top 10, and inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, it was no different.

But unlike the scenes at TCU and both Mississippi schools, the higher-ranked team was the one delivering the painful loss.

On a day when No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 6 Texas A&M all fell—and two days after No. 2 Oregon dropped a Thursday-night game to Arizona—No. 5 Auburn went above and beyond with a 41-7 blowout against rival LSU.

The win now puts Auburn in a three-way tie with Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the ultra-competitive SEC West.

"It has a lot of big-time teams," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "It is the best division in college football. I think it is pretty clear."

What is also pretty clear at this point is the top spot in the division belongs to Malzahn's team.

With two victories against Top 20 teams to Ole Miss' one as well as a blowout win against a team Mississippi State edged out, Auburn is now the SEC's new team to beat.

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"I think this was the start of our statement wins," senior tight end C.J. Uzomah said. "It was the start of us being where we need to be...I think that's a testament to where we are as a team."

When the AP Top 25 and USA Today coaches polls are released Sunday, Auburn will have a legitimate claim to the top spot in the country, as fellow undefeated team Florida State has struggled against ranked foes this season.

But does Auburn think it deserves the No. 1 ranking?

"Deserving?" senior defensive tackle Gabe Wright said. "I'm more on the side of we are going to keep on trucking and earn it. I'm not even going to lie to you, after last year, it's shown a lot that the rankings don't matter. Just play your butts off."

Auburn definitely "played its butts off" against LSU, which entered the game with high hopes after a dominant performance with true freshman quarterback Brandon Harris.

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The new starter was only 3-for-14 through the air before being pulled in favor of Anthony Jennings, the player he replaced one week earlier against New Mexico State.

LSU finished the game 0-for-13 on third-down conversions, becoming the first team to not move the chains against Auburn since the infamous 3-2 game in 2008 at Mississippi State.

"One guy would make a play, then on the sideline before the next series we'd say that it's someone else's time, and another guy would go out and make the play," Wright said. "The execution was just really sound. Communication was better than expected tonight because the fans were as loud as they had ever been, in my eyes."

On offense, Auburn scorched the nation's No. 12 defense in total yards allowed per game for 566 yards and 41 points.

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After struggling with slow starts in recent weeks, Auburn's offense racked up 247 yards against LSU in the first quarter—the most in any single quarter since Malzahn took over as head coach.

“We talked all week about getting off to a quick start," Malzahn said. "We really focused in on the offense and we were able to score points early, and it made things easier later in the game."

Areas that Auburn struggled with prior to Saturday night didn't slow the offense down, and a few players had breakout performances that fans had been waiting to see all season.

Sammie Coates, who finished No. 3 nationally in yards per catch last season, matched his season total in receiving yards with one catch against LSU—an incredible first-quarter touchdown grab in traffic.

The highlight-reel play sparked the Auburn attack and kick-started the impressive blowout against the Bayou Bengals.

"We get so amped up when we see stuff on [the video screen] sometimes, and to be able to see that catch that he had — that was insane," Uzomah said. "That kind of propelled us. The steamroll started going after that."

Auburn will hope to keep that momentum from the rout going on both sides of the ball as it turns to a Mississippi State team that recorded a similar rout against Texas A&M and its high-powered offense earlier on Saturday.

If there is any argument between the Tigers and the Bulldogs' claim to the top spot in the SEC, it will be settled one week from now in Starkville.

"We have to get together, watch film and see what they like to do," senior defensive back Trovon Reed said. "We just need to keep improving and build off this performance.”

Just minutes after the final whistle sounded in Auburn's first win against LSU since 2010, Malzahn's team was not concerned with celebration—it already had its sights set on the next game in a brutal stretch of SEC games.

"The LSU is over with," senior running back Cameron Artis-Payne said. "We've already turned the page. We're focused on Mississippi State."

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is Bleacher Report's lead Auburn writer. Follow him on Twitter @JFergusonAU.