LSU Football: 3 Suspensions for Auburn Game Spell Doom for Tigers

The top-ranked LSU Tigers are in serious trouble of losing their first game this weekend.

In fact, I think the No. 19 Auburn Tigers are going to go into Baton Rouge and beat their rival with the same mascot.

Cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, running back Spencer Ware and Tharold Simon are all suspended according to a school official.

While the reason and length of these suspensions are currently unknown, it’s got a brutal short-term impact.

The sophomore Mathieu has turned into one of the premier players in all of college football. He already has forced four fumbles, recovering three of them and returning two for scores. On top of that, he has two interceptions, 42 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

He is going to be a first-round draft pick and without him, LSU is going to be very vulnerable to the pass. Considering Auburn is putting up over 360 yards of offense, it’s going to be a problem.

Factor in that Simon also patrolled the secondary and had 29 tackles and a interception. The LSU pass defense is really going to struggle against a reliable and strong-armed QB in Barrett Trotter.

The LSU ground game is in big trouble with the loss of Ware.

He had 512 yards and six touchdowns. He keeps the Tigers balanced and is quietly the most important piece to the unit. The reason Les Miles has been able to get away with a two-QB system with Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson is because of the strong running game to keep the offense balanced.

Without that balance, LSU becomes one-dimensional and Auburn can drop back an extra linebacker into coverage, clogging the middle of the field.

This is also a big game for the entire SEC. The winner of the Auburn/LSU game has won the SEC West and advanced to Atlanta for the conference championship in seven of the past 11 seasons.

Without LSU's three top players, this is now Auburn’s game to lose.

Prediction: Auburn 28 LSU 27