College Football Picks Week 8: Auburn Will Capitalize On LSU Suspensions

As the college football world is well aware, LSU has suspended Tyrann Mathieu, Tharold Simon and Spencer Ware for their game Saturday against Auburn.

LSU is the No. 1 team in the BCS polls and has dominated every opponent they have faced so far this season.

Auburn is ranked 20th and is a young team still trying to find their identity after losing Cam Newton to the NFL draft. 

LSU has certainly dealt with its fair share of team turmoil so far this season, but the blows keep coming for the Tigers. Ultimately, this will be the worst of them all. Losing a Heisman Trophy candidate will not be easy to overcome. 

Auburn will be able to capitalize on the most recent and most severe of the LSU suspensions and will pull off a victory in Baton Rouge. 

LSU's Defense Will Be off

Teams losing defensive starters is one thing. For LSU to lose these particular starters is quite another.

LSU’s strength is their defense. They are allowing less than 12 points per game, good for seventh in the country.

Tyrann Mathieu is the leader of the defense. He makes big plays at the right time and always has that extra gear in important moments. Losing him affects every single LSU defensive player.

Tharold Simon has 29 tackles on the season, fourth on the team. His presence will be missed as well.

He brought the physical style of play that frustrated opposing offenses and led to turnovers.

These two suspensions are major for LSU. Their defense will not be playing in the same aggressive, forceful way that has catapulted them to the top of the BCS polls.

Auburn will be aware of this and should attack early.

Gives New Quarterback Confidence

Despite attempting just seven passes in the game against Florida last week, Clint Moseley has been named Auburn’s starter against LSU. 

This will mark the third week LSU has faced a quarterback starting for the first time.

Florida and Tennessee both suffered injuries to their starting quarterbacks the week before and were forced to play their back-ups against LSU. 

Predictably, LSU decimated the poor, young, terrified quarterbacks. LSU beat Florida by a score of 41-11 and Tennessee 38-7. 

However, this week will be different. Moseley has confidence coming into the game and is excited to play on a big stage.

Part of this excitement must be stemming from the fact that he knows the Honey Badger will not be waiting with open arms to pick off any pass thrown in his general direction.

Despite never having played a complete college football game, Moseley is self-assured and has great poise going into his first matchup with LSU.

Sometimes that is all you need.

If he can complete a few passes early on, he could get on a roll and lead Auburn to a victory.

Auburn's Rush Defense Gets a Break

True, Spencer Ware is not LSU’s only running back. He is their best, though. 

Through seven games, Auburn has given up 182 yards rushing per game, which is not very good.

This week, however, Auburn was given a gift when Ware was suspended.

Yes, LSU has Michael Ford and Alfred Blue, two very capable rushers who have seen extended carries this season.

But losing a leading rusher is always a blow for a good team.

Ware also epitomized the physical style of play that LSU’s offense has become known for. He was a true grind-it-out running back who did not need to break off long runs to be effective.

Auburn should key in on stopping the run this week and force Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson to beat them through the air.

Lee has played well this season and only thrown one interception, but part of his success stemmed from Ware’s success running the football.

Opens Up Long Ball

Barrett Trotter was a capable quarterback, but his one flaw was that he could not throw deep with much accuracy.

Enter Clint Moseley who has a reputation for making the big play.

Again, a depleted LSU defense will allow Moseley to take advantage of downfield matchups.

He will have the green light to look for his receivers deep and can also make a few plays with his feet if he is forced to scramble.

The LSU suspensions are also coming at a time that favors the Auburn receivers.

Emory Blake and Trovon Reed, both of whom have been nursing injuries, seem to be healing just in time to play against LSU.

If Moseley has two of his top receivers to throw to, he can take advantage of LSU’s weaknesses and establish himself as Auburn’s starter with a win in Baton Rouge.