Things are about to get serious on The Plains.

After a 34-24 comeback victory against Georgia State on Saturday that was shockingly close and nearly a disaster, Auburn doesn’t have any more tune-up games left and Saturday’s game didn’t feel much like a tune up at all.

It seemed like a major overhaul.

The near-loss to Georgia State casts questions on the rest of the season as the Tigers will face one of the toughest stretch runs in the country. If Auburn needs a blocked punt, a quarterback change, some favorable officiating and a late rally to beat Georgia State, what can we really expect against Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Alabama?

Things were all positive when Auburn was 2-1, which included a 1-score loss to Penn State on the road. The outlook was still very positive after the Penn State game. Now, it’s much bleaker.

Auburn was pushed around at times on both sides of the ball Saturday. That will get the Tigers beat — and badly — if they don’t ratchet up their game immediately. It’s almost as if they left their mojo in Happy Valley. Auburn slept-walked through the Georgia State game. It didn’t ultimately cost them anything — thanks to some clutch play from TJ Finley — but it certainly undermines some confidence equity for the Tigers moving forward, which is chock full of challenges.

The Tigers will play 8 straight SEC games, starting with a road trip to LSU on Saturday. The Bayou Bengals beat Mississippi State 28-25 on Saturday with some long passing plays, but they certainly didn’t look like their record-setting 2019 offensive crew. How will Auburn respond against a formidable team in LSU?

If Auburn’s players have any maturity and moxie, they’ll bounce back from their ugly win against Georgia State. We can talk about the quarterback situation until were blue in the face, but the bigger issue is that Auburn just wasn’t ready to play Saturday. That’s disconcerting. Maybe it’s just part of a maturing team in transition from one coach to another. Let’s give Auburn the benefit of the doubt until we see otherwise.

Here are 3 things Auburn needs to do to beat LSU in Baton Rouge:

Prevent the big play

Things can get bad quick in Tiger Stadium if LSU is able to post the kind of long scoring plays that they produced at Mississippi State on Saturday. The last thing that Auburn wants is for LSU to excel in deep, touchdown passes as it did during the game against the Bulldogs. LSU had 3 touchdown passes of 40 yards or more. Things won’t work out well for Auburn if that happens again Saturday.

It’s worth noting that many of LSU completions came against busted coverages. Auburn’s secondary had better be on the same page on Saturday. Auburn has given up 185 yards passing per game this season. LSU is averaging 297 passing yards per game. Something has to give. Stopping quarterback Max Johnson and Kayshon Boutte will be key for Auburn.

LSU leads the SEC with 7 completions covering at least 40 yards.

Boutte leads the country with 8 TD receptions — in just 4 games.

Settle on a quarterback

This is non-debatable. Auburn cannot go back and forth between Finley and Bo Nix. First-year Auburn coach Bryan Harsin made the change Saturday. Now, he has to stick with it.

Finley has much more ability to freelance and make things happen when a play isn’t going well. He showed that against Georgia State. He has to be the guy moving forward and he can’t be looking over his shoulder if things don’t go well in the near future.

Barring injury, Finley needs to be the starter for the rest of the season. That gives Auburn the best chance to beat LSU on Saturday, the best chance to close out the season strong and something to look forward to since Finley is just a sophomore.

Win the line of scrimmage — or at least make it a draw

The close call by Georgia State wasn’t a fluke. The Panthers pushed Auburn around at times, especially early. Again, I understand the motivation may have not been there against a lesser opponent, but it was still startling. Auburn has to at least hold its own against LSU. That seems doable. LSU is 13th in the SEC with 80 yards rushing per game. Auburn is 4th in the SEC in rushing defense, allowing 99 yards per game. Auburn should win that battle.

On the other side of the ball, Auburn is 4th in the SEC with 257 yards rushing per game. That’s despite being held to a season-low 166 yards Saturday. That will match up against LSU’s defense, which is 4th in the SEC in rushing defense, allowing 99 yards on the ground per game. War Eagle should top LSU in this category as well. Winning both sides of the line of scrimmage is a great way to start any game. It’s certainly a great way to win on the road against a quality opponent.