The Auburn Tigers housed LSU on 41-7 on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Nick Marshall, along with Cameron Artis-Payne, had huge nights. Marshall finished 14-of-22 for 207 yards and 2 TDs and 16 rushes for 119 yards and 2 TDs. Artis-Payne added 126 yards on 24 carries.

Here are a couple of thoughts on the game:

What it means: Auburn quietly was 4-0 and had yet to really put forth a great performance. That all changed from the opening whistle on Saturday night. The offense wasted no time getting going on its way to racking up 247 yards in the first quarter, most in the Malzahn era, and a 17-7 lead. Auburn would add two more scores in the second quarter to go to the locker room up 31-7. Auburn reminded everyone that it is still a very good team.

What I liked: Nick Marshall’s play. We finally saw glimpses of the improvement Auburn coaches spoke of all summer and fall. Marshall threw the ball accurately and spread the ball around consistently. His four first-half touchdowns were the most for an Auburn player in one half since Cam Newton accomplished the same feat against UT-Chattanooga in 2010.

Who’s the man: Sammie Coates. Coates led all receivers with four catches for 144 yards and looked like his old self after being slowed by a knee injury he suffered in the season-opener. Coates made a couple highlight-worthy catches in the first half, including Auburn’s first touchdown of the game where he fought off two defenders to catch a pass from Marshall then fight his way into the end zone.

Key play: We’re going to go with a key series. Auburn forced a three-and-out on the first LSU drive of the night. Ellis Johnson’s defense set the tone by creating a lot of pressure and really forcing Brandon Harris to make quick decisions in his first start. From then on, this game felt like a mismatch.