Bo Nix had a hand in three touchdowns and Auburn’s defense stymied LSU’s offense in a 48-11 victory on Saturday afternoon in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Nix passed for two touchdowns and ran for the third as Auburn improved to 3-3.

It was a game of changing fortunes for both starting quarterbacks.

Nix, who had been harshly criticized for his play in losses against Georgia and South Carolina, had his best game of the season. He finished 18-of-24 for 299 yards.

On the other side, freshman T.J. Finley, who led LSU to a 52-24 victory against South Carolina in his college debut last week, had a much rougher time, committing three turnovers that led to three Auburn touchdowns as LSU fell to 2-3.

Finley, who was starting in place of injured Myles Brennan and went 13-of-24 for 143 yards and two interceptions, was replaced by freshman Max Johnson in the third quarter.

LSU has an open date next week, giving Brennan, who hasn’t played since suffering a leg injury in a loss at Missouri on Oct. 10, two more weeks to try to get healthy enough to start at home against No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 14.

Auburn also has an open date next week before visiting Mississippi State on Nov. 14.

As well as Nix played he had to share top billing with the Auburn defense, which suffocated the LSU running game (32 yards on 27 carries) and dominated the line of scrimmage.

Auburn led 21-3 at halftime and extended the lead on the first possession of the third quarter as Nix ran 5 yards for a touchdown.

On LSU’s first play of the quarter, Finley’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Big Kat Bryant the LSU 21. That led to Tank Bigsby’s 2-yard touchdown run and a 35-3 lead. Bigsby’s 3-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 42-3 with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

That was when Johnson replaced Finley, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

Both offenses struggled during a scoreless first quarter.

LSU had an opportunity to break the scoreless tie on the first play of the second quarter, but Cade York’s 54-yard field was wide right.

On the next play, Auburn had its first big-gainer as Nix threw a 38-yard completion to Eli Stove. Two plays after that, Nix connected with Seth Williams for 18 yards, but Derek Stingley Jr. stripped the ball from Williams and the ball bounced into and out of the end zone for a touchback.

Auburn was back in scoring position moments later after Nehemiah Pritchett intercepted Finley and returned the ball to the LSU 4. After a penalty, Nix threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Stove for a 7-0 lead.

Another Finley turnover enabled Auburn to extend its lead. Linebacker Derick Hall sacked Finley and caused a fumble, and defensive back Christian Tutt picked up the football and ran 20 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

The second-quarter blitz continued when Nix threw a 9-yard touchdown to Ze’Vian Capers for his first career touchdown with 40 seconds left in the second quarter. That completed a 99-yard touchdown drive and gave Auburn a 21-0 lead.

LSU avoided a first-half shutout when York kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to cut the lead to 21-3 at halftime.