Auburn kicked off its five-game winning streak with an 18-13 win over LSU that could’ve been a loss had the Bayou Bengals had an extra second at their disposal.

That was also offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s first game as AU’s play caller, a night when Daniel Carlson made six field goals.

Auburn’s defense has been outstanding all season, but the most different thing about the Tigers has been how much their offense has improved. Lashlee’s play calling has been one reason for that progress, something that Gus Malzahn says hasn’t surprised him.

“For me, of course, I had a lot a confidence in Rhett, even before he started (calling plays),” Malzahn said Wednesday on his weekly SEC teleconference. “But for me, it’s been so good for me just to sit back and, you know, be there more for the players and just really turn it over to him.

“He’s done a super job. But I figured he would.”

It’s not surprising that Malzahn expected Lashlee to succeed as a play caller. In fact, Malzahn feels Lashlee has important traits that will enable him to run offenses for a long time.

“He knows our personnel. I think that’s the first thing,” Malzahn said of Lashlee. “And he’s got a good mind of taking what a defense gives you.

“And he’s smart enough to know that when something’s working, you keep doing it until they stop it, and then you have an answer off that. He’s done a very good job of keeping defenses off balance.”

Lashlee has done that by putting certain players such as Kamryn Pettway and Sean White in positions to succeed. But what has stood out over the last five weeks is how Lashlee has utilized several other less-heralded players.

Freshman Eli Stove, whose electrifying 78-yard touchdown run on Auburn’s first play from scrimmage sparked the Tigers’ 56-3 rout of Arkansas, followed that up with a solid game against Ole Miss. Stove caught a career-high 5 passes for 37 yards and also got a carry in AU’s 40-29 victory.

Stove is one of six members of Auburn’s 2016 recruiting class who have reached the end zone this season. John Franklin III, Malik Miller, Kam Martin, Kyle Davis and Nate Craig-Myers have also joined the Tigers’ touchdown club.

Stanton Truitt is another player who has been especially productive of late. Against the Razorbacks, Truitt scored his first career touchdown on a 20-yard run before following that up with a couple more, catching a 45-yard pass from White for another score before capping his night with a 31-yard scamper for a TD.

Darius Slayton might have just nine catches this season, but he’s averaging 18.7 yards per reception. Count Malzahn among those who noticed Slayton’s contributions against Ole Miss last week when the redshirt freshman matched a season-high with 3 grabs for 53 yards.

“I think he is coming along, getting more confidence. And you know, if you really looked out there Saturday, I mean just about everyone we played was either a true freshman or a redshirt freshman. And that’s encouraging for the future. And those guys are starting to grow up. And they’re playing hard, and each game you see improvement.”

Auburn’s running game has made the biggest improvement. Coincidentally against LSU, AU rushed for 154 yards, which was the second-lowest output of the season after the 87 yards gained in the season opener against Clemson.

In the four games since that outing against LSU — during which Auburn has beaten three SEC teams in Mississippi State, Arkansas and Ole Miss by an average of 29 points — the Tigers have totaled 1,488 rushing yards. Those 372 yards per game are why Auburn has emerged as SEC’s top running team.

Pettway and the offensive line are the main reasons for that dramatic improvement. Over the last five weeks, Lashlee and his burgeoning playmakers are giving opposing defenses reasons to game plan for more than just Pettway and White.