No. 12 LSU’s dramatic 22-21 victory over No. 7 Auburn on the road Saturday confirmed LSU’s worthiness as an SEC contender.

It affirmed the place of LSU’s defense among the SEC elite, despite a few rough spots in the middle of the game.

It demonstrated they have playmakers and a dependable placekicker to adequately complement that defense.

But LSU’s performance also revealed some shortcomings that need to be fixed if it’s going to take advantage of the opportunity it earned Saturday and stay in the SEC West race for the long haul.

First and foremost, LSU again had a penalty problem. They committed nine for 91 yards against Auburn. The bright side is that they were penalized just once in the second half after being penalized eight times in the first.

Some of the penalties were particularly damaging. LSU had a 7-0 lead and a chance to increase the margin in the first half when guard Damien Lewis was penalized for an illegal block, and the possession ended with a punt.

Moments later, LSU was in field goal range when tackle Austin Deculus was called for a false start. Cole Tracy wound up missing a 53-yard field goal that might have been tried from a more manageable distance if not for the penalty.

A pass interference call on defensive back Kary Vincent Jr. gave Auburn a first and goal and immediately preceded Auburn’s first touchdown.

Another penalty was even more helpful to Auburn during its second touchdown drive, which was resuscitated by a facemask penalty on linebacker Andre Anthony on an incomplete pass on third down.

The only second-half penalty will have a lingering effect because safety John Battle was called for a personal foul and ejected for targeting. The ejection will require him to sit out the first half of the game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

The penalties’ damage was mitigated by Auburn committing nine for 111 yards, including two crucial defensive pass interference penalties on LSU’s game-winning drive.

But LSU can’t count on opponents committing enough penalties to lessen the impact of their own. LSU, who committed a more manageable 13 penalties for 146 yards combined in the first two games, need to address the issue before it becomes a trend.

The penalties Saturday were reminiscent of a similar issue early last season when the Tigers averaged 10 for 91 yards in the first three games.

But they fixed the problem. After that initial flurry, the Tigers didn’t have more than eight penalties in any game and averaged 4.5 for 39 yards.

Now would be a good time to repeat that improvement.

LSU’s ball security has been perfect and also reminiscent of the first three games from last season. The Tigers have not turned the ball over, and they have taken it away seven times.

They also were turnover-free during the first three games last season, though they took it away just three times. The first turnover came in Week 4 against Syracuse.

The Tigers’ performance on third and fourth down had a big impact on the victory Saturday. They converted 8 of 20 third downs and 1 of 2 fourth downs, which generally aren’t great numbers but are pretty good against Auburn on the road, especially when considering they converted three third downs on their first touchdown drive and converted a third and a fourth on the winning field-goal drive.

Additionally, they held Auburn to 4 of 12 on third downs and 0 for 1 on fourth. The fourth-down stop, on which Devin White dropped JaTarvious Whitlow for a 2-yard loss, was especially important because the play started at the LSU 15.

LSU saw several players leave the game with injuries. Guard Garrett Brumfield missed much of the game because of a shoulder injury, but he returned in the second half.

On defense, linebackers Michael Divinity and Ray Thornton, tackle Breiden Fehoko, end Glen Logan and cornerbacks Vincent and Kristian Fulton all left the game with injuries. All returned except for Thornton and Logan.

Assuming the injuries aren’t serious, the good far outweighs the bad from the trip to Auburn.