BATON ROUGE – When last week's Auburn-Georgia game was entering the waning minutes and seconds, LSU football coach Lane Kiffin found himself rooting for Auburn.
Not because if Auburn had won it would've been one of the biggest upsets of the college football season to the point and not because Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the country last week and losing would've meant No. 1 going down. It was much more strategic to Kiffin than that.
"I was rooting for them at the end of the game to win knowing we were playing them next week," Kiffin told reporters Monday Oct. 19. "Just because it make it more challenging (for Auburn)."
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Auburn ended up beating the Bulldogs, 27-24, on walkoff field goal.
No. 17 LSU (5-2, 2-2) and Auburn (4-2, 2-2) renew their old school Southeastern Conference rivalry inside Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ABC). The way Kiffin sees it, Auburn's upset of one of its biggest and longest rivals in Georgia on the road in Athens last weekend can possibly give LSU an edge heading into the matchup.
When teams earn big wins at either the college or NFL levels, there is always talk about a "letdown" spot for that team. Does that actually exist?
"That's a real thing," Kiffin said Monday when asked if he believes in teams going through emotional letdowns. "Relief syndrome is real. It doesn't mean we're going to win this week and they're going to lost, but it is a real thing."
With social media these days, it's become harder for coaches to prevent their players from seeing and hearing all the noise, good or bad, about the team. Sometimes that can lead to players and a team getting distracted.
LSU took care of a depleted Mississippi State team, 31-0, at home last Saturday afternoon as it was aniticipated. But for Auburn, no one picked them beating a then undefeated Georgia squad, who was in a letdown spot on its own after getting the program's first win at Alabama since 2007 the previous Saturday night.
"That's a real challenge. Especially now, I say all the time, I think it's harder challenge now because of all the access on their phones of people and media and all the stuff they see on social media," Kiffin said. "You're (being) told how great you are when you have those (big, upset wins)."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lane Kiffin thinks Auburn's possible 'relief syndrome' could help LSU