College football had one of its craziest weeks in recent memory. As the College Football Playoff agreed to expand the field to 24 teams, beginning in 2027, several top-10 teams fell.
Alabama, Indiana, Notre Dame, and Texas all lost on Saturday. But Auburn's stunning 27-24 win over No. 1 Georgia was the most shocking result. The Bulldogs defeated Alabama the week before, but Auburn stormed into Athens and upset Georgia.
That win gave Auburn a lot of momentum and could affect LSU. Or will it?
Is Auburn Due for a Letdown?
On one hand, Auburn could ride the momentum and build off an impressive win. Or this week's game against LSU could be a letdown at home. Lane Kiffin weighed in on his experience with these situations.
"No, that's a real thing. Relief syndrome is real," Kiffin said on Monday. "It doesn't mean we're going to win this week and we're going to lose, but that is a real thing; it's a real challenge. Especially now, I say all the time, I think it's a harder challenge now because of all the access on their phones of people and media and all the stuff they see on social media."
"You start to be told how great you are when you have those wins," Kiffin added. "I was rooting for them at the end of the game to win, knowing we're playing them next week. It makes it more challenging."
The idea behind relief syndrome is that it's a psychological effect in which a team becomes complacent after a hard-fought victory and lets its standards slip. Auburn Head Coach Alex Golesh said his team's focus remains the same.
“We got in Sunday morning and flipped the page,” Golesh said, per Auburn on SI. “That's the piece, and I’ve said this before: good win or tough loss, it all has to be the same on Monday morning.”
LSU can do a few things to prevent Auburn from riding last week's momentum. They can get out to a fast start and silence the home crowd. LSU has been fantastic at scoring early. The offense has scored 45 first-quarter points over the last four games.
If Sam Leavitt can find a rhythm early and give LSU a lead, Kiffin's team can control the game. It'll be interesting to see how each team responds after big wins. The first quarter could decide Saturday's outcome, and Kiffin will need his team focused.
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