10/22 at 10:13 PM

BATON ROUGE, La. — Hey, everyone, meet the No. 1 team in the country.

Now, run and play children, its time for the grownups to talk.

Talk about No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama.

Talk about the game of all games. The real SEC Championship Game. The BCS title game two months early. The fate of the free world hanging in the balance.

OK, maybe not that big. But big enough.

Nov. 5 can’t get here fast enough. Right?

Auburn just happened to be LSU’s pregame meal as it finally gets to dig in and prepare for the second-ranked Crimson Tide in two weeks (Both teams have byes next week.)

Speaking of talking, LSU served notice to last year’s top team that it’s coming for the title. And fast.

Meet the new No. 1 team … and genuflect.

They’re pretty scary. And good. And bad … no, the good kind of bad.

Auburn got a first-hand look Saturday of just how bad LSU is, and it left the Tigers bloodied.

Auburn saw what it was last year — just better than everybody else — and then got hit by it. Hard.

A good, ol’ fashion beat down. Auburn handed out a few of those last year.

Now they’re on the other side, covered in youth and inexperience. And it didn’t feel too good.

“To lose that bad, it’s just embarrassing,” said Clint Moseley, who received a nice, warm six-sack welcome to the SEC in his first collegiate start.

Wasn’t that nice?

No, it wasn’t. Nothing about Saturday’s game was nice, at least where Auburn is concerned.

There was a glimpse — a glimmer — early. But it didn’t last long for the Tigers.

Once LSU finally got out of neutral, the Bayou Bengals weren’t to be stopped.

And if there was any doubt left, Auburn’s national title defense ended about 5 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

That’s when LSU scored 21 points in 2:24 seconds in the third quarter.

That’s when LSU decided to end any chance Auburn had.

That’s when the top team in the nation put its foot down.

And just like that, the No. 1 team in the country did what the No. 1 team in the country is supposed to do.

It left no doubt.

It left nothing … well, left.

Just ask Auburn’s kickoff return men.

Scorched earth policy.

“They did a lot of whatever they wanted to do,” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said.

Yep. They sure did.

Just like the No. 1 team in the country is supposed to.

Right, Auburn?

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.