AUBURN | When it comes to explosive plays, it’s no surprise that No. 2 LSU leads the SEC with 23 offensive plays of 30 or more yards. What might be a surprise is No. 9 Auburn being tied for second with 21.

Producing and defending those big, momentum-changing plays will be one of the keys to Saturday’s top 10 matchup in Baton Rouge. For Auburn, it starts with trying to slow down an LSU offense that leads the SEC averaging 539.9 yards and 50.1 points per game.

“You look at LSU offensively, and it looks like a video game when you watch them on film,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Their quarterback is outstanding the way he plays, and he’s got some big-time receivers. They’ve got quite a few of them that have big-play ability.”

There are different ways to define explosive plays. In plays of 20 or more yards, LSU is tied for the conference lead with 50 and Auburn is fifth with 37. In running plays of 10 or more yards, Auburn is fourth in the SEC with 50 and LSU 13th with 30.

LSU is certainly more dangerous through the air but just about anyway you break it down, both teams have that big-play component in their offense.

Auburn showed it last Saturday with seven plays of 20 or more yards at Arkansas with wide receivers Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams combining for four of them.

“I think when Seth caught the deep ball and we went up, I think, 24-3 or whatever, that kind of opened the floodgates, and we were able to play football,” said Malzahn of Williams 48-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix in the third quarter, which started a streak of five touchdowns in six possessions.

LSU has shown that big-play component all season with Joe Burrow completing 38 passes of 20 or more yards. He had four against Florida with LSU’s running backs adding three explosive runs.

“They throw it down the field and matter of fact when they throw it down the field, they’re pretty accurate,” Malzahn said. “They’re not just taking shots. They usually make you pay when they throw it down field.”

Defensively, Auburn is tied with LSU for fourth in the SEC with 24 plays of 20 or more yards allowed. It's nearly the same in plays of 30 or more yards with Auburn allowing 10 and LSU nine.

Kickoff at Tiger Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.