AUBURN, Ala. — No doubt had been left after No. 18 LSU’s 38-17 win at Auburn, but quarterback Sam Leavitt doubted whether it was the most dominant win of the season.

“I probably would have said last week maybe was a little bit more dominant, in my opinion,” Leavitt said, referring to a 31-0 shutout of Mississippi State.

A couple of weeks ago, discussions about LSU tended to revolve around which road loss, Ole Miss or Kentucky, was more crushing to its College Football Playoff hopes.

There was a different conversation to be had Saturday. LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC) is rolling as promised under first-year coach Lane Kiffin, running away from teams with an explosive offense and by suppressing opponents’ point totals with a disruptive defensive line.

Leavitt completed 32 of 45 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Leavitt, who also rushed for 54 yards and a score, found his emerging No. 1 receiver Jackson Harris nine times for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He also dished to newly healthy tight end Trey’Dez Green five times for 50 yards and a score in his return.

For the first time in two years and five days, LSU notched a Southeastern Conference victory away from Tiger Stadium. Saturday’s win snapped an eight-game losing streak in SEC road games, going back to an Oct. 19, 2024, win at Arkansas.

“This is what the whole thing was supposed to look like when we put it together, and the pieces come together, where you can be explosive on offense, where you get ahead, and pay really good rushers at the edge that end games,” Kiffin said. “They showed up today.”

LSU finished with a 552-271 edge in yards. Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown was held to 21 yards rushing on 19 carries after logging consecutive 100-yard outings, including 115 in last week’s win over then-No. 1 Georgia.

Kiffin, always seeking an edge, said he was rooting for unranked Auburn’s upset because “relief syndrome,” a letdown after a big win, is a real challenge. Whatever the reason, LSU had the upper hand in a traditionally unpredictable stadium, and it sets up Kiffin and Co. well for what comes next.

LSU heads into its bye week with Green, one of its No. 7s, already back. Alabama and Texas await, with LSU’s other No. 7, linebacker Whit Weeks, hoping to return at some point after the open date. A pair of home wins substantially would improve LSU’s CFP chances.

Everything is progressing as LSU would have hoped, and one trend — losing on the road to SEC foes — was emphatically squashed.

“It's always so good to get a win, especially just being able to get that done on the road, which we haven’t done,” said LSU running back Dilin Jones, who had 92 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. “Emphasized on it, big time.”

LSU moved the ball all day, even if its first drive — which started near midfield — stalled for a 30-yard field goal. The next possession, with the game tied 3-3, moved 65 yards on 6-of-6 passing from Leavitt, including four completions to Harris.

Leavitt, under pressure and falling backward as he threw it, found Harris streaking across the middle for a 10-yard touchdown to pull ahead 10-3. The quarterback would record at least a 70% completion rate for a fifth game in a row.

“I would say Kentucky was kind of the first game I felt like I played a lot better and more complete, getting to the check-down and all that,” Leavitt said, “and that stretches them laterally and opens up a lot of our crosser windows and things like that.

“It's a constant progression, and I thought today was another step forward.”

LSU went three-and-out on its next possession, but that was a momentary delay.

The next series went 95 yards on 14 plays, including a fourth-and-2 on the LSU 32 converted on a direct snap to Jones, who handed off to Leavitt, who then hit Green for 11 yards. The drive ended with Leavitt finding Green over the middle for a 15-yard catch and run across the goal line to make it 17-3.

Auburn (4-3, 2-3) answered with its only touchdown drive of the day, but LSU would have two more before the half ended. One lasted just three plays, thanks to a 70-yard touchdown for Harris on a pass threaded over the middle by Leavitt on third-and-5.

The next drive, 74 yards on 10 plays, was more methodical, draining most of what remained of the first-half clock. The possession was powered by rushes of 9, 16, 10 and 12 yards by Jones.

Leavitt finished the first half with an exclamation point, diving across the line on a 4-yard touchdown run that gave LSU a 31-10 lead going into the locker room.

“We came in here and kind of shut out the crowd pretty early,” Leavitt said.

Jordan-Hare steadily emptied in the second half, because there was little to keep Auburn fans’ attention offensively.

LSU kept Brown bottled up, notching 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks (six of them on Brown). Auburn’s first three possessions of the second half traveled just 29 combined yards on 15 plays, and Jones helped put the game away, spinning out of a tackle on his way to a 12-yard touchdown run that made it 38-10 LSU just over a minute into the fourth quarter.

Auburn scored a garbage-time touchdown with 24 seconds left to cut the deficit back to 21 points, which was tighter than what LSU achieved a week ago against Mississippi State.

Leavitt just shrugged it off.

“How much did they finish with? 17?” Leavitt asked reporters. “Last play of the game, whatever.”

LSU left no doubt.

November awaits, which will provide the Tigers with many meaningful opportunities to notch their best performance yet.