Auburn QB Walker White Debuts in Blowout of ULM

The Auburn Tigers rolled their way to a dominant win that saw the debut of a highly-touted freshman QB

Walker White made his long-awaited college debut / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

Auburn (4-6, 1-5 SEC) beat the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-5) 48-14, keeping its aspirations of qualifying for a bowl game alive for another week.

The highlight of the blowout win was the debut of freshman quarterback Walker White. After losing the backup job to Hank Brown, it was up in the air as to when we might see him. Ten games in, and we finally get to see him in action - even if it's just in a game-managing role. 

White made five pass attempts and completed two of them for 18 yards. On top of that, he made four carries for 18 yards. 

The dominant win was a significant one for Jarquez Hunter who reached 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career. Hunter, who picked up 102 yards on 14 carries throughout the game, crossed the 1,000-yard threshold near the end of the third quarter.

On their opening drive, the Tigers drove 60 yards in eight plays. Payton Thorne connected with Cam Coleman for a 20-yard touchdown. 

Auburn extended its lead to 10-0 on its next possession. Ian Vachon, a walk-on redshirt sophomore who made his Auburn debut this afternoon, put a 22-yard field goal attempt through the uprights.

The Tigers added touchdowns on two of their next three possessions, another from Thorne to Coleman and one from Thorne to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, giving them a 24-0 lead at the break.

Auburn’s defense could not have asked for a much better performance in the first half, holding Louisiana-Monroe off the scoreboard, to 70 yards and three first downs. 

Louisiana-Monroe’s first score of the game came nearly seven minutes into the second half. The Warhawks covered 76 yards in eight plays. The drive was capped off with a one-yard touchdown rush by Ahmad Hardy. The drive was propelled by a 37-yard completion from Aidan Armenta to Tyler Griffin.

Coleman made another impressive catch for a touchdown on Auburn’s next possession, tracking the ball down with one hand and keeping his feet in bounds. Coleman put his talents on full display with this grab and reminded the college football world why he was such a highly-rated prospect.

https://x.com/AuburnFootball/status/1857876183188385912

Coleman, who has had an up-and-down freshman campaign, caught eight passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns, giving him the second-highest amount of receiving yards behind Lambert-Smith’s 104.

Thorne had a big game coming off a shoulder injury. He completed 68.7% of his passes for 286 yards and threw a career-high five touchdowns. 

Another college debut was made for Auburn as true freshman quarterback Walker White saw the field for the first time. White rushed for a gain of six on his first play, threw an incomplete pass on his second and fumbled on his third.

White redeemed himself on Auburn’s next possession, however, as he completed his first pass. The drive was capped off by a seven-yard touchdown run by Damari Alston.

As well as the Tigers performed offensively, their defensive effort matched up. In addition to allowing just one score, Auburn held Louisiana-Monroe to 218 yards and nine first downs. Auburn made it through the game without having a single penalty called on it. 

Auburn’s defense also got off the field on third down as the Warhawks went two-of-12 on third down conversion attempts.

This was Auburn’s first win at home since their victory over New Mexico on Sept. 14, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Auburn returns to action next week when it hosts the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:45 p.m. CT on SEC Network.