GALLERY: Photos from Auburn's 59-14 win over UMass

Auburn football routed the UMass Minutemen in their season opener.

Lance Dawe | Sep 2, 2023

GALLERY: Photos from Auburn's 59-14 win over UMass /

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Auburn Tigers

Auburn football routed the UMass Minutemen in their season opener.

The Tigers didn't much going throwing the ball, but controlled the pace of the game and came up with a pair of key turnovers.

Payton Thorne's Auburn debut was a huge story and Robby Ashford's three touchdowns on the ground stole the show. Here are some photos from Auburn's first win of the season.

Brian Battie vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Keionte Scott, Eugene Asante vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Payton Thorne vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Damari Alston vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Alex McPherson vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Justin Rogers vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Keionte Scott vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Robby Ashford vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Donovan Kaufman vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Jaylin Simpson vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Payton Thorne vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eugene Asante vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Ja'Varrius Johnson vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Nehemiah Pritchett vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eugene Asante (and others) vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Sean Jackson vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Robby Ashford and Jeremiah Cobb vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Jeremiah Cobb vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Jayson Jones vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Brian Battie vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Jay Fair vs UMass - Eric Starling/Auburn Daily — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Keldric Faulk vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eugene Asante vs UMass — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

There's certainly room for improvement, but Auburn fans should be satisfied with Throne's debut. He showed tremendous signs of pocket awareness and accuracy in his first game as an Auburn Tiger. He went 10-17 passing with a touchdown.

In an offseason filled with hype around DJ James, Kieonte Scott, and Nehemiah Pritchett, it was Simpson who stole the show with a pick-six, three tackles, and a performance to remember.

The Ron Roberts defense showed a lot of heat in this game. He's known for his willingness to blitz anyone on the defense and it caused problems for the UMass defense. Auburn's overall athletic ability and size overpowered UMass and limited UMAss quarterback Taisun Phommachanh.