Examining Auburn Tigers Record-Setting Night on Offense

The Auburn Tigers had a record-setting night on offense, and it could have been worse for Alabama A&M.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze was pleased with his team in their 73-3 victory over Alabama A&M. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

Game 1 in the second year of the Hugh Freeze Era was a record-setting night for the offense as Auburn beat Alabama A&M 73-3. The 73 points were the most points for Auburn in a season opener since 1915, and the most in any game since a 76-10 over UT-Chattanooga in 1995.

Adding more context on how lopsided the game was, the coaches from both sidelines agreed at halftime to play only 10-minute quarters in the second half. The Tigers ran just 14 plays in the second half. Auburn was up 52-3 at halftime and scored three more touchdowns in the final 20 minutes with reserves on the field.

Auburn scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, all on consecutive offensive plays from scrimmage, to race out to a 21-0 lead.

“I thought the execution early on, especially in the passing game,” Freeze said on what went well. “We didn’t call a lot of runs really. If we did, they gave us the RPO. I thought our execution of that, and the young kids who have not played in front of the 89,000 here and the atmosphere, they seemed to handle it pretty well. We’re going to need those guys to play really, really well as our schedule is going to get really difficult pretty quick.”

Nine of the 10 touchdowns were offensive, scored by seven different players. The “Freeze Four” – freshmen Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson and Bryce Cain –  had three offensive and one special teams score to go with 8 receptions for 268 yards. Transfer KeAndre Lambert-Smith had two scores on three catches for 80 yards.

Alabama A&M was playing without a starting safety, and his backup was ejected for targeting. The Bulldogs coaches also chose to load the box all night letting Auburn take advantage of 1-on-1 matchups down field with superior athletes. When Auburn did try to run the ball, there was usually a better option downfield. The Tigers ran with some tempo, but still only had 46 total plays – 18 rushes for 177 yards and 28 pass attempts for 451.

“I would like to be the exact opposite (of 60/40 pass),” Freeze said. “I don’t really get hung up on the rushing stats. I get hung up on what we average per run. I believe we averaged about 10 yards per rush tonight. There were a lot of runs called where they gave us the RPOs. That’s who we are. If we average 9 yards per carry for any game I’m going to be really happy. Ideally I’d like to be 60/40 the other way.”

Auburn went to the bench early and often, playing more than 50 players in the first half not even counting special teams. Those backups on offense ran the offense for the most part through three quarters.

Auburn had three touchdowns in the shortened second half. The first on a blocked punt by reserve tight end Micah Riley and recovery by Simmons. The second was when A&M loaded the box on an Auburn RPO call. Brown found an open Simmons underneath, who easily outraced the defender to the end zone. The third second half score was a ball lobbed up in the end zone by Brown on an offsides play. Sam Jackson V came down with it with two defenders watching.

“It's a balancing act, because the last you want to be seen as is we were trying to do something unsportsmanlike,” Freeze commented on the play-calling. “It’s game one, and Hank (Brown) needs to run the offense. And Holden (Geriner) needs to run the offense. Malcolm Simmons needs to know what RPO to run. We didn’t intentionally run any deep shots, but they jumped off sides, and that’s obviously what we do on that. The other throws were adjustments in the RPO game and trying to run the offense.”

Auburn had only four possessions that it didn’t score a touchdown. After the quick 21-0 lead, Auburn’s fourth possession of the game stalled on a misthrow by Thorne to KeAndre Lambert-Smith.

“Payton’s got to clean up a few things too,” Freeze said of the returning senior quarterback. “The thing is, he knows better. He missed a wide-open spot route on third down that’s his first progression. He knows that. He’s got to get to where that doesn’t happen. It’s going to be critical. He’s got to make himself protected in the RPO game. He knows how to do that.”

Thorne had a career night otherwise, going 13-21 for 322 yards and four touchdown tosses. He also had a four-yard rushing score and 49 yards on the ground on four carries. Brown  was 3-5 for 96 yards and two TDs. Geriner was 2-2 for 33 yards.

Auburn was 4-6 on third-down conversions in the contest. The Tigers offense was held to a field goal in the second quarter after a third-down throw to tight end Rivaldo Fairweather netted seven of a needed 10 yards.

Running back Justin Jones and Cain fumbled the ball away on the final two possessions

“I don’t care what group you’re on, the expectation is we take care of the ball,” Freeze said. “I didn’t like the two turnovers, that still irritates me. We’ve worked that constantly. It’s what we do every Monday is ‘Ball Security Monday.’ It’s frustrating to see those plays.”

Auburn had just five more first downs than Alabama A&M (18 to 13), and A&M ran 70 plays to Auburn’s 46, but Auburn averaged 13.65 yards per play – 9.83 per rush and 16.1 per pass.

Preseason All-SEC running back Jarquez Hunter had a short night carrying the ball four times for 54 yards.