Week 1 of Auburn’s football season has come and gone. Auburn caps the first week of the season with a 73-3 home victory on Saturday night against the hapless Alabama A&M Bulldogs. 73 ties the most amount of points Auburn has scored in a game since 2003, when they bested Louisiana Monroe 73-7. Although it was against an FCS school on Saturday, it was still fun to watch the fireworks and get our first taste of the 2024 Auburn Tigers.
Let’s start with the good…
1. Payton Thorne:
Freeze clearly wanted to establish the passing game early, and Auburn did just that, lead by Payton Thorne.
Thorne finished the day with a tidy 322 yards and 4 touchdowns. He looked poised, ran the offence without any hiccups, and was able to find his receivers on time and in-stride. He threw the ball deep early and often, and didn’t turn the ball over. Thorne also mixed in 49 yards and a touchdown with his legs. Most importantly, Thorne looked confident, decisive, and comfortable in his second year in Auburn’s offence.
2. The Young Receivers:
As mentioned, Auburn looked to air it out early and often, and the QB is only part of the battle when talking about the passing game. Of course, you also need someone to catch the ball, and it looks like Auburn has some talented pass catchers. It was a long offseason of cautious optimism for the highly touted 2024 receiver recruiting class, and they hit the ground running on Saturday night.
3 of the 4 of the “Freeze 4” caught touchdown passes on Saturday, with Cain the only newcomer that didn’t find paydirt. Cam Coleman caught a 44 yard touchdown, Perry Thompson scored from 70 yards out, and Malcolm Simmons hauled in a slant pass from Hank Brown which Simmons then took 57 yards for the score. Simmons also mixed in a touchdown after blocking a punt on special teams. Very nice day for the new faces.
3. Towns McGough
Towns got the start for Auburn as McPherson is still struggling with sickness and didn’t miss a beat. He got a ton of work on extra points thanks to all the touchdowns Auburn scored, and he nailed all off them. He also knocked through the only field goal he attempted from 43 yards out. Nice day for him.
Now let’s look at the bad…
When you win 73-3, it can be difficult to find too many negatives in the game, but maybe “cautiously concerning” is the right word for the next three points:
1. Rivaldo Fairweather’s drops:
Rivaldo Fairweather looks like he’s built in a lab. He boasts a size and speed combo that is very intriguing for NFL scouts and offensive coordinators alike. The talented tight end transfer finished the 2023 season with 394 yards and 6 touchdowns through the air, however he unfortunately started 2024 with a couple of drops. One of the drops would have resulted in a long touchdown. It wouldn’t have been the easiest catch and was in no way routine, but it’s one Rivaldo should make, and will want back. He also dropped a simple curl route later in the game that would have resulted in a first down. Hopefully Fairweather will show more consistent hands moving forward.
2. No turnovers on D:
Obviously the defence only gave up 3 points, so it was a solid effort by them for the most part, however they weren’t able to force any turnovers. They did end up getting a few sacks, but against the lowly Alabama A&M offence, the Auburn defence would have liked to get their hands on the football in some way shape or form. It is no doubt nitpicking, but this defence will need to steal some possessions in games where their offence isn’t necessarily putting up 70 points.
3. Penalties:
This is going to sound like a scathing review of Auburn’s defence and I don’t mean it to be, however they did commit some uncharacteristic penalties that kept Alabama A&M drives alive. Jay Crawford was victimized for a hands to the face infraction, and Trill Carter was caught with a roughing the passer call as both penalties costed the Tigers 15 yards a piece. Kayin Lee was also called for a pass interference penalty on a long A&M pass incompletion. The call seemed to be a bit ticky-tack as Lee seemed to be in great coverage and had his head turned around while playing the ball, but I don’t pretend to be a referee. Especially with the personal foul calls, Auburn will have to improve on their discipline heading into the heart of their SEC schedule.
All in all, Auburn did what they needed to do. Alabama A&M is an FCS school, there is no denying that. The talent gap is tremendous. Auburn can’t control that however. All they can do is play whoever is on their schedule. They looked organized, explosive, and on-time. They didn’t turn the ball over. They utilized their new weapons while allowing Thorne to air it out deep, and he showed the confidence to do so with his talented new toys to play with. As mentioned before, the final output was a 73-3 victory. Well done.
See you next week against Cal at JHS. War Eagle.
