Observations from shutout over Samford

[aubiefifty 18,230]

Auburn defense comes to play (again), and other observations from shutout over Samford

By Joshua Mixon

10-13 minutes

'It hurts': Auburn's Marlon Davidson reacts to Tigers' loss to Georgia

Auburn Tigers defensive end Marlon Davidson speaks to reporters following the Tigers' 21-14 loss to Georgia on November 16, 2019. Auburn trailed 21-0 entering the fourth quarter.

Auburn Tigers defensive end Marlon Davidson speaks to reporters following the Tigers' 21-14 loss to Georgia on November 16, 2019. Auburn trailed 21-0 entering the fourth quarter. By Joshua Mixon

AUBURN, ALA

The fans who stuck it out inside a soaked Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday deserve some sort of reward. They did get to see the sun peek out in the fourth quarter, so maybe that counts?

Pouring rain for most of the afternoon combined with the 11 a.m. local time kickoff meant lots of empty seats inside the 87,000-plus capacity stadium. An FCS opponent provided little contest for sixteenth-ranked Auburn, which now turns its attention to next week’s Iron Bowl against No. 5 Alabama. Even the new eagle, a golden eagle named Aurea, didn’t bother circling the stadium: she made a b-line from the section 12 ramp, straight to midfield.

The Tigers took care of business against an outmatched Samford team, cruising to a 52-0 win. Seriously, give those fans a gift card or something.

“The first half, it was miserable, the weather was,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Our guys handled that well. We didn’t have any turnovers. We got to the second half, we were able to play a lot of different people. We really didn’t get sloppy. I thought our guys played good, clean football.”

Here are three observations from Auburn’s comfortable win over Samford.

1) It has not been a banner few weeks for Auburn’s kicking unit.

Tigers kicker Anders Carlson missed his first two field goals in Auburn’s 20-14 win over Ole Miss. He missed his only attempt against Georgia on the Tigers’ opening drive of that game; it was a longer, 47-yard field goal attempt. Then came Saturday’s sleep-fest against Samford.

The final score was never in doubt — the Tigers were the far superior team and the rainy conditions limited Samford’s offense — but Carlson did have his first field goal of the day blocked.

Carlson is 13-of-20 on field goals this year, but is 4-of-10 from 40-plus yards out. He made just two of his last six field goals before Saturday.

2) Auburn’s defense again came to play.

Samford had 35 yards of total offense at halftime. Take away the Bulldogs’ first drive, which was filled with trick plays and odd pre-snap formations, and that number drops further. The 35 yards total offense by Samford is the fewest given up by an Auburn defense in the first half since the 2003 Western Kentucky game (11 yards). It’s the fewest in any half since the 2004 Kentucky game, when Auburn held the Wildcats to 22 second-half yards, according to Auburn Athletics.

Auburn held Samford to 117 total yards, the fewest since Georgia Southern finished with 78 yards in 2017.

Bulldogs punter Bradley Porcellato had 169 punting yards in the game’s first 30 minutes. Auburn quarterback Bo Nix threw for around 30 fewer yards in the same time frame. The Tigers forced four turnovers, and probably could have come up with three or four more.

This is all par for the course for this unit, which will face a much tougher challenge next week against Alabama, even though the Crimson Tide will be without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“Any time you shut an opponent out, that’s really something in college football,” Malzahn said. “Our defense did that.”

3) Got running backs (and a backup quarterback)?

Auburn’s rushing attack was a bit of a nightmare in the Tigers’ 21-14 loss to Georgia. The Tigers ran for just 84 yards against the Bulldogs, and Nix was the Tigers’ leading rusher with 51 yards. Saturday was a different story, albeit against a far lesser opponent.

Three different Tigers running backs combined for four rushing touchdowns against the Bulldogs. The Tigers ran for 293 yards.

Whitlow’s two first-half rushing touchdowns gave him nine rushing scores this season and 15 for his career. Saturday was Whitlow’s fifth career game with multiple touchdowns scored. Kam Martin hit 1,548 career rushing yards in the first half, good for 29th on the Auburn career rushing list. He passed former Tigers Kamryn Pettway and Terry Henley.

Not a running back, but semi-related: Auburn backup quarterback Cord Sandberg can run. The 24-year-old redshirt freshman’s first carry of the day went for more than 20 yards (it was called back due to a hold). He finished with 31 rushing yards and 84 passing yards. He also threw a dime of a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and added a second touchdown pass with 9:23 left.

Not bad for a former minor league baseball player.

“I thought (Sandberg) did a very good job with two touchdowns,” Malzahn said. “He managed the offense well, and that was really good to see.”

Notable

Aurea took flight in her first game as War Eagle VIII Saturday. The university retired 21-year-old golden eagle Nova, War Eagle VII, during a Nov. 22 Board of Trustees meeting.

Bo Nix now holds the Auburn freshman records for completions in a season. He passed Stan White (180 completions) in the first half. He also tied the Auburn freshman record for touchdown passes (14, also by Stan White).

Christian Tutt’s fumble recovery was the first of his career.

Quotable

“Just being out there in the rain, like, that’s not something you do all the time. ... Knowing me, I like playing in the rain all the time. I know you don’t throw the ball a lot in the rain, but, just being out there, being wet, throwing the ball in the rain, sliding around in the mud and stuff, being with your friends.” - Auburn receiver Seth Williams on the rainy conditions

 

Joshua Mixon is a reporter for the Ledger-Enquirer. He covers sports (Auburn and preps) and local news, and is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. He previously covered Georgia athletics for the Telegraph. You can follow him on Twitter @JoshDMixon.