Winners and Losers

[aubiefifty 17,487]

Winners and Losers from Auburn’s win over Mercer

 

 

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

JD McCarthy

 

September 4, 2022 1:00 pm CT

 

Auburn opened the season with a 42-16 win over the Mercer Bears Saturday night. The Tigers were in complete control of the game, scoring the first 28 points of the game before Mercer scored just before halftime. 

In typical Auburn fashion, it was an eventful game that saw the backup quarterback steal the show and a nearly 90-minute rain delay before Auburn picked up their first win of the 2022 season. 

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Multiple players stood out for Auburn as they stepped into new roles and some established players showed why they are stars. The win was never in doubt but there are some areas Auburn can improve on, here are some winners and losers from Auburn’s first win of the season.

Winner: Robby Ashford

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

He may not be the starting quarterback but Ashford is certainly the one people are talking about the most after an electrifying debut by the Oregon transfer. 

He entered the game on Auburn’s fourth play and took a keeper for eight yards. His next touch was a 49-yard run to open Auburn’s second drive of the game. He finished the night 4-of-7 passing for 100 yards and rushed for 68 yards on six carries.

He did not attempt a pass in the first half but after T.J. Finley’s second interception he was able to show his ability as a passer. His first pass was a screen dropped by Bigsby but he found Tar’Varish Dawson for a first down on the next play and then threw a dime to Ja’Varrius Johnson for a 56-yard gain, the longest play of the game. 

Ashford may have not taken the starting job from Finley, but he showed why he needs to see the field and that Auburn needs to use both quarterbacks moving forward. 

 

Loser: T.J. Finley

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

After missing on his first attempt of the game Finley completed his next eight attempts for 100 yards and a touchdown. He looked comfortable and in command of the offense, exactly what you want to see against an FCS opponent. 

After that stretch things changed, a miscommunication with a wide receiver snapped his completion streak and his next pass was intercepted when he forced it to Koy Moore in double coverage on third-and-18. The turnover set up Mercer’s first touchdown of the game. 

He opened the second half with a completion for a first down before an incompletion and his second interception of the day. That was the end of the day for Finley as Ashford played the rest of the way.

While Finley made some good plays to start the game, the interceptions will stick out and are something he will need to work on moving forward. 

Winner: The Tank Bigbsy and Jarquez Hunter 1-2 punch

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bigbsy and Hunter are going to be a problem for opposing defenses this year. The duo is the strength of Auburn’s offense and they started the season with a dominant performance against Mercer. 

Bigsby rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns while Hunter had three scores of his own on just eight carries. Hunter opened the scoring for Auburn with a 19-yard run where he used his vision and burst to pull away from the defense. 

Bigsby, who now has over 2,000 career rushing yards, would have even more yards if a holding penalty did not erase a 50-yard run of his in the first half. After the lighting delay, he scored on the first playback, a 39-yard run where he juked one defender and beat everyone to the endzone. 

The duo led a rushing attack where nine rushers combined for 285 yards on 41 carries and averaged 7.0 yards per carry. 

 

Loser: The passing attack

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn entered the season with a largely unproven wide receiver group and the game against Mercer was a good chance to see what they can do. While Ja’Varrius Johnson was great, with four catches for 117 yards on four targets, just two other receivers had multiple catches. 

While some of this was dictated by the play calling, Auburn attempted just 21 passes to 41 runs it would have been nice to see some of the new targets make a play.

The group showed flashes of their potential Saturday but also showed why it is too early to lean on them and they still have plenty to improve on. 

Winner: Cam Riley

(AP Photo/Stew Milne)

Riley aced his debut as Auburn’s starting linebacker across from Owen Pappoe. Riley led the team with 15 tackles, a new career high, and one more than he made all last season. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Riley was frequently the first Tiger to the ball and didn’t need any help cleaning it up, he finished with nine solo tackles. 

With his speed and size, Riley has a chance to be Auburn’s next great tackling machine in the middle of the defense. 

[maryland tiger 616]

The passing game was not a loser. I guess he had nothing else to say but that take is way off base. 

[bigbird 60,624]

3 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

Loser: The passing attack

Well, that's stupid.

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by bigbird
Should've read @maryland's post

[AUFightingSoldiers 686]

24 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Well, that's stupid.

 

Well said.

I saw open receivers, dowfield blocking, and some good runs after the catch. I believe we had 1 true drop. The 2 pics were rough as was the Ashford deep ball that we got bailed out of by the PI call. But after watching The War Rapport this morning with the Ashford interview it sounds like the QBs were made very aware of what they SHOULD have done with the ball. He flat out said that he got greedy and should have checked to his #2 read.