In front of a crowd of 62,000, Auburn’s A Day game provided a solid prediction of how the fall would unfold for the Tigers, making apparent strides both offensively and on defense.
With 225 passing yards and two touchdowns, junior Jeremy Johnson took the spotlight as quarterback for this year’s scrimmage and led the starting team to a 24-14 win.
Sean White at QB made for a few short completed passes, but no play action made the top highlights above Johnson. The same goes for Tucker Tuberville and Tyler Queen who struggled to gain yardage close to the end zone on the secondary offense.
“We’ve got all kinds of areas that we need to improve on, but at least as coaches, we know what they are.” Head coach Gus Malzahn said.
As far as the race for running back goes, Roc Thomas made a statement, carrying for 62 total yards and credited with the first A Day touchdown for Team Auburn. Behind him were Peyton Barber with 38 and Jovon Robinson with 19, who switched from the starting team to secondary throughout the game.
Myron Burton also showed up to play this afternoon with 55 yards for Team Auburn for a 43-yard touchdown and 69 yards for Team Tigers. Duke Williams ended the scrimmage with 45 yards gained for the starting team and one touchdown despite early trouble with grasping the catches from Johnson on the 5-yard line.
Defense held their own under the leadership of Will Muschamp with a number of efficient tackles from Markell Boston, Kenny Flowers, Jonathon Ford and Michael Sherwood. The defense also snagged an interception off of Tyler Queen, credited to Tray Matthews.
Gus Malzahn had nothing but positives for the young team, who said, “I like where we’re at. I thought it was a very successful day.”
Malzahn plans to address corrections at Monday’s practice and hopes from here, the Tigers will continue to improve leading up to the opening game against Louisville Saturday, Sept. 6.
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