A cascade of fireworks blasted into the Birmingham air, flooding the sky with flashes of light.
And on the turf of Legion Field, a venue ingrained into the heart and soul of Auburn, the Tigers stood at midfield with smiles on their faces.
The Birmingham Bowl wasn't where they had hoped their season would end, as a litany of preseason predictions pegged Auburn to finish in contention for a national championship. But even as the season spiraled into disarray, the Tigers played their best game of the season Wednesday afternoon, blasting Memphis 31-10 and ending the season with a winning record.
"Everything that this team went through this year, just to see a smile on their face is such a feeling, just to have those individual moments with them, that only a player and a coach could understand," said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.
Although Auburn was a four-point favorite coming into the game, few expected the dominance the Tigers unleashed on Memphis.
Quarterback Paxton Lynch, who came into the game boasting gaudy stats, is expected to be taken early in the first round of the NFL Draft in April. He racked up over 3,600 yards and 28 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions before facing Auburn.
But all day, he was constantly confounded by the Auburn defense. Lynch finished just 16-37 for 108 yards, completing less than 60 percent of his passes in a game for the first time this season.
"Their defense, to be honest, defended us better than anyone else has in the last two year," said Memphis interim head coach Darrell Dickey. "They were able to get pressure on us with some four man rushes, they lined up in cover two, and played really tight."
Memphis couldn't get much going on the ground, either. The Tigers managed just 97 yards on the ground, for a combined 205 total yards, by far the best mark of Auburn's season.
"We knew we had to come in and execute the plan, we knew that we had a great plan, and if we just did so it would come out in our favor, and it did," said linebacker Kris Frost. "We played a great game defensively and offensively. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We pretty much checked off everything we wanted to do.”
Memphis' only touchdown came on a pick-six, thrown by Sean White in the second quarter.
White started the game after missing the last three games with a knee injury, and was largely ineffective throughout the day. He finished 8-13 for 103 yards and was picked off twice, both on ill-advised throws.
As a result, Malzahn placed heavy emphasis on the running game. Auburn racked up 251 yards on the ground on 55 attempts, reaching the end zone three times.
Kerryon Johnson got Auburn on the board first with an 8-yard score out of the Wildcat. Jeremy Johnson -- who also threw for a touchdown on his only pass attempt -- added another in the third, and Jovon Robinson, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the game, tacked on Auburn's final score early in the final quarter.
Peyton Barber ran for 42 yards on 11 carries, pushing him over the 1,000 yard mark. Barber marks the 43rd time in Auburn history a runner has eclipsed the mark, and gives the Tigers a 1,000-yard rusher for the seventh year in a row.
While an overall disappointing season draws to a close, Auburn has plenty to look forward to in 2016. The secondary loses just two members, and yet another strong recruiting class will bolster an already talent-laden Tigers roster.
The Auburn seniors, several of whom played an integral role in the run to the 2014 BCS National Championship, leave the program on a winning note.
"These seniors have meant a lot to our program. A lot of these seniors helped us get to the national championship that year, had a lot to do with that," Malzahn said. "It was big, momentum-wise, getting that confidence back. Our team’s been close. We’ve had some close losses that have been close. The thing that stood out to me about this team was that they stuck together. They played hard...They didn’t quit. These guys played their tails off. The future is very bright, I think you can see that with the momentum that we have for next year.”
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