That’s how many rushing yards Auburn raked in

against New Mexico State last week. Running backs

Onterio McCalebb and Tre Mason combined for

265 yards on the ground. Mason had 152 yards and

a touchdown on 22 carries, while McCalebb had

113 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

With a freshman quarterback, the Tigers will need

to continue to establish the run if they are going to

have any chance of success. Auburn has had more

than 200 yards rushing only twice this season, and

it is no surprise that both times the Tigers have won

their games. Auburn had 255 yards against Louisiana

Monroe.

6

Auburn’s team scored more times than it had all season,

with five offensive touchdowns and one defensive

score. Before playing New Mexico State, the most

points Auburn had scored was 31 against Louisiana

Monroe. The common factor is that Auburn has defeated

both teams. The Tigers scored their first defensive

touchdown of the season when Daren Bates returned

a fumble 62 yards in the third quarter. Auburn

also racked up five more touchdowns on offense. Four

of the touchdowns were scored by runningbacks Ontario

McCalebb, Tre Mason and fullback Jay Prosch.

The final offensive touchdown was a 40-yard passing

connection from freshman quarterback Jonathan

Wallace to Trovon Reed.

1

Auburn’s defense gave up only one touchdown last

week against New Mexico State. The 2-yard rushing

touchdown was scored late, and the game was well in

the Tigers’ hands by the time the Aggies found paydirt.

Auburn’s defense allowed New Mexico State 83

yards on the ground. This is the fewest rushing yards

Auburn has allowed all season. Actually, the next

best game the Tigers had in rush defense was against

Arkansas where they allowed 116. Looking forward to

the last three games of the season, Auburn will need

to have similarly good run defense against stronger

football teams such as Georgia and Alabama. More

importantly, the Tigers will need to stop the offenses of

these teams from finding the end zone.