Fresh off a 21- 16 upset victory over Washington in Atlanta, No. 7 Auburn rolled over Alabama State 63-9, racking up over 500 yards of total offense inside Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night.
Here's how we're grading out the Tigers position-by-position.
Quarterback: B+
Every healthy quarterback on Auburn’s roster saw playing time against Alabama State in the home opener. And whenever young players down on the depth chart can get some game experience, it’s a positive. Backups Malik Willis, Cord Sandberg and Devin Adams all took at least one snap Saturday night.
For Auburn’s starter, it was a short and simple outing. Jarrett Stidham finished 6-of-11 for 113 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for eight yards and one score as well. The Tigers handled business like they should have, and now will have some offensive momentum to carry into the SEC opener against LSU next weekend.
Running back: A
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said after Week 1's close win against Washington that the Tigers had to see improvement in the running game for this offense to be successful. Saturday night, the ground game carried Auburn to 63 points and 429 yards rushing.
Now, this was only Alabama State, but Malzahn had to be pleased with the way his backs performed. Three different running backs had touchdowns including Kam Martin, Shaun Shivers and Malik Miller. JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow also improved on last week’s performance, despite not scoring a touchdown, carrying the ball 14 times for 122 yards. True freshman Harold Joiner accounted for Auburn's first Wildcat touchdown of the season, as well.
Wide receiver: B+
Freshman speedster Anthony Schwartz stole the show at the wideout position. Not only did he have three receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown through the air, he also had three carries for 50 yards and another touchdown on the ground. Expect Schwartz’s playing time to increase as the year goes on as a utility man that can be used in a variety of ways in Chip Lindsey’s offense. Ryan Davis also added three receptions for 34 yards.
O-line: B
The offensive line was solid and showed improvement Saturday, but they were facing a much smaller and less imposing Hornets defensive line. We still won’t know much about this line’s progress until next week’s matchup against a talented LSU defense. But, any time you rush for over 400 yards on the ground and fail to give up any sacks, it’s a good day for the o-line.
Front seven: A
The Auburn defense, once again, showed why they are one of the best units in the country. Alabama State looked overpowered and outmatched all night, whether it was the first string or the backups. The Hornets offense struggled to get anything going all night, only mustering 47 yards on the ground and failing to score a touchdown until late in the third quarter.
Defensive backs: A+
The Tiger secondary was phenomenal all night, led by junior safety Daniel Thomas, who had two interceptions on the night, one of which was a 29-yard pick-six. The Auburn defense held the Hornets passing attack to 158 yards, forced four turnovers and sacked the quarterback four times in a dominating performance. Alabama State managed only 10 first downs and went 2-for-15 on third down conversions.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
It was a complete performance for the special teams, most notably blocking two punts in the game, one of which was blocked and returned five yards for a touchdown by Devan Barrett.
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