On a night in which the Auburn offense gained only 230 yards of total offense and committed four turnovers, the defense came up with stop after stop to keep the Tigers in the game, ultimately setting up the win.
The 10 points allowed by the Tigers equaled the fewest they have given up to a Power Five opponent since giving up three to Arkansas in 2018. It was the fourth occasion Auburn has given up 10 to a major-conference team since then, joining Arkansas in 2019, Mississippi State in 2020 and Texas A&M in 2022.
“Just really proud of our defense,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. “The plan that Ron (Roberts) and his staff had, the effort that they gave and just continuing, with their backs against the wall, and time and time again continuing to find a way to get us out of trouble and give us a chance to win the game.”
The Tigers allowed just 270 yards to the Golden Bears, who put up 669 yards of offense against North Texas in the opening week. Last season, only Texas A&M had fewer than 270 yards against the Auburn defense. Largely due to Cal going 1-for-4 on attempts in the red zone, the defense held its ground against the Golden Bears despite being on the field for 34:48.
The Golden Bears started four separate drives in Auburn territory, three times due to turnovers and once due to a 32-yard punt out of the end zone.
In those four drives, the Auburn defense allowed the Bears to score just three points. Two of those drives ended with interceptions in the end zone, one by Jaylin Simpson, who intercepted a pass for the second straight game, and one by DJ James.
“The defense was constantly saying, ‘Coach we’ve got it, we’ve got you, we’ll get you another stop,’ and that’s what it takes to be a really good football team,” Freeze said.
After committing no penalties against UMass, the Auburn defense committed just one against the Golden Bears: a 15-yard late hit penalty on Cal’s final drive.
Auburn was led by Eugene Asante, who had 12 tackles in the game, nine of which were solo tackles. The Tigers had three quarterback hurries in the game, two of which were by Asante. Asante had one of Auburn’s two sacks in the game and his 1.5 tackles for loss led the team. His sack led to the third of three missed field goals for the Golden Bears.
“What a night (Asante) had,” Freeze said. “I don’t know how many tackles he had but he was in on a lot and he played really, really hard.”
Through two games this season, Asante is Auburn’s leading tackler with 18, the leader in tackles for loss with 3.5 and is tied for the lead in sacks with two.
Donovan Kaufman had eight tackles, but once again he set the offense up for success. For the second straight game, Kaufman forced a key fumble and just like against UMass, Kaufman’s forced turnover led to points for the Tigers. Against the Golden Bears, Kaufman’s forced fumble set the Tigers up at the Cal 17-yard line. The short field led to Auburn’s first touchdown of the game — the only points the Tigers put up in 53 minutes of the game.
Kaufman, however, left the game due to injury. Freeze said Kaufman was in the process of being evaluated for a potential concussion.
Through two games this season, the Auburn defense has held its opponents to an average of 12 points per game and has forced five turnovers. The Tigers will look to continue their defensive success Saturday in the homecoming game against Samford.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
