West Coast, best coast: Auburn defense leads Tigers to narrow win over California

It wasn’t pretty on offense, but Auburn’s defense stepped up Saturday night to lead Auburn to a 14-10 win over California on the West Coast.

"We're a long way to being a great football team... but we found a way to win, and you can grow from that,” said head coach Hugh Freeze. “And I think that's what this season is about — getting better every week."

With just 230 total yards, 4.2 yards per play, 12 first downs and four turnovers, Auburn’s offensive performance was the complete opposite of its week one performance in which it scored 59 points and recorded 492 total yards and 27 first downs.

On Auburn’s first touchdown drive, it was only forced to drive 17 yards after safety Donovan Kaufman forced a fumble and recovered it to set up Auburn in the red zone. But it was Auburn’s second scoring drive, this one in the fourth quarter, that was the Tigers’ most important as it served as the eventual game-winning drive.

The 10-play, 69-yard drive, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Payton Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather, marked Auburn’s longest drive in plays, yards and time of possession. The drive was Auburn’s only possession that lasted more than six plays and was by far the most yards the Tigers earned on a drive. The second-highest in terms of yards was a four-play, 26-yard drive that ended in a fumble.

With Auburn eclipsing over 30 yards in just one drive, the Tigers’ defense was called upon all game, and it delivered.

After Thorne fumbled on the first drive of the game, California started its first possession on the Auburn 35-yard line, but Auburn held the Golden Bears to a field goal.

California started its second drive on the Auburn 33 after Auburn punted from its 1-yard line. But once again, Auburn’s defense stood strong as defensive lineman Marcus Harris recorded a sack on third-and-10, and California missed a field goal. The missed field goal marked the first of three misses for California kicker Michael Luckhurst.

Right before the end of the first half and directly after a Thorne interception throw, the Auburn defense found itself on its own side of the field for the third time, this time at the 34-yard line. Auburn didn’t budge and after a made field goal from California was erased due to a holding penalty, recorded an interception from Jaylin Simpson to end the half and hold the Golden Bears to just 10 first-half points.

In the fourth quarter, still trailing for over half of it, Auburn continued to shutdown California even with the snap count constantly increasing.

After an 11-yard sack from Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante, California was pushed out of the red zone and faced a 44-yard field goal — which it missed. A made field goal would have stretched the Golden Bears’ lead to six, but the Asante sack was an illustration of his dominant showing on the road as the junior recorded 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Asante’s tackle total was the most of his career and marked the second straight game in which he led the Tigers in tackles.

“What a night he [Asante] had… he played really, really hard,” Freeze said.

Auburn regained the lead after the Fairweather touchdown catch and got the ball back with 5:29 left to play, but turned it over two plays later after Jarquez Hunter, who was making his season debut, fumbled the ball on the Auburn 41-yard line.

Needing one more stop, the Auburn defense was once again backed up into its own end zone. A holding call pushed California to the Auburn 25-yard line, and the Auburn defense buckled in. Asante blew up a run from the Golden Bears for a gain of just one, and the Auburn secondary forced three straight incompletions, including an interception from D.J. James on fourth down, to pull off one last stop. Auburn’s defense, in four red zone trips, allowed points just once Saturday night.

“I don’t think we could’ve played any uglier or sloppier on offense,” Freeze said. “Really proud of our defense, and the plan that Ron [Roberts] and his staff had.”

Next, Auburn returns to the Plains for its homecoming matchup against Samford. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. CST and will be televised on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.