Plagued by turnovers and interceptions, the Auburn Tigers fell to the California Golden Bears 21-14 on Saturday afternoon. It’s the first time since 2020 that Auburn has started its season 1-1 and the team’s fourth straight loss to an FBS team.
Not much went right for the Tigers who gave up five turnovers for two Cal touchdowns, including four interceptions from quarterback Payton Thorne and a fumble from running back Jarquez Hunter.
“It was just a disappointing day for us for sure,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. “It's not the expectation of the way we should play offensive football.”
The Tigers’ only first touchdown came during the game’s first drive. A 16-yard pass to Rivaldo Fairweather from Thorne put Auburn on its own 42 yard line and set up a 41-yard pass to Cam Coleman to put the Tigers on Cal’s 15 yard line. Two plays later, Thorne found Keandre Lambert-Smith in the end zone, marking Auburn’s first touchdown of the contest.
Cal followed Auburn’s scoring drive with one of its own, tying the game at 7-7 with 7:17 left in the first quarter. The Golden Bears did not look back and dominated for the game’s last three quarters.
Cal totaled 332 total yards of offense compared to Auburn’s 286, and bested the Tigers in the air 233 to 165 yards. The Golden Bears’ quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 25-for-36 on the night, tossing for 233 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 12 yards.
Thorne, on the other hand, went 14-for-27 in the air for 165 yards and one touchdown while also throwing four interceptions. Of the Tigers’ 13 drives, five consisted of turnovers all of which on either the first or second play of the drive.
Auburn struggled throughout the game at the line of scrimmage, giving up three sacks for 25 yards. The Golden Bears recorded five tackles for loss for a total of 34 lost yards from the Tigers.
Thorne’s first interception came in the second quarter on a pass up the middle intended for Cam Coleman. Golden Bear Nohl Williams caught the pass for a 14-yard return, starting the Cal drive on Auburn’s 21 yard line.
It took Cal three plays to find the endzone on a 13-yard pass to Nyzia Hunter, putting the Golden Bears up 14-7– a lead they would hold for the rest of the contest.
The Tigers followed Cal’s scoring drive with a quick three-and-out, putting the defense back on the field with 9:16 left in the second quarter. Auburn’s defense spent much of the rest of the quarter on the field, with Cal running the clock down on its final drive of the half and Auburn ending the half with a 58 second drive capped off by a missed field goal attempt.
Trailing 14-7 at the half, Auburn kept Cal scoreless for the third quarter but were unable to produce offensively as well. Thorne ended the third quarter with an interception as time expired, giving the Golden Bears the ball back on Auburn’s 47 yard line to start the fourth and final quarter.
Cal’s first drive of the fourth quarter ended with a missed field goal attempt, but Auburn followed with a fumble on the second play of its own drive, putting the ball back in the hands of the Cal offense with 12:16 left to play.
Capitalizing on the Auburn fumble, the Golden Bears found the endzone on a 32-yard rush from running back Javian Thomas on the second play of the drive, putting Cal up 21-7 with 11:27 left to play.
Auburn managed to score on a quarterback keeper with just over six minutes left to play, putting it within one touchdown of the lead, but the next six minutes proved to be detrimental for the Tigers.
The Tigers had two more drives after scoring, both ending with an interception from Thorne. Getting the ball back with 24 seconds left to play, Auburn had one more chance to tie things up, but on the first play of the drive, Thorne threw a pass deep up the middle that was intercepted by Cal, ending Auburn’s hopes and securing the Golden Bear’s road win.
Auburn will look to bounce back against New Mexico next Saturday, Sept. 15. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on ESPN2.
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Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January of 2023.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @graceeheim
