Auburn’s offense had a field day on Saturday against ULM, totaling over 500 yards with the help of Cam Coleman’s three-touchdown performance. The Tigers' balanced offensive attack rolled the Warhawks as they amassed 304 yards through the air and 203 yards rushing. Auburn also had both Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith total over 100 yards receiving.
“It definitely gives our receivers more touches and more opportunities” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said on the tempo offensively. “And as long as you stay on schedule, you can do that. And we were able to do that today, and I thought we were pretty effective when we went on schedule.”
Freeze’s offensive attack got the receivers involved early and often. Coleman, who had only had two touchdowns on the season, had two by halftime -including a 20-yard catch and a nice red zone grab for a three-yard score. Lambert- Smith also enjoyed a touchdown reception with just seconds left in the first half.
“Really it felt good”, Coleman said about his successful day. "Because every opportunity I get I’m going to make the best of it, so every opportunity I came up with I was just making the best of every opportunity.”
Coleman ended up totaling eight receptions for 100 yards, which were career highs for his young career. The former five-star broke out with another season-high of three touchdowns, the last of which came by way of an absurd one-handed catch near the corner of the end zone.
It wasn’t just Coleman and Lambert-Smith that shined. To top everything off, Jarquez Hunter’s 102-yard performance helped him surpass the 1,000 yard mark for the season. Auburn’s running back room has been strong all season and that trend didn’t stop on Saturday. Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb also added 29 yards each to the total, with the final touchdown of the day coming from Alston.
Payton Thorne, who has had his fair share of ups and downs throughout the season, outstandingly orchestrated the Auburn offense under Freeze’s coaching. He tied the Auburn single game record for passing touchdowns with five while not throwing any interceptions. Thorne also did a phenomenal job of moving in the pocket and using his legs to avoid being sacked the entire game.
An underlying quality of the Tigers win versus ULM that may go overlooked is the complete lack of mistakes outside of the late fumble. Auburn, as a team, did not rack up a single penalty all day. They had zero missed kicks as new kicker Ian Vachon debuted going 6-for-6 on five extra points and one field goal. The offense flipped the script on their conversion rates as well. They went from 38.3% on third down - and only a 50% touchdown rate in the red zone in the previous nine games - to 70.6% on third down today and an 80% red zone touchdown rate.
The Tigers offense look to pivot off their outstanding showing and move their focus to what could likely be their toughest home game of the season against Texas A&M. The Tigers will host the Aggies next Saturday as they look to get their second conference win and stay bowl eligible with the help of their versatile offense.
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Reid is a freshman, exploratory major. He joined the Plainsman in the fall of 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @ReidFarris2
