The Auburn Tigers did what they were supposed to do on Saturday and took care of business over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 43-8
. It is a win that should give Auburn fans some positive feelings heading into next week's first SEC game at home versus the Florida Gators. A lot of people were having doubts after the struggles the offense had against Baylor, but Auburn appeared to clean up those issues this week at practice, and it showed on Saturday.The Auburn offense put up big numbers in the second game of the season, totaling 610 yards. A big improvement on that side of the ball came from quarterback Byrum Brown with 316 total yards. He played really well as a passer and did not turn the ball over in the game. He was 17 of 28 in the game with 223
yards and two passing touchdowns. He did a good job of taking what the defense was giving him and did not force passes where they did not need to go. He was a big factor in the Tigers' run game with 88 of the 343 yards on the ground. The highlight may have been the touchdown he scored as a receiver. On a "Philly Special" play, he caught a five-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Christian Neptune to go up 34-8 with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Speaking of the run game, the Tigers were able to find some consistency with that part of the offense. Last week versus the Baylor Bears, Auburn did not stay consistent with the run game, and the offense suffered. Leading the way for the Tigers was Omar Mabson with 108 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season. It was the first game with over 100 yards for Mabson and the second rushing touchdown of his college career. Mabson is a player who has really played well early in the season. He has played well through the start of fall camp and is a big reason why Baylor transfer Bryson Washington has not seen the field often. Jeremiah Cobb got the start and rushed for 85 yards on 12 carries.
The defense played a solid game, allowing just 221 yards and only one scoring drive. Southern Miss rushed for only 50 yards and averaged two yards per carry on 25 attempts. The big thing that gave Auburn early momentum was two interceptions by UCLA transfer Andre Jordan Jr. His first occurred on the opening drive by Southern Miss when he intercepted quarterback Ethan Hampton for a 29-yard touchdown to put Auburn up 7-0 in the first ten seconds. He later picked off Hampton again at 2:19 in the first. Linebacker Elijah Melendez led the way with six tackles, one sack, and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The negatives from the victory would be the last drive by Southern Miss of the first half, where they possessed the ball for 14 plays and took 6:16 off the clock. The drive totaled 75 yards, and the Golden Eagles found the end zone on a one-yard touchdown catch by Steven Robinson from Hampton. The Golden Eagles converted on a double pass from Jaylen Himes to Jeremiah Beck to make the score 24-8 with 24 seconds left until halftime. Auburn would move the ball to get a 55-yard field goal by Alex McPherson to make the halftime score 27-8.
Head coach Alex Golesh was not happy about the final drive by Southern Miss when interviewed by SEC Network sideline reporter Taylor Davis. He also was not happy during the postgame about the penalties from the Tigers. Auburn had ten penalties in the game for 73 yards. A lot of those were holding penalties that stalled drives or took away big plays. One was early in what looked like a Brown had scored on a 52-yard touchdown run. Instead, the Tigers had to punt the ball away. Auburn will need to clean that up because mistakes like that could be costly versus an SEC opponent. Overall, Saturday night was an improvement from week one, but they have a lot to work on before they play Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Jordan's Review: Auburn takes care of business in home opener
