Tag: jay fair

Brian’s Column: Auburn’s new weapons need to make a statement on Saturday

On paper, this is far and away the best starting wide receiver core Auburn has had in some time.

The Auburn offense heads into the 2024 season after spending much of 2023 in a state of flux. While quarterback Payton Thorne showed flashes of competence, specifically in the late SEC season, his lack of explosive weapons and inexperience in the Hugh Freeze offense led the Tigers to one of the worst offensive outputs in the conference.

Still, Auburn was able to win six games behind a dynamic defense that was consistently ranked in the top 20 in ESPN’s Football Power Index. That defense lost some key pieces this offseason however, further creating a need to [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag], Hugh Freeze, Derrick Nix, and the Auburn offense to carry a bigger load in 2024.

If the Tigers are going to have a successful campaign, the offense needs not only improve, but improve drastically. That needs to start on Saturday against Alabama A&M, and it starts with the pass catching threats on the outside.

Only two wide receivers eclipsed the 300-yard mark a season ago on the Plains. Those players, [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] and [autotag]Ja’Varrius Johnson[/autotag], both play college ball for different programs now. Only two incumbent wide receivers that made a decent impact, [autotag]Caleb Burton II[/autotag] (226 yards, 2023) and [autotag]Camden Brown[/autotag] (110 yards, 2023) remain on the Auburn roster this season.

The Tigers do return tight end [autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag] and his team-leading 394 receiving yards from a season ago, but Payton Thorne needs to have faith in other weapons outside the numbers when Auburn kicks off its season in a tomorrow. Those weapons, which are all due to make their Auburn debut, have plenty of talent. On Saturday, they have to prove to Thorne, Hugh Freeze, and the Auburn family that they can make an impact.

Auburn’s top receiving trio is set to be Penn State transfer [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag], Georgia State transfer [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag], and five-star recruit [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag]. Each respective member of the trio has high expectations going into this season for different reasons. If they all live up to or exceed those expectations, Auburn’s offense could be one of the best in the conference.

Lambert-Smith comes to the Plains after an illustrious career in Happy Valley. His 123 career receptions and 1,721 receiving yards rank just outside the top 15 in Penn State history, and he likely would have entered the top 5 in both categories had he stayed in State College for his final year of eligibility. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound big-play threat decided to join Hugh Freeze on the Plains however, where he’ll likely slot in as the “Z receiver”. He and his 13.7 yards per reception give Auburn a proven, experienced, number one receiver that it hasn’t rostered since Seth Williams. If Auburn’s offense is going to reach its potential, the senior needs to be the first Tiger to surpass 800 yards since the aforementioned Williams in 2019.

Auburn’s projected starting slot receiver, Georgia State transfer [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag], brings much of the same pure speed and route running ability as Lambert-Smith. After hauling in a team-leading 70 receptions for 877 yards in 2023, Lewis has the potential to become a quicker and more explosive version of [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], who racked up 31 receptions for 324 yards in this scheme a season ago. While Lewis’s 40-yard speed of 4.45 isn’t as fast as Lambert-Smith’s blazing 4.30, he’s shown elite ability to make defenders miss around the line of scrimmage. When the Auburn offense is at its best, Lewis will be in motion, catching short passes that open up the opposing linebackers, allowing the Auburn run game to thrive.

While the two transfers offer incredible quickness and speed, freshman Cam Coleman has the potential to become a true, dominant, “WR1”, or X receiver, on the Plains. The 18-year-old’s 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame combined with a 4.40 40-time give him all the physical tools needed to dominate in the SEC. There will be growing pains, but if the Phenix City, AL native can put it all together in his freshman season, Auburn’s ceiling could be as high as the College Football Playoff.

On paper, this is far and away the best starting wide receiver core Auburn has had in some time. With freshman Perry “Uno” Thompson and Bryce Cain waiting in the wings as well, quarterback Payton Thorne has little excuse to not take a major step forward in his final season on the Plains. That step forward must begin in the season opener against Alabama A&M.

The Tigers are heavy favorites, and the receiving core needs to show why on Saturday. If they don’t, things could derail quickly for Auburn.

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Former Auburn receiver Jay Fair transfers to USC

Auburn Football’s most productive receiver from a season ago has taken his talents to the West Coast, where he will play for the USC Trojans in 2024.

Auburn Football’s most productive receiver from a season ago has taken his talents to the West Coast, where he will play for the USC Trojans in 2024.

While Jay Fair is coming off an impressive season in which he led all Auburn wide receivers with 31 receptions, the junior’s role on the depth chart was ambiguous at best with freshmen talent such as [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Bryce Cain[/autotag], and [autotag]Perry Thompson[/autotag] joining highly touted transfer [autotag]Keandre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] on the Plains next season.

The former three-star recruit heads to USC with a much more direct route to playing time with the two most productive Trojan wideouts from a season ago, Brendan Rice and Tahj Washington, turning pro after being selected in the NFL Draft.

Fair’s departure ultimately clears up Auburn’s 2024 receiving room enough for coach Hugh Freeze to get a good idea on what it will look like heading into the fall.

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Jay Fair becomes second Tiger to enter transfer portal

Fair logged 34 catches for 358 yards and two touchdowns in two seasons at Auburn.

The spring transfer portal window has been relatively quiet for Auburn, as just two players have declared their intention to depart from the program.

Joining defensive lineman [autotag]Brenton Williams[/autotag], wide receiver [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] has also elected to dip into the transfer portal after spending two seasons on the Plains.

Fair was a notable player heading into the 2023 season following a successful training camp. The hype bled into the season as he made 14 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns in Auburn’s first three games. However, his production dipped as he managed to record just 17 catches for 150 yards and zero scores over the final 10 games.

Despite his late struggles, Fair was second in receptions with 31, third in yards with 324, and tied for third with two touchdown catches. Auburn’s leading receiver, [autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag], returns to the team for the 2024 season. At the same time, true freshmen [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Bryce Cain[/autotag], [autotag]Malcolm Simmons[/autotag], and [autotag]Perry Thompson[/autotag] are expected to enter the receiver rotation.

Auburn has received one commitment from the spring window, former Indiana defensive lineman Philip Blidi. Former Penn State receiver [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] and former USC [autotag]Isaiah Raikes[/autotag] are also high on Auburn’s board.

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Cam Coleman named an ‘instant-impact’ signee by College Sports Wire

Auburn’s top signee of the 2024 recruiting cycle is poised to play an important role early on.

Auburn struck gold during the 2024 recruiting cycle by signing four quality wide receivers to boost its passing production.

The leader of the group is [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag], a five-star signee from nearby Phenix City who joins Auburn’s roster as the state of Alabama’s top recruit of the class, and the nation’s No. 2 overall wide receiver.

Coleman is on campus and is going through spring practice. He is expected to be in contention for the offense’s top receiver role alongside [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Burton[/autotag], and Georgia State transfer [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag].

When breaking down every SEC signing class, College Sports Wire‘s Matt Melton picked Coleman as Auburn’s “instant-impact” player for the cycle. Melton believes that Coleman can be the best receiver that Auburn has had in quite some time.

When looking at Auburn’s 2024 recruiting class overall, it’s hard to pick against Coleman not being the biggest instant-impact player of the group as a true freshman. Rated as the No. 3 prospect in the country, Coleman is a bigger receiver at 6-foot-3 who could very easily be the most talented wideout that Auburn has had in recent years, even as a true freshman.

Alabama‘s Ryan Williams, Florida‘s LJ McCray, and Texas A&M‘s Terry Bussey join Coleman in being named instant-impact signees by College Sports Wire.

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Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs. Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide are nearly two-touchdown favorites to win the Iron Bowl. Does the Tale of the Tape say this game will be closer?

The 6-5 Auburn Tigers finish the regular season on Saturday when they play host to the 10-1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.

Auburn is coming off its worst loss of the season, and maybe the decade, last week in a 31-10 beatdown against New Mexico State.

On the other side, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Tide have been playing great football since an early-season loss to Texas, giving them an outside chance at the College Football Playoff.

Despite the last three Iron Bowls at Jordan-Hare being decided by an average of 6 points, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag]‘s squad is a 13.5-point favorite to improve to 10-1 according to Bet MGM. 

ESPN FPI seemingly agrees with the oddsmakers, as the model gives Alabama an 85.8% chance to keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday.

Will the tale of the tape tell us this game is going to be closer than expected, or is Alabama going to roll to another Iron Bowl victory?

As always, we’ll start with the quarterbacks.

Auburn quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] has had himself a roller coaster season more inconsistent than the food truck locations on campus.

The junior played well in team’s 3-game win streak to open the year, then struggled for about a month before finding his footing at the end of October.

Thorne averaged nearly 213 yards and 3 touchdowns per game in Auburn wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State, leading many people to believe the offense had found life heading into the home stretch of the season.

That belief fizzled last week, as Thorne threw for just 148 yards and 1 touchdown in the team’s loss to New Mexico State. The Tigers quarterback was also sacked 4 times.

Alabama quarterback [autotag]Jalen Milroe [/autotag] has had a similar type of “roller coaster” season. The sophomore opened the season with accuracy issues, and while he’s figured out some, Milroe still struggles to throw the ball at times.

The difference between Milroe and Thorne lies in their rushing ability. While the Alabama quarterback has only rushed for 332 yards, he’s collected 12 rushing touchdowns to go along with 19 passing scores.

Those 31 total touchdowns account for nearly double of [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag]’s 17 total scores.

The clear quarterback edge goes to Milroe and the Crimson Tide.

Alabama also holds the edge in the position player battle.

While Auburn running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] has been great this season, rushing for 772 yards and 7 scores, his presence isn’t enough to break through the rolling tide of offensive firepower on the Alabama side.

Quarterback [autotag]Jalen Milroe[/autotag] has done much of the heavy lifting in the red zone, but Tide running backs [autotag]Jase McClellan[/autotag] and [autotag]Roydell Williams[/autotag] have been great in-between the 20s.

The tandem has rushed for 1,204 yards this season, on nearly 5.3 yards per carry. The duo gets the slight edge over Hunter.

The real difference lies in the receiving core on the offensive side of the ball, as Alabama senior [autotag]Jermaine Burton[/autotag] is easily the best pass-catcher in this game.

Burton’s 642 receiving yards just about equal the recieving yards of the top 2 Tigers pass catchers, [autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag] (349) and [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] (300).

The Crimson Tide get the edge across the offense.

The gap is closer of defense, but Alabama still gets the edge.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag]’s defensive unit is about as stout as stout can get. They’ve held opponents to just over 17 points per game this season which has led them to the fifth-highest defensive efficiency ranking according to ESPN FPI.

Auburn’s unit has been great for much of the season too, but struggled mightily against New Mexico State last week.

[autotag]Eugene Asante[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen McCleod[/autotag], and the Tigers defense have held opponents to just under 21.5 points per game and they rank 19th in defensive efficiency.

The defensive gap is close, and with Auburn having the home field advantage, I’m going to call it a wash for this Iron Bowl.

 

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Brian’s Column: How Auburn can set the tone for the rest of the season

The Auburn Tigers have played much better the last two weeks, but they still have work to do if they hop to finish the season strong.

The Auburn Tigers are back on track after a four-game losing streak to open SEC play.

Over the last two weeks, the Auburn offense has scored 58 points after scoring just 69 the four weeks prior.

Quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] has been above-average while running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] and the offensive line have carried the load.

The Tigers defense, which has been good all season, has been extra spectacular, allowing just two touchdowns in as many games.

This team is playing good football right now, but with a road test this week against Arkansas and the Iron Bowl against Alabama looming, Auburn is going to have to be great if they hope to finish the season on a high note.

The first thing they need to do to make that jump is avoid mistakes.

Payton Thorne has been solid for [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s offense lately, but he did make some critical mistakes against Vanderbilt, the worst of which came on this easy pick-six for the Commodores.

The Auburn quarterback also had an interception dropped in the game.

Turnovers are always going to happen, but unforced errors like this one are going to be detrimental against better teams.

On the defensive side of the ball, Auburn is going to have to avoid mistakes in coverage against [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag] this week, and Jalen Milroe in the season’s final game.

Breakdowns like this simply cannot happen. The Vanderbilt offense sends two players down seam routes, and both are inexplicably left wide open due to confusion in the Auburn secondary.

Getting rid of mistakes is important, but Auburn will also have to step up a few parts of their game that are still subpar, the first being wide receiver play.

The Tigers’ passing offense has not been good this year. Auburn’s passing yards rank well in the bottom third of the SEC despite a solid last two games, and the turnovers have been an issue all year long.

It’s easy to put most of the blame for that on quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag], and while most of it is deserving, the people he is throwing the ball to haven’t helped him out much.

Auburn is going to have to throw the ball this week on the road if they hope to win. In order to do that, [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], [autotag]Shane Hooks[/autotag], and the rest of the Tigers pass catchers have to make plays for their quarterback.

Arkansas will bring pressure with man coverage, so will Alabama. Auburn needs to throw the ball, at the very least for some first downs, in order to dictate how their offense will look instead of relying on the big play.

If they can do that, they’ll sustain drives. That not only helps the offense get into a rhythm, but it keeps an Auburn defense off the field that seems to be on it more often than not.

The Auburn Tigers can finish the regular season 8-4, but in order to do that they need to avoid mistakes and improve offesnivley.

Relying on the run game, big plays, and a good defense being perfect just won’t work.

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Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs Ole Miss

Ole Miss is favored in week seven, but does the tale of the tape say this game will be closer?

The 5-1 Ole Miss Rebels travel to Jordan-Hare stadium to take on the 3-3 Auburn Tigers in a week 7 SEC matchup on Saturday.

Auburn comes into this one a loser of three straight games, while Ole Miss has only lost once all year. That loss came in Tuscaloosa to Alabama.

The high-octane offense of Ole Miss and their ability to win SEC games has the Rebels coming in as 6.5-point favorites on the road in this one, giving them an implied 71.43% chance to win outright.

ESPN’s Football Power Index doesn’t give the Tigers much of a chance either, as [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s team has just a 22.8% chance to upset the Rebels according to FPI.

Most of the public would agree Ole Miss is likely to win this game, but will a look at the tale of the tape show us Auburn has a better chance at breaking their losing streak than the surface suggests?

As always, we’ll start by examining the quarterbacks.

[autotag]Lane Kiffin[/autotag]’s offenses are always high-powered, and this year is no outlier. The team averages 42 points per contest this season, led by the arm of quarterback [autotag]Jaxon Dart[/autotag].

Dart has been amazing this year, as the junior has thrown for 1,638 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has thrown only two interceptions.

On the Auburn side, [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] and [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] have continuously struggled.

The tandem has thrown for just 935 yards in 6 games, accumulating 6 touchdowns through the air.

The clear edge in the quarterback battle goes to Ole Miss.

In terms of the skill players, Ole Miss once again has the edge,

Running backs [autotag]Quinshon Judkins[/autotag] and [autotag]Ulysees Bentley[/autotag] have combined to rush for 718 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns this year behind a very good Rebels offensive line.

The pass catchers have also been great, with the trio of [autotag]Jordan Watkins[/autotag], [autotag]Dayton Wade[/autotag], and [autotag]Tre Harris[/autotag] combining for over 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

When compared with Auburn’s top skill position players like [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag], [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], and [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag], the comparison is not close.

Ole Miss as an offense is much better than what Auburn has to offer.

The defensive battle is much closer, however.

Despite Auburn getting torched by Jayden Daniels and LSU last week, the Tigers still rank in the top 60 in points per game allowed and the top 70 in yards per game allowed.

While those numbers are much worse than what they were earlier, they are great compared to an Ole Miss defense that ranks outside of the top 100 in both categories.

If Auburn is going to win this game, they need to take advantage of their better defensive unit. That is something they were not able to do a week ago, but the home game may change the tide.

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Brian’s Column: Auburn needs to develop a passing attack following the bye

Auburn’s passing attack needs to be better in the second half of the season

The Auburn Tigers have lost two games in a row to drop to 3-2 (0-2 SEC) overall entering the bye week.

Those two losses are not on the defense.

If Auburn is going to go bowling this year, the offensive side of the ball needs to be better. Specifically, quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] and the group of pass-catchers Thorne is throwing the ball to.

The Tiger’s offensive line and running backs improved greatly against Georgia last week after struggling for much of the season, but the one-dimensional Auburn offense fell flat in the second half, ultimately leading to Georgia storming back to steal on in Jordan-Hare.

It is pretty clear that head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] is not interested in making a change at the quarterback position, at least for now.

While Thorne hasn’t been very good, his receivers have not helped him out much at all.

The headline of this tweet is slightly misleading as some of these catches have a high level of difficulty.

Still, when you are playing the number-one team in the country, some of these plays need to be made.

The first thing the Auburn coaching staff should be evaluating this week is the rotation at wide receiver.

[autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] has been fine in most games and above average in a few, as the junior leads all Auburn wide outs with 18 receptions and 196 receiving yards through five games.

[autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag] has also done his part. The Auburn tight end is second on the team in receptions and yards, with 15 and 145, respectively.

The next four recievers on the Auburn depth chart, [autotag]Shane Hooks[/autotag], [autotag]Ja’varrius Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Jyaire Shorter[/autotag] and [autotag]Camden Brown[/autotag] have combined for just 15 catches combined.

The aformentioned Johnson going down with an injury in week 2 hasn’t helped, but one or two of Auburn’s pass catching threats needs to step up in the second half of the season to give [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] another option besides his slot receiver, tight end, or running back.

Auburn’s quarterback needs someone else he can trust. Until then, he’s going to continue making mistakes.

This game-ending interception is a perfect example of Thorne not trusting any of his receivers.

Auburn’s quarterback spends the majority of his time in the pocket staring down [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] before attempting to force a ball into tight coverage.

It doesn’t work, and Auburn loses the football game.

The Tigers need another option to step up in the passing game after the bye, or interceptions, drops, and misreads will continue to be an issue for the offense.

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Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs Georgia

Georgia is the more talented team, but does the tale of the tape show the Tigers have a chance?

The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs travel onto the Plains this week to take on the 3-1 Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

UGA comes in as the consensus #1 team in the nation, led by a tough-nosed defense and sparkling offensive attack. The Dawgs are coming off a 49-21 thumping over UAB last week, although they did give up their most points of the season (21) in the win.

Conversely, the Tigers played their worst game of the season last week, losing at Texas A&M 27-10.

Auburn’s offense is in a state of flux, and that is not good heading into a matchup with a UGA defense that produces NFL first-round talent on a yearly basis.

These two factors are probably why Auburn is a 14.5-point home underdog on Saturday according to BetMGM.

ESPN’s FPI doesn’t like the home team’s chances either, as the Football Power Index gives Auburn an 18.1% chance to upset the Bulldogs.

Will a deeper dive into the tale of the tape show Auburn has a higher chance of shocking the college football world than the experts believe? As always, we’ll start by looking at the quarterbacks.

Georgia came into the season with a major question mark at the quarterback position.

Kirby Smart and Co. were tasked with finding a replacement for [autotag]Stetson Bennett[/autotag], and they eventually landed on junior [autotag]Carson Beck[/autotag].

The Jacksonville, FL native has done well so far for the Dawgs, taking over the game manager role that helped his predecessor win two national championships.

Beck’s numbers through four games are actually eerily similar to Bennett’s numbers through four weeks in 2022.

At the week 5 mark last year, [autotag]Stetson Bennett[/autotag] had thrown for 1,224 yards, rushed for 44 more, and scored 9 total touchdowns (5 passing, 4 rushing).

At the week 5 mark this year, [autotag]Carson Beck[/autotag] has thrown for 1,184 yards, rushed for 38 yards, and scored 8 total touchdowns (6 passing, 2 rushing).

Perhaps most importantly, Beck has only turned the ball over one time.

On the other side, Auburn starter [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] has had a troubled start to the season.

The Michigan State transfer ended up with only 44 passing yards in last week’s losing effort in College Station, pushing his season total to a mediocre 561 yards in four games.

In two games against Power 5 opponents, Thorne has collected just 138 passing yards and two touchdowns.

The Michigan State transfer has been able to find the end zone this frequently this year (6 total touchdowns) but his 4 turnovers in 4 games are alarming.

The clear edge in quarterback play goes to [autotag]Carson Beck[/autotag] and the UGA Bulldogs.

The skill position battle is almost as lopsided as the quarterback comparison.

Not only is UGA loaded at running back and receiver, but their best player on the offensive side of the ball is their tight end, [autotag]Brock Bowers[/autotag].

Standing at 6 4″ tall and 240 pounds, Bowers is coming off a dominant year in which he racked up over 1,000 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns in 15 games.

Bowers is picking up right where he left off so far this season, as the junior already has 260 yards and 3 touchdowns.

While Auburn wide receiver [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] has had himself a decent year and Georgia’s wide receiving core is nothing to scoff at, Bowers is clearly the best pass catcher in this game.

Georgia gets the advantage in the running back room as well.

Auburn’s top option, [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag], has struggled this year due to minor injuries, a suspension, and inconsistent o-line play.

His backup, [autotag]Damari Altson[/autotag], was injured in the Texas A&M game and is unlikely to play this week.

Third-stringer [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag] was arguably the Tiger’s best offensive player after Alston went down last week, but his youth and inexperience make him too hard to judge just yet.

Georgia’s running backs are also dealing with some injuries, but they still get the edge because of their experience in big games. UGA’s top two rushers, Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton, are both seniors who were on the team for both of the Bulldogs championship runs.

Georgia’s talent and experience give them the edge over Auburn in every facet of the offensive game.

That is the case on the other side of the ball as well, although Georgia’s advantage is smaller.

The Auburn defense was the only thing that kept the Tigers afloat on the road last week, as the unit scored the team’s lone touchdown and kept Auburn in the game for three and a half quarters despite the offense failing to do much of anything.

Auburn’s defense has held opponents to just 16 PPG and 298.5 YPG this year. The 16 PPG is tied for 22nd in the nation, and the 298.5 YPG is tied for 24th.

Auburn’s defensive unit is also ranked 6th in the nation in defensive efficiency by ESPN FPI.

These numbers are all great. The only issue is that UGA’s are better.

The Dawgs are giving up 11.25 PPG and 282 YPG, good for 10th and 17th in the nation, respectively.

Auburn may have the best player on the defensive side of the ball in [autotag]Eugene Asante[/autotag], but Georgia is just a little bit better as a whole.

This game is probably going to be about as close as the experts believe, with UGA possibly blowing out Auburn early in this game.

The fact is, Auburn’s just not on the same talent level as the Bulldogs right now.

With that being said, the Tigers could still win this game, but it would take an amazing effort by the defense and a monster bounce-back performance by [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag].

We’ll see if the Tigers can shock the world when things kick off at Jordan-Hare at 2:30 PM CST on Saturday.

Notes from Auburn’s win over Samford

Payton Thorne and Jaylin Simpson had key performances Saturday night.

Auburn’s passing attack came alive in Auburn’s 45-13 win over Samford Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The coaching staff made a concerted effort to try to have success through the air and it worked like a charm. [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] threw for 282 yards and one touchdown and connected with 10 different receivers. He was also Auburn’s top rusher, ending the day with 123 yards and two scores on the ground.

His top target was [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag], who hauled in six passes for 97 yards and looks to have separated himself as Auburn’s top wideout.

Auburn’s defense continues to excel at creating turnovers as [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag] and [autotag]J.D. Rhym[/autotag] both picked off passes to set up the offense in Samford territory.

Here are some note-worthy stats and accomplishments from the game.