Auburn football had a lot of questions to answer heading into the 2024 season, but many fans got an early feeling of how they would be answered on Saturday night.
The Tigers posted a dominant week one 73-3 victory over the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, tying the most points Auburn has scored since 2003.
There were many loud moments in this game, many of which came in the first half from the new receiving corps.
After all the action was said and done in Jordan-Hare Stadium, here is what we learned about this Tigers squad after the victory.
For starters, the group of new wideouts that head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] brought in will put opposing defenses in a lot of trouble if they are not defended correctly.
All six of Auburn’s receiving touchdowns last night were from players not on the roster last season. Transfer [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] led the crew with two of his own, including a 67-yard bomb early in the first quarter.
Connected to that, quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] was composed throughout the entire game.
While this game was against an FCS opponent, what fans hardly ever saw last year was Thorne throw the ball up with ease and have the confidence to hit a receiver in stride. He finished 13-for-21 with 322 yards and four touchdowns on the night.
Tying the offense together, having the depth from the skill positions helped everyone to stay fresh. Freeze constantly pushed a different rotation of receivers and running backs on the field in order to get players rested and not have fatigue in the heat and humidity of the early season.
As for the defense, the tackling has easily improved from 2023 and [autotag]Jalen McLeod[/autotag] is going to lead the front four both vocally and physically.
McLeod posted five tackles on the night, with two being tackles-for-loss and one was a sack. He was one of four players to post four or more tackles on the night.
While no turnovers were forced, the physicality is there. The defensive front constantly forced Bulldogs quarterback Cornelious Brown IV into bad decisions due to the pressure it brought.
All of these things will need to be in full motion next week when the Tigers welcome the California Golden Bears to town after beating them last year in Berkeley, 14-10.
From the look of things though, fans have a lot to be optimistic about after an impressive showing on the Plains.
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