The Tigers are blessed with the return of eight offensive starters, starting with quarterback Deshaun Watson – who finished third in Heisman Trophy voting previous year – 1,500-yard rusher Wayne Gallman and a stable full of talented wide receivers led by potential first-round draft pick Mike Williams.
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With a weekend full of upsets, the Auburn Tigers hoped to do the same as they welcomed Dabo Sweeny and the No. 2 Clemson Tigers to Jordan-Hare Stadium, but it was not to be as Auburn fell to Clemson 19-13.
Impressive? Indeed. But the Tigers have to play a much more consistent game if they wish to remain behind Alabama in the national rankings. They finished the game with a combined 175 yards on 15 completions and two interceptions. “He was the number one quarterback out there first, but we played all three”. Clemson, which scored 37.5 points per game a year ago, returns seven all-conference offensive players, and that’s not even including WR Hunter Renfrow, who had 88 yards and two scores in the national championship.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn surveys the sideline ahead of the opening game of the season.
Auburn drove within 8 yards of the goal line midway through the fourth quarter when Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware picked off Sean White’s pass into the end zone.
Auburn also lost its top three rushers from last season to a dismissal, a transfer and an early entry into the National Football League draft. “At times, we struggled”, Malzahn said. At times, it worked well. Two of the games were decided in overtime and the other two were tied in the third quarter.
That late game situation put the pressure on a first year head coach in Sitake, who took over at his alma mater from now Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall. Going forward, people are going to notice our defense is back to playing Auburn defense.
“Hats off to them”, Ruffin said. When those scouts look at the field, Clemson quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Deshaun Watson will stand out.
Watson said he played “OK” in completing 19 of 34 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown. I think it’s a good measuring stick when you play Auburn and Texas A&M. “There’s not a whole lot of people holding that offense to 19 points”.
“Offensively, obviously in the first half it was a big struggle,”?he said. We’ve still got a lot to prove.
The Cougars defense also came to play, sacking Wildcats quarterback Anu Solomon four times and picking him off twice.
Auburn defensive tackle Dontavius Russell (95) is shown in action on Saturday night.
Carlson’s 53-yard field goal, which was the first points of the game, was the school record sixth time he’s connected on a kick from beyond 50 yards. On fourth and goal at the one, Wayne Gallman ran had a big hole at right guard to score to put the visitors up 7-3. Newton was 7-of-14 for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 68 additional yards as Auburn pulled out a thrilling 27-24 overtime victory. With that said, here are five questions I’ll be looking for answers to during the game.
Johnson had 94 yards rushing on 23 carries for Auburn. Clemson had the only turnover on a fumble recovered by AU freshman defensive Derrick Brown. The offense seemed to find life in the second half, but the red zone woes were there, again.
Swinney almost made a costly mistake: Opting to give Auburn the ball back with 40 seconds remaining instead of kicking a field goal that would have ended the game was a questionable move to say the least. Huegel’s 40-yard field goal made the score 13-3 at the 10:36 mark. The visitors moved the ball 75 yards on 10 plays. Auburn got a 9-yard scoring run from Kerryon Johnson with 3:22 left to cut Clemson’s lead to 19-13 and set up a wild final few minutes. Auburn would drive to the Clemson 40-yard line, where the game would ultimately end on a failed Hail Mary attempt, giving Clemson their first win at Auburn since 1950.
Those former follies helped contribute to a conservative approach late in Saturday’s 19-13 win that nearly cost his team in the frantic waning minutes.
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No. 2 Clemson (1-0) plans to fix those bobbles at home Saturday against Troy (1-0).
