Auburn football is riding as high as Independence, one of the team’s pre-game flight eagles was during her first tour around Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night in what was a magical 2021 season opener.
So high, in fact, that some Tigers are talking big after a 60-10 walloping of the Akron Zips of the MAC.
One of those is Shaun Shivers, the team’s short-yardage bruiser, who scored one of AU’s five rushing touchdowns last night.
Shivers believes that Auburn should now be referred to as the new ‘RBU’:
RBU #WDE
— ShiversJr (@V8Blazing) September 5, 2021
Shivers may be onto something. While he himself saw only two carries, he did make the most of them. Shivers scored a touchdown after breaking free for a 26-yard run in the second half to officially cover the spread (-37).
Elsewhere, Tank Bigsby solidified himself as one of the country’s premiere rushers and Jarquez Hunter made as much of an impact as anyone could have hoped for the true freshman’s AU debut.
Bigsby scored two touchdowns and collected 119 yards on the ground (over nine yards per carry), which included a 33-yard run that saw Bigsby beat every Akron defender down the sideline.
Hunter, on the other hand, needed under ten carries to collect 110 yards on the ground, which included a touchdown himself.
As 247Sports’ Nathan King notes, this was the first time in 15 games that the Tigers collected over 300 yards. The Tigers’ predictable offense in the last season (an All-SEC schedule) in 2020 was certainly a factor as to why Bigsby collected under 1,000 yards and mustered just five touchdowns.
With Bryan Harsin being a noted QB whisperer, Bo Nix’s passing was more accurate than ever. Mike Bobo’s schemes, which included a healthy dose of targets to tight end John Samuel Shenker, further opened up the run game for the talented Tigers backfield.
Is Auburn football now the home of ‘RBU’? We’ll probably have a more definitive answer in 13 days when they travel up north to Happy Valley to battle Penn State.
But it’s far from a ridiculous notion.