You couldn’t have asked for a more picture-perfect opening kickoff victory for Auburn football following their 60-10 decimation of a wildly under-matched Akron Zips squad.
The MAC bottom-feeder (though their dominant victory over Bowling Green last year makes the Falcons the true basement) made the near-800 mile trek from eastern Ohio to be feasted on by a Tigers team reinvigorated by the new coaching staff’s creative offensive schemes and dogged defensive intensity.
Jordan-Hare Stadium was just about full, and the pomp and pageantry of everything that makes a home game on the Plains unmatched just about anywhere were on full display.
Again, this was picturesque. After an offseason of foolhardy predictions tabbing the Tigers as a bottom-tier SEC team, AU went out and destroyed a Group of Five school in a way that builds serious momentum as a pivotal Week Three matchup against Penn State–whose defense looked stout against Wisconsin but outside of a few throws had a struggling QB in Sean Clifford running the show–looms.
But before we focus on the Nittany Lions or next week’s interstate FCS opponent, the Alabama State Hornets, let’s take a look at which Tigers had their stock improve…and those who had the opposite happen on Saturday night:
Stock up: Auburn football QB Bo Nix
The most important development from Saturday was the Bo Nix “dark horse for Heisman” meme remaining in tact.
In fact, Nix’s performance was so impressive–completing 20/22 passes, amassing 275 yards through the air, and throwing for three TDs in three quarters of play–that if he can sustain it, saying “this is the year” may not sound like a joke for much longer.
Stock up: Auburn football RB Tank Bigsby
Tank Bigsby justified all of the preseason hype with a performance that should have opposing DCs worried about what will happen when he is handed the ball against their defenses.
Averaging over nine yards per carry, Bigsby ended up with a pair of touchdowns and 119 yards on just 13 carries, including a 32-yard rushing TD in the opening frame to open up the scoring and elicit his first monstrous response from a non-pandemic crowd in his collegiate career.
Bigsby’s first proper season stat line could generate legitimate Heisman hype if the Tigers can win 9+ games and he can dominate SEC defenses like this as well.
Stock up: Auburn football OL
Let’s talk about the offensive line for a second here. Not once was Bo Nix or TJ Finley threatened in the pocket, and every RB that was on the field was able to generate over nine yards per rush.
While Akron’s defense was expectedly non-threatening (Buffalo laid 56 points on them last year), you literally could not have asked any more out of this unit Saturday night.
Stock up: Auburn football RB Jarquez Hunter
Jarquez Hunter came in and dominated well after the game was decided, but as previously mentioned, the true freshman dominated.
Averaging over 12 yards per carry, and collecting 110 yards and a touchdown in his AU debut, Hunter justified Jake ‘Jboy’ Crain’s prediction that he’d be the RB2 before long.
Stock down: Auburn football QB TJ Finley
TJ Finley came into the game and almost immediately found the end zone through a QB sneak. It was an excellent “earning your stripes” moment for the LSU transfer, but he followed that score up with pretty sloppy pocket play.
Finley threw just 2/5 and almost got picked off in the second half. With how dominant Bo Nix was, the juxtaposition of their performances wasn’t a good look for Finley.
It’s just one week, but Nix is looking like the clearly superior option under center moving forward after an offseason spent debating those merits from Tiger fans.
Stock up: Auburn football DL T.D. Moultry
T.D. Moultry is behind Derick Hall on the depth chart, but he exceeded Hall’s production on Saturday night to hold the Zips to just ten points and 188 yards overall.
More relevantly to Moultry and the rest of the DL, just 32 yards total were collected by their two running backs (Jonzell Norrils, Anthony Williams Jr.).
Stock up: Auburn football S Bydarrius Knighten
Bydarrius Knighten was named the starting safety alongside Smoke Monday after a strong summer for the FCS graduate transfer from Southeast Missouri State. His teammates raved about what he brought to the table in preseason camp, but now they Tiger fans have seen with their two eyes what he can do.
And what he can do is punish receivers thinking the open field is theirs. Knighten collected the most tackles out of the secondary and is a last line of defense Tiger fans should feel confident about every Saturday.
Stock up: Auburn football LB Chandler Wooten
After opting out of the 2020 season, Chandler Wooten’s decision was one that Bryan Harsin admittedly was unsure about before meeting him.
After the two got to speak, Harsin was sold on Wooten’s attitude and commitment, and he was instrumental in the team’s shut down of most of Akron’s marches down the field. Donning the orange and blue for the first time in Jordan-Hare Stadium since the 2019 Iron Bowl, Wooten six tackles, tied for third on the team Saturday night.
It’s good to have the new father back on the field.
And after last night, it’s a great day to be an Auburn Tiger.