Week One was a near-perfect masterpiece for Auburn football in Bryan Harsin’s debut head coaching effort on the Plains.
60-10 was the final, and the second half was more of a showing of pride for Akron after getting throttled by the Tigers to the tune of a 37-0 first-half tally. The Zips still got outscored 23-10 but at least showed some life in the passing game.
Week Two could very well be an even more impressive effort for AU, who will be taking on a team a weight class (if not several) down from the MAC’s Akron.
While Alabama State has one of the more spectacular halftime ensembles, with the nationally known Honey Beez, Stingettes, and Mighty Marching Hornets Band bringing the noise at halftime, the Tigers are going to pounce in an even more profound way against ASU than they did even against the Zips.
Fly War Eagle advises taking whatever spread on whatever sportsbook you use, since Harsin’s and OC Mike Bobo’s work with Bo Nix has unleashed a gunslinger we haven’t seen this level of since 2019.
ASU beat Division II’s Miles College by a single point this past Saturday. Check out what Hornets coach Donald Hill-Eley said after the game:
"“We looked like an OK Division II ball club. That was OK for a win today.”"
That’s not the sound of a team that has any chance of stopping a Bryan Harsin-coached team from doing whatever they want this Saturday.
Because of the likely historically one-sided score against Alabama State, those not in the first string should get even more burn than they did last week.
With that in mind, here are 4 Tigers we could see more of in Week Two:
Auburn football QB Dematrius Davis
Week One saw Bo Nix silence all doubters in a masterful 20/22 passing performance that could have gone over 300 yards had he played more. Even still, he amassed three passing touchdowns, connecting with Ja’Varrius Johnson, Kobe Hudson, and Shaun Shivers for their first scores of the year.
TJ Finley was nowhere near as impressive, begging the question of whether or not we could see the Tigers’ QB3, Dematrius Davis, enter the fold in Week Two. Bryan Harsin wants the best guy at every position, and Davis could well prove superior in the passing (and running) game to Finley if he can just find his way onto the field for his season debut.
Auburn football RB Jarquez Hunter
We saw more Jarquez Hunter than we did Shaun Shivers in Week One, and perhaps he can get an even bigger share of carries in Week Two after AU goes up multiple scores in the first quarter.
Hunter had the most yards per carry of any Tiger and had just nine yards less than Tank Bigsby’s game-high 119 yards on the ground.
Another strong showing for Hunter could establish the true freshman before heading up to Happy Valley to take on a Penn State team whose weakness defensively may be the run, because we know it isn’t through the air given their containment of Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz this past Saturday.
Auburn football WR Tar’Varish Dawson
The only true freshman on the Auburn football’s official two-deep depth chart did not get to make his debut in front of a near-capacity crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium this past weekend. Tar’Varish Dawson, who stuck out in camp because of his speed, was more disappointed than even the rest of us (via 247Sports):
"“I can’t believe I gotta miss my first college game,” Dawson posted on Instagram."
Perhaps Dawson can get in on the action–Tiger receivers put up 297 yards collectively on Saturday–in his potential return with Cornelius Williams having just about every receiver’s routes looking crisp against Akron.
Auburn football WR Elijah Canion
Seeing Elijah Canion get de-emphasized this season, after not appearing on the team’s two-deep depth chart, is shocking considering his importance to the offense on A-Day.
Things clearly changed after the Tigers’ spring game, but Canion has a chance to change that narrative once more if he could get some time on the field with Nix, who he connected for a score with on New Year’s Day at the Citrus Bowl against a tough Northwestern defense.
Alabama State is the perfect opponent to do something spectacular against.