Auburn football players react to Robby Ashford’s pancake block

Without a doubt, seeing Oregon transfer quarterback Robby Ashford head out on to the field this weekend was something that a lot of Auburn football fans were looking forward to. After spending the offseason reading about his athletic skillset and his rise up the depth chart, fans were eager to see him in action.

His performance in the Tigers’ season opener against Mercer was enough to convince most folks that Ashford certainly isn’t going anywhere. There are whispers of a two-quarterback system being the ultimate solution, and even team captain John Samuel Shenker said that there was no controversy, but whoever has the “hot hand” will likely lead the offense.

But the play that stood out to most people from Ashford’s orange-and-blue debut was originally overshadowed by the long run and touchdown scored by Tank Bigsby. After handing off the ball to Bigsby, Ashford raced down the field and executed a perfect pancake block to help Bigsby into the end zone:

Needless to say, his teammates were impressed by Ashford’s speed and athleticism, and players such as wide receiver Shedrick Jackson, center Tate Johnson, and left guard Brandon Council all commented on it, per AL.com:

"“He came out of nowhere,” wide receiver Shedrick Jackson said. “He beat me to the point. He got down there and pancaked that dude.”“That was incredible,” starting center Tate Johnson said. “Did you see how fast he came down the sideline on the screen? That was incredible. That just speaks volumes to the kind of player he is, the kind of teammate he is. He’s a quarterback; he didn’t have to do that. Golly, that was a great effort play.”“I’ll tell you what, that was different,” Council said. “He just showed some real speed; he came flying behind Tank Bigsby, who was already running downfield. He threw the safety down on the ground, that was amazing. We were pretty impressed with that as an O-line.”"

So far, the biggest takeaway from Saturday’s game seems to be that no matter who is at the quarterback position–TJ Finley or Robby Ashford–this Auburn football team is focused on winning. And if that’s with a two-quarterback system, so be it.