AUBURN — Auburn football dropped its first game of its 2024 campaign with a 21-14 loss to the California Golden Bears on Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
What are the biggest takeaways of the game?
Auburn offense sputters
After a week one performance that saw the Tigers amass 628 yards of total offense and 73 points, they scored only seven points on the first drive of the game and struggled to get the ball moving after that as they never got into any sort of rhythm.
Payton Thorne threw for 106 yards on his first two drives but finished the game with just 165 yards through the air. The Tigers’ rushing attack was hit or miss throughout the contest with 121 yards total. Jarquez Hunter was held scoreless with 68 yards on 12 carries.
Costly turnovers
A big emphasis for the Tigers after last week was winning the turnover battle, and that they did not do. The Auburn offense turned the ball over five times with four interceptions and a fumble - all that set Cal up in plus-territory.
With an opportunity to win late in the game, Thorne threw two costly interceptions to seal the deal for the Golden Bears.
Poor offensive line play
The Tigers’ offensive line gave Thorne little-to-no time in the pocket compared to a week ago when they didn’t allow a single quarterback hurry. The group continued to shuffle guys around and allowed three sacks and seven hurries.
Hugh Freeze will want to see improvement along the front five in order for this offense to make a splash with conference play approaching.
Mendoza lights up the first half
Cal switched up its quarterback rotation in week one against UC Davis playing both Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers, but head coach Justin Wilcox ultimately went with Mendoza today, and it paid off. Mendoza went 19-21 in the first half alone for 205 yards and two early touchdowns to Nyziah Hunter.
Dj Durkin made some nice adjustments in the second half, holding Mendoza to just 28 yards passing, but it was the Auburn offense that had no answer.
Missed opportunities
It was a tale of two halves for the Auburn defense. An outstanding showing compared to the first half - allowing only 28 yards through the air and 63 yards on the ground - gave the Tigers’ offense ample opportunities to put some points on the board late in the game.
The Tigers’ offense only mustered up 106 yards of total offense in the second half, and it wasn’t enough when the game was on the line.
The Tigers fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss.
They will look to bounce back on homecoming next Saturday as they play host to New Mexico. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN2.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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