AUBURN — The Auburn Tigers saw an offensive explosion on Saturday in their 48-14 win over Louisiana-Monroe, scoring the most points they have scored since week three against New Mexico.
“We need to get our playmakers involved early, and we need to win first down,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze on Monday. “I think when we've done those two things, we've been able to kind of get in a rhythm that gives us some confidence. And I think that showed Saturday and kind of continued throughout the game.”
Granted, the Tigers held a talent advantage at almost every position on the field, but with how things have gone for Auburn this season, it was encouraging for a win to come behind the offensive success.
Auburn saw two wide receivers go over 100 yards in Saturday’s win – Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith – and combine for four touchdowns between the two. After speculation leading up to the game about the health status of starting quarterback Payton Thorne, he silenced the doubters by tying the Auburn record for most touchdowns thrown in a game (5) dating back to Jarrett Stidham in 2018.
Oh, and Jarquez Hunter eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career, the first time an Auburn running back has done so since Tank Bigsby in 2021.
It seems simple: Get the ball to your playmakers, and all will be well. Well, they’ve done just that.
Auburn is one of seven teams nationally with 10 or more players who have caught a touchdown pass this season. The Tigers are fourth nationally with 14 pass plays of at least 40 yards on the year. They rank 15th nationally in yards per completion (13.72), 14th in yards per play (6.74) and 13th with 8.7 yards per pass attempt. To go along with those statistics, Lambert-Smiths’ eight receiving touchdowns on the year lead the SEC and are tied for 15th in the nation.
When asked if his game plan on Saturday against the Aggies will involve getting the ball in Coleman’s hands after his breakout performance last week, Freeze said it’s not as easy as it seems.
“I would love to answer that and say, ‘Absolutely, we're throwing it to him eight times,’” Freeze said. “But I don't get to dictate the coverages. Yes, we can design a play to take a shot to him, but it's really hard to design a play that you guarantee he's going to get a short route thrown to him, because they might be in cover two. They might be in tight man. So, it’s really hard."
“I would love to say that he (Coleman) is going to get eight, and Malcolm (Simmons) is going to get eight, and Perry (Thompson) is going to get eight, and Dre (Lambert-Smith) is going to get eight. But it's very difficult for a coach to really know where the ball is going to go when you call one of those pass plays,” he added.
Freeze will want to see an abundance of guys getting involved on Saturday against the No. 15 Aggies, who are led by defensive mastermind Mike Elko.
“We did some things that hopefully give us confidence heading into these last two SEC games,” which will be against two of the better teams in the country,” Freeze said. "A&M is loaded with NFL talent on defense. Really a problem for you, unless you have just the mobility to escape them, because they're constantly putting you under pressure, and it's an issue for us.”
Kickoff for Saturday is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN.
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