Rapid reaction: Auburn offense wins on last-second FG, Cam Coleman shines
AUBURN — It was A-Day yet again in Auburn, as the football team participated in the second spring game under Hugh Freeze in preparation for Year Two of the Freeze Era.
In all, 25 newcomers took part, including 11 portal or junior college transfers and 14 true freshmen.
The defense began with a 27-0 lead on the scoreboard and it was the offense’s job to catch up during four 10-minute quarters. The scrimmage had a running clock, with the exception of a two-minute warning before halftime and in the fourth quarter, and a two-minute timeout break in the first and third quarters. Halftime was only five minutes.
The offense won on a last-second field goal by the score of 28-27.
Pregame/practice comments:
— Koy Moore and Caleb Burton didn’t dress out. Freeze mentioned earlier this week there might be some receivers that missed the game.
— Freshman kicker Towns McGough will kick, as Alex McPherson will sit out nursing a hamstring injury.
— Keionte Scott was the first punt returner back during the practice portion of the day.
— Derrick Nix said on pregame radio that this year’s offense will be “dependent” on what the skill position players do. I think we can all agree with that, as well as the development of Payton Thorne, but even more so the rise of the receivers.
— McGough has a monster leg. he hit a 58-yarder during warmups and showed incredible leg strength on some other kicks that soared through the uprights. What a weapon.
— Sam Jackson looks so quick with the ball in his hands. His development and usage will be interesting to watch, real weapon, if utilized correctly.
— Bullet pass to Rivaldo Fairweather on a wheel route from Thorne.
— There have been a lot more swing passes and plays that involve the backs out of the backfield during practices. It’ll be interesting to see if that’s a big part of the new scheme, or simply seeing some things during practice that won’t really translate.
— Brenton Williams won a nice battle with Tyler Johnson during one-on-ones.
— Favour Edwin stonewalled Amaris Williams during a one-on-one.
— Jalen McLeod didn’t participate much, nursing an injury of some sort.
— Laquan Robinson picked off an out route during 7-on-7 work.
First quarter thoughts:
— Thorne, Hunter, Lew, Wade, Wright, Lewis, Miller, Fairweather, Lewis, Jackson and Coleman are the starters on offense.
— Crawford, Kaleb Harris, Woodyard Jr., Love, Keionte Scott, Riddick, Waller, Walker, Blocton were all starters on defense with what appeared to be the second-team defense.
— Sylvester Smith, Mausi Jr., Lee, Asante, Keys, Wooden, Carter, Scott, Faulk, McLeod and Keys the starters with the first-team defense.
— Cobb, Cain, Camden Brown, Holden Geriner, Fair, Tate Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Bradyn Joiner, Wilfred were all starters with the second-team offense.
— First big play of the spring game goes to Coleman. Shocker. A 49-yard completion from Hank Brown. Coleman ran by freshman Jay Crawford.
— McGough nails a 36-yarder to officially start the scoring.
— Really liked Camden Brown coming back to the ball thrown by Walker White, good 21-yard completion.
— Bobby Travis with what would have been a sack.
Stats at the end of the first quarter:
Second quarter thoughts:
— The offensive and defensive players are now being mixed within the groups, so I wouldn’t take much out of depth charts outside of the first teams, which seem somewhat settled across the board, minus a position or two.
— Good coverage by Scott on a comeback route, overthrown by White, but it would have been picked or deflected if it was accurate.
— Thorne making some good decisions on the RPO game, pulling and running and picking up five, even if it’s a short gain.
— Again, Jackson is so quick with the ball in his hands. Nice catch and run after the catch from Thorne.
— Lewis made a nice catch on the sideline, coming back to the football. That’s the second time an Auburn wide receiver has come back to the ball with then QB needed help.
— Percy Lewis blocking down on Amaris Williams was a bit of a mismatch near the goal line, as Alston nearly scored a touchdown around left end before being tripped up.
— DJ Barber made a nice play to get in the backfield on a goal line stand and tackle Alston for a loss.
— Faustin made a nice play on play action to stop Fairweather short at the goal line. Good recognition from the freshman.
— Nice rollout completion to Brown from Geriner. Plenty of time to throw the ball, accurate toss by Brown.
— Keys made a nice stop in the hole on Cobb. The O-line created some space, but Keys filled the gap and made a good play. There was room, credit Keys there.
— TV timeout? Why though?
— Kayin Lee, Champ Anthony and Colton Hood getting some run with the 1s at cornerback.
— Great play by Lee on a deep ball to Brown. Lee ran with him step for step, knocked it away. Great coverage.
— Brown comes back with a nice slant route on Lee for 15 yards.
— Brian Battie and Cobb showing a two-back look, but Cobb’s carry doesn’t go anywhere on that one.
— Malik Blocton and Bobby Jamison-Travis have rotated with the first-team defensive line a decent bit in this half.
— Asante and Keys collapsed the pocket and sacked Geriner near the goal line.
— McGough knocks home a FG from 33 yards out.
— Auburn’s offense finishes the first half 1-6 on third down.
Stats heading into halftime:
Third quarter thoughts:
— White threw into all kinds of traffic on a slant route, pass knocked down by a trio of defenders.
— White continues to throw the ball a little high. It’s something I noticed he did some during the practices we watch.
— Vontrell King-Williams is a nice guy, loves to coach with empathy, but he’s getting after his defensive line during this third quarter. He can turn up when he wants to.
— Thorne under threw Coleman on a deep pass down the sideline…Coleman had a step on Hood, but Hood broke up the pass.
— Thorne bounced back with a beautiful pass to Robert Lewis on a RPO play, as Lewis stuttered and ran right by the cornerback. Perfect pass from Thorne.
— Again, Jackson looks like lightning in a bottle when he gets the football. When healthy, I’m curious to see what his role will be this fall.
— Fantastic play by Woodyard Jr. to chase down Hunter on a toss sweep near the goal line. Woodyard might break through this fall, we’ll see.
— Jerrin Thompson came streaking in for a sack off the edge, otherwise Thorne would have found Lewis for a crossing-route touchdown.
— McGough nails his third FG of the day.
— Brown goes deep to Coleman, but there are some signals crossed there. Coleman ran to open space in the middle, but Brown threw behind him.
— Brown then made a really quick decision and tossed it out to Battie out of the backfield. I like Brown’s quick decisions, he’s at least got that going for him.
— JC Hart with a nice PBU on Jay Fair in the back of the end zone. Good play by Hart, who Freeze said had a very high ceiling.
— McGough nails another FG, that’s four on the day.
— TJ Lindsey with some nice pressure on White to force an incompletion.
— McGough makes his fifth of the day, this time from 49 yards out.
Stats at the end of the third quarter:
Fourth quarter thoughts:
— Damn. Cam Coleman makes a catch coming back and snagging the ball off the grass, then makes a catch with Jay Crawford hanging all over him for a touchdown. There’s your A-Day MVP.
— Meanwhile, Thorne is now 9-13 for 133 yards and a touchdown. Not a bad day.
— White will get there, but still has some accuracy issues.
— Lindsey with another good pressure, but White gets the pass off and completes it to Dylan Gentry. Nice throw there from White, maybe his best of the day.
— McGough comes in and makes his sixth FG of the day.
— Excellent throw by Geriner to Lewis on an out route, really accurate toss there.
— Micah Riley continues to get quite a few snaps with the ones on offense, definitely one to watch for in terms of development this fall.
— Lewis dropped a fourth-down crossing route from Geriner — ball was coming in hot, but Lewis got his hands on the ball. Not many drops on the day, really.
— Offense trailing late, Hugh Freeze is giving Holden Geriner and now Hank Brown the chance to lead the offense in a late-game situation. Payton Thorne has shown plenty, going 9-13 for 133 and a TD. I think all of Thorne, Geriner and Brown have shown nice flashes today.
— McGough finishes things off with a 58-yard FG to win the game. He made seven on the day. Beast.
Final stats:
