Auburn's Robby Ashford relives 'emotional' first start

AUBURN- Quarterback Robby Ashford had his first career start for Auburn on Saturday, but said he “prepares like a starter” each week.

With original starter T.J. Finley out with a shoulder injury, Ashford was called up for the job against Auburn’s first SEC opponent, Missouri. The Tigers came out on top, 17-14, in overtime, but it wasn’t pretty.

“Getting that first start under my belt was just great,” Ashford said. “It was an emotional, stressful game- by far the most stressful game I’ve ever been in- so I think that I got more prepared for whatever’s coming now. It was great.”

Ashford led the team in rushing yards, averaging 3.1 yards a carry. The quarterback scored the first touchdown of the game with an 11-yard run into the end zone on Auburn’s first drive of the game. It was clear that the Tigers wanted to establish the run game early, because the ball was run by Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter or Ashford himself for each of the 14 plays in the drive.

“As a quarterback, yeah, you want to throw the ball and all of that,” Ashford said about the decision. “But at the same time, you’re the General, so you want to do whatever it takes to score and we were really good at running the ball at that time. It’s like, ‘It’s hot, why not keep going back to it.’ So, I feel like that was really good, just to be able to get that.”

When it came to throwing the ball on Saturday, Ashford was 12-for-18 with 127 passing yards and no touchdowns. The Tigers had just 21 passing attempts in the ballgame.

So far this season, Auburn has not been able to execute after halftime. The Tigers have not scored a touchdown in the second half in the past two games. On Monday, Ashford was asked what he thought needed to be done differently and he said that the team has just been ‘hesitant’ when coming back out.

“I think we just have to come out and be more aggressive, just execute better,” Ashford said. “I will say, we haven’t been playing Auburn football to our standard… We’ve got to be clicking on all cylinders, offensively and defensively, but defense has been playing their butts off, so it’s really up to us now to be able to just flip that switch and just get around that corner to be able to make us an all-around great team. I think we’re going to do it… It’s coming. I feel like this week is going to be the week.”

RELATED: Auburn’s recent second-half offensive woes

Harsin on Ashford’s Performance

Bryan Harsin spoke on Robby Ashford’s first start in Monday’s press conference. He talked about the importance in this experience for Ashford and how he will be able to grow from this past game.

“I thought Robby managed things well,” Harsin said. “Circumstances, watching film, he did a good job and made some good decisions for us. He took care of the football and he was really excited about going out there and playing. He made some good throws, utilized his legs. His demeanor on the sideline was really good. That’s something to build on. He’s got that experience.”

Ashford on freshman Holden Geriner

During the second half, Robby Ashford took a hard hit, but said he feels good and is ‘ready to go.’

True freshman Holden Geriner came in to finish up the drive and remained in for the following. Geriner went 2-for-3 on passing attempts and was sacked twice. He also had two rushing attempts, but was not able to gain any yardage. Although his stats weren’t great from the game, Ashford feels that there is lots of potential with the freshman.

“Holden did a great job, just coming out there when I went out,” Ashford said. “He prepares every week like he’s a starter, like we all do. Just for him to be so young, the knowledge and wisdom that he has to be so smart as a true freshman is great. He throws a great ball. I’ll probably say he throws the best ball in the room. I probably think he throws the prettiest ball in the room.”

“I really love how he came in as a freshman and he had three older guys in front of him, but he didn’t use that as an opportunity to just be down,” Ashford continued. “He used it as an opportunity to grow and learn from all of us and at the same time we learn from him, because he’s smart. 12 is going to be great, Holden is going to be really good here and I’m excited to see what the future holds for him.”