From the Locker Room: Auburn players discuss the first win of the season

AUBURN- After finishing up last season with a five-game losing streak, the Tigers were able to start this season with a strong game in the win column.

The 42-16 win came in front of an audience that peaked at 84,562, but dwindled down after a rain delay that lasted over an hour.

The Tigers scored on their first two drives of the game, quickly taking a 14-0 lead. Backup running back Jarquez Hunter led the team with three rushing touchdowns. Junior Cam Riley led the defense in tackles with 15, followed by safety Donovan Kaufman, who had five.

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Let’s hear from the players.

T.J. Finley

Finley started off the game strong, going 5-for-6 with a touchdown pass in the first quarter. It started going downhill late in the second quarter, though, when he threw an interception that led to Mercer’s only touchdown. In the third, Finley repeated the action with a second interception and struggled to get in a rhythm after that.

Here is how he rated his performance:

“A lot of ups and downs. It’s a learning experience in each game, but overall it was pretty good. Offensively, collectively, we met our goals. We ran the ball well. We passed the ball defensively at times, we need to do better in that area and that starts from me, but collectively as a group, we all have to work together to accomplish that goal.”

“I think I excelled in areas, but two major things that I really harp on myself on is not turning the ball over and I did that twice tonight, so we’re going to go back to the film room and fix those things and I guarantee you it will not happen again.”

“It’s a very great start for our offense. We’ve preached on starting fast this week and I think we did that amazingly this week.”

Finley’s thoughts on Robby Ashford’s performance:

“Robby is an amazing talent. We just have to find more ways to get him involved, because we’re going to need him this year for sure.”

“He’s an older guy, he’s seen a lot of ball. Being able to sit back and watch for two years I think is a plus for him. Unfortunately, I was just thrown into the fire my freshman year, but he played an exceptionally well game to say it was his first collegiate game.”

“I Just told him to go out there and operate, to go out there and just do what he’d been doing all practice. We kind of knew that we’re both going to play this game… but I just told him to go out there, operate like normal. The game is going to slow down after first snap, so just go out there and do what you do. He did exactly that.”

Robby Ashford

Although Robby Ashford was not listed as a starter for tonight’s game, he was still able to make his presence known. With a 49-yard run and a 56-yard pass completion, Ashford’s Auburn debut left a mark on this offense.

Here is what he had to say about tonight:

“I really can’t thank Coach Harsin enough for giving me the opportunity… Just getting out at Jordan-Hare, it almost felt like a dream. I was just taking it all in like ‘wow i’m actually here.’ I remember coming to games as a recruit and now I’m getting to play in it. It was just a dream come true- first college snaps- and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team or any other coaching staff, every one helping me throughout since I got here. It’s been nothing but love and I appreciate them through everything.”

“I knew I would play, I didn’t know how much. Going in as a backup, you have to prepare like a starter. Coach Harsin, Coach Keisau, instilled that in me. That’s the hardest thing about being a backup, you’re not getting all of the reps, but you’ve got to be mentally ready and you’ve got to take all of the mental reps that you can get. I feel like I did a good job of that. It’s just nothing but keep growing off it. I’m excited to see where this team goes.”

Ashford on his 56-yard pass completion:

“Kind of just being an athletic quarterback, everyone likes to downplay my throwing, but I’m a quarterback, I’m not just an athlete, so hitting that, that was my first college pass. Just to hit that and to one of my boys I’ve known for so long, it was great and it just gave me kind of a sense of confidence. It was like ‘K, I know I can go out here and do this.” I had some first game jitters, but hitting that definitely gave me some confidence.”

Ashford’s thoughts on the quarterback dynamic:

“Me and TJ have a really good relationship. We push each other everyday. Competition only makes you better. We never looked at it as ‘Oh I don’t like you, because you transferred in’ or ‘I’m competing with you.’ We know that we come out there everyday to compete and just get each other better, because that brings out the best in both of us and we know that we’ve got three quarterbacks that can go at any time.”

“You’ve always got to be on your game, because we’re going to push every day and our coaching staff instills it in us, hard work every day. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, perfect it, master your craft. Coach Harsin preaches that, master your craft. We try to go out there every day, we’ll help each other. If we see something that they don’t see, we’ll help each other. It’s been really good with all of the quarterbacks, just our comradery, just how we get along. It’s a really fun group. I really love this group.”

Derick Hall

On paper, Derick Hall seemed to have a quieter night tonight. However, he recorded the team’s only sack, which resulted in a six-yard loss for the Bears.

Here is what thought about tonight’s win:

“It means a lot. Obviously we haven’t won since October 30th of last year, that’s almost a year, so being able to come out and win, it meant a lot to us. Everybody had that date in the back of their head and you can’t take any opponent for granted. You respect all, but you fear none. Just being able to come out and get a win for the SEC  and playing a team like Mercer who is really good in their conference, was huge for us. We’re just taking it week by week and having a good time.”

Hall speaking on the rain delay:

“Man, it started over I think like three times, so we were just chilling, kicking back, enjoying each other, that time with each other. It’s just another form of adversity, so kick back, eat a few snacks, realx, enjoy the time with each other, talk about the game a little bit, just talk about life. Then, we begin to roll out a little bit, get loose, then we did a little bit of range of motion type of things and just bending and moving before we went out and did the dynamic warm up before we got back into the game.”

Hall’s thoughts after Ashford’s 49-yard run:

“It’s amazing. We just looked at each other and were like ‘gosh, we got one.’ For somebody to be able to play quarterback but also can kill you with his legs, I mean that’s a dynamic runner. That is huge to have, because he can cue you many different ways and you really can’t prepare for that. You can try your best, but I promise you, there’s not too many people running in this league like Robby Ashford is. It’s hard to prepare for and obviously he’s doing a great job for us so far.”

The impact that the new “C” patch had on Hall:

“When you’re actually there and you see it on your chest and everybody knows that you’re captain of this team, it means so much. When I put that jersey on, I was like ‘Wow, I’m really in this position and I really have the opportunity to lead this team.’ That ‘C’ means a lot to me and I’m sure it means a lot to my teammates, because they voted me to have that ‘C’ on my chest, so I have to use that to my advantage and come to work everyday and be consistent and show those guys that I deserve to have that on my chest day in and day out, whether they picked me today or picked my 10 years from now, that ‘C’ means a lot to me.

Cam Riley

Making his first start, linebacker Cam Riley led the defense in tackles by a landslide with 15, the next being Donovan Koffman with just five. In his 22 appearances over the past two years, Riley recorded just 23 tackles, 12 of which were solo. Tonight alone, Riley recorded more than his 14 total from this past season.

Here is what Riley had to say about the game:

“Defense played good. Everybody was executing prior to the ball… with the first game coming back, everybody was executing pretty well.”

“I was hearing that it was going to be difficult shoes to fill from Zakoby, because he was leading tackler last year, but after this game, I kind of feel like I’ll be up there where he was.”

“Back in the summer, I was saying my goal this year for the season was to end the season with 50 tackles, but of course, after tonight, it’s way higher than 50. But it felt good starting my first night at Jordan-Hare and being with the team.”

Riley’s thoughts on a new personal record:

“That’s big for me. It hit me when I was taking my helmet off in there. I saw a tweet that was like ‘Cam Riley had more tackles in one game than he did all last year’ this is just a big move. I think it’ll hit me more when I get home and start getting all of those notifications, though.”

“Preparation, with coaches, watching film, doing homework and studying my opponent to help me execute better. Everyone around me was doing their job as well, so it helped to execute that.”

Riley speaking on the 20 pounds that he gained during the offseason:

“I feel like I’ve gotten faster, because I was around every play tonight.”

“This morning, I wore my suit from last year and I thought I was going to be able to fit in it. When I tried to zip my pants this morning, it wouldn’t zip up. I was like ‘wow, I did not know I gained this much weight.’ But, yes, it did help out pretty well, it’s going to be beneficial to have those extra 20 pounds that I needed.”