Auburn football report card: High marks for defense vs. Cal, but what about the offense?
BERKELEY, Cal. — For the first time ever, Auburn football is leaving the state of California with a win.
The Tigers had taken a trip to the Golden State on three separate occasions prior to 2023, losing to Santa Clara in 1936, USC in 2002 and Florida State in the 2014 BCS championship game.
But Auburn did enough to pick up a 14-10 victory against Cal on Saturday. It was often ugly, but as the saying goes: A win is a win.
Offense: D-
The Tigers played two quarterbacks − Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford − against the Golden Bears. They combined for a putrid 94 passing yards and completed just 10 passes. The offense also turned the ball over four times, putting the defense in some poor situations throughout.
A big catch from transfer tight end Rivaldo Fairweather late in the fourth quarter to put Auburn on top and some solid running from sophomore RB Damari Alston save this grade from being a complete failure.
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Defense: A+
Time and time again, Auburn's defense needed to make a stop. And time and time again, the unit pulled it off.
From freshman cornerback Kayin Lee holding his own to DJ James pulling down a clutch interception, it was a complete performance for the Tigers' defense. Junior linebacker Eugene Asante led the way with 12 tackles and a sack, and senior defensive lineman Marcus Harris stood out in his own right with a big sack.
Special teams: B-
With the offense struggling to generate much of anything, senior punter Oscar Chapman was tasked with booting five balls; he averaged 40.8 yards per punt. The return game, after having a big day against UMass in Week 1, was pretty quiet between Brian Battie (average of 19 yards) returning kickoffs and Keionte Scott (average of 10 yards) returning punts.
Coaching: C-
For a coaching staff with as many offensive minds as Auburn has, the Tigers ran into a lot of issues.
Auburn moved the ball better coming out of halftime, but some costly turnovers and mistakes made those mid-game adjustments almost for naught.
Overall: C+
The Tigers won on the road, and for that they pass. But it was extremely ugly and won't get the job done against the upcoming four-week stretch of Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss after a Week 3 matchup with FCS Samford.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Grading Tigers' win over Cal
