Auburn wants the Cal rematch to look different: "Here's our chance."

The Tigers' offense put up a lot of points in Week 1 last year, then played poorly in Berkeley. Auburn knows it can't do that again.

QB Payton Thorne (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

This time last year, Auburn’s offense was riding high after a 59-14 home win in Week 1 over UMass. The Tigers threw for more than 200 yards and nearly rushed for 300, racking up nine scoring drives and 27 first downs in the process.

Then it went to California.

Auburn finished with only 230 yards and 14 points in a late-night heist at Cal. The Tigers needed several empty scoring chances by the Golden Bears, a Herculean defensive performance from Eugene Asante and friends, and a couple of “where did that come from?” passes from Payton Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather to escape.

It was an “ugly” offensive performance, in the words of Hugh Freeze. It was also a sign of things to come.

Auburn would have three more games with fewer than 100 passing yards that season (all losses) and three other games with less than 300 yards of total offense (again, all losses). The Tigers were able to win in Berkeley with that offensive showing, but they weren’t as fortunate the rest of the way.

Fast-forward to this week, when Auburn is gearing up for a return visit from Cal, coming off a game in which it lit up the scoreboard.

The 73-3 beatdown of Alabama A&M was different from the UMass opener in 2023 in several key ways — a truly explosive passing performance, a completely overmatched FCS opponent, the new offensive staff, etc. — but it also serves as a reminder that paycheck games can look a lot different than power-conference football.

Freeze knows that, and he knows that the rematch this Saturday is an opportunity to show just how much better his Auburn offense might be.

“They're really confident right now, I'm sure,” Freeze said Monday. “After Saturday, we'll see. … We don't run from that. Here's your chance. Here’s our chance — not just (players), but us, too, as coaches. Here's our chance to prove we can be a fundamentally efficient scoring machine against a team I think plays really efficient defensive football.

“It'll be a really good test for us.”

Last year, Auburn was a 5.5-point road favorite at Cal. This year, Auburn opened as an 11.5-point home favorite over Cal, and that line is all the way up to 14 in some spots.

While the Tigers decimated their Week 1 FCS matchup by a modern-record of 70 points, the Golden Bears had to pull away in the second half to beat UC Davis by 18. And Cal star running back Jaydn Ott left that game with an apparent injury.

Freeze’s game week press conference Monday morning took one final look back at the Alabama A&M blowout and set the tone for what to expect from the Cal matchup.

Here’s everything we heard inside the Football Performance Center on Monday as the Tigers gear up for their rematch against the Golden Bears.

RB Damari Alston, in his old number (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

Auburn expects a familiar test from Cal’s defense…

Cal’s head coach is Justin Wilcox, a former standout defensive coordinator. His defensive staff from 2023 to 2024, led by Peter Sirmon, is mostly the same.

The Golden Bears return “quite a few” starters on defense, and Freeze specifically mentioned starting edge rushers David Reese and Xavier Carlton “as really, really talented.”

“You’ve got to have a plan for those guys,” Freeze said. “The linebackers are aggressive, play hard. And they’re athletic in the secondary.”

In Week 1 against UC Davis, Cal didn’t record a sack and only got three tackles for loss. But the Golden Bears held the Aggies to 4.16 yards per play and came up with three second-half interceptions that went a long way. They had a top-40 rushing defense last season, and they only allowed 83 yards on 25 carries Saturday.

Auburn struggled to get a consistent ground game going against Cal a season ago. The Tigers were held to 3.58 yards per carry and had some costly fumbles. Cal’s defense dared Auburn to win through the air, and that game plan held up for the vast majority of the low-scoring contest.

“Will they play us the same exact way they did last year? I don't know,” Freeze said. “But last year, they were basically saying, ‘We're going to make you have to throw the football and win some 1-on-1s,’ and we struggled to do that some.”

Now it’s time for Thorne and his revamped wide receiver room to show that things should be different in 2024.