Observations: Auburn 48, ULM 14
Cruising to a comfortable win against an overmatched team might not mean much. Still, it beats the heck out of the alternative.
WR Cam Coleman (David Gray/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — For a struggling program in the midst of another down season, what Auburn did on Saturday against ULM might not mean much in the big picture.
Auburn beat ULM by 34 and never looked remotely uncomfortable. The Tigers already had 24 points on the board by the time the Warhawks scored, and the only other touchdown came after a defensive back fell down on a last-second heave. Auburn’s defense looked excellent once again.
But we’ve seen this movie before, haven’t we?
Auburn beat Alabama A&M by 70 and only scored 14 in a loss to Cal the very next week. Auburn then beat New Mexico by 26 and… only scored 14 in a loss to Arkansas the very next week. Even the Tigers’ two-touchdown road victory at Kentucky was followed up by only 7 points in a loss to Vanderbilt.
So, there might not be a ton to glean from an Auburn team putting up 300-plus passing yards and 200-plus rushing yards against a ULM team that has now lost four straight games and was expected to be one of the worst FBS squads in the country. (The Warhawks, to their credit, have been better than expected.)
Still, it beats the heck out of the alternative.
Instead of stumbling around as a 6-loss team during a sleepy early game in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn simply took care of business Saturday. For the most part, it did what a team of its talent level is supposed to do against a much weaker program.
“I thought it was a pretty dominant performance, with just a small lapse at the beginning of the third quarter by both sides,” head coach Hugh Freeze said. “I’m just really proud of our kids and our effort. Hopefully, we gain some confidence headed into these last two huge football games that we have.”
And the Tigers and their fans had fun in the process — especially when the ball was thrown from Payton Thorne in the direction of Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Fun has been in short supply, so getting to experience it again shouldn’t be totally ignored.
“It’s definitely fun,” running back Jarquez Hunter said. “We come in here and work every day. We love each other like we’re brothers. We go in here and work for coach Freeze and the rest of the staff. We just thank all of the Auburn fans for still coming out, supporting us every single day and not criticizing.
“They’re still here and still supporting. We can’t thank them enough.”
Auburn will now face a pair of top-15 teams to end the season. Upsetting one of either Texas A&M and Alabama would be a surprise. Knocking off both would be grounds for the most stunning late-season turnaround in a long time.
The numbers, the odds and the vibe of this 2024 season all say Auburn won’t win again.
And, even if the Tigers don’t win, they continue to show that they won’t pull the plug on the campaign. They kept their execution and energy up, even going so far as pulling off only eighth 99-yard touchdown drive in school history and playing the first penalty-free game for the program since at least 1996.
(They even went perfect with a beleaguered special teams unit, which included some perfect kicks from new walk-on starter Ian Vachon.)
“It’s definitely what we need right now, because Texas A&M comes in here next week,” edge rusher Jalen McLeod said. “We need that momentum to go into the next game. We need our offense and defense to click with each other. Those are the type of things that we’re looking for every game.”
As poorly as this season has gone, that might be worth something down the road.
Here are five Observations from Auburn’s 48-14 win over ULM, along with the Quote of the Day.