Guerry Clegg commentary on Auburn football: Plenty of good and bad in Tigers' opener

Exhilarating and embarrassing

By GUERRY CLEGG

Special to the Ledger-Enquirer

AUBURN, Ala. — No, it wasn’t quite the near-flawless romps that Alabama and Georgia enjoyed Saturday. But neither was it the red-faced loss that Mississippi suffered.

Rather, Auburn’s season opener — a less-than-perfect 52-26 victory over Arkansas State — rests curiously if not comfortably somewhere in between exhilarating and embarrassing.

Actually, it was both exhilarating and embarrassing.

The exhilarating part was Cam Newton’s debut as Auburn’s quarterback. For the most part, Newton looked like a cross between Jason Campbell and Kodi Burns. Newton impressed with his arm, poise, decision-making and legs.

But the Tigers’ defense was downright embarrassing. If Auburn is to live up to its preseason hype as an SEC contender, the defense will have to play considerably better than it did Saturday night.

That didn’t escape Gene Chizik, Auburn’s second-year head coach.

“Our level of focus and concentration (Saturday) at times was extremely sloppy,” Chizik said. “That’s disappointing. It was glaring. When you go into league play, we’re not good enough to beat anybody doing that.”

It’s understandable — not acceptable, but understandable — for a major college power to take a lesser opponent lightly and come out a little flat. But the Tigers’ defense didn’t just come out flat. It seemed befuddled at times trying to stop Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin, making him look like Greg McElroy.

It’s little consolation that Aplin set a school record for pass completion percentage (.653) last season as a freshman. That was against Sun Belt Conference defenses. Aplin completed his first nine pass attempts Saturday night and had another stretch hitting six of seven. All the way into the fourth quarter, when all had been decided but the final score, Aplin had the Tigers on their heels at times.

Even Aplin’s understudy, Phillip Butterfield, moved the ball for a field goal, albeit against the Auburn reserves.

The Red Wolves finished with 366 yards passing, an inexcusable figure for an FBS lightweight going up against the No. 23 team in the country. Ted Roof’s bunch had better figure out something quickly with Mississippi State, Clemson and South Carolina on the horizon.

But back to the exhilarating. It’s easy to see why Newton was once seen as the heir to Tim Tebow at Florida. Newton was every bit as spectacular as advertised. His 171 yards rushing broke an Auburn record for a quarterback that had stood for 36 years. Phil Gargis ran for 160 yards in 1974 against Florida State.

Newton had a 71-yard run that was the fourth-longest run ever by an Auburn quarterback. And that was not even his most impressive run.

That came in the second quarter when Newton dropped back to pass and found no one open. He stepped to the right to avoid a sack, which seemed to merely prolong the inevitable as another wave of defenders had him surrounded.

But somehow, Newton escaped that trap and not only avoided the sack but turned it into a 16-yard gain for a first down. He happily yielded to Neil Caudle, who promptly threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Darvin Adams.

“Let’s just say I was happy to see Neil Caudle come in the next play because I was exhausted,” Newton said.

Newton’s final passing numbers — nine completions on 14 attempts, 186 yards, three touchdowns — were understated compared to his performance. And yet, here’s the scary part for opposing defensive coordinators.

“I didn’t feel,” said Newton, “that I played the best I could play.”

Arkansas State head coach Steve Roberts came away a believer.

“I don’t know that I’ve seen a better individual performance that we saw (Saturday) with Cam Newton,” Roberts said. “He might be the best individual player that I’ve ever seen in person.”

Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com.