Auburn football: Tigers' new quarterback Cam Newton lives up to hype but defense doesn't in 52-26 season-opening win against Arkansas State

AUBURN, Ala. — Cam Newton’s long-awaited return to the Southeastern Conference couldn’t have gone much better.

Newton, who hadn’t played in an SEC game since the 2008 opener for Florida, dabbled in a bit of everything in his unveiling Saturday night as No. 22 Auburn beat Arkansas State 52-26 in the season opener.

The junior college transfer dazzled a Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd of 83,441 with a big, accurate arm and nimble feet, accounting for 357 total yards and five touchdowns — three in the air and two on the ground.

“Being his first football game, I couldn’t be prouder of what he did,” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said.

Newton showed all the abilities that made him the top-ranked junior college quarterback recruit last year, completing 9-of-14 passes for 186 yards and running 15 times for 171 more. He broke the school’s 36-year-old single-game quarterback rushing record of 160, set by Phil Gargis against Georgia in 1974.

“He was a little bit more mobile this game than I’ve ever seen,” Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes said. “You get him in practice, they blow the whistle real fast. To finally see them not blow the whistle and let him run, I think it was amazing (Saturday).”

Auburn finished with 608 yards of offense, but it took the Tigers a while to get out of the blocks. Down 6-0 midway through the first, Newton sparked them with a 15-yard draw on third down. After a 36-yard run by Onterio McCalebb, Kodi Burns scored out of the wildcat formation to give Auburn its first lead at 7-6.

The Tigers didn’t look back. Newton hit running back Mario Fannin for a 36-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the next drive.

Then the quarterback showed off his athleticism, sidestepping five would-be tacklers in the backfield on one play and escaping for a 15-yard gain.

“I think it changes the way defenses play you,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said of Newton’s mobility. “I mean, you’ve got to really be aware, because he’s got some big-play ability and can make things when the play breaks down.”

Malzahn opened up the playbook on the next snap, putting third-string quarterback Neil Caudle in the game as a wide receiver and lateraling him the ball. Caudle fired 42 yards to Darvin Adams to the 2, setting up a touchdown run by Newton to make it 21-6.

Next up was the deep ball. Newton put the perfect touch on a 48-yard lob that dropped perfectly into Quindarius Carr’s arms for another touchdown, making it 28-13.

He rounded out his first-half showcase with a 71-yard run on a quarterback draw along the sideline, almost effortlessly separating himself from the Arkansas State defenders. It was the second-longest run by a quarterback in school history and gave Auburn a 35-16 halftime lead.

“It was really a busted play,” Newton said. “I saw it open up like the Red Sea and just took off.”

Despite the offensive outburst, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Tigers. The defense didn’t look too much different than the unit that surrendered a school-record 358 points last season.

Using an up-tempo offense similar to Auburn’s, Arkansas State racked up 366 yards. Red Wolves quarterback Ryan Aplin picked apart the Tigers’ secondary with a variety of underneath routes, going 28-for-42 for 278 yards and a touchdown.

After Auburn fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, Arkansas State capitalized, getting an 8-yard touchdown run by Derek Lawson that cut the lead to 35-23.

“When you go into league play, we are not good enough to beat anybody doing that,” Chizik said.

But the Tigers stiffened on defense. Although they didn’t force a turnover, the Tigers sacked Aplin four times and limited Arkansas State to 43 rushing yards on 35 carries. The Red Wolves were only 5-for-19 on third-down conversions.

Newton gave Auburn some breathing room midway through the third quarter, hooking up with Fannin for a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it a three-score game again at 42-23.

Freshman Michael Dyer led the Auburn running backs with 95 yards on 14 carries, including his first career touchdown, a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.

McCalebb ran for 76 yards on nine carries. Strangely, No. 1 back Mario Fannin got only three carries for 17 yards, fumbling once, although he thrived in the passing game

Auburn now has five days to focus on its SEC opener Thursday night at Mississippi State, which hammered Memphis in its opener.

“We’ve got so much work to do,” Chizik said. “Our whole football team understands that we have not arrived yet.”

This story was originally published September 5, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Auburn football: Tigers' new quarterback Cam Newton lives up to hype but defense doesn't in 52-26 season-opening win against Arkansas State."