Auburn builds big lead, hangs on for win over Louisville

Auburn’s offense nearly squandered an inspired effort from the Tigers’ rebuilt defense Saturday in a season-opening 31-24 win over Louisville.

Quarterback Jeremy Johnson threw three interceptions in front of a Georgia Dome crowd largely filled with Auburn faithful.

The turnovers combined with a number of costly penalties -- including a holding call that wiped out a 56-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jason Smith -- kept the Tigers from pulling away.

"We got up and we held on, and our guys found a way to win," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Johnson, who won the starting job in the spring, didn’t get off to the start many expected with some poor decision-making in the passing game. 

His second interception of the first half was a ball thrown in triple coverage.

In the third quarter, Johnson threw an interception on a ball that could have easily been thrown out of bounds to give Louisville excellent field position at the Tigers’ 36-yard line.

The Cardinals would end up scoring on the ensuing drive to make it 21-10.

It was the first time in the Gus Malzahn-led era an Auburn quarterback has thrown three interceptions in a single game.

The steadying force ended up coming from running back Peyton Barber.

While the Tigers’ run game sputtered to start the game behind starter Roc Thomas, he left the game with an undisclosed leg injury in the first half.

Auburn’s offense gained some momentum when the bulk of the carries went to Barber. He set up a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter when Malzahn called his number five times during a stretch of six plays. 

He had 30 yards to get Auburn down to Louisville’s 33-yard line, setting up a 33-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Ricardo Louis.

Barber would cross the 100-yard mark early in the fourth quarter when he carried the ball six times on a 12-play drive that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown run from Ricardo Louis to put the Tigers up 31-10 with 10:04 to go in the game.

"This is his moment," Malzahn said, of Barber. "He came through with flying colors. He ran the ball hard, great ball security and really carried us in the second half."

Louisville had its own fair share of offensive struggles, and turned to true freshman Lamar Jackson at quarterback late in the first half for a spark.

The Cardinals’ offense looked lost under starter Reggie Bonnafon, who struggled against a strong pass rush up front from Auburn’s defensive line.

Bonnafon was sacked three times, and fumbled a hand-off exchange that lead to a 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown for Auburn linebacker Justin Garrett.

Jackson proved an elusive target, extending plays with his legs and getting to the second level of the defense. He ran for 86 of his 106-total rushing yards in the second half.

He orchestrated a pair of double-digit play scoring drives in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game at 31-24 with 2:17 to go.

"I thought they did a great job in the first half," Malzahn said, of the defense. "In the second half, they still did some good things. That freshman quarterback -- he's electric now, and he made some plays with his feet. He's going to be tough to deal with."

The Cardinals failed to recover an onside kick, and only had one timeout remaining.

Auburn didn't get a first down, but was able to run out the clock. On the final play, Johnson scrambled around in the backfield, and threw a deep incomplete pass.

Michael Niziolek covers Auburn football for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Email him at mniziolek@ledger-enquirer.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Auburn builds big lead, hangs on for win over Louisville."