3 Takeaways from Auburn’s narrow road win at Cal

Auburn football went on the road to Cal and secured a narrow win in Week Two. Their performance wasn’t pretty at all, but here’s what we learned from the sloppy victory.

1. That offensive performance was hideous

The Tiger offense was downright bad as a whole on Saturday night. It gained just 230 total yards and just 12 first downs through 60 minutes against Cal.

The running game was awfully average, gaining 136 yards on 38 carries, a mark of 3.6 yards per carry. That would be somewhat forgivable if not for three fumbles, one each from Payton Thorne, Damari Alston, and Jarquez Hunter. The facet of the game that is supposed to be this offense’s strong suit was woefully ineffective on Saturday night.

The passing game was downright bad. Payton Thorne threw for just 94 yards and gave the Cal defense no reason to respect the pass.

For 45 minutes, Auburn’s offense looked rough.

However, when they needed it most, they finally came through. Seemingly saving all their mojo for the fourth quarter, the Tigers put together a 10-play, 69-yard drive, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather to take the lead with 6:31 remaining.

Plain and simple, this unit has to play better. The thing is, it likely will. This is just its second game under Hugh Freeze, and there are still countless kinks to be worked out.

For now, though, that was an offensive night to forget.