Author: Jack Culberson
We were in the Plains to see Auburn Tigers kicked off their 2022 campaign by playing the Mercer Bears at their home in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers defeated the Bears pretty badly with a final score of 42-16, in the Tigers favor. Let’s break down the full story of this game.
It was clear early on in this game that the Tigers wanted to run the ball as 7 plays on their first drive were run plays, and one of these run plays was a 19 yard touchdown run by Jarquez Hunter to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead. Big plays were the theme of the Tigers second drive as a Robby Ashford run for 49 yards and a T.J. Finley pass to junior Ja’Varrius Johnson for 39 yards were the primary reasons for the Tigers success on this drive. The very next play after a 39 yard pass, the 93 yard drive was capped off with a 2 yard touchdown pass from T.J. Finley to John Samuel Shenker to extend the Tigers lead to 14.
The second quarter of this game seemed a lot like the first with a very strong defensive effort and dominant run game by Auburn. The next score of the game was Jarquez Hunter’s second touchdown of the game on a 2 yard run, and made this game 21-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half. Mercer was still not able to score and punted for the fourth time this game. After Mercer’s punt, Auburn’s run game continued its dominance and junior Tank Bigsby finished the drive off with a 2 yard run to make the score 28-0. Mercer’s offense was completely outmatched by Auburn’s defense and Mercer’s chances to even score a touchdown looked slim until T.J. Finley’s pass was intercepted by Chris Jones. The Bears were able to capitalize off this turnover with a Fred Peyton 5 yard touchdown pass to Devron Harper with 20 seconds left in the first half. This was the end of the first half where the Tigers were leading 28-7.
On Mercer’s first drive after half time, they punted. On Auburn’s first drive after half time T.J. Finley threw another interception this time to Sophomore defensive back T.J. Moore. This time however, Mercer was not able to capitalize off the turnover and punted it back to Auburn. The Tigers finished off an 80 yard drive with Jarquez Hunter’s third score of the game. The next time the Tiger’s touched the ball, they scored in two plays because of a Tank Bigsby 39 yard touchdown run to put the Tigers up 42-7. The third quarter ended in the middle of Mercer’s drive that ended with a 33 yard field goal to make the score 42-10.
The fourth quarter saw a lot of Auburn’s younger guys get some snaps and some playing experience. There was not much action in the fourth quarter except for a turnover on downs by Auburn’s offense and another Mercer touchdown. Mercer’s final drive of the game consisted of 9 plays and took 65 yards, and was capped off with an 8 yard touchdown pass from Fred Payton to Devron Harper. The extra point was missed so the score was now 42-16. When Auburn got the ball back they ended the game. Final score 42-16 Auburn had won their first game of the season and Mercer now had a 1 in the loss column.
Auburn’s defense was very solid this game but pass rush could improve, maybe that is something the defensive unit will focus on as they look forward to their week two matchup against a 1-0 San Jose State team. Auburn is the favorite in this game, and that is no surprise because of how they played against Mercer. Tank Bigsby will be a threat this year if he plays like he did against Mercer for a majority of the year he could be a real Heisman candidate. Ja’Varrius Johnson played very well and looks like a great deep threat for T.J. Finley. As for T.J. Finley looked solid, but he definitely needs to worry about ball security if the Tigers want to be competitive in a stacked SEC.
Mercer’s next game is at home versus The Citadel Bulldogs who are 1-0 and are playing East Tennessee State on September 10. Mercer has been a really solid team so expect a good game where Mercer is the favorite.