Auburn beats Louisiana Tech 37-13

By JOHN ZENOR, AP Sports Writer Sep 5, 11:16 pm EDT

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AUBURN, Ala. (AP)—Chris Todd and Terrell Zachery hooked up on a school-record 93-yard touchdown pass to help Auburn beat Louisiana Tech 37-13 in Gene Chizik’s debut as head coach.

Todd passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns, including the long one early in the third quarter. He had shoulder surgery in December and won the starting job despite missing spring practice in Gus Malzahn’s newly installed offense.

Onterio McCalebb rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown to become the first Auburn freshman to run for 100 yards or more in an opener since Bo Jackson in 1982. Ben Tate also rushed for 117 yards.

The fiery Chizik exhorted fans and pumped his fists during the pregame Tiger Walk to Jordan-Hare Stadium. His hiring, after going 5-19 in two seasons as a head coach at Iowa State, drew plenty of fire from fans and the media alike.

The Tigers gained a balanced 556 total yards after having one of the nation’s least productive offenses last season, averaging just 302 yards a game. They held Louisiana Tech to 245 yards.

Auburn put it away with Todd’s 17-yard pass to Darvin Adams in the right corner of the end zone on a third-and-16 play early in the fourth quarter. McCalebb added a 3-yard touchdown run.

Chizik’s first game wasn’t always pretty despite dominating the second half 24-3. Auburn committed 87 yards in penalties—mostly on defense—and lost two fumbles.

The Tigers turned the momentum with two big plays. First, freshman Darren Bates made a leaping interception at the 2-yard line. On third down, Todd found Zachery streaking down the right sideline after the defenders bit on his fake for a 20-10 lead. It was the longest completion by an Auburn player, topping an 87-yarder from Jason Campbell to Silas Daniels against Louisiana Tech five years ago.

The Tigers spread the wealth offensively.

McCalebb outdid Jackson’s 123-yard debut against Wake Forest, and he and Tate both had 20-plus carries. Todd completed 17 of 26 passes and wasn’t intercepted.

Zachery had 98 yards receiving, while Mario Fannin had eight catches for 82 yards and Adams gained 65 yards on four receptions.

Wes Byrum kicked field goals of 25, 49 and 47 yards.

Ross Jenkins completed his first 10 passes for Tech but finished 18 of 33 for 149 yards. He ran for another 36.

Auburn narrowly avoided a halftime tie when teams traded field goals in the final 23 seconds.

The Bulldogs recovered a Tate fumble and marched 90 yards in 18 plays before settling for Matt Nelson’s 20-yarder.

Auburn then got a 9-yard run by McCalebb and a 30-yard pass from Todd to Fannin to set up Byrum’s 49-yard field goal as time expired for a 13-10 lead.

Updated Sep 5, 11:16 pm EDT
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Head to Head - Week 1

Team Total Yds Pass Yds Rush Yds First Downs 3rdD% Pen./Yds Turnovers Time of Poss.
Louisiana Tech 245 149 96 19 35.7% 3/30 2 31:23
Auburn 556 255 301 27 61.5% 8/87 2 28:37
NCAAF

10 Comments

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  1. Derrick L
    10. Posted by Derrick L Tue Sep 8 8:52pm EDT

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    Just checked Auburn's schedule. Miss St will give us a better matchup to assess what type of team we have this year. If we lose to Miss St this week, I think we will see a QB change by the end of September.
  2. Derrick L
    9. Posted by Derrick L Tue Sep 8 8:28pm EDT

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    The point I was trying to make on the QB rotation is our QB position needs to be more stable. If Todd develops into a solid starter, Burns will be history and Tyrik Rollison might as well redshirt this year. Because we are still seeing Burns at QB lets me know that the coaches do not think Todd is the answer but he is the best they have. In my opinion, that's not good enough because Todd is a senior and as you stated, Chizik may not get another chance next year if he don't win now. I believe, if you have no clearly established leader at QB then you should go with youth over seniority. Todd is on his way out and the best Chiz can hope for with Todd is a 5 win season which will certainly put him in hot water with Auburn. He can get 5 wins starting the freshmen with a year of starting experience going into next season. If Chizik is going to go out for losing, then he should go out with the players he signed and not the group of losers he was given. Don't get me wrong, I love Auburn football but its frustrating to watch this team doing the same thing they did last year, with the same guys.
  3. johnf
    8. Posted by johnf Tue Sep 8 1:03am EDT

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    what QB rotation? 1 passing attempt from the 2nd guy doesn't qualify as a rotation.

    As for starting the freshmen, these days new coaches don't get growing pain years. Chiz has to win as many games as he can THIS year or he'll get canned. Reference the last 10 coaches Bama had.
  4. Derrick L
    7. Posted by Derrick L Mon Sep 7 1:29am EDT

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    Happy to see Auburn get the win but deeply concerned how the team played. The offense looked much like what we saw last year with the QB shuffle between Todd and Burns. It didn't work last year and it won't work this year. I don't understand why Chizik would go with the same two QB rotation that failed miserably last year. If we can't get better play from the QB position, I expect big problems in this year. I think the best solution is to go with your young talented Freshmen. Start Tyrik Rollison at QB and let this year be a learning year to help him grow into a solid starting QB. Start Onterio McCaleb and bring Ben Tate off the bench. Start Deangelo Benton and Emory Blake at WR. I think these young players give Auburn the best chance to returning to a top SEC and national power, if not this year then next year.
  5. Joshua
    6. Posted by Joshua Sun Sep 6 10:20pm EDT

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    War eagle!!!!!!!!
  6. Jay
    5. Posted by Jay Sun Sep 6 9:38pm EDT

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    Auburn won...Good Effort...Nicky Satan has a good team...best money can buy! WAR M F'ing EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. Satans still gonna get beat by Flo RIDA!!!!!
  7. Chris
    4. Posted by Chris Sun Sep 6 4:04pm EDT

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    Whats up "dad?" Still a little shaken after barely pulling through? You are right we wont win a National Championship this year, but we will go to a bowl game. Also, I dont think you will have to worry about the B.C.S. either............see ya old man!!!
  8. Dad
    3. Posted by Dad Sun Sep 6 12:23am EDT

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    National Championship???? Bowl game???? You guys smoking toilet paper from the tree??? Unbelievable!! You should DROP lower than 52nd in the polls after this game was handed to you by the officials. You are pathetic! Go Bulldogs! You won't win a game in the SEC this year or probably until Nick Saban retires in 2019! National Championship? Bowl game? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! My sides are hurting!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
  9. t
    2. Posted by t Sat Sep 5 11:42pm EDT

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    Offense looks a lot better than last year although I may not be quite as optimistic. WAR EAGLE!!! Bowl game here we come!
  10. charles k
    1. Posted by charles k Sat Sep 5 11:08pm EDT

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    WAR EAGLE!!!!!! National championship here we come!
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Top Performers

 Top Performers
 Louisiana Tech
R. Jenkins R. Jenkins, QB
18-33, 149 yds
1 TD, 1 INT
 Auburn
C. Todd C. Todd, QB
17-26, 255 yds
2 TDs

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