AUBURN | On his fourth carry on Saturday night, Tank Bigsby escaped a would-be tackler at the 30-yard line, pivoted to the outside and had a clear path to the end zone for Auburn's first touchdown of the season. The running back was barely past the 20-yard line when he started relishing the moment.
The touchdown seemed to mean more to him than most.
"It was a big moment," Bigsby said. "It was a big moment for Auburn at the time. I just had the energy, and I just celebrated. I felt like I needed to celebrate, and I did."
Enjoy the moment? He earned that right. On the first drive alone, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year pounded the ball down Akron's throat to the tune of 49 yards on the four carries, setting up a night in which he barely broke a sweat in recording 119 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. If you do the math, the Tigers averaged 9.2 yards per Bigsby run, almost a first down each time he touched the ball.
Of course, Bigsby had some guys to thank for his success, specifically the five big men paving the way for those yards in which he barely got touched at the line of scrimmage. The star running back is "thankful for those guys" but isn't resting on the laurels of one game.
"Today was good, but we've got a lot more to get better at," Bigsby said.
In all, Auburn put up 315 total yards on the ground, including true freshman Jarquez Hunter dazzling in the second half with 110 yards and a score on nine carries. Bigsby got the offense rolling, though, as he and quarterback Bo Nix powered the Tigers to touchdowns on five straight possessions to begin the game.
That scoring explosion didn't shock Bigsby.
"After all the hard work we put in — we worked our tails off all summer with the same plays, working over and over again on the same plays," he said. "We got the little things right. So it was no surprise."
A lot of pressure rests on the shoulders of the sophomore running back from LaGrange, Ga, this season. From what we saw on Saturday against the Zips, he's more than ready to carry that weight.
