Defense leads Tigers to road win

Payton Thorne connected with Rivaldo Fairweather on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a hard-fought 14-10 win at California.

“I’m so proud of our kids and staff, defensively especially,” said AU coach Hugh Freeze. “We kept putting their back against the wall with turnovers and penalties. We played awful on offense. But I’ll tell you what, we’re still young and growing and to come and get a win is pretty special.”

Going into the 10-play, 69-yard drive, AU had converted just 1 of 8 third downs and hadn’t completed a pass since 4:41 left in the second quarter.

Fairweather made the biggest play of the drive, making a key catch in traffic on 3rd and 17.

Cal had an opportunity to pull off a late win after Jarquez Hunter fumbled on AU’s 41-yard line with 4:00 left, AU’s fourth turnover of the game.

Once again, it was the defense that stepped up with D.J. James pulling down an interception in the end zone with 1:44 left.

AU’s defense held Cal to 273 yards, just 4 of 18 on third downs, forced three turnovers and had three sacks. Cal kicker Michael Luckhurst missed his final three field goal attempts.

Linebacker Eugene Asante led the defense with 12 tackles and added 1.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack, one pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.

Offensively, Thorne finished 9-of-14 for 94 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Hunter led AU with 53 yards rushing on 11 carries. Damari Alston added 51 yards on eight carries and Jeremiah Cobb 20 yards on three carries.

Fairweather led AU with three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Jay Fair added two catches for 25 yards and one touchdown.

Auburn’s offense managed just 38 yards on 16 plays on its first four possessions, going 0 of 4 on third down before a big play on defense led to an opening score.

Donovan Kaufman stripped Cal running back Isaiah Ifanse and recovered the fumble at the Cal 17-yard line. Three plays later, Thorne connected with Fair on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

Cal scored all 10 of its first-half points off AU turnovers. A Thorne fumble on AU’s opening series led to a 39-yard field goal. The Bears turned an Alston fumble into a 6-play, 65-yard TD drive as Jaydn Ott scored on a 14-yard run.

Cal nearly added a field goal at the end of the half off another turnover after Thorne was intercepted at AU’s 34-yard line with 1:03 left. Michael Luckhurst made a 51-yard field goal but it was nullified on a holding call.

Jaylin Simpson intercepted a pass on the next play to end the half with the Tigers trailing 10-7.

AU finished the first half with 99 total yards and totaled just 230 in the game.

Auburn (2-0) returns to action next Saturday against Samford. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.