Auburn's home opener against Tulane Saturday night wasn't easy at any point, but several big plays at important moments gave the home team enough advantages to emerge victorious.

Let's take a look at the four biggest:

Bo Nix to Will Hastings for a 31-yard touchdown.

This isn't a difficult throw insofar as Hastings was allowed to run freely through the Tulane defense. Still, Nix identified the mismatch quickly and made an accurate throw. Credit also goes to Hastings, who anticipated contact at the 5-yard line and unleashed a nifty spin move to ditch that defensive back. Those are the moves of a former soccer player.

Nix to Seth Williams for a 40-yard gain.

This is a throw Nix feels very comfortable throwing in general. That's partially because Williams is so good at winning aerial challenges, but also because Nix is innately excellent at lofting these deep balls to his left. The defensive back's coverage is strong, and he indeed had at least a decent claim on an interception, but Williams did enough to earn the reception. This big play prefaced a touchdown two plays later. Still, it was costly; Williams suffered an injury here and didn't return to the game.

Boobee Whitlow goal-line fumble.

This was the next play after Williams' big catch portrayed above. It's designed to go off-tackle (Marquel Harrell's pulling action confirms that) but Whitlow saw a small hole inside and jumped for it. While reaching for the goal line, Whitlow lost control of the football. Harrell, incredibly, dived back to recover the fumble and kept the drive alive.

This was Whitlow's second fumble of the game. He fumbled three times in all.

Whitlow 14-yard touchdown run.

This play put Auburn ahead by 15 points, which turned a "close" game into a much more difficult task for Tulane. The design here is now for Auburn — a counter run out of the wildcat formation with two pulling guards providing cover. On the alternate-angle replay, check out the seal blocks by Spencer Nigh (99) and Marquis McClain (17) to give Whitlow a clear lane outside. Nigh's block, in particular, was pretty graphic. That defensive end had no chance.

Auburn used this same play again later in the game — with similarly strong effect. Malzahn has some good pulling guards and this may provide some clues about how Auburn can add more effectiveness to its foundering run game.

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