Published Sep 5, 2021
Report Card: Grading out Auburn's dominating win over Akron
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Christian Clemente  •  AuburnSports
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The Bryan Harsin era got rolling in a quick way on Saturday as Auburn cruised to a 60-10 victory over Akron.

While Auburn played extremely well, not everything was perfect for the Tigers. Time to grade out the position groups from Saturday.

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Quarterbacks — A

This was as close to an A+ as you could possibly get. Had T.J. Finley played a little better during his time in the game, it probably would've been an A+. Bo Nix played an A+ game. But as a group, it gets an A.

This was arguably the best performance out of Nix. Yes, it was against Akron. But, he looked poised in the pocket, never threw off his back foot and just overall looked really sharp out there. He looked like the 5-star prospect he was highly touted as. You really cannot finish too much better than 20-for-22 with 275 yards and three touchdowns. He added 32 yards on the ground on three carries, too. Nix finished with an absurdly high 240.9 passer rating. It's unrealistic to expect that every week, but if Auburn can get a player closer to that than the previous version of Nix, it will be huge.

What brought the QB grade down was the play of Finley. Simply put, it was less than stellar. He went 2-for-5 for 22 yards through the air, but looked slow and struggled with his accuracy.

Running Backs — A+

This certainly won't be the only A+ given out throughout this report card. Top to bottom, Auburn's running backs dominated.

Bigsby was just as good as everyone remembers, going for 119 yards on 13 carries and adding two touchdowns.

Shaun Shivers only carried it twice, but went for 24 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Jarquez Hunter quickly lived up to the hype that he's received since he signed with the program. From position coach Cadillac Williams to other players on roster, Hunter's received his fair share of praise. When you carry it nine times for 110 yards and a touchdown in your collegiate debut, you effectively live up to that hype. Hunter was fast and physical out there and proved he can be a good No. 3 back for Auburn this year.

And finally, walk-on Sean Jackson also looked strong. He carried it twice for 22 yards and was extremely physical.

All around, the running backs looked good.

Wide Receivers — A

I've been more critical about the wide receivers than most throughout the spring and the fall. They quickly shut me up on Saturday.

The biggest surprise, potentially, was Shedrick Jackson. Jackson's never been much more than a blocker during his time at Auburn but he looked the part as Auburn's top target on Saturday, finishing with five receptions and 79 yards.

Ja'Varrius Johnson and Demetris Robertson both had three receptions for 51 and 28 yards, respectively. Kobe Hudson, Ze'Vian Capers and Elijah Canion also all had at least one reception.

The receivers ran more complex routes and looked much better than expected.

Tight Ends — A-

Seeing is believing and Auburn fans should be able to believe that finally, the tight ends are involved in the offense. There was one involved on every play and quite a few two tight end sets. At one point near the goal line, Auburn ran with four tight ends on the field at once.

The leader of the group, John Samuel Shenker, was the only one to record a reception as he brought in five passes for 38 yards.

The group looked pretty strong blocking and knowing where to go, but also had Brandon Frazier get called for holding and Tyler Fromm for a false start, bringing the overall grade down.

Offensive Line — A

The offensive line as an A is something you probably thought you'd never read. But throughout the whole game they gave up two tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry.

It was a great showing for the group and provided signs of encouragement for the future. Auburn also rotated in Alec Jackson and Tashawn Manning at the guard spots, but Brandon Council and Keiondre Jones appear to be the two starting guards.

Defensive Line/EDGE — A

The defensive line and the EDGE rushers absolutely feasted on the Akron offensive line. They flat-out dominated. T.D. Moultry finally lived up to the hype and opposite him, Derick Hall was unstoppable.

The group had six sacks in the game, allowed just 0.6 yards per carry and finished with 11 tackles for loss.

Everyone from newcomer Marcus Harris to Colby Wooden to J.J. Pegues found a way to contribute on Saturday.

Linebackers — A-

Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain were flying around as per usual and wreaking havoc on the Akron offense.

McClain, who led Auburn in tackles last year, was tied for the team lead on Saturday with seven. Chandler Wooten added six, Pappoe had four and backups Cam Riley had three and Wesley Steiner had two.

While he did get after the quarterback, Pappoe also whiffed on a couple of what should've been easy sacks, causing the grade to drop slightly for the linebackers.

Secondary — B

The Auburn secondary looked good, then DJ Irons came in and went 13-for-13 for 129 yards and a touchdown. Yes, it was Auburn's backups. But their performance needs to be better than that.

The starters in the secondary looked strong and kept the Akron receivers in check and locked down most of the game.

One player that was not so great was Bydarrius Knighten. Knighten took a couple of bad routes to the ball and got lost in the mix because of it. With Ladarius Tennison returning soon and Zion Puckett vying for playing time, Knighten needs to improve his play.

Special Teams — B

A couple of small miscues led to Auburn's special teams grade dropping.

First off, Anders Carlson started the game with a rare miss and it was on a PAT. He bounced back and knocked down a 44-yard field goal later in the game, and it's not like the missed PAT cost Auburn the game or anything, but it was a rare miscue from the senior.

On one punt return, Ja'Varrius Johnson slipped and fell, leading the Tigers to get pinned at their own 8-yard line. Again, not a huge deal, but it was something worth noting.

As for the actual returns, Johnson had an 11-yard punt return and Demetris Robertson returned one 19 yards. Donovan Kaufman returned three kicks for 61 yards.

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