The Auburn Tigers beat Vanderbilt 31-15 on Saturday to gain their second win in a row. The season started with a three-game winning streak and then the Tigers suffered a four-game losing streak. With this win the Tigers are looking to make this streak longer than the one that kicked off the 2023 campaign. Last week the star was quarterback Payton Thorne, but in Nashville, it was the running attack with Jarquez Hunter. He led the way with 183 yards and two touchdowns. Thorne had solid numbers with 194 yards and two touchdowns. He did have a bad interception that led to Vanderbilt points. On defense, Auburn held Vanderbilt to 266 yards and two of fourteen on third downs. D.J. James led the team with seven tackles, and the Vanderbilt quarterbacks were sacked five times.
Auburn Tigers Beat Vanderbilt 31-15
Jarquez Hunter Fast Start
The Auburn defense began the game bending but did not break against the Commodores. Vanderbilt held the ball for 4:32 but was held without points when kicker Jacob Borcila missed a 43-yard field goal. Then the Tigers offense got to work, and they did it very quickly. After Thorne ran for eight yards, Hunter broke a 67-yard touchdown run. That put them up 7-0 with ten minutes left in the first quarter.
Hunter was not done making big plays in the first quarter. After the two teams exchanged punts, the Tigers got the ball at their own 21. Thone connected with Ja’Varrius Johnson for a 14-yard reception to move the chains. After another reception by Johnson, Hunter took a handoff for 56 yards to put the Tigers up 14-0 with 3:01 left in the opening period. At this point in the game, Hunter had three carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Slow Second Quarter
Early in the second quarter, Auburn was backed up to their own five, and Thorne made a huge mistake. On third and five he was looking for Rivaldo Fairweather but was intercepted by Bryce Cowan. The Vanderbilt linebacker took it in for a touchdown to make it 14-7 with 12:15 in the second. At this point the Tigers had dominated the game, but that play gave the Commodores some energy.
That Auburn offense would struggle to move the ball on their next two drives ending with Oscar Chapman punts. Luckily, the Vanderbilt offense continued to be silenced by the Tigers defense. Auburn did miss some opportunities for big plays. On a second and 12 with 6:41 left, Thorne went down the field to an open Omari Kelly but he dropped what would have been a touchdown. On the punt for that drive, Auburn was unable to jump on a muffed punt by Will Sheppard despite multiple Tigers in the area.
Auburn did close out the half with points getting a 32-yard Alex McPherson field goal with 20 seconds left. A 23-yard pass to Jay Fair got Auburn to the Vanderbilt three-yard line, but a blocking penalty pushed them back. The Tigers led 17-7 at halftime, and Hunter was the star offensively with 131 yards and two touchdowns. Thorne was 10 of 17 and 72 yards passing. On defense James was all over the field with six tackles in the first half.
Auburn Finds the Pass
Auburn opened the second half by getting the passing game going. After two runs by Hunter that totaled six yards, the Tigers pushed the ball down the field. Thorne attempted to connect with Fairweather on a deep play. Pass interference on De’Rickey Wright prevented the reception. Then Thorne would go to the tight end again with a 53-yard touchdown reception to put the Tigers up 24-7 in the first 90 seconds of the half.
After a quick three-and-out by Vanderbilt, the Tigers’ offense added to the lead. Thorne capped off a 7-play drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to running back Jeremiah Cobb to go up 31-7 with 9:44 left in the third. It is the second consecutive week the two have connected for a score in the passing game. The big play on the drive was when Thorne found Johnson for a 39-yard reception to get the Tigers to the Vanderbilt 20. That catch gave Johnson 62 yards on three receptions.
The Vanderbilt offense finally put something together and found the endzone when Ken Seals found Junior Sherrill for a 30-yard touchdown with 2:43 left in the third. Sherrill would then run it in on a two-point attempt to make it 31-15.
Auburn Holds On
Vanderbilt threatened to make it a one-score game midway through the final quarter. They went on a 16-play, 79-yard drive that took off 9:04 of the clock. The drive reached the Auburn 10, but on first and goal Seals was sacked by Marcus Harris and Cam Riley to push them back. The loss of 11 yards was too much to overcome. On fourth down from the 14, Seals attempted a pass that would go out the back of the endzone. Auburn took back over on offense with 5:48 remaining.
A big play in that drive that got Vanderbilt into Auburn territory was a 28-yard reception by Sheppard. He was covered by James most of the game, and the Auburn defensive back won most of those battles. After that possession, Sheppard had three catches for 40 yards.
After an Auburn punt, Vanderbilt would move the ball to midfield. On a fourth and 13, Seals was intercepted by Nehemiah Pritchett with 1:50 remaining. The Tigers would then proceed to run out the clock as the Auburn Tigers beat Vanderbilt 31-15.
