Auburn and Memphis are tied at HT

Auburn scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Memphis.

At the other end of the field from where the headquarters was covering the Birmingham Bowl, Memphis defensive back Reggis Ball made a decision to be cute and try to steal one of Auburn’s game balls from an equipment manager. Auburn (7-6) avoided the first losing season of Gus Malzahn’s 11-year college coaching career. Sure they had a lot of time to prepare and get healthy, but this was by far the best that defense has looked all year. The Tigers D would hold up, limiting Auburn to a field goal.

Paxton Lynch did not play like the highly projected prospect he is, completing just 17 of his 38 passes for 104 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

Memphis: Lynch has passed for a school-record 3,670 yards and 28 touchdowns with just three interceptions. Game MVP Jovon Robinson effectively put the game away with a Four-yard touchdown arrange by Davis’s 56-yard return right down to the 6 early within the fourth.

The first drive included one pass — a 37-yard completion on fourth down from punter Kevin Phillips to Kerryon Johnson.

“This game is special because it’s personal”, Robinson said.

“I am very happy for our players”, said Malzahn. The final pickoff gave Memphis one last chance to take a halftime lead. “But I’m glad for him, though, he’s definitely deserving of what he did today”. Sean White threw the pass directly to Reggie Ball, who had a clear path to the end zone to tie the game with 3:06 before intermission. “We really wanted to put pressure on the quarterback”. Auburn outgained Memphis 402-205 in total yards within the 1st game since defensive coordinator Will Muschamp left to grow to be South Carolina’s head coach. That’s what would have been remembered most about the game – would have.

For Memphis (9-4), which played the game without head coach Justin Fuente (who’s now at Virginia Tech), it was a disappointing way to finish one of the best seasons in program history. Yes, Lynch couldn’t throw the ball to draw defenders out of the box, but the rushing attack couldn’t keep defenders close enough to the line of scrimmage at the snap in order to free up some space in the secondary for Lynch to pick apart.

“It hasn’t been a flawless season by any measure, but he did awesome”, White said. Memphis is allowing just 3.4 yards a carry. He went 8-of-14 with 103 yards and two picks.

This was a win that will have few reverberations nationally, despite Memphis’ label as the next great thing and an NFL-ready quarterback. Memphis converted on the turnover with a 53-yard field goal by Jake Elliott.