Auburn’s defense, big second half seals Birmingham Bowl victory over Memphis

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The Birmingham Bowl ended with Auburn on top, but Memphis safety Reggis Ball wasn’t about to go quietly into the night. The Memphis Tigers (9-3) will be led by interim coach Darrell Dickey, as he continues to fill in for new head coach Mike Norvell, who will wait until the end of the season to take over. However, the game went into halftime tied at 10-10 as Memphis scored on a 53-yard interception return on a fourth down and less than two play.

Paxton Lynch is the Memphis QB, he threw 28 touchdowns and only three interceptions on the year.

What channel is the Birmingham Bowl featuring Auburn vs. Memphis on? When the clock hit zero in Birmingham, Auburn were 31-10 victors over Memphis.

This was simply a case of SEC size and speed wearing down the smaller Memphis team and taking control at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Auburn hasn’t replaced defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Memphis linebacker Genard Avery is questionable with an undisclosed injury. Memphis made a big mistake, compounded it with another mistake and then Auburn failed to capitalize on it. It was a attractive maelstrom of failure that properly summarizes a noon kickoff between two teams that seem uninterested in playing the Birmingham Bowl. Auburn ranks 73rd nationally against the pass, giving up 232.2 yards a game through the air.

Key stats: North Carolina State is 3-2 all-time against Mississippi State with the last meeting coming in 1994. The Tigers beat BYU previous year 55-48 in the Miami Beach Bowl.

Jacoby Brissett threw for one touchdown and ran for one for the Wolfpack (7-6). Mississippi State is 10-8 in bowl games. They’ll face a hot Louisville team in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.

Auburn would stall out on offense, which led to the teams alternating fruitless drives. Ricardo Louis and Melvin Ray were combined for 928 yards and five touchdowns in receiving. Mose Frazeri and Anthony Miller were combined for 1,434 yards and nine touchdowns in receiving.

It was his last game as a University player. Johnson finished the game with 1 for 1 in passes completed, 11 passing yards and a touchdown. The Aggies have won all three meetings between the schools, which came in consecutive seasons between 1992-94. The Tigers signal-caller threw for 3,670 yards and recorded 30 touchdowns.

Injuries: Cardinals wide receiver Jamari Staples is questionable with a shoulder injury.

Memphis gained one first down on its opening possession before punting to Auburn, which drove 70 yards on 10 plays to score the game’s opening TD on an eight-yard run by Kerryon Johnson, who lined up as a wildcat quarterback. Auburn pressured Lynch into 16-of-37 on pass attempts for 106 yards and just his fourth interception of the season. Johnson, who started seven other games, showed his promise in the second half. Auburn almost cut that total in half, limiting Memphis to just 99 yards on 31 carries and no touchdowns.

Memphis coach Justin Fuente took the Virginia Tech job, he’s no longer part of the program and won’t coach in the bowl game.