Birmingham Bowl Auburn vs. Memphis Picks & Predictions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Jeremy Johnson came off the bench to run and pass for touchdowns, lifting Auburn to a 31-10 victory over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl.

Auburn outscored Memphis by 14 points in the final quarter and held the Tigers to 206 total yards in a 31-10 victory. Auburn is just over 100 miles away, just a two hour drive while Memphis is about 230 miles away, and a three-and-a-half hour trip to the game. Lynch is considered a top-5 quarterback prospect for the 2016 NFL Draft and is expected to turn professional after this contest. But the 126 yards rushing and a touchdown by Auburn running back Jovon Robinson has taken a back seat.

Memphis is 2-0 in its series with Auburn and will be looking to win multiple games against Southeastern Conference opponents for the first time since beating both Arkansas and Ole Miss during the 1994 season.

Auburn (6-6) stumbled over the latter half of their season in dropping four of their final six games.

Memphis would later intercept a trick play by Auburn when Reggis Ball picked off Auburn receiver Jason Smith.

And with the passing attack it has relied on all year struggling, Memphis couldn’t get much going on the ground either, totaling just 102 yards on 30 attempts.

The game took shape as the battle of the interims in Auburn interim defensive coordinator Lance Thompson got the best of Memphis interim offensive coordinator (and interim head coach) Darrell Dickey. There are 12 different players that have caught a touchdown from Lynch, so you know that when he is seeing pressure or different looks from defenses, he’s able to exploit whatever he wants.

A exhausted Memphis defense could not slow down Auburn as the Tigers marched 76 yards in nine plays to extend their lead to 24-10. The Junior QB threw 28 TD passes against just three interceptions with an astounding 69 completion percentage.

Johnson said he’ll be back to build on his game. “I’ll settle for this one for this year”.

Ball then triumphantly raised the stolen item above his head and ran toward the Memphis locker room. He ran for 26 yards on three carries but only attempted one pass.

Auburn AD Jay Jacobs said something important Tuesday morning on WJOX about Malzahn’s future when he flashed back to Gene Chizik’s past. “It was a great feeling to see all of those guys smiling”, he said.

It’s weird, it’s odd but it’s also probably the most awesome thing that has happened in this bowl season before the bowl games actually count for something. He went 8-of-14 passing with 103 yards and two picks. Dontrell Nelson added a third interception later in the quarter, but the teams entered halftime still knotted at 10-10. Auburn placekicker Daniel Carlson and Memphis’s Jake Elliott were among the finalists for the Lou Groza Award.