Jeremy Johnson lifts Auburn past Memphis in Birmingham Bowl

“Offensively, we never established any consistency or got anything going”, interim Memphis coach Darrell Dickey said.

The story of the game was the Auburn defense, which held Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch to just 104 yards passing on 38 attempts. Lynch moved the Tigers into the red zone, but saw his pass tipped in the air and intercepted in the end zone for a touchback. Lynch is a potential No. 1 National Football League draft pick who’s likely the best passer Auburn has faced this season.

Ball had two interceptions and a defensive touchdown during the Birmingham Bowl.

The last bowl win for Memphis came in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl in 2014 over BYU. It gave him 23 on the season, a single-season Auburn record.

Malzahn announced before the game that Sean White, not Johnson, would start the game. Jovon Robinson led Auburn with 121 rushing yards and a TD.

The defense got the job done yet again against Paxton Lynch and the Memphis offense, culminating in a Jeff Holland sack.

Key stats: North Carolina State is 3-2 all-time against Mississippi State with the last meeting coming in 1994. If he gets hot early, the Wolfpack have a shot at the upset. Wolfpack quarterback Jacoby Brissett and Prescott are two of four quarterbacks with four or fewer interceptions this season. He ran for 26 yards on three carries but only attempted one pass.

Auburn rolled up 405 total yards, including 254 on the ground. With the protection the line provides, Lynch can carve up the secondary, finding his trio of receiving threats (Mose Frazier, Anthony Miller, and Phil Mayhue) that each average over 11 yards per catch.

SITE Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn. Memphis lost three of their final four games after beginning the season a flawless 6-0.

Going into the game the underclassmen said it was very important to send the seniors out with a bowl victory. Auburn avoided losing to a team not in a Power Five / BCS conference at the time of the game since Brett Favre quarterbacked Southern Miss to victories over Auburn.

LOUISVILLE Freshman QB Lamar Jackson. Johnson finished the game with 1 for 1 in passes completed, 11 passing yards and a touchdown.

Preview: Texas A&M was stunned by the transfers of not one but two quarterbacks prior to bowl season, with both Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray deciding to leave the program. A walk-on who redshirted at Oklahoma State in 2013, Hubenak threw for 4,052 yards in junior college previous year.

Louisville is playing in its sixth consecutive bowl and 20th overall. The narrative goes like this: An SEC team, having seen its big dreams go bust, arrives at a secondary destination with nothing to play for. Wednesday’s crowd of 59,430 set a Birmingham Bowl record. USC won a pair of Rose Bowls against Wisconsin in 1953 and ’63.