Memphis, QB Paxton Lynch face Auburn in Birmingham Bowl

Wednesday’s crowd of 59,430 set a Birmingham Bowl record.

Memphis junior QB Paxton Lynch completed 17-of-38 attempts for 104 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception in Wednesday’s 31-10 blowout loss to Auburn 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. Robinson has 513 yards, while workhorse Peyton Barber has run for 976 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Auburn defense is giving up 27.3 points per game with 232.2 passing yards per game and 189.7 rushing yards per game. Auburn (7-6) avoided the first losing season of Gus Malzahn’s 11-year college coaching career. When the game against the Memphis Tigers was tied at the end of the first half, fans were not happy.

Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson came off the bench to account for two touchdowns (one rushing, one passing), while running backs Kerryon Johnson and Jovon Robinson each had a rushing touchdown.

Players to watch: Trojans wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has 85 catches for 1,389 yards and 10 touchdowns.

MEMPHIS Lynch has passed for a school-record 3,670 yards and 28 touchdowns with just 3 interceptions.

On Auburn’s next possession they moved the ball well on the ground, but stalled at midfield. Memphis, in the meantime, is seeking to win 10 games in a season for the second straight year, after doing it for the first time last year.

Auburn’s Blake Countess came through with another big play, blocking a Jake Elliott field goal try with 5:55 left in the second quarter. 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. The team needed a late-season win over lowly Idaho just to reach the six-win mark and make it to a bowl game. “He’s a big guy that can run as well as throw the ball”. If that happens and Memphis forces Auburn to throw, that seems like a fairly simple recipe for success, does it not?.

The Auburn Tigers had a disappointing season and ended the season losing 4 of their last 6 games. Paxton Lynch is the Memphis quarterback who is completing 69% of his passes for 3670 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He is averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

Auburn was plagued by turnovers in the first half, but Lynch, a top National Football League prospect, and the Memphis offense could not match up with Auburn’s defensive speed. Not only did they struggle to get leadership from their quarterback their defense gave up more yards than their offense registered in nine of 12 games, which included being out-gained by the offenses of Jacksonville State, San Jose State, and Idaho.

This video of a Memphis player wrestling an Auburn staffer for a ball after the Birmingham Bowl is not a good look.