Auburn blasts Ball State

AUBURN — The Jordan-Hare Stadium bleachers were largely empty Saturday before Auburn cleared its own bench.

Ball State briefly made it difficult for the highly favored Tigers before the thought of an upset was zapped away by four lightning-quick touchdowns and a safety. The 54-30 final didn’t provide anywhere near the nail-biting, drama-filled moments of the previous week, but the finality of it all helped eliminate any remaining clogs before the Tigers hit the meat of their conference schedule.

It’s now safe to start thinking about Tennessee.

“Season One is over with,” linebacker Josh Bynes said. “Season Two and Three is where you have to come out and showcase yourself. It’s SEC ball. You’ve got to be prepared for it.”

In the days after Auburn’s first three victories of the season, coach Gene Chizik repeatedly said that what transpired the day before was not as good as it seems nor as bad as it may have appeared.

He’ll undoubtedly have that same take today in the wake of another performance dotted with offensive and defensive highlights, but also marred with a number of costly mistakes.

Anthony Gulley’s fumble on Ball State’s first punt quickly translated into a 2-yard MiQuale Lewis touchdown run, which put Auburn in an early hole for the fourth consecutive game.

It wasn’t short-lived, either. Ten minutes of game clock melted away, even with two turnovers forced by the Auburn defense, before the Tigers were able to draw even with Tommy Trott’s 6-yard touchdown catch with 2:53 to play in the first quarter.

“We just didn’t look like we were in sync a lot of times,” Chizik said. “It was sloppy, and that’s not the way we wanted to play.”

That sloppiness quickly morphed into the quick-strike offensive fireworks that have highlighted the 2009 season to date.

That first touchdown drive consumed 50 seconds, the following drive that ended with a 46-yard touchdown catch by Terrell Zachery went 1:50 and the next two drives, which ended with a 65-yard Zachery touchdown and an Onterio McCalebb 1-yard plunge, combined for a little more than a minute.

It was Auburn 30, Ball State 7 with 8:22 to play in the first half and, just like that, the rout was in full effect.

“That’s a great thing,” Chizik said. “I don’t care if it’s one second or a 10-minute drive.”

Chris Todd was at the center of it all.

Todd’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Mario Fannin in the third quarter gave him five for the game, tying him with Daniel Cobb (2001) for the most by an Auburn quarterback in a single game. He has 11 to date and nine in the last two games, when West Virginia’s and Ball State’s defenses have sold out and centered their focus on Auburn’s run game.

The Tigers had just seven touchdown passes all last season.

“I think with each game he’s feeling more comfortable with everything that goes with it, as far as reading defenses, protections, what they’re giving us, what their different coverages are,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “He made some real good plays tonight.”

Todd laughed about the record afterward and said he hadn’t been informed. It’s the same “aw, shucks” mentality that’s personified the senior ever since he won the starting job in August.

“The offense as a whole, we’ve got a lot of different guys making plays,” said Todd, who finished with a season-high 287 yards. “That’s really important. We’re able to spread the ball out to so many different people.”

When the Tigers could finally take it easy, the little depth Auburn has was able to get its first under-the-lights exposure of the season.

The results were mixed, especially on the defensive side, as the woebegone Cardinals were able to notch a season-high for points. Their 30-point total was just seven less than Auburn had allowed to its previous six games against Mid-American Conference opponents combined.

“Our young players have got to understand how close they are to playing,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “Just got to keep working to get better in that area.”

Backup quarterback Neil Caudle’s 52-yard touchdown run put the Tigers over 500 yards of offense and 250 rushing yards for the third time this season, over 50 points for the first time and gave them a total of 181 points in their first four games.

Auburn scored just 208 in 2008.

This year, though, remains the central focus.

“That’s going to be the beginning of a tough month,” Chizik said. “We’re going to have to play heads and tails better than we did tonight.”

First quarter
12:26 Ball State 7, Auburn 0: MiQuale Lewis 2-yard run. (Ian McGarvey kick). 4 plays, 18 yards, 1:25. Key play: Auburn freshman Anthony Gulley muffed a punt on his own 18-yard line.

2:53 Auburn 7, Ball State 7: Tommy Trott 6-yard pass from Chris Todd. (Wes Byrum kick.)  4 plays, 28 yards, 0:50. Key play: Darvin Adams caught an 18-yard pass to put AU at the 11.

Second quarter
13:47 Auburn 14, Ball State 7: Terrell Zachery 46-yard pass from Chris Todd. (Byrum kick) 6 plays, 78 yards, 1:50.Key play: Running back Ben Tate gained 23 yards on the previous three plays.

12:53 Auburn 16, Ball State 7: Safety. Ball State’s MiQuale Lewis was tackled in the end zone by AU linebacker Josh Bynes.

12:20 Auburn 23, Ball State 7: Onterio McCalebb 1-yard run. (Byrum kick) 2 plays, 63 yards, 0:33. Key play: McCalebb took an option pitch down the right sideline to the BSU 1-yard line. He scored the next play.

8:22 Auburn 30, Ball State 7: Terrell Zachery 65-yard pass from Chris Todd. (Byrum kick) 3 plays, 77 yards, 0:29. Key play: Todd hit Zachery in stride way down the field with the pass. 

2:35 Auburn 30, Ball State 10: Ian McGarvey 33-yard field goal. 4 plays, 17 yards, 1:34. Key play: Auburn tried to fake a punt on fourth-and-11 from its own 33-yard line. It didn’t work.

0:07 Auburn 33, Ball State 10: Wes Byrum 32-yard field goal. 9 plays, 49 yards, 2:28.Key play: Quarterback Chris Todd was 6-for-7 passing on the drive.

Third quarter
11:39 Auburn 40, Ball State 10: Darvin Adams 26-yard pass from Chris Tood. (Byrum kick) 10 plays, 76 yards, 3:21. Key play: Adams made a 6-yard catch on third-and-4 to keep the drive alive.

8:50 Auburn 40, Ball State 17: Kelly Page 21-yard run. (McGarvey kick) 7 plays, 70 yards, 2:49. Key play: Running back Eric Williams got the Cardinals inside the Tigers’ 25-yard line with a 22-yard run.

7:09 Auburn 47, Ball State 17: Mario Fannin 36-yard pass from Chris Todd. (Byrum kick) 4 plays, 72 yards, 1:41. Key play: Ben Tate 18-yard run.

Fourth quarter
12:39 Auburn 47, Ball State 24: Zane Fakes 1-yard pass from Kelly Page. (McGarvey kick) 13 plays, 67 yards, 5:45 Key play: Lewis caught a 19-yard pass.

10:14 Auburn 47, Ball State 27: Ian McGarvey 36-yard field goal. 5 plays, 13 yards, 1:34.Key play: Ball State’s Jason Pinkston picked off AU QB Neil Caudle’s pass and returned it to the Tigers’ 32-yard line. 

7:19 Auburn 54, Ball State 27: Neil Caudle 52-yard run. (Byrum kick) 5 plays, 74 yards, 2:55. Key play: Caudle called his own number on an option.

2:21 Auburn 54, Ball State 30: Ian McGarvey 33-yard field goal. 9 plays, 53 yards, 4:58. Key play: A personal foul penalty on Auburn’s D’Antoine Hood gave Ball State first-and-10 at the Tigers’ 24.