From the Auburn Rivals Board:
Auburn position grades versus Cal
Auburn | What a difference seven days can make.
The previous Saturday, Auburn was riding the high of its revamped passing attack.
A week later, the offense spent most of the game looking lost again en route to a 21-14 loss to a Cal team that the Tigers had no business losing to.
Auburn's offense started off hot with a touchdown on its first drive, but after that, the Tiger offense only scored on one more drive.
Here are position grades from Auburn's loss at home against Cal:
Quarterbacks: F
It was a nearly flawless start for Payton Thorne as he swiftly marched Auburn down the field for a touchdown.
And then after that, it was an abject disaster.
On the ensuing drives, he missed an open Keandre Lambert-Smith on 4th-and-2 and threw a pick, though the interception went off the hands of Cam Coleman.
Things weren't much better in the second half as the Tiger offense stalled out the entire third quarter and ended with Thorne throwing an interception as he was hit.
After leading a touchdown drive to cut the lead in half, the Tigers had a chance to tie the game, but Thorne threw a jump ball that was intercepted to basically seal the game.
And then he threw his fourth to twist the dagger. A disaster of a day for Auburn's quarterback.
Running backs: C
Auburn should have run the ball more in the first half. At one point, the Tigers threw the ball eight times in a row, and Jarquez Hunter had just four carries in the first half.
Hunter ran the ball well in the second half, but his fumble early in the fourth negated, which set up Cal's dagger touchdown, negated his previous work.
Hunter ended the game with 12 rushes for 68 yards.
#Establi****
Wide receivers: C-
Similar to Thorne, the receivers had a great opening half as Cam Coleman caught a 41-yard pass into the red zone, and then on 3rd down, Lambert-Smith caught a beautiful toe-drag touchdown.
After that, it was a whole lot of nothing in the first half which included Coleman's drop that led to a Cal interception.
Freeze said postgame that the Tiger receivers got open but the pass protection wasn't able to hold up, which is why the grade isn't lower.
Tight ends: D
Rivaldo Fairweather has to be better. He wasn't needed much in week one, and even then he had a couple of drops.
In the first half, Fairweather dropped a pass that would have picked up a first down on 3rd-and-2. Fairweather also got dinged for a holding call late in the half.
In the second half, he was invisible. Auburn needs more from the guy that was its best receiving threat last season.
Offensive line: D+
The run blocking was great. Auburn was able to get chunk plays on the ground when it ran the ball with 57 percent of its runs being for over four yards.
The pass protection was a different story.
Auburn's offensive line allowed three sacks and five tackles for loss. It also allowed a free rusher to get to Throne leading to the interception at the end of the third quarter.
Great run blocking. Disastrous pass protection.
Defensive line: A
This unit kept Auburn in the game. Cal only rushed for 17 yards in the first half, and when the Tigers desperately needed a stop to end the half, Keldric Faulk came up with back-to-back sacks to force a Cal punt at midfield.
In the second half, DJ Durkin dialed up more pressure which forced rushed throws from Mendoza after he was nearly perfect in the first half.
Linebackers: C-
Jalen McLeod and Dorian Mausi had solid games, but Eugene Asante was a ghost on the field.
Eugene Asante and Dorian Mausi combined for just three tackles.
Defensive backs: C-
It was a tale of two halves for the Auburn secondary. Cal was targeting whatever one-on-one it saw on the boundary and won just about all of them in the first half. Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 19-of-21 for 205 yards with two touchdowns in the first half alone.
The second half was a much different story. A lot of it was due to the Tiger pass rush, but the secondary also did its job locking up Cal's receivers despite being on islands for a lot of the half.
Kayin Lee and Jerrin Thompson both had great second halves, although Lee did drop what would have been a game-tying pick-6.
Auburn position grades versus Cal
Auburn | What a difference seven days can make.
The previous Saturday, Auburn was riding the high of its revamped passing attack.
A week later, the offense spent most of the game looking lost again en route to a 21-14 loss to a Cal team that the Tigers had no business losing to.
Auburn's offense started off hot with a touchdown on its first drive, but after that, the Tiger offense only scored on one more drive.
Here are position grades from Auburn's loss at home against Cal:
Quarterbacks: F
It was a nearly flawless start for Payton Thorne as he swiftly marched Auburn down the field for a touchdown.
And then after that, it was an abject disaster.
On the ensuing drives, he missed an open Keandre Lambert-Smith on 4th-and-2 and threw a pick, though the interception went off the hands of Cam Coleman.
Things weren't much better in the second half as the Tiger offense stalled out the entire third quarter and ended with Thorne throwing an interception as he was hit.
After leading a touchdown drive to cut the lead in half, the Tigers had a chance to tie the game, but Thorne threw a jump ball that was intercepted to basically seal the game.
And then he threw his fourth to twist the dagger. A disaster of a day for Auburn's quarterback.
Running backs: C
Auburn should have run the ball more in the first half. At one point, the Tigers threw the ball eight times in a row, and Jarquez Hunter had just four carries in the first half.
Hunter ran the ball well in the second half, but his fumble early in the fourth negated, which set up Cal's dagger touchdown, negated his previous work.
Hunter ended the game with 12 rushes for 68 yards.
#Establi****
Wide receivers: C-
Similar to Thorne, the receivers had a great opening half as Cam Coleman caught a 41-yard pass into the red zone, and then on 3rd down, Lambert-Smith caught a beautiful toe-drag touchdown.
After that, it was a whole lot of nothing in the first half which included Coleman's drop that led to a Cal interception.
Freeze said postgame that the Tiger receivers got open but the pass protection wasn't able to hold up, which is why the grade isn't lower.
Tight ends: D
Rivaldo Fairweather has to be better. He wasn't needed much in week one, and even then he had a couple of drops.
In the first half, Fairweather dropped a pass that would have picked up a first down on 3rd-and-2. Fairweather also got dinged for a holding call late in the half.
In the second half, he was invisible. Auburn needs more from the guy that was its best receiving threat last season.
Offensive line: D+
The run blocking was great. Auburn was able to get chunk plays on the ground when it ran the ball with 57 percent of its runs being for over four yards.
The pass protection was a different story.
Auburn's offensive line allowed three sacks and five tackles for loss. It also allowed a free rusher to get to Throne leading to the interception at the end of the third quarter.
Great run blocking. Disastrous pass protection.
Defensive line: A
This unit kept Auburn in the game. Cal only rushed for 17 yards in the first half, and when the Tigers desperately needed a stop to end the half, Keldric Faulk came up with back-to-back sacks to force a Cal punt at midfield.
In the second half, DJ Durkin dialed up more pressure which forced rushed throws from Mendoza after he was nearly perfect in the first half.
Linebackers: C-
Jalen McLeod and Dorian Mausi had solid games, but Eugene Asante was a ghost on the field.
Eugene Asante and Dorian Mausi combined for just three tackles.
Defensive backs: C-
It was a tale of two halves for the Auburn secondary. Cal was targeting whatever one-on-one it saw on the boundary and won just about all of them in the first half. Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 19-of-21 for 205 yards with two touchdowns in the first half alone.
The second half was a much different story. A lot of it was due to the Tiger pass rush, but the secondary also did its job locking up Cal's receivers despite being on islands for a lot of the half.
Kayin Lee and Jerrin Thompson both had great second halves, although Lee did drop what would have been a game-tying pick-6.