Auburn finally found its offense, and benefitted from mistake after mistake by Cal, as the Tigers escaped the long trip out west with a 14-10 victory.

Cal missed 3 field goals, and had another wiped away by a penalty, and Auburn secured the win with a game-saving interception with less than 2 minutes. Auburn’s defense stood tall as Cal had 8 drives that got inside the Auburn 40, but the Tigers limited the Bears to just 10 points on those possessions.

Auburn returns to action this week against Samford.

Here are our 3 takeaways:

Payton Thorne

The Auburn quarterback had an uneven game as he was 9-for-14 passing for 94 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and a fumble lost. Thorne got the offense on track in the 4th quarter, as Auburn got a 10-play, 69-yard drive to take the lead for good when Thorne found Rivaldo Fairweather for the game-winning touchdown with 6:31 to play.

Eugene Asante paces the defense

Auburn was led on defense by Eugene Asante, who made 12 tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Nine of those tackles were solo and 1.5 were for a loss. Asante also had 2 QB hurries. Cal was 4-for-18 on 3rd down conversions, and 3-for-6 on 4th down. The Bears managed just 1-for-4 attempts in the red zone as Auburn held them scoreless in the 2nd half.

Early struggles on offense

Auburn had just 4 first downs and 99 yards in the first half and went 1-for-6 on 3rd down. Auburn’s offense began with a fumble and 3 straight punts. Auburn overall had 3 drives end with a fumble, and another with an interception. Jarquez Hunter returned, but produced just 11 carries for 53 yards.