Auburn did what it was expected to do in an early Saturday start against FCS opponent Samford in an extremely rainy Jordan-Hare Stadium: The Tigers took control, put the game away by halftime and came away healthy.

With a 24-point outburst in the second quarter, coach Gus Malzahn and his team could start turning their eyes toward the big test next week with No. 5  Alabama coming to town.  A quick look at some of the positives (and negatives) from Auburn’s 52-0 victory against the Bulldogs.

1. Whitlow/Williams forming a good combination

Boobie Whitlow, who has been hampered with an injury since the Florida game, finally looks healthy and is back to being the rusher everyone was expecting coming into the 2019 season. At one point after four rushes against Samford, he was averaging 11 yards per attempt. More important, he was a factor in the passing game and made moves, including a double spin move after one catch, to gain even more yards on a wheel route.

D.J. Williams remains a bowling ball heading downhill against defenses once he gets a little steam. Those two will have to be productive next week.

2. Offensive line switch

How well Whitlow and Williams run against the Crimson Tide will all fall on the offensive line, which could be a problem for the Tigers. There was a little bit of a shakeup with redshirt freshman Jalil Irvin coming in at right guard on Saturday and it seemed to make a huge difference in the rushing attack. Let’s see if the lineup stays the same against ‘Bama.

3. Stay onside, defense

Since it wouldn’t be an article from me without picking some nits, the defense was unable to stay onside at times in the first half. This defense is darn good enough to shut down the “Air Raid” bu the Bulldogs without jumping. Okay, one more negative…

4. Bo Nix still making freshman throws

If it isn’t overthrowing a wide open receiver down the field or panicking when his first two options don’t become immediately open, Bo Nix is still struggling. Malzahn tried to give him confidence early (and often) with the freshman throwing nine passes in the first two drives. Once the coach saw that the running game was effective, he went away from the passing game. Nix will have to show major growth in one week for the Tigers’ offense to give the Tide a scare.

5. Sandberg!

Ending on a positive. Okay, it was just for a little bit and, granted, it was against Samford. But Cord Sandberg showed some wheels … and an arm in backup duty to Nix. It was great to see the 24-year-old former minor-league baseball player get some playing time and succeed.