If you thought Bryan Harsin would at some point take his foot off the gas pedal against Alabama State on Saturday, think again. Harsin is trying to build a culture at Auburn. He’s trying to impress an administration that has proven to be extremely fickle toward previous coaches on The Plains.

Harsin’s intentions were crystal clear last Saturday when the Tigers opened a new era with a 60-10 romp over Akron, the most points ever scored by an Auburn team in its coach’s debut. So it comes as no surprise that No. 25 Auburn’s next rent-a-win victim, SWAC member Alabama State, which won a 14-13 overtime nail-biter over Miles College in its opener, was boat-raced 62-0 on Saturday at Jordan-Hare.

No, Harsin is going all out all the time in his attempt to put Auburn back on top of the college football world, a view it hasn’t seen since Gene Chizik took the Tigers to the title in 2010 before being summarily dismissed 2 years following a 3-9 season. Harsin’s predecessor Gus Malzahn nearly did it in 2013 but lost the BCS title game and never came close again in his 8-year stint.

And that’s why Harsin is getting his chance on the big stage. So in all honesty he really can’t afford to pull in the reins, ever. He certainly didn’t Saturday.

But it took Auburn’s offense one half of football before it woke up and subsequently wore down the Hornets. Maybe they were looking ahead to next Saturday’s big game at Happy Valley against Penn State, maybe it was the early 11 a.m. start, but the Tigers were sloppy in the first half. Seven penalties over the first 30 minutes and just 2-of-7 conversions on 3rd down kept Auburn from any kind of consistency on offense.

Then Bo Nix was strip-sacked and turned it over at the Alabama State 36-yard line just before halftime as it looked like Auburn would add to its 20-0 lead and securely put the game away before the break.

Fortunately, the Tigers’ defense was its usual stingy self, for the second consecutive week stuffing the opposition’s run game. Roger McCreary’s 35-yard pick-6 punctuated the Tigers’ overall team effort and increased their lead to 41-0 midway through the third quarter, allowing Harsin to rest some starters. TJ Finley, the LSU transfer QB, spelled Nix and threw his first touchdown for Auburn, a 49-yard strike to Malcolm Johnson, Jr, and the Tigers led 48-0.

Jarquez Hunter ripped off a 94-yard TD run, the longest touchdown run from scrimmage in program history, to cap a school-record 35-point 3rd quarter (299 total yards of offense) and the Tigers took a 55-0 lead into the 4th quarter.

Special teams played a big role in staking the Tigers to their early advantage. Barton Lester blocked a punt that led to an Anders Carlson 23-yard field goal, and Colby Wooden blocked a Hornets field goal attempt with Nehemiah Pritchett returning it 80 yards for 1 of Auburn’s 2 first-half touchdowns. Nix threw 6 yards to Demetris Robertson for the other.

Nix dropped a 31-yard dime to Robertson on Auburn’s opening possession of the second half for a 27-0 lead the rout was on. Robertson’s big day continued with a 36-yard reverse run for a touchdown and it was 34-0 early in the 3rd quarter. That was Robertson’s first 2-touchdown reception day since his freshman year at Cal in 2016.

Nix finished 9-for-17 for 108 yards and 2 TDs.

Shaun Shivers did not play, but Tank Bigsby picked up the slack, recording his 2nd consecutive 100-yard game and 6th of his career. Hunter also surpassed the 100-yard mark as well.