By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Daniel Carlson had never run the football before. Like ever.
"I've never carried the ball in my life," said Carlson, who scored a 20-yard touchdown on a fake field goal in Auburn's 51-14 win Saturday over Arkansas State.
"Besides punting, that's the only time I've ever touched it in my hands," he said.
Carlson received an over-the-head toss from holder Tyler Stovall and raced to daylight.
"Better than I ever expected," he said. "It worked out perfectly."
When your kicker scores a TD on a Fake FG!
The Gus Bus is ROLLING. @FootballAU 28-7 #ARSTvsAUB pic.twitter.com/nRRnGQxv5J- SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 11, 2016
For a guy who's never run before, Carlson placed a premium on ball security, wrapping up the ball with both arms as he neared the goal-line.
"I don't know why I did that," he said. "Just making sure I wasn't going to drop it. It was really exciting. There were a lot of thoughts going through my head."
When the call came to run the fake, Carlson was skeptical initially.
"I didn't believe it at first, because it was kind of a check call, so we weren't sure if we had the look," he said. "When Stovall told me, 'We're running this,' I didn't believe it. I said, 'No way.' And I don't really remember catching the ball. I just remember running toward the end zone."
After his rush, Daniel felt the rush.
"It was exhausting," Carlson said. "I hadn't run that much in a while. I'm happy to just celebrate with my teammates. It's fun for them. They do their job. It's not always the most glorifying job in the world taking on blocks. It was a lot of fun celebrating in the end zone."
For Carlson, the celebration continued after the game, at Toomer's Corner, where he joined teammates Stovall, Will Hastings and Kevin Phillips for a postgame roll.
Stovall, a former minor league pitcher, delivered a perfect toss, hitting Carlson in stride.
"The guy coming off the edge was the one guy who had a chance to get it," Carlson said. "He was rushing, and he saw it. I heard he was really, really close, so we were happy to get it off."
"I guess you could say my baseball background came into play," said Stovall, who set strikeout records while winning state championships at Hokes Bluff High School. "It was a well-executed play, and me and Daniel were glad we got to run it, so it was exciting."
Carlson finished with a 21-point night, adding three field goals and six extra points.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer