AUBURN, Ala. - Anthony Schwartz arrived at Auburn with a reputation, a resume and a resplendent nickname: Flash.
The national high school track and field athlete of the year in 2018, Schwartz set a world youth record in 2017 with a 10.15 100-meter dash, a time he trimmed even further as a high school senior, running a 10.07.
The 6-foot, 180-pound freshman receiver showed off his world-class speed Saturday in Auburn's 63-9 win over Alabama State, scoring rushing and receiving touchdowns while producing 117 total yards.
"He's good," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's really fast. He's just as fast in pads as he is without."
Schwartz's 57-yard touchdown catch, racing past his defender on a perfectly thrown deep ball from Jarrett Stidham, gave Auburn a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
"I don't know if any quarterback ever could out-throw him, because he's fast," Stidham said. "He's a playmaker, so I just try to get the ball up into his hands and let him make a play.
"Each receiver, you have to get the timing down with. Anthony's one of those faster guys, so you really have to let it fly."
In the second quarter, Schwartz scored on a 23-yard reverse, going to the ground only after he was safely in the end zone thanks to an overzealous congratulatory mid-air collision from Will Hastings.
"We've got to get better at celebrating," Malzahn joked.
Schwartz's rushing touchdown came after Daniel Thomas' second interception, giving Auburn a 42-0 lead with 6:56 remaining in the first half.
"His speed is definitely a valuable weapon," senior receiver Ryan Davis said. "Probably one of the fastest guys in the country, if not the fastest guy in the country. We're definitely going to try to use that as much as we can.
"Hopefully use him in other ways as well so the defense can't just key on him for certain things. I know that gave him a lot of confidence going forward."
Schwartz finished with three receptions for a team-high 67 yards. His 50 rushing yards on three carries was Auburn's third highest total, behind JaTarvious Whitlow's 122 and Shaun Shivers' 117.
"That's really big," Malzahn said. "He made a really good impact play on the deep post and then on the reverse. He's got big-play ability."
Just in time for next week's SEC West showdown at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Schwartz gave LSU's coaches another element for which to prepare.
But they'll need to watch the video carefully, because No. 5 zooms across in the screen.
In a flash.
First game at Jordan-Hare:✅
— Anthony Schwartz OLY (@anthony_flash10) September 9, 2018
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer