AUBURN, Ala. – There was no secret behind what Auburn was trying to do on offense Saturday. On its first play from scrimmage, quarterback Jarrett Stidham unleashed a deep ball to freshman wide receiver Seth Williams that went through his hands. Though the pass went as incomplete, it was a sign of what the Tigers were trying to do and a sign of what was to come.
"I definitely wanted to push the ball vertically down the field [Saturday]," Stidham said. "We thought we had some good plays in to hit some shots."
"I just wanted to go deep to give us more opportunities for explosive plays," added offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. "I think the coverage that they played helped us. It was 'Hey look, we've got opportunities this week if we'll just hit them.' That was kind of the thought behind it – try to create more explosives and give our guys a chance to make plays."
Two drives later, still in the first quarter, Auburn went back to Williams on another deep ball. The offense had full confidence that the true freshman would redeem himself and make a play.
"Shake it off, I'm going to come back to you," Stidham told Williams after the initial drop.
The play itself was a double post concept, and as the outside receiver, Williams ran his post toward the end zone. Stidham looked left first and pump faked to Ryan Davis standing in the flat, and then he stood in and waited for Williams to run his route before letting go of a 50-yard bomb. Just as he let it go, two Southern Miss defenders converged on him and dropped him to the ground.
"That takes a lot of courage," Lindsey said. "He's still progressing as a young quarterback really. There's a great example of how much courage he does have. He stood in there, knowing he's going to get hit, and gave our guy a chance to make a play."
On the receiving end, the 6-foot-3 Williams jumped over the defender, snagged the ball and came down in the end zone for the game's first touchdown. The 46-yard completion was also the first career touchdown for Williams, who took full advantage of the second shot given to him.
Lying on his back, Stidham couldn't see if Williams caught it or not. He just listened for the crowd.
"I was just hoping," Stidham said. "I usually just listen for the crowd noise. It's either 'Ahhh' or 'Awww.' I was just kind of waiting, and then everybody cheered and it was a touchdown."
As for Williams, he now has seven catches for 142 yards and a touchdown through his first five games at Auburn. Though he was a top-200 player coming out of high school, neither the coaching nor Stidham knew just how good he'd be his first year. He was an unknown to a certain extent.
"We loved him in recruiting," Lindsey said. "Thought he was really talented. But we didn't realize he might catch on as quickly as he did. Nothing against him. A lot of times college football takes a lot of time for guys to get adjusted. He's come right in, worked extremely hard and fit in really well."
"He's a tremendous player," added Stidham. "He has a very bright future here. No doubts about that. When he first got here, I wasn't sure how he was going to play. I had obviously never seen him play or anything. And then when fall camp came, he stepped up big time and he started making plays. We were like, 'Wow, this guy can really play.' He's been a huge part of this offense, and it's only going to get bigger for him."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf