AUBURN, Ala. – There's fast. And then there's Anthony Schwartz fast.
The sophomore wide receiver put his world-class speed on full display Saturday when he took a reverse around the left side and went 57 yards to the house. The touchdown, coming on Auburn's opening drive, put the Tigers up 7-0 early and quieted the crowd at Texas A&M.
Schwartz knew the play might get called at some point during the game. They had worked on it that week during practice. And when it was called, he knew how it was going to end.
"He called it, and I'm like all right, touchdown. Get the band ready," Schwartz said.
Sure enough, once Schwartz turned the corner and accelerated into high gear, there was nobody catching him. He picked up a key block from wide receiver Sal Cannella down the field, and just when it looked like one or two of the Texas A&M defenders might have an angle on him down toward the goal line, he flew right past them untouched into the end zone.
"I saw one out of the corner of my eye, but I knew they weren't going to catch me," Schwartz said. "If they do, that's props to them. But I'm going to keep on running. I have tunnel vision to the end zone. And if they do catch me, they must be fast too."
Quarterback Bo Nix hadn't seen that kind of speed before. At least not in person. He handed the ball off to JaTarvious Whitlow, made a block on one of the linebackers and then turned around in time to see Schwartz slicing through the defense.
"I told him on the sideline, 'That was the first time I had ever seen world-class speed in real life,'" Nix said. "He was just running away from guys, and it was really incredible. That's what Flash does. He's a playmaker like that. When you get him the ball with space and room to run, he'll do stuff like that."
Fellow quarterback Joey Gatewood watched from the sideline, and once he saw Schwartz cut up the field, he put his hands straight up in the air to signal touchdown. He knew.
"It doesn't make any sense how fast he is," Gatewood said.
"He's got a different speed than anybody that I've personally seen in person, in football pads," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "They have to respect him. And what happens is when you make a big play like that, it kind of opens up a lot other things. So he's an impact player that a defense definitely has to at least be aware of."
The play proved to be a game-changer as Auburn went on to beat Texas A&M, 28-20. It also got some attention nationally with former NFL players like Dez Bryant and Deion Sanders tweeting about Schwartz.
#5 from auburn the Wr... I like his style of play
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) September 21, 2019
This dude from @AuburnFootball Schwartz can fly!!! Wow
— Deion Sanders (@DeionSanders) September 21, 2019
"It's pretty great," Schwartz said. "Dez is one of my favorite receivers ever, and Prime is one of the best corners ever. Just knowing that some of the greats of the game like my game and like what they see out of me, it feels awesome. It feels like what I've been doing here means a lot."
The scary part is that Schwartz wasn't even at 100 percent for Saturday's game. He said his legs started to get heavy toward the end of the run, and he believes he can run even faster when he's at full fitness.
For this Saturday? "Hopefully, I'll be close to 100 percent. Maybe 90-95."