AUBURN, Ala. – Holding Samford to 114 yards while forcing four turnovers, No. 16 Auburn tuned up for the Iron Bowl with a 52-0 shutout Saturday at rainy Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"Any time you shut out an opponent in college football, that's really something," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "I thought our offense did a good job on the ground and through the air."
In the first half, Auburn held the Bulldogs to 35 yards while recovering two fumbles and making an interception.
The takeaway parade began on the game's opening drive, when Christian Tutt recovered a fourth-down fumble and returned it 8 yards to midfield.
Auburn promptly drove 51 yards in nine plays with JaTarvious Whitlow's 1-yard touchdown run giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Jeremiah Dinson intercepted Samford's next play.
Gallery: (11/23/2019) Auburn 52, Samford 0
Whitlow made it 14-0 Auburn early in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run after a 31-yard gain.
Auburn forced a third consecutive three-and-out, setting up Nix's 10-yard touchdown pass to Harold Joiner for a 21-0 lead.
Nix's 185 completions broke Stan White's freshman season record from 1990 and his 14th touchdown pass tied White's mark. He needs 49 more passing yards to break White's freshman record of 2,242.
Nix was 15 of 23 for 150 yards and a touchdown. Auburn gained 544 yards, including 293 rushing yards.
On back-to-back plays, Zakoby McClain made a tackle for a loss and forced a fumble, which Roger McCreary returned 15 yards to Samford's 19, Auburn's third turnover of the first half.
Auburn scored quickly, needing only three plays to make it 28-0 on Shaun Shivers' 4-yard touchdown run at the 7:14 mark of the second quarter.
Anders Carlson's 29-yard field goal gave Auburn a 31-0 halftime lead.
Early in the third quarter, Tutt returned an interception, Auburn's fourth takeaway, 26 yards to Samford's 9.
Two plays later, D.J. Williams put Auburn ahead 38-0 with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Cord Sandberg relieved Nix and threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Zach Farrar covering 27 and 4 yards, respectively.
Sandberg was 5-for-7 for 84 yards and two touchdowns, adding 31 rushing yards on six carries.
"I thought he did a really good job," Malzahn said. "He managed the offense well. We were able to play a lot of different people. I think our guys played good, clean football.
"To protect the football with no turnovers, there were a lot of different people who touched the ball. That's a really good plus carrying forward."
Auburn made 13 tackles for loss, including 2.5 from Marlon Davidson, who also had a sack. Caleb Johnson had Auburn's other sack.
"The first half, the weather was miserable," Malzahn said. "I think our guys handled that well. We didn't have any turnovers. Really appreciate our crowd, especially with the weather like it was. Really appreciate our band, too. I think a lot of bands would have gone home and ours didn't. They were a big factor in the game. Really appreciate them."
The Tigers (8-3, 4-3) host Alabama next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
GAME NOTES
- Captains: Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson, Jeremiah Dinson, Daniel Thomas
- Coin Toss: Samford wins the toss and elects to receive
- Eagle Flight: Aurea from Section 12 ramp (first game as War Eagle VIII)
TEAM NOTES
- First-time starters for Auburn: Daquan Newkirk
- Auburn has scored in 91 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- Auburn scored first for the sixth game this season
- The Auburn defense has allowed only five first-quarter touchdowns this season, none today
- 35 total offense yards by Samford is the fewest given up by an Auburn defense in the first half since the 2003 Western Kentucky game (11 yards); it's the fewest in any half since the 2004 Kentucky game, when Auburn held UK to 22 second-half yards
- Auburn held Samford to 117 total yards, the fewest since Georgia Southern had 78 in 2017
- Auburn had a season-high 13 tackles for loss; previous high was 11 vs. Florida and Kent State
- This was Auburn's first shutout since defeating Liberty 53-0 on Nov. 17, 2018
- Auburn was 7-of-7 on trips to the red zone
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Bo Nix now holds the Auburn freshman record with 185 completions in a season (previous: 180 by Stan White, 1999) and has tied the Auburn freshman record for touchdown passes (14 by Stan White, 1999);
- Nix now has 2,193 passing yards on the season, second among Auburn freshmen all-time, 49 yards shy of the Auburn freshman record (2,242 by Stan White, 1990)
- Harold Joiner's 10-yard TD reception from Nix was the first TD catch of his career
- Shaun Shivers records his second rushing TD of the season and fifth of his career
- Sophomore Seth Williams now has 1,269 career receiving yards, ranking 21st among Auburn career leaders, passing Thomas Bailey (1,243 from 1991-94);
- D.J. Williams ranks 18th among Auburn single-season freshman rushing leaders with 372 yards, passing Ronnie Brown (330 in 2001); Brad Lester (339 in 2005); Markeith Cooper (351 in 1996); Shaun Shivers (371 in 2018); Darrell Williams (371 in 1989);
- D.J. Williams scores his second rushing TD of the season
- Sophomore JaTarvious Whitlow has 1,412 career rushing yards, making him 35th on the Auburn career rushing list, passing Mario Fannin (1,366 from 2007-10), Mitzi Jackson (1,373 from 1973-75),
- Whitlow's two first-half rushing TD give him nine rushing scores this season and 15 for his career. This is Whitlow's fifth career game with multiple TD scored
- Senior Kam Martin now has 1,563 career rushing yards, making him 29th on the Auburn career rushing list, passing Kamryn Pettway (1,529 from 2015-17); Terry Henley (1,534 from 1970-72);
- The two TD passes from Cord Sandberg to Zach Farrar were the first Auburn scores for both
- Senior QB Wil Appleton completed both of his first two career passes
- Redshirt freshman Jackson McFadden and senior Pace Ozmint each had their first career receptions in the fourth quarter
- Auburn had at least 10 individual rushers and 10 individual receivers in a game for the first time since records are available (since 1996)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Christian Tutt's fumble recovery in the first quarter was the first of his career; Tutt's interception in the third quarter is his second on the season and third of his career
- Jeremiah Dinson records his second interception of the season and fourth of his career
- Zakoby McClain forces his third career fumble and Roger McCreary records his first career fumble recovery
- Marlon Davidson is tied for eighth among Auburn career leaders with 17.0 QB sacks
- Nehemiah Pritchett had his first four career tackles and shared the team lead
- Caleb Johnson had his first career sack and second tackle for loss
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Ben Patton recorded his first two career PATs