AUBURN, Ala. – After lightning delayed Auburn's season opener for 90 minutes in the third quarter, Tank Bigsby provided his own lightning strike, racing 39 yards for a touchdown on the first play after the game resumed.
Generating explosive plays on the ground and in the air, Auburn kicked off the 2022 season by defeating Mercer 42-16 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"We came out and started fast, got the touchdown the very first play, that was good," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "Proud of our guys. Proud of the work they put in, proud of the things they did to have themselves prepared and ready, and to go out there and be 1-0 today on our field."
The big-play Tigers produced seven plays of 20 yards or more.
Auburn scored touchdowns on four of its first five drives with Jarquez Hunter scoring the season's first points on a 19-yard run on the Tigers' first drive.
Didn't take too long for @jarquezhunter to find the end zone 💪#WarEagle🦅 pic.twitter.com/1JOQB4LbLL
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 3, 2022
Auburn gained 88 yards in two plays on its second possession on a 49-yard run by quarterback Robby Ashford and a 39-yard pass from T.J. Finley to Ja'Varrius Johnson. Auburn made it 14-0 on Finley's 2-yard touchdown pass to John Samuel Shenker.
Hunter's 2-yard touchdown put the Tigers on top 21-0 early in the second quarter with 84,562 in attendance.
Bigsby, who led Auburn with 147 rushing yards on 16 carries, scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to give Auburn a 28-0 lead with 5:04 remaining in the first half.
"We wanted to run the football," Harsin said. "Jarquez had a big night. Tank, that was a great start after the lightning delay. If we can run the ball like that and be effective and spread it out a little bit and hit some shots, that seemed pretty effective. It starts with running the ball."
Mercer capitalized on an Auburn interception to score on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left in the half.
Derick Hall recorded a third-down sack to force a punt in the third quarter. Ashford threw a 56-yard pass to Johnson to set up Hunter's third touchdown, a 1-yarder that gave Auburn a 35-7 lead before lightning within eight miles of Pat Dye Field delayed the game late in the third quarter.
The Bears added nine fourth-quarter points on a field goal and a touchdown with 25 seconds remaining.
Linebacker Cam Riley led Auburn with a career-high 15 tackles, exceeding his 2021 season total of 14.
Johnson made four receptions for 117 yards, averaging 29.3 yards per catch.
Ashford, a redshirt freshman, produced 168 yards of total offense, completing 4-of-7 passes for 100 yards while rushing for 68 yards on six carries.
holy @robby_ashford 💨💨💨 pic.twitter.com/UsNhzf3XiG
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 3, 2022
The Tigers (1-0) continue their five-game homestand next Saturday when San Jose State visits Jordan-Hare Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
"We've got plenty of things to work on," Harsin said. "It wasn't perfect. We'll assess tomorrow and then we'll get back to work. It's got to come back to us. They're energized about the win, they're excited about the potential of this team, and they're also realistic that we have to keep improving to achieve the goals we want to achieve."
Postgame Notes>> Captains: Derick Hall, Owen Pappoe, John Samuel Shenker, Shedrick Jackson
>> Coin Toss: Mercer wins the toss and elects to defer; Auburn will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Independence from section 46
>> Attendance: 84,562
TEAM NOTES
>> The last Auburn game interrupted for a weather delay was the 2018 Southern Miss game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
>> First-time starters for Auburn: OG Kameron Stutts, C Tate Johnson, WR Tar'Varish Dawson Jr., DL Jayson Jones
>> Auburn has scored in 118 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> Auburn has won 16 straight home games against non-conference opponents dating back to a 19-13 loss to No. 2 Clemson to open the 2016 season.
>> Auburn has won 45 straight home games against unranked non-conference opponents since a 26-23 overtime loss to South Florida in 2007.
>> Auburn is now 101-27-2 (.787) all-time in season openers.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Jarquez Hunter's three rushing touchdowns gives him his first career multiple-score game; he now has six rushing scores in his career. The last Auburn player with three rushing touchdowns in a game was JaTarvious Whitlow vs. Mississippi State in 2019.
>> T.J. Finley's touchdown pass to John Samuel Shenker was Finley's 7th TD pass at Auburn. It was Shenker's third career TD catch.
>> Robby Ashford's 49-yard rush in the first quarter was the longest by an Auburn quarterback since an 80-yard rush by John Franklin III against ULM in 2016.
>> Tank Bigsby has 16 career rushing touchdowns after his second-quarter score.
>> Bigsby has posted his 9th career 100-yard rushing game, with 147 yards and two scores; that gives him 17 career rushing touchdowns and this is his 6th multiple-TD game.
>> Bigsby now has 2,080 career rushing yards, to rank 18th all time, passing Secdrick McIntyre (1,992 from 1973-76) and Lionel James (2,068 from 1980-83); next is James Bostic (2,084 from 1991-93).
>> Ja'Varrius Johnson records his second 100-yard receiving game with a career-best 117 yards. His 56-yard reception was also a career long. The last Auburn receiver with a 100-yard game was Shedrick Jackson (111) at South Carolina last season.
>> John Samuel Shenker ranks 7th in career tight end receptions (50); next is Victor Hall (54 from 1989-91).
>> Shenker is 5th in tight end career receiving yardage (599); next is Philip Lutzenkirchen (628 from 2009-12).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Linebacker Cam Riley's 15 tackles are a career high; he led the team in tackles for the first time. Riley ha the most tackles by an Auburn player since Zakoby McClain had 15 tackles at Arkansas last October.
>> Derick Hall now has 18.5 career tackles for loss; Hall has 13.5 career sacks and 91 career tackles. Eku Leota now has 11.0 TFL in his time at Auburn and 21.0 for his college career.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Anders Carlson ranks fourth in career PAT made at Auburn with 156; he is third in Auburn career scoring with 357 points.