Birmingham Bowl 2015, Auburn vs Memphis: Full highlights, final score and more

The Auburn Tigers shut down the prolific Memphis Tigers offense in the Birmingham Bowl.

In a surprising defensive battle, the Auburn Tigers took down the Memphis Tigers 31-10 to win the Birmingham Bowl on Wednesday afternoon at Legion Field.

After missing nearly a month with a knee injury, Sean White got the start at quarterback for Auburn. A long fake punt set up Auburn with first and goal on its opening drive, but it stalled near the goal line and the Tigers were forced to kick a field goal.

Auburn continued to move the ball efficiently on the ground, and Kerryon Johnson punched it in from the Wildcat formation from eight yards out to put the Tigers up 10-0 near the end of the first.  Memphis’ explosive offense was held to just 17 yards in the first quarter, as the Auburn defense continued its upward trend even without Will Muschamp on the sidelines.

Memphis’ defense came up with a big play of its own early in the second, as Reggis Ball intercepted wide receiver Jason Smith on a failed trick play to set up a 53-yard Jake Elliot field goal. While Auburn was able to block Elliot’s next attempt later in the quarter following the best Memphis drive of the day, it got some bad news as star linebacker Cassanova McKinzy went down with an apparent leg injury.

White typically did a good job of taking care of the ball in the regular season, but threw a pick six to Ball on a fourth down around midfield to knot things up at 10. Another White interception ensured that score held up by halftime. Auburn’s run-heavy offense stalled in the second quarter with the lack of a passing threat, while its defense was able to limit Memphis with superior speed and athleticism on the defensive side.

Memphis’ offense finally got going to begin the second quarter with a long drive, but Tray Matthews picked off quarterback Paxton Lynch in the end zone to end the threat. Following a Memphis three-and-out, a good Marcus Davis punt return set up a 11-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jeremy Johnson to Smith and a 17-10 Auburn lead with three minutes left in the third.

Johnson came in on Auburn’s next drive and broke off a long run before punching it in himself from given five yards out. Given how the Auburn defense was playing, the 24-10 lead with just under 15 minutes left looked difficult for Memphis to overcome. Davis then returned another punt inside the 10 yard line to lead to a Jovon Robinson touchdown run to put the game away, as Auburn closed out a 31-10 win.

It wasn’t a typical Gus Malzahn game for Auburn, which won behind clock control, the ground game, and outstanding defense. Even without McKinzy in the second half, Auburn dominated the line of scrimmage to cause the worst game of the season from Lynch, who was wildly inaccurate for most of the afternoon.

Three Stars

Jovon Robinson, RB, Auburn. Racked up of 121 Auburn’s 252 rushing yards, in addition to the touchdown to seal the victory.

Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn. Star freshman helped shut down the Memphis passing attack with great coverage throughout the game.

Devaroe Lawrence, DE, Auburn. Big factor in Auburn’s domination of the line of scrimmage and put pressure on Lynch consistently, as Memphis only managed 206 total yards and no offensive touchdowns.

Highlights

"Auburn blocks 34yd FG attempt, recovered for touchback #BirminghamBowl https://t.co/ZtoSBRAUMK — RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 30, 2015"

"Here’s the most recent Sean White INT: #BirminghamBowl https://t.co/KVZ3jTGhrQ — RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 30, 2015"

Odds

Auburn ended as a three point favorite and covered easily. The two teams fell well short of the over/under of 64.5.

Up Next

Auburn will look to improve from a 7-6 year in a critical season for Gus Malzahn. Memphis will be disappointed with how the season ended and has plenty of question marks with Justin Fuente gone, but a 9-4 season put the program on the map.