Nick Marshall knew it was a bad decision the second the ball left his hand.
Seconds later, Tennessee defensive end Jacques Smith was celebrating in the back of the end zone after snatching what was supposed to be a throw-away pass in mid-air and returning it 18 yards for a touchdown.
“I just made a bad read — I really tried to throw it in the ground, and the defender No. 55 (Smith) just made a great play on the ball, and he was able to get into the end zone,” Marshall said.
Not much of a rah-rah talker, Marshall quietly made a decision: “I had to redeem myself.”
Two plays later, following a 7-yard reverse by Ricardo Louis, Marshall did just that, breaking free for a 38-yard touchdown run to cap a 28-point second quarter as No. 9 Auburn rolled over Tennessee 55-23 on Saturday.
“That’s one of Nick’s strengths, he doesn’t get too high or too low, and he came back and responded extremely well,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.
Marshall finished 8 yards shy of tying the school record for most single-game rushing yards by a quarterback, ending his night with 214 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Travis Tidwell holds the record with 222 rushing yards on 18 carries against Furman in 1946.
“That guy is dangerous. It just gives me flashbacks,” running back Tre Mason said. “When we watch film on Cam (Newton) … Nick’s dangerous on his legs. He’s going to keep doing that, and that’s what’s going to make us win games.”
Thanks to Marshall’s career-day on the ground, the Tigers (9-1, 5-1 SEC) racked up 410 of their 444 rushing yards after the second quarter, with Marshall accounting for 146 of the Tigers’ 211 second-quarter rushing yards — their only yards in the frame as Auburn outscored Tennessee 28-14 to lead 34-20 at the break.
“They were giving us a lot of choices, but they really couldn’t stop the run, so we just kept our foot on their throat and just kept running down their throat,” Marshall said.
Marshall also had a 7-yard touchdown run to cap a 21-0 scoring run by the Tigers in the second quarter that saw Auburn rally from an early 13-6 deficit to a 27-13 lead with 5:08 remaining before halftime.
“I had just seen a big gash in the middle of the field that the offensive line opened up, and I was just able to hit it with my speed and my legs and get up there,” Marshall said of the touchdown run.
Marshall’s 214 rushing yards marked the 25th time that an Auburn player has rushed for 200 or more yards, and the first time since Cam Newton rushed for 217 yards against LSU in 2010.
“When you play a fast team like Auburn that has great team speed and a quarterback that has the elusiveness of Nick Marshall, you have to be decisive in the way you tackle,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “If you sit back and play on your heels, it’s over with.”
Marshall wasn’t the lone Tiger running wild Saturday.
Mason, a junior tailback, contributed 117 rushing yards and three touchdowns for his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance. He now has seven touchdowns in the past two games. Tennessee also had a 100-yard rusher in Rajion Neal, who finished with 124 yards and a 17-yard touchdown 10 seconds into the second quarter to go ahead 13-6.
“I felt like that (interception return for a touchdown) was the only negative of the day,” Malzahn said. “We had the turnover after a 4- or 5-yard play and then we threw a pick-6, but our players are playing together, they’re showing some mental toughness, they’re not panicking, they’re believing and they’re playing together.”
That attitude also helped facilitate Auburn’s hurry-up, no-huddle attack as evidenced by four quick touchdown drives in the first half, three lasting 37 seconds or less.
“Coach Malzahn’s trying to have the fastest offense in America, and that’s what we’re in it for,” Mason said.
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