Auburn, Ala. (AP) — The Auburn Tigers' opening drive featured a smorgasbord of offensive personnel in a sign that this season's team is cultivating a much larger pool of potential playmakers.
Three players carried the ball and four caught passes on the Tigers' 10-play drive in Saturday night's 38-9 victory over Arkansas State. It was capped by Nick Marshall hitting Marcus Davis for an 18-yard touchdown on the freshman's first career catch.
The Tigers (2-0) enter the Southeastern Conference opener against Mississippi State with 69 points in two games and some positive signs for an offense that had few consistent playmakers last season.
The backfield is especially deep with three running backs producing 150-plus yards in the first two games.
"You can never go wrong with having four or five weapons in your arsenal," tailback Tre Mason said. "Those guys are fresh. It's like throwing fresh legs in there. We are looking forward to doing the same thing all year."
The real test, of course, comes versus SEC defenses.
But for a team that had one of the nation's worst offenses last season, there are positive signs in coach Gus Malzahn's hurry-up, no-huddle system.
Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 102 yards, Mason 99 and Corey Grant 40 against Arkansas State. All three ran for touchdowns.
Marshall passed for a modest 147 yards but threw for two touchdowns and gained 53 rushing yards.
Only Mason, tailback Onterio McCalebb and receiver Emory Blake were consistent offensive threats last season.
The Tigers had five pass plays and four runs of 15-plus yards against Arkansas State.
There's still plenty of room for improvement for the passing game, with some misfires and drops but Marshall did hit Sammie Coates in stride for a 68-yard touchdown. Last year's longest pass play was 54 yards.
Marshall, a junior college transfer, had failed to connect on a number of previous deep balls, something that coaches and teammates say is one of his strengths.
"We're going to run the ball, but we are going to call our shots, too," Coates said. "And when we call them, we've got to make the play. That's how it's going to be: We're going to keep running and make them come up. And when that happens, it's over with."
The backfield is clearly deeper and more formidable than last season with the addition of Artis-Payne from junior college and emergence of Grant, a former walk-on and Alabama transfer.
"We have three running backs that are all starters in their mind," Malzahn said.
It helps also that Marshall is a threat to run the ball and had gains of 25 and 16 yards on one touchdown drive. The Tigers are the only SEC team that hasn't allowed a sack.
"I saw what I expected," Mason said. "That's my boy, he's like my brother. I know what he can do. He's a threat, and other teams have got to watch out for him because he's dangerous."
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