TJ Finley’s debut as Auburn’s new starting quarterback wasn’t quite what he anticipated, and it had nothing to do with the prolonged weather delay that paused the game for nearly 90 minutes late in the third quarter.
Finley was uneven in Auburn’s 42-16 win against Mercer, a performance that started strong but ended with a couple of hiccups that were only complicated by backup quarterback Robby Ashford’s impressive college debut Saturday night. Finley completed 9-of-14 passes for 112 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions against the Tigers’ FCS opponent, leading the offense for the better part of seven drives before ceding the reins to Ashford midway through the third quarter.
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“A lot of ups and downs,” Finley said of his start. “You know, it’s learning experiences in each game, but overall, it was pretty good. Offensively, we met our goals, we ran the ball well, we passed the ball efficiently at times. We need to do better in that area, and that starts with me.”
Finley looked sharp and in control for most of the first half when he was at quarterback. He completed eight of his first nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown — a 1-yard pass to John Samuel Shenker that put Auburn ahead, 14-0, late in the first quarter. He showed sound operation of the offense, as well as a strong arm, as evidenced by his 40-yard strike to Ja’Varrius Johnson that preceded the touchdown to Shenker.
The Tigers scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives, when Finley was the primary quarterback in the first half. His final two drives — which came on either side of halftime — left a mark on what was otherwise a solid outing. Finley was picked off by Mercer on the final drive of the first half and then again on Auburn’s opening drive of the third quarter.
“I think I excelled in areas, but like I said, two major things I harp on myself on is not turning the ball over, and I did that twice tonight,” Finley said. “So, we’re going to go back to the film room and fix those things, and I guarantee you that will not happen again.”
Finley explained after the game what he saw on his two interceptions, which doubled his total from his first season at Auburn, when he appeared in nine games and made three emergency starts late in the year.
The first pick came late in the first half, with Auburn ahead 28-0 and facing third-and-18 at its own 18-yard line. From a three-receiver set, Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. motioned across to the left side of the formation pre-snap, leaving Koy Moore as the lone receiver on the right side of the field. Finley dropped back and tried to find Moore down the middle through a tight window between multiple Mercer defensive backs.
Mercer safety Chris Joines shut that window tight, picking off Finley at the 29-yard line.
“Plain and simple, threw into double-coverage,” Finley said. “I know the weak spots of that defense, so I tried to fit a throw into a hole where all practice it was open when we ran against those coverages all practice. The guy just made an amazing play.”
On Auburn’s first drive coming out of halftime, the Tigers faced second-and-10 from the Bears’ 39-yard line. Finley tried to find Shedrick Jackson on a deep post downfield, but the ball was underthrown into double-coverage, making for an easy interception for Mercer defensive back TJ Moore at the 10-yard line.
“On the second one, kind of got on my back leg a little bit, left the ball short and the guy just made a great play,” Finley said. “Like I said, there’s learning experiences in everything, so we’re going to learn from it and bounce back.”
That was Finley’s last snap of the night, as Ashford came in and was given his first opportunity to command a full drive. Ashford led the offense for Auburn’s final three full possessions, with the Tigers scoring touchdowns on the first two. Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said afterward on postgame radio that “it was not a deal where we pulled TJ for Robby,” adding that the plan going in was for both quarterbacks to have chances to run the full offense. Finley’s second interception, and the juncture of the game that it occurred, allowed the staff to put Ashford in for a few full drives.
When asked after the game if Ashford did enough to warrant consideration for the starting job, Auburn coach Bryan Harsin reiterated that Finley is the Tigers’ starter and that no decisions were going to be made about the position until he had a chance to review the movie and fully assess the play of both quarterbacks.
“TJ had a couple of turnovers, not ideal, not exactly what you’d want,” Harsin said. “…We’re going to go back and really look at what was it that caused the turnovers? How did guys really play? Because there’s a lot of other things too. Just stuff that you guys don’t see. It’s not just throwing the ball. It’s how he’s operating as well. There’s plenty to learn. There’s nobody on this football team that’s a finished product. And it’s never going to be that way in the first week. I’ve never coached a team where you’re like, ‘we’ve got it. This is going to be the season already and we’re going to win every single game after our first game.’ That’s the reality of it.
“Those guys, you’ve got to give them time to develop. And you’ve got to think when you get out there too, there’s factors that we just had a chance to play in with our fans being out there to the whole vibe and all those things like that and there’s a lot of things that go on in a game.”
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.