AUBURN, Ala. – Robby Ashford scored three second-quarter touchdowns, Jaylin Simpson capitalized on two turnovers and Auburn kicked off the Hugh Freeze era with a 59-14 win over Massachusetts Saturday before 88,043, the largest crowd in Jordan-Hare Stadium history.
"I can't say enough about their support and what that means to our players, to our staff, to our administration. It speaks to the love and passion of the Auburn family," Freeze said. "Thank you so much for showing up and celebrating our first win in our tenure. We're so thankful for our crowd. Tiger Walk was incredible. It was a great day."
Auburn scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions, including the opening drive on Damari Alston's 1-yard run.
Atter UMass answered with an 89-yard touchdown drive, the Tigers took a 10-7 lead on Alex McPherson's 37-yard field goal.
Elijah McCallister's sack led to a UMass punt that Keionte Scott returned for 56 yards to set up Ashford's first TD, a 10-yarder on the opening play of the second quarter.
Ashford gave Auburn a 24-7 lead with a 1-yard touchdown to cap a 60-yard drive with 10:11 remaining in the first half.
Simpson recovered Donovan Kaufman's strip sack and returned it 13 yards to the UMass 35. Payton Thorne's 33-yard pass to Koy Moore set up Ashford's third TD that gave Auburn a 31-7 halftime lead.
"Robby Ashford is vital to us winning football games," Freeze said. "We need him."
On the second play of the second half, Simpson returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown, Auburn's longest pick-six since Zakoby McClain's 100-yard return in the 2019 Iron Bowl.
Auburn struck again on its first offensive play of the half when Payton Thorne hit Jay Fair down the middle for a 29-yard touchdown that put Auburn ahead 45-7 at the 12:52 mark of the third quarter.
After the Tigers stopped UMass on fourth down, Auburn scored on the next play when freshman Jeremiah Cobb raced 42 yards up the middle for a touchdown in his debut.
"I think Jeremiah Cobb is a really special talent who's going to have an incredible career at Auburn," Freeze said.
After Massachusetts scored on a one-play drive on a 58-yard pass in the middle of the fourth quarter, Sean Jackson motored 45 yards for a touchdown to account for the game's final score.
Thorne completed 10 of 17 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Malcolm Johnson Jr. led Auburn with 59 receiving yards on two deep passes from Holden Geriner. Fair added 56 yards on five catches and Shane Hooks made two receptions for 41 yards.
The Tigers rushed for 289 yards with Jackson leading the way with 64 yards on five carries. Cobb gained 57 yards on five carries while Ashford added 51 yards on nine attempts, and Alston contributed 43 yards on eight rushes.
Eugene Asante led Auburn with six tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and Kaufman added two TFL among his four tackles. Freshman Keldric Faulk added 1.5 tackles for loss and three tackles.
"We got a lot of kids in today," Freeze said. "It was good to see them get a lot of reps."
Auburn (1-0) plays at California next Saturday at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Postgame Notes >> Captains: Luke Deal, Elijah McAllister, Kam Stutts, Payton Thorne
>> Coin Toss: UMass won the coin toss and defers; Auburn will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Independence from flagpole
>> Attendance: 88,043 (capacity; largest in Jordan-Hare Stadium history)
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: Payton Thorne, Jay Fair, Rivaldo Fairweather, Shane Hooks, Omari Kelly, Izavion Miller, Gunner Britton, Dillon Wade, Avery Jones, Elijah McAllister, Austin Keys, Mosiah Nasili-Kite, Kayin Lee
>> Auburn has scored in 130 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> 59 points scored is the sixth-most in a season-opener in school history.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Robby Ashford scores three rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career. The last Auburn QB with three rushing TD in a game was Cam Newton (vs. Arkansas in 2010); Newton shares the record for Auburn QBs with four rushing TD against Kentucky in 2010 (also Phil Gargis, 4 vs. Florida State in 1976). The last Auburn player with three rushing TD in a game was Jarquez Hunter vs. Mercer in 2022.
>> Ashford has scored multiple rushing touchdowns for the fourth time in his career; he has 10 rushing TD in his Auburn career.
>> Damari Alston scores Auburn's first touchdown of the season, the first score of his career.
>> Payton Thorne's 29-yard touchdown pass to Jay Fair was his first touchdown throw at Auburn and the 50th touchdown pass of his career.
>> For Fair, it was the first receiving touchdown of his career and a career-long reception.
>> Jeremiah Cobb scored the first rushing touchdown of his career.
>> Sean Jackson scored the second rushing touchdown of his career; his 45-yard score was a career long rush.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Elijah McAllister recorded his first sack at Auburn.
>> Jaylin Simpson recorded his first interception of the season and the fourth of his career; it was the longest Auburn interception return for a score since Zakoby McClain vs. Alabama in 2019 (100 yards).
>> Simpson recorded his first career fumble recovery.
>> Donovan Kaufman recorded his fifth career forced fumble at Auburn; Kaufman's sack was the second of his Auburn career.
>> Eugene Asante recorded the first sack of his Auburn career.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Keionte Scott's 56-yard punt return was a career long and the longest by an Auburn returner since 2016, when Stephen Roberts had a 58-yard punt return vs. Alabama.
>> Alex McPherson set a career high with eight made PAT (previous: 5 vs. Western Kentucky, 2022)