NCAAF Game Recap - Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn
Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:00 PM EST

Mer
0
Bama
56
F
UVA
28
MiaFL
44
F
Okla
41
Kans
3
F
Cit
3
Clem
61
F
Mich
10
Wisc
24
F
ULMon
14
Aub
42
F
KY
13
UGA
42
F
Ill
14
OSU
52
F
Navy
17
ND
24
F
K St
45
OkSt
40
F
TCU
27
TxTch
3
F
UCLA
23
USC
28
F
Neb
44
PSU
56
F
UCF
45
Temp
19
F
Utah
30
Wash
33
F
MissSt
28
Ark
21
F
SMU
45
Mem
66
F
Cal
14
Stan
17
F
LSU
30
Tenn
10
F
MD
7
MSU
17
F
Tuls
20
SoFL
27
F
Tex
28
WVU
14
F
NCSt
24
Wake
30
F
C Mi
42
Kent
23
F
Ohio
34
Akr
37
F
WestMI
31
NIU
35
F
E Mi
27
MiaOH
24
F
Toled
66
BGSU
37
F
Buff
40
Ball
24
F
TnSt
6
JacSt
36
F
MidTN
38
W Ky
41
F(2OT)
UNLV
38
NM
35
F
Cin
20
ECU
48
F
Lib
19
ChaSo
20
F
JMU
31
Elon
3
F
MIN
0
NW
39
F
Rut
0
Ind
41
F
DelSt
6
FlaSt
77
F
Pitt
14
VaTec
20
F
Fres
13
Wyo
7
F
HBU
33
SamHu
53
F
Rice
21
OD
24
F
IASt
23
Bayl
13
F
Hawaii
0
UtSt
38
F
TxSt
12
ArkSt
30
F
SoAl
0
GaSo
52
F
AzSt
40
OreSt
24
F
LT
42
UTEP
21
F
UMass
16
BYU
10
F
UNCC
21
SMiss
66
F
WCU
10
UNC
65
F
SJSU
14
ColSt
42
F
Purd
24
Iowa
15
F
Syr
10
Lou
56
F
GATec
20
Duke
43
F
Hou
17
Tul
20
F
Wof
10
SCar
31
F
UAB
7
Fla
36
F
CoCar
13
Idaho
7
F
NMS
34
ULLaf
47
F
Army
49
NorTx
52
F
Ariz
28
Oreg
48
F
Marsh
7
UTSA
9
F
TxAM
31
Miss
24
F
FLInt
24
FlAtl
52
F
BC
39
UConn
16
F
MIZ
45
Vand
17
F
AF
19
Boise
44
F
NEV
23
SDSU
42
F
BGSU
31
E Mi
34
F
MiaOH
28
Ball
7
F
Kent
14
Akr
24
F

Nov 18, 2017, 12:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Louisiana-Monroe (4-6)

7

0

0

7

14

(6) Auburn (9-2)

7

7

14

14

42

No. 6 Auburn rips Louisiana-Monroe 42-14; No. 1 Tide next
Sat Nov 18, 2017 5:54 PM

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) Auburn players could be forgiven for looking ahead to next week's visit from No. 1 Alabama.

Forgiveness came easy after the Tigers made a strong recovery from their sluggish start against Louisiana-Monroe.

Darius Slayton's 50-yard scoring catch late in the first half gave No. 6 Auburn the lead and the Tigers pulled away for a 42-14 win over ULM on Saturday to set up next week's showdown with the Crimson Tide.

Auburn (9-2, 6-0, No. 6 CFP) can earn a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game by beating Alabama in a rivalry in which it's rare for conference and national implications to mean more than state bragging rights.

"It's what college football is all about and what we came to Auburn for," H-back Chandler Cox said.

Last week's win over then-No. 2 Georgia , which was the No. 1 CFP team, makes the visit from Alabama even bigger than most Iron Bowl games.

Kam Martin scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, in the third quarter. Nick Ruffin scored on a 45-yard interception return in the fourth. Despite a sluggish first half, Auburn's final production was still impressive: 317 yards rushing and 552 total yards.

Auburn also will be playing to protect its hopes for a spot in the playoff, a possibility that seemed unlikely after a loss to Louisiana State on Oct. 14 left the Tigers 5-2.

"I am excited," quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. "This is why you play here at Auburn, for games like this against a team like Alabama."

The Tigers were tied at 7 with ULM (4-6, 2-4 Sun Belt Conference) late in the first half. It was unusual even in a game where the emphasis was on guarding against a letdown .

"I think it was odd," coach Gus Malzahn said. "We didn't have that edge that we have."

Malzahn was happy with the way his players responded in the second half.

"Even though we didn't start out real fast, we came out after halftime and took care of business," Malzahn said.

ULM coach Matt Viator said he was proud of his team's play in the first half.

"I think we competed hard and made some plays on defense," Viator said. "We just could never get a whole lot going on offense the whole game. We turned it over in the second half. Give them credit, they're really good. They are hard to move the ball against."

Auburn took the lead on Slayton's bomb from Stidham with 1:27 remaining in the half.

Auburn pulled away in the third quarter. Stidham added a 41-yard touchdown pass to Martin, who also scored on a 1-yard run.

Cornerback Javaris Davis had an interception and a forced fumble in a span of about two minutes late in the third quarter to help Auburn take control.

The Warhawks opened with a 13-play touchdown drive. Wide receiver Brian Williams scored on an end-around run on fourth down. Williams scored again on a 70-yard pass from Garrett Smith with less than 6 minutes remaining.

Malik Miller had a 1-yard touchdown run for Auburn.

THE TAKEAWAY

ULM: The Warhawks frustrated Auburn most of the first half but struggled to move the ball after their impressive opening drive. Caleb Evans completed only 9 of 25 passes for 86 yards and had 10 carries for 34 yards before ULM turned to Smith, the backup, in the second half. ULM said Evans was not injured.

Auburn: With an eye on next week's visit from Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Tigers' defense should benefit from the challenge posed by ULM dual-threat quarterback Evans. Malzahn should be encouraged by his team outscoring the Warhawks 35-7 after the 7-7 tie. Willis had a 62-yard run after taking over for Stidham late in the game. Martin had 12 carries for 83 yards.

CARRYING ON

Kerryon Johnson, the SEC's leading rusher, ran for 137 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He had six carries for 37 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run, on Auburn's opening drive.

SUPER BOWL

ULM had an extra week to prepare for Auburn following its 52-45 win over Appalachian State on Nov. 4.

"They were playing like it was their Super Bowl," Martin said of the Warhawks. "They had two weeks to prepare for us. We just had to calm down and run the ball like we do."

UP NEXT

ULM: Hosts Arkansas State on Saturday.

Auburn: Hosts No. 1 Alabama on Saturday to determine SEC Western Division champion.

---

More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

ULMon Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
G. Smith 11 7 63.6 1 131 70 2 95.5
C. Evans 25 9 36.0 0 86 36 0 46.4
Aub Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Stidham 24 18 75.0 2 235 50 1 115.8

Rushing

ULMon Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Gore 14 46 3.3 17 0
C. Evans 10 34 3.4 16 0
Aub Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
K. Johnson 22 137 6.2 22 1
K. Martin 12 83 6.9 31 1

Receiving

ULMon Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
B. Williams 3 85 28.3 70 1
R. Turner 3 43 14.3 28 0
Aub Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
D. Slayton 4 89 22.3 50 1
R. Davis 6 48 8.0 15 0

Fumbles

ULMon F FL
B. Williams 1 1
D. Gore 1 0
Aub F FL
R. Davis 1 0
J. Stidham 1 1

Returning

ULMon KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
D. Carter IV 1 9.0 0 9 0 0 0
M. Green 0 0 0 1 6.0 0 6
Aub KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
N. Igbinoghene 3 18.7 0 24 0 0 0

Punting

ULMon Punt Yds Avg LgPu
H. Heim 7 293 41.9 53
Aub Punt Yds Avg LgPu
A. Marshall 4 134 33.5 49

Takeaways

ULMon Int Yds InTD
R. Jenkins 1 0 0
Aub Int Yds InTD
J. Davis 1 0 0
N. Ruffin 1 45 1

Team Stats Comparison

ULMon Aub
Points For 14 42
Total Yards 333 552
Rushing Yards 116 317
Passing Yards 217 235
Passing Completions / Attempts 16/36 18/24
Turnovers 3 2
Interceptions Thrown 2 1
Fumbles - Lost 2/1 3/1
First Downs 16 25
Penalties - Yards 3/14 5/41
Time Of Possession 39:39 21:21
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 8/20 5/10
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/2 1/1
Punts - Average Yards 7/42 4/34

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter ULMon Aub
Aub 02:52 TD Kerryon Johnson 8 yd run (Daniel Carlson kick) 0 7
ULMon 08:24 TD Brian Williams 2 yd run (Craig Ford kick) 7 7
2nd Quarter ULMon Aub
Aub 13:33 TD Darius Slayton 50 yd pass from Jarrett Stidham (Daniel Carlson kick) 7 14
3rd Quarter ULMon Aub
Aub 05:27 TD Kam Martin 1 yd run (Daniel Carlson kick) 7 21
Aub 12:14 TD Kam Martin 41 yd pass from Jarrett Stidham (Daniel Carlson kick) 7 28
4th Quarter ULMon Aub
Aub 07:51 TD Nick Ruffin 45 yd interception return (Daniel Carlson kick) 7 35
ULMon 09:19 TD Brian Williams 70 yd pass from Garrett Smith (Craig Ford kick) 14 35
Aub 12:02 TD Malik Miller 1 yd run (Daniel Carlson kick) 14 42

Game Information

Stadium: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama
Attendance: 82,133
Game Time:
Weather: