Oct. 7, 2017
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" There were plenty of highlights to choose from in Auburn's 44-23 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, but the one that stood out and set the tone for the Tigers early came on their second drive when Ryan Davis scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass.
It was Auburn's longest play from scrimmage this season, and it was an incredible individual effort from Davis. But the beauty of the play was that it wasn't all Davis. It was a collective effort from the entire offense.
"When you see that play, there are always things that really make it special," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said after the game. "Our left tackle, [Austin] Golson, made an unbelievable block on the corner. That was the hard one to get it started. We had some receivers on the back side, two receivers and a tight end, that did a super job staying with their guys the whole time. And [Davis] is electric when he gets the ball in his hands."
"That was a huge play right there that gave us some breathing room."
THIS JUST IN: @AuburnFootball's Ryan Davis is fast.
Like really, really fast: https://t.co/UkQv5Ix8Ld pic.twitter.com/H7AUvswb40- SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 7, 2017
The call itself was simple. It was the first play of the drive, and quarterback Jarrett Stidham lined up in the shotgun with Kerryon Johnson next to him. Davis motioned wide to the left prior to the snap. Stidham took the snap, faked it to Johnson and threw a quick screen pass to Davis.
"We repped that play all week, and we decided to start the drive with it," Stidham said. "I remember getting the ball, faking, and then I saw the offensive line going out. I just wanted to give Ryan a ball that he could run through."
"The first thing I was thinking was, 'Just catch it first,'" Davis said. "I caught it on the run and once I looked up, I saw somebody block the corner and got him out the way. Then I just saw daylight, and it was just like a sea of blue jerseys [in front of me]. So I thought, 'This is a perfect chance for me to score right here.'"
The "somebody" who blocked the cornerback was Austin Golson. It was the key block that got the whole play started. Once Davis got around that initial block, it was center Casey Dunn who was running down the field and fending off Ole Miss defenders.
As Davis was sprinting down the sideline, there were still a couple of Rebels right on his heels. But that's when he turned on the afterburners and hit the next gear.
"I was like, "This guy can't catch me,'" Davis said.
"There are a lot of guys on our team, if they get in open space, there's really no telling what's going to happen," Stidham said. "Because we've got some fast, quick dudes on our team."
At around the Ole Miss 35-yard line, Davis had to cut back inside and avoid a defender who was being blocked by Nate Craig-Myers. Then he made one more cut to the opposite side of the field, allowing for Will Hastings to make the final block, and from there, it was smooth sailing as he ran across the goal line.
"When he caught it, I was like 'This has a chance,'" Johnson said. "[Ole Miss] did a good job and hustled down there, but Ryan ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" he's hard to tackle, to say the least. He's very elusive. I think a lot of our blockers gave good extra effort. I know A.G. gave great effort to get out and make the block that freed him. We had our center running down, Nate and guys like that. "When we have guys hustling like that and with a guy like Ryan who's that hard to tackle, good things happen."
If the width of the football field is around 53 yards, it's safe to assume Davis ran over 100 yards on the play. But he never got tired, at least not until the play was over.
"I got tired after when we celebrated," he said. "I was more tired then than when I was running. You're trying to celebrate with everybody and thank everybody for helping you get in the end zone. I was more tired when I got to the sideline, and the adrenaline kind of worn down."
Davis wasn't the only one tired after the play. Some ran down the field to make blocks while others ran the length of the field simply to celebrate.
"Yeah, I was pretty tired," Stidham said. "I'm not going to lie. It's the most running I've done in a game probably all year. So I was pretty tired."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf