Auburn QB Byrum Brown bounced back in a big way against Southern Miss, producing more than 300 total yards and three touchdowns in a 43-8 win. After a cleaner Week 2 performance, Brown and Auburn football now face their first SEC test against Florida.
The Auburn Tigers needed Byrum Brown to look better against Southern Miss.
And he did.
After throwing three interceptions in Auburn's 17-16 win over Baylor, Brown responded with probably the type of performance most expected when he transferred to Auburn.
Brown finished with 226 passing yards and two touchdowns while adding another 88 yards on the ground. All in just three quarters of play.
He even caught a touchdown, giving him more than 300 total yards as Auburn rolled to a 43-8 victory.
But I think how Brown produced those numbers was probably more encouraging than the numbers themselves.
Against Baylor, it felt like everything was difficult for Auburn's offense. Brown was sacked five times, Auburn struggled to consistently run the football, and Golesh admitted afterward that the Tigers started pressing to create explosive plays.
Saturday looked completely different.
Brown made plays from the pocket. Auburn moved him around on designed rollouts. And when something wasn't there through the air, he continued to be dangerous with his legs.
Byrum Brown looked more like the quarterback we expected to see coming from South Florida to Auburn in Week 2 against Southern Miss. In the opening game against Baylor in Atlanta last week, it felt like he was trying to be something he wasn't, a pass-first quarterback.
He wasn't perfect in this game, and the competition level was much lower than in Week 1. We'll see how this all translates this upcoming week in their first SEC game against the Florida Gators, but I also wasn't expecting him to be perfect from the jump.
Brown didn't need to throw for 400 yards against Southern Miss to prove anything. Auburn needed him to settle into the offense, make better decisions, and show that what happened against Baylor wasn't going to become a weekly problem.
He did that.
So while he did look more comfortable and more confident in the pocket, who knows what that actually tells us about Byrum Brown for the rest of the season? The level of competition certainly is a qualifier, an important one at that, after the first two games of the year.
Southern Miss isn't Florida. And I feel pretty safe saying that, although we don't know what the Gators look like either, after Jon Sumrall and Florida played two lower-competition teams as well.
But after watching Brown respond to three interceptions by leading Auburn's game-winning drive in Week 1, he followed it with a much cleaner performance in Week 2.
That's clearly progression, and now comes the real test.
Brown gets Florida at Jordan-Hare Stadium with Auburn sitting at 2-0.
And after Saturday, I feel a lot better about where Auburn's quarterback is heading into it.
