Why Auburn football doesn’t see Byrum Brown’s TD catch as ‘trick play’
AUBURN — Byrum Brown‘s first home game with Auburn football was already seeing an impressive performance from the quarterback. Then he caught a touchdown pass.
Brown shook a three-interception performance from Week 1 and delivered 319 yards of total offense and three scores in a 43-8 win against Southern Miss on Saturday, Sept. 12. His final touchdown saw him tumble over the goal line on fourth-and-3, after wide receiver Christian Neptune found him wide-open for a 5-yard completion.
It was Brown’s first reception in two seasons and the fourth reception of his career, but that’s an uncommon occurrence for a passer on the Plains. The last time an Auburn quarterback caught a touchdown pass was in 2012, when Kiehl Frazier did so against Lousiana-Monroe.
Run. Pass. Catch. 🤜🫷
What can’t he do?!📺 @SECNetworkpic.twitter.com/acZDjtyWQI
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 13, 2026
For Brown and head coach Alex Golesh, there was apparently old hat, to the point neither considered it a trick play.
Golesh described it as, “just kind of part of what we do,” adding that it was Auburn’s play-call for that specific circumstance, on fourth down and inside the 5-yard line.
“All they had shown was man in that situation down there,” Golesh said. “Generally, when people play man, they don’t have anybody covering the quarterback.”
Asked about his head coach’s comments, Brown emphasized the same sentiment, saying, “Whatever it takes to score, that’s what we’re going to do.”
It was an exclamation point on Brown’s performance, and it certainly emphasized the explosiveness of his skill set. A dual-threat passer, Brown accounted for four of Auburn’s 10 runs for double-digit yardage. Seven of his 18 completions also went for at least 15 yards.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why Auburn football doesn’t see Byrum Brown’s TD catch as ‘trick play’
