Coming into Saturday night, the Auburn football program hadn’t made a trip out to Northern California in nearly 87 years with the Tigers’ last trip coming on Oct. 30, 1936 for a game against the University of Santa Clara Broncos.

This go ‘round, Auburn lined up against the Cal Golden Bears for a game under the lights of California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif.

With a 9:30 p.m. CT start, Saturday’s kickoff was the latest in program history for Auburn and gave the Tigers a chance to pick up their first ever win in the Golden State.

And in front of a crowd that was more lopsided in the Golden Bears’ favor than many expected, the Tigers squeaked out a 14-10 adversity-filled win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Here are the takeaways from Saturday night’s action on out west.

Auburn’s one-dimensional offense nearly rolls over

Saturday night’s performance against Cal might leave Auburn with some questions at quarterback.

All week, the storylines revolved around how much energy — if any — Auburn would come out with after a long Thursday of traveling, a Friday getting adjusted to Pacific Time and a Saturday spent waiting for a late kickoff.

However, that all felt like a worn-out storyline once the rubber hit the road and the Tigers’ offense sputtered not just to start the game, but all four quarters.

The Auburn offense got eight possessions in the first half. Of those eight possessions, three ended in turnovers, four ended in punts and one ended in a touchdown.

The Tigers’ lone score of the first half was the result of Auburn’s defense finally forcing a turnover of its own, giving the offense a short, 17-yard field. A 13-yard pass play from Thorne to Jay Fair capped off the scoring drive, giving Auburn a 7-3 lead.

Thorne’s touchdown pass to Fair was one of just five passes that were completed by the Tigers’ offense in the first half.

Even after the the Tigers’ first score of the night, the Auburn offense limped along through the second and third quarters, only finally finding some kind of groove midway through the fourth quarter as Thorne piloted a 10-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard 50/50 ball brought down by tight end Rivaldo Fairweather.

Auburn’s scoring drive in the fourth quarter was just the second drive of the night in which the Tigers’ offense completed more than one pass.

While Cal passed for 160 yards Saturday night, Auburn’s offense mustered just 94 yards through the air. The Tigers added 136 yards on the ground — good for 230 yards of total offense to Cal’s 273 yards of total offense.

Ball security, turnovers nearly catch up to Auburn

There aren’t many games in which you lose the turnover battle and the penalty battle and keep the game as close as Auburn did Saturday night — let alone win it.

The Tigers’ offense committed four turnovers in Saturday’s win — three fumbles and a interception.

Of those, three came in the first half as Thorne fumbled in Auburn’s first drive and later tossed a pick. Meanwhile, running backs Damari Alston and Jarquez Hunter were each stripped of the football.

Fortunately for Auburn, despite four chances to capitalize on turnovers, the Cal offense was only able to do so twice as it scored a field goal following the first fumble and a touchdown off of Auburn’s second fumble.

The Tigers were able to tighten the turnover margin late in the game at DJ James intercepted Cal quarterback Sam Jackson — good for Auburn’s third takeaway of the game. James’ interception with 1:44 to play in the game sent Cal fans to the exits as it paved the way for the Auburn offense to milk the clock.

On the penalty front, the Tigers committed seven penalties for 56 yards, while the Bears committed four penalties for 41 yards.

Jarquez Hunter returns, but takes his time to come alive

Seeing junior running back Jaquez Hunter dressed ahead of Saturday’s matchup felt like it might foreshadow a strong night on the ground for Auburn.

Hunter, who came into the 2023 season primed to be the bell cow in Auburn’s backfield, missed the season-opener against UMass last week. It’s unclear if Hunter’s absence in Week 1 had anything to do with him allegedly being involved in a sex tape that leaked out during the offseason.

Nonetheless, No. 27 returned to action Saturday night and certainly didn’t get out to the start many likely expected.

Hunter’s number got called on Auburn’s first two plays from scrimmage on back-to-back carries that went for three yards a piece. After Auburn’s first drive, Hunter tallied just three more carries in the first half, totaling five carries for just 12 yards.

Come the second half, Hunter and the Auburn offense seemed to be a bit less flat.

Hunter finished the night with 11 carries, good for 53 yards. Hunter’s longest scamper of the night went for 19 yards.

Meanwhile, Damari Alston tallied 51 yards on eight carries.