Simulating Auburn's 2020 season: Alcorn State

Day 89 without sports: I rummaged up a copy of NCAA Football 14 for the Xbox 360, downloaded 2020 rosters for every team, set up the schedule, and simulated Auburn's entire 2020 football season — because, at this point, why not?

Video-game depictions of sporting events have become common during the pandemic, and fans seem to eat it up. Look at Barstool Sports' NCAA 14 series, for example, which netted more than 125,000 viewers during a national championship playthrough Sunday evening.

But our usage of the game will differ slightly. Here are some ground rules.

I won't be "playing" as either team. There's an option during a game to select neither team — simply watching the game without having to touch the controller. I'll only push one button at the start of the game for the coin toss, and only because that's necessary to do before heading to the settings and becoming solely a viewer.

Quarters will be set to 7 minutes each, which I've found over the years of playing the game to be effective to net realistic scores and stats. If simulations are run with 15-minute quarters, an average offense will probably drop 90 points and rack up 800 yards.

For the rosters (shoutout to XBOX user "IRISH2018" for even having grad transfer QB Caylin Newton on there), I skimmed every position before playing to make sure the depth chart was as accurate as possible.

An hour was probably spent on Auburn's, making sure players weren't rated too high or low.

I won't post the entire depth chart or every player's rating, but just know it's been tweaked to reflect the most likely lineups for the actual 2020 season (Brodarious Hamm and Austin Troxell both have starting spots on the offensive line; D.J. Williams and Tank Bigsby are the top running backs; the 4-2-5 defense rotates a lot; etc.). This should yield realistic statistical leaders following each game.

I also took time to alter appearances and equipment, but overall, the Tigers looked great. It's one of the better NCAA 14 rosters I've seen in terms of accuracy. Auburn's opponents' rosters were well set up, too, with sensible ratings and accurate depth charts. Good on you, IRISH2018.

Speaking of appearances: There used to be an option to screenshot in-game action and upload it online to download on a computer, but that was back in the game's hey day. The service has been discontinued for years. So I'll do my best to eliminate background glare and snap decent shots of the games.

If I could hook up the game to a computer and, say, live stream it, then take screen grabs from there, that would obviously be optimal. But COVID-19 has forced me into an unusual living situation for now, and I don't have access to fancy equipment. Maybe in the future.

But onto the games.

Auburn began the year at No. 11 in a Top 25 that's based on roster talent and returning experience and coach "skill level."

With teams like Clemson and Ohio State and the top, and North Carolina, Baylor and Iowa State in the 20s, it's another example of accuracy to real-life Top 25 projections that will hopefully legitimize our simulations as much as possible.

FCS teams obviously don't exist in the game — just stock, regional opponents with weird logos and colors. Since Auburn's season-opening foe is from Mississippi, I chose "FCS Southeast" as the first opponent of the year.

And this one played out exactly how Auburn fans hope their team would handle such an opponent.

Offensive coordinator Chad Morris orchestrated a brilliant debut, and Auburn's first-team defense pitched a shutout before the backups allowed just one score in the Tigers' 63-7, virtual victory over the Braves.

Following a three-and-out on the offense's opening possession, Bo Nix kept on a zone read and went 77 yards untouched for the season's first points on Auburn's fourth play from scrimmage.

The offense didn't punt until the third quarter, and Anthony Schwartz had all 90 of his receiving yards on the first four drives.

On the first play of the second period, Auburn up 21-0, Big Kat Bryant smacked into the QB while he was winding up to throw, forcing a fumble that Derick Hall recovered at ASU's 31-yard line. D.J. Williams cashed in with a rushing score three plays later.

But the defense wasn't done there. The very next play for Kevin Steele's unit, Hall strip-sacked the quarterback, and Daquan Newkirk scooped up the loose ball and ran 20 yards for Auburn's first defensive score of the season.

Two plays later, the defense did it again. Pressure from Hall and Tyrone Truesdell forced an errant pass into double coverage, which Jamien Sherwood easily picked off and took to the house for a pick-six.

Auburn nearly put up 49 points midway through the second quarter after freshman defensive tackle Jay Hardy took another scoop-and-score to the house, but the ASU running back's knee was ruled down upon review, before Owen Pappoe was able to pop the ball out.

Nevertheless, the Braves offense still couldn't pass midfield, and Nix led a 2-minute drill before the half, capped by Williams' third rushing TD of the evening. Auburn led 49-0 at the break.

Neither group of starters played a minute in the second half. Backup QB Cord Sandberg threw for 115 yards and rushed for 34 more.

Bigsby had the most carries on the team, with 14 for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but Nix led Auburn in rushing with a career-high 138 yards, thanks in large part to his 77-yard scamper in the first quarter and a 32-yard run a few plays later.

On its second-to-last drive of the game, Alcorn State went the length of the field and scored against Auburn's reserve defenders.

TOTAL YARDS

Auburn: 571

Alcorn State: 137

PASSING YARDS

Auburn: 250

Alcorn State: 160

RUSHING YARDS

Auburn: 321

Alcorn State: -23

THIRD DOWNS

Auburn: 4-of-9

Alcorn State: 4-of-20

TURNOVERS

Auburn: 1

Alcorn State: 3

*All other games on the schedule will feature opponent player stats, starting Tuesday with North Carolina.

PASSING

Bo Nix: 6-for-10, 135 yards, 1 TD

Cord Sandberg: 7-for-13, 115 yards

RUSHING

Bo Nix: 9 carries, 138 yards, TD

Tank Bigsby: 14 carries, 80 yards, 2 TD, fumble

D.J. Williams: 10 carries, 52 yards, 3 TD

Cord Sandberg: 8 carries, 34 yards

Shaun Shivers: 2 carries, 19 yards

Anthony Schwartz: 1 carry, -2 yards

RECEIVING

Anthony Schwartz: 2 receptions, 90 yards, TD

Shedrick Jackson: 3 receptions, 73 yards

Eli Stove: 3 receptions, 46 yards

Tyler Fromm: 1 reception, 25 yards

Seth Williams: 2 receptions, 20 yards

Mark-Antony Richards: 1 reception, -2 yards

Harold Joiner: 1 reception, -2 yards

KICK RETURN

Shaun Shivers: 2 returns, 32.0 average

PUNT RETURN

Christian Tutt: 7 returns, 10.0 average

Shaun Shivers: 1 return, 7.0 average

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

Derick Hall: 6 tackles, 4 TFLs, 3 sacks, forced fumble, fumble rec.

Daquan Newkirk: 3 tackles, 2 sacks, fumble rec., scoop-and-score TD

Big Kat Bryant: 2 tackles, 2 TFLs, forced fumble

Jamien Sherwood: 3 tackles, INT, pick-six TD

Coynis Miller: 5 tackles, 2 TFLs, sack

Roger McCreary: 5 tackles

Wesley Steiner: 4 tackles, 2 TFLs

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