AUBURN, Alabama -- Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn unveiled a new way of signalling plays from the sidelines Saturday.

Much like at Oregon, the signallers (usually backup quarterbacks Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier) hold up giant placards with images or symbols that represent certain plays or formations.

"We'll try anything" to keep opponents' guessing, Malzahn said.

On Saturday, Auburn had a placard with images of President Obama and former President George W. Bush.

Asked about the bipartisan presidential images, Malzahn replied, "Yeah, that could have been them."

* Auburn's primary kick returners are true freshmen Tre Mason and Quan Bray.

Mason broke a 97-yard return for a touchdown in the first half, a huge momentum shift when Auburn was struggling on both sides of the ball.

Redshirt freshman receiver Trovon Reed handled punt returns without incident. Quindarius Carr handled those duties in 2010.

* Freshman quarterback Kiehl Frazier made an appearance for a successful trick play, meaning his redshirt is burned and coaches envision some role for him in 2011.

"We'll see how each week goes and kind of see how he's progressing," Malzahn said. "That was a positive play when he went in."

Frazier lined up as quarterback and threw the ball to Moseley, who was lined up at receiver. Moseley then fired to Onterio McCalebb for a 25-yard gain.

* Auburn's special teams were nearly flawless Saturday, led by the strong leg of Cody Parkey.

Parkey, who spent last year as veteran kicker Wes Byrum's backup, kicked three balls out of the end zone on kickoffs.

Chizik singled out Parkey for praise after the game.

"My leg feels great," Parkey said. "I've been working on really exploding the ball. When I'm getting touch backs, that's less (the kickoff team) has to run and the more they can hustle on offense or defense. I'm just trying to do my part."

* Reserve defensive lineman Joel Bonomolo was on the sidelines in street clothes Saturday. He did not have a previously disclosed injury but was thought to have fallen behind in the line rotation.

* Utah State is now 1-54 all-time against ranked opponents, so a win Saturday might have been the biggest in school history.

"In the defining moments, Auburn executed and we couldn't execute," said Utah State coach Gary Andersen. "We are done taking moral victories."

"I don't think you understand how much this hurts," said running back Robert Turbin.

* Auburn's 16-game winning streak is the longest since the Tigers won 18 from 1956-1958. (Auburn was unbeaten for 21 games in 1993-1994, but that streak included a tie).

Another streak that was barely preserved? Auburn has won 66 consecutive games when scoring 30 points. The Tigers are 286-4 all-time when scoring 30.

* Gene Chizik is 10-0 in the month of September as Auburn's coach.

Junior linebacker Eltoro Freeman did not play in Saturday's opening game because of an eligibility issue that Auburn blamed on an "administrative oversight" that was discovered recently.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said in a statement distributed just before kickoff that the mistake was "on Auburn" and Freeman did nothing wrong.

"I hate it for Eltoro," Chizik said.

Freeman was listed as a second-team player on Auburn's depth chart. Chizik said Saturday's defensive struggles were unrelated to his absence.

"We're going to be happy to get Eltoro back next week, but that was not the issue," he said.