AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &045;&045; Wide receiver Ben Obomanu is talking about Auburn’s freshman receivers, but he could just as well be assessing the offense.

The Tigers managed just 35 total yards in the second half of Monday night’s 24-17 loss at No. 16 Southern California. Quarterback Daniel Cobb fumbled twice and threw an interception in the backfield, and tailback Carnell Williams was hobbled by leg cramps.

Auburn (0-1) gets a chance to correct its offensive deficiencies against Division I-AA Western Carolina (1-0) on Saturday.

Some of the problems can be attributed to the learning curve of the offense put in by new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.

Williams’ cramps certainly put a crimp in Auburn’s plans also. Williams, who said he was too nervous to eat anything on game day, had 97 yards on 14 carries in the first half and the Tigers scored 14 points.

He lost 3 yards on seven second-half carries and Auburn managed only a Damon Duval field goal. Backup Ronnie Brown had 43 yards on nine carries.

He leaves little doubt of his opinion which part of the offense failed the other.

The part of Cobb’s performance coach Tommy Tuberville deemed unacceptable was the fumbles. The first came at the end of a run when a USC player poked the ball out of his arms as Cobb was going down.