Antonio Coleman knew it was going to happen. He saw it in his dreams.

“I had a dream about it Friday night and it happened just like I dreamed it,” said the Auburn defensive end.

He dreamed Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster was a sitting duck and sacked the Warhawk quarterback.

Except reality proved better.

Coleman blind-sided the ULM quarterback on Auburn’s first defensive play Saturday night, forcing Lancaster to fumble at the 9 yard line. The ball was promptly scooped up by defensive end Michael Goggans, who dashed untouched into the end zone for the game’s first score on the way to a 34-0 Auburn victory.

“That was the best way to start off a season,” Coleman laughed.

Goggans, a sophomore making his first start, said the play set the tone for the rest of the game.

“The guys got very excited and I got excited,” he said. “To go out there on the first play, and scoop and score a touchdown … (shaking his head and smiling). Antonio got the pressure.”

And Goggans got the ball.

“We always talk about working together,” he said. “We weren’t perfect, but we went out there and executed well enough to keep them off of the board. It’s always a good feeling to keep someone out of the end zone.”

The play highlighted a commanding performance by the Auburn defense in its first game under coordinator Paul Rhoads. It was the Tigers’ first shutout since a 27-0 victory over Arkansas State in 2006 and first season-opening shutout since 2004, when it throttled Louisiana-Monroe 31-0.

“That wasn’t a bad way to start,” said Rhoads, whose unit yielded just 220 total yards. “I think we tackled OK. I don’t know if we tackled great. We maintained our composure. They managed a couple drives early, but we adjusted to them. Shutouts are hard to come by.”

Freshman defensive back Neiko Thorpe led all Auburn tacklers with 7. Coleman and linebacker Merrill Johnson recorded sacks.

“Our job is to go out and stop guys, and that’s what we did,” said Tiger defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks.