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auburntigers.com ‘Never lose faith’: Fairweather looks forward to first bowl game Auburn University Athletics 7–9 minutes AUBURN, Ala. – On Monday, it marked one year to the day that Rivaldo Fairweather announced he was transferring to Auburn. He played his first three seasons at Florida International, winning a total of five games in that span, and he entered the transfer portal with the hopes of elevating his game to another level. Fairweather found that at Auburn. The 6-foot-4, 251-pound tight end led the Tigers in receptions (33), receiving yards (349) and receiving touchdowns (6) in 2023 and was voted Second Team All-SEC by the league's coaches earlier this month. "A year ago, I was in the portal," Fairweather said. "Coming here and being a part of Auburn and being a part of this Auburn Family, it's just a blessing. I'm thankful. It just shows all the hard work you put in in the offseason and you put in during the season, it's going to pay off. You just have to trust God and know that it's God's timing and never lose faith. "Next year, I'm going to go come back 10 times harder and be First Team All-SEC and be the No. 1 tight end in the nation." 1️⃣3️⃣ is BACK 🙌⚡️@rivaldo_f13 pic.twitter.com/c4NnDOuGEd — Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) December 18, 2023 Fairweather made it official Tuesday, announcing his intentions to return to Auburn for the 2024 season. He's looking forward to having a full offseason to work with Payton Thorne, something the Auburn quarterback is looking forward to as well. "He's been vital to our offense," Thorne said. "He's come down with some big plays for us this year and been a good target on third down as well. I'm excited to get a full offseason with him. I thought we got a lot of work in during the summer, but having a full offseason with him is going to help a lot. We're going to work on some things together, and we should be even sharper next year. Valdo is a great guy. I love playing with him. His future is bright." First up, however, is the bowl game. Auburn has been practicing all week and getting ready to face Maryland in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Ironically, Maryland was one of the other main schools who recruited Fairweather while he was in the portal. For Fairweather, it will be the first bowl game of his college career. "I'm really excited to go out there in Nashville and have my family there and have fun," he said. "But the main thing is just getting the win." There have been a lot of firsts this year for Fairweather. First game at Auburn. First SEC game. First Iron Bowl. With a little help from fellow tight end Luke Deal, who has also announced he's returning next year, Fairweather has taken it all in stride. "It's just like how our season goes," Deal said. "You open up with a game, the home crowd is there. He never experienced that at FIU. That was a huge step for him, getting in front of that big crowd. And then you go first SEC game, first Iron Bowl. I feel like each time we talked about, 'OK, this is going to be a little bit different for you.' You could tell he was shocked at first, but he lived in the moment and performed better and better each time. "Now he's kind of seen it all except for a bowl game. I've been very pleased to see how he's grown from spring ball to fall camp to now." The last time Auburn played in Nashville, a road game at Vanderbilt earlier this season, Fairweather hauled in a 53-yard touchdown reception. The Tigers won 31-15 in front of a pro-Auburn crowd at Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium. This time, the Tigers will get to play in Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, and Fairweather knows the Auburn Family will once again show up. "I expect greatness from the Auburn Family," he said. "A couple days ago I went to the basketball game. We're not even in school and just seeing the stadium being packed out and having all the students there and having all the fans there, it was amazing to me. "I thank the Auburn Family for always showing up. It's just different. I've never been a part of this big fan base. Me being here is just great. It's a blessing from God. The fans are amazing. I know they're not going to disappoint. The tickets are already sold out. I already know it's going to be an Auburn home game for us." Auburn and Maryland will kick off at 1 p.m. CT on Dec. 30. Tickets are still available through SeatGeek. The game will be televised on ABC. Players Mentioned #86 Luke Deal TE 6' 5" Senior Education #13 Rivaldo Fairweather TE 6' 4" Junior Liberal Arts #1 Payton Thorne QB 6' 2" Junior Education

247sports.com Whats on Auburns transfer wish list this Christmas Nathan King 9–11 minutes Auburn’s coaching staff has a much-deserved Christmas break, but after the bowl game, Hugh Freeze and crew will refocus on the transfer portal. Freeze admitted he put more of his time and effort since the end of the regular season toward securing an elite 2024 class, and it paid off in the form of the No. 7 class in the country after last week’s early signing period. Auburn’s brought in three transfers so far — Duke linebacker Dorian Mausi, Kansas defensive tackle Gage Keys and Georgia State receiver Robert Lewis — but still have at least a few positions of need. The portal is open until Jan. 3, and that ensuing weekend will end the visit dead period (for transfers only), giving schools an opportunity to get last-minute transfer targets on campus, committed and enrolled before the start of the spring semester — so they can participate in spring practices. Classes start back at Auburn that following Wednesday, Jan. 10. So what did Freeze and his staff put on their transfer wish list this Christmas? Let’s break down some of Auburn’s biggest needs when the staff redirects their attention to the portal soon. GOOD FORTUNE ON THE O-LINE Auburn thought it had its two offensive line transfers lined up a couple weeks ago. Freeze said last week that Auburn’s two biggest offensive line targets committed elsewhere before visiting the Plains, and they obviously never made it to campus for their previous scheduled trip after that point. He was referencing Toledo guard Vinny Sciury and San Jose State offensive tackle Fernando Carmona. Offensive line coach Jake Thornton had heavily targeted both, even making multiple in-home visits to see Carmona, but they had other visits set up before Auburn. So Texas Tech and Arkansas, respectively, were able to land them, so the Tigers went into the holiday break without any O-line transfers. It’s not as if Auburn is scrambling for help up front, though. The staff made sure that wouldn’t be the case last year when they brought in 10 newcomers on the offensive line. Seth Wilfred, the No. 4 offensive tackle in the JUCO ranks, will also enroll for spring practices within the next few weeks, and Auburn believes he could contend for a starting job at tackle right away. Dillon Wade will likely move from left tackle to guard, so the true vacancies in terms of 2023 starters will likely be at left tackle and right guard. And Auburn still has players like Jaden Muskrat, Jeremiah Wright, Tyler Johnson and Dylan Senda that will be eyeing starting jobs in 2024. Johnson, a rising sophomore, could be a sleeper candidate at left tackle, while Muskrat was a versatile backup this season who can play tackle or guard. In short, Auburn isn’t panicking about its transfer outlook on the offensive line, but it does hope to get some good fortune soon. The Tigers targeted Georgia transfer Joshua Miller within the last week, but he committed to Syracuse. With the winter transfer window open for another nine days, Freeze and Thornton hope there will be a few options available for them to get on campus for an early January visit, so they can be with the team before spring ball, but even if Auburn has to wait until after the spring, it won’t be in a bad spot at the position. “Hopefully there’ll be a few that go in the portal that we can try to get in on,” Freeze said last week. “There’s no question, that one position has been the biggest challenge for me to try to figure out and for Jake to try to figure out. We’re still trying to figure that one out, truthfully.” MORE EXPERIENCE AT RECEIVER Both numbers- and production-wise, no position group has been hit harder for Auburn in the portal than wide receiver. Three of the Tigers’ four entries didn’t make much impact, as Malcolm Johnson Jr., Jyaire Shorter and Omari Kelly combined for only nine receptions this season. But when Ja'Varrius Johnson entered the portal, it served as Auburn’s biggest transfer loss of the cycle by far, as the fifth-year senior led the receiving corps in yards and touchdowns this season. Auburn is now left with seven scholarship receivers in the bowl game. Of course, Auburn not only has one transfer receiver on board in Georgia State’s Robert Lewis, but it also just signed the highest-rated receiver haul in the 2024 class. The goal is for that group’s immense talent to catalyze a success facelift for the passing game. But that may not be right away in 2024; they’ll just be true freshmen, after all. So Auburn is still keeping its eyes peeled for another transfer to take some pressure off those youngsters; quarterback Payton Thorne said himself last week that the team is still doing so. FAU transfer Lajohntay Wester is the big fish right now, after he had nearly 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Much like the offensive line, Auburn doesn’t feel like it’s under pressure to get another receiver in the portal, and rolling with the current group in 2024 wouldn’t change much of the offensive staff’s plans — especially if that player can’t arrive until the summer, and freshmen like Cam Coleman and Bryce Cain will be early enrollees. ANOTHER PIECE FOR THE D-LINE Here’s the top of Freeze’s list to Santa. Auburn needs at least one more difference-maker on the interior defensive line — especially if starting nose tackle Justin Rogers decides to head to the NFL after the bowl game. With first team All-SEC pick Marcus Harris off to the draft, there is a significant void of experience for next season. Flipping top-50 overall recruit Amaris Williams from Florida was a big step in the right direction, but in terms of returning players at defensive tackle, Auburn is thin on production right now. Lawrence Johnson is out of eligibility, so when excluding the nose tackles, the only returning pieces on the interior are Darron Reed Jr. and Quientrail Jamison-Travis, with the former not appearing in a game this season, and Jamison-Travis only playing two games in mop-up duty. Keys comes over from Kansas after posting 21 tackles and 13 QB pressures this season. Standout true freshman Keldric Faulk should be even more capable of kicking inside with another full offseason bulking up in the strength program, but he’s also the team’s best returning defensive end. Auburn’s lone transfer visitor along the defensive line was Michigan State’s Derrick Harmon two weekends ago. He then visited Oregon and Ohio State before the end of the dead period, and there’s since been steam that an NIL push from Michigan State could pull him out of the portal and bring him back to the Spartans. As is the case at most transfer positions for Auburn after the dead period, this feels like a spot where the Tigers will be resetting their board with upcoming transfer entries. At least one addition will be needed for position coach Jeremy Garrett’s group. BRIDGING THE SECONDARY GAP Auburn has an army of young and talented defensive backs on the roster, now with eight 247Sports Composite 4-star signees over the past two cycles — and that doesn’t even include 3-star safety Laquan Robinson, the No. 1 JUCO safety in the 2024 class whom Auburn’s staff thinks can compete for one of the two starting vacancies at safety right away. The most-utilized youngsters in the secondary this season were cornerback Kayin Lee, who started three games at the beginning of the season due to an injury and Nehemiah Pritchett, and held down the No. 3 cornerback job for the rest of the season, and safety Terrance Love, who played in five games and was one of the team’s highest-graded defenders despite limited snaps. But with Pritchett, fellow cornerback starter D.J. James, and starting safeties Jaylin Simpson and Zion Puckett all off to the NFL, Auburn knows it shouldn’t start from scratch at all four spots. Keionte Scott’s upcoming move from nickel to outside cornerback solves a big piece of the puzzle, giving Lee an experienced, NFL talent as his starting counterpart, plus Donovan Kaufman will be entering his fourth season at Auburn and has plenty of experience playing and starting at nickel. Still, some of Auburn’s most common transfer targets in the early stages of the winter window were corners and safeties. The most popular name right now is Georgia’s A.J. Harris, a former 5-star recruit from right down the road in Phenix City who visited Auburn last weekend just two days after entering the portal. Caleb Wooden and Robinson would likely be the starters at safety if the season began today, but Auburn would prefer to add some experience into that competition via the portal. The Tigers kicked the tires on some of the top safeties in the portal, like Liberty’s Preston Hodge and Oregon State’s Akili Arnold, but weren’t able to lock in any visits or commitments. Auburn’s staff will be looking closely at some of the top defensive back transfer entries over the next few weeks.

al.com Auburn football got itself a Christmas gift this year: Bowl practices. Published: Dec. 25, 2023, 6:58 a.m. 5–7 minutes Auburn's Hugh Freeze previews Music City Bowl against Maryland Okay, Auburn isn’t actually practicing today. It is Christmas, after all. The whole team began heading home Friday and won’t return to Auburn until tomorrow when it will travel together to Nashville for the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. So, Auburn’s football team already opened up most of its Christmas gift for this year. With six wins, they bought it for themselves. They got extra practices in advance of the bowl game. It’s a gift like socks. Not exactly flashy, but always important. And always needed. Auburn has a developing team going through an offseason of roster turnover. Had Auburn not gotten to the six-win mark and thus a bowl game, the team would have dispersed following the Iron Bowl and not convened to practice again until spring ball. Head coach Hugh Freeze is only having a handful of practices before the Music City Bowl as to not exhaust his players. But as Freeze said himself, that extra practice time is invaluable. It’s why before he even clinched bowl eligibility, he was already thinking about it. “Number one, you want to do it for your seniors. Number two, you want to do it for your fans,” Freeze said after beating Vanderbilt on Nov. 4, the fifth win of the year. “But number three, you want the extra practices and another chance to compete for Auburn and to put our kids in that scenario of playing another quality opponent in a bowl game. I did kind of go away and I made it clear that is a goal of ours in Year 1.” Most of those practices have come and gone now. Auburn opened up bowl practices on Dec. 16. Practices were held throughout the ensuing week until the team broke for the holiday weekend. Once Auburn gets to Nashville, it will hold at least two practices at Vanderbilt before playing the Music City Bowl itself. The transfer portal and NFL opt-outs have meant for some thing positions on Auburn’s roster and some tired players as a result of the extra practice repetitions. That’s especially the case among Auburn’s secondary and pass catchers. Both starting cornerbacks DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett have opted out of the bowl game as they pursue their NFL futures. Nickel cornerback Keionte Scott said Monday that he plans to move into an outside cornerback role and will start for the bowl game. True freshman Kayin Lee figures to slide into the second outside cornerback back spot. He had the most experience playing outside this season on Auburn’s roster outside of James and Pritchett. On offense, Auburn has lost four wide receivers — Omari Kelly, Jyaire Shorter, Malcolm Johnson Jr. and Ja’Varrius Johnson — to the transfer portal. Tight end Tyler Fromm has also left. Outside of Ja’Varrius Johnson who has been Auburn’s leading receiver over the last two seasons, Auburn is not losing much production with anyone in that group. But losing that many players will thin out what is left to put on the field. In the short term, it means coaches have to adjust their depth charts for the bowl game itself. In the long term, it means expanded responsibility and time for those who may not have had it previously. Largely, that is looking at the younger players on the roster. And for an Auburn team that is still in a developmental stage for the long term, the bowl practices are greatly beneficial for those inexperienced players. “I just told these young guys, they’re going to get thrown in there,” Freeze said on Auburn’s first day of bowl practices. “Truthfully, you’re going to get those young corners in for sure. It will be good to see how they prepare for a game and then go play a very talented football team. Up front we are a little thin now with Mosiah being out and Marcus choosing not to play. It’s next man up. We’ve got to get some of these young guys in there.” Freeze mentioned freshman defensive lineman DJ Reed and junior college transfer defensive lineman Quientrail Jamison-Travis as players who he’s focusing on due to the opt-out of NFL-bound DL Marcus Harris and the season-ending injury to former starter Mosiah Nasili-Kite. True freshman Keldric Faulk stepped into Nasili-Kite’s spot over the latter half of the season and continues to improve. On offense, Freeze noted how thin his wide receivers are. He’s looking for big steps forward from sophomores Jay Fair and Camden Brown. And, in their final college games, Freeze is hoping for good days from Nick Mardner and Shane Hooks. Veteran Auburn players like tight end Luke Deal, offensive lineman Kam Stutts and Scott all mentioned young players in their position groups who they saw improvement from. That’s not an improvement that will necessarily shine through in the bowl game. Bowl practices can be the type of Christmas gift that just gets better with age. Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

247sports.com Whats on Auburns transfer wish list this Christmas Nathan King 9–11 minutes Auburn’s coaching staff has a much-deserved Christmas break, but after the bowl game, Hugh Freeze and crew will refocus on the transfer portal. Freeze admitted he put more of his time and effort since the end of the regular season toward securing an elite 2024 class, and it paid off in the form of the No. 7 class in the country after last week’s early signing period. Auburn’s brought in three transfers so far — Duke linebacker Dorian Mausi, Kansas defensive tackle Gage Keys and Georgia State receiver Robert Lewis — but still have at least a few positions of need. The portal is open until Jan. 3, and that ensuing weekend will end the visit dead period (for transfers only), giving schools an opportunity to get last-minute transfer targets on campus, committed and enrolled before the start of the spring semester — so they can participate in spring practices. Classes start back at Auburn that following Wednesday, Jan. 10. So what did Freeze and his staff put on their transfer wish list this Christmas? Let’s break down some of Auburn’s biggest needs when the staff redirects their attention to the portal soon. GOOD FORTUNE ON THE O-LINE Auburn thought it had its two offensive line transfers lined up a couple weeks ago. Freeze said last week that Auburn’s two biggest offensive line targets committed elsewhere before visiting the Plains, and they obviously never made it to campus for their previous scheduled trip after that point. He was referencing Toledo guard Vinny Sciury and San Jose State offensive tackle Fernando Carmona. Offensive line coach Jake Thornton had heavily targeted both, even making multiple in-home visits to see Carmona, but they had other visits set up before Auburn. So Texas Tech and Arkansas, respectively, were able to land them, so the Tigers went into the holiday break without any O-line transfers. It’s not as if Auburn is scrambling for help up front, though. The staff made sure that wouldn’t be the case last year when they brought in 10 newcomers on the offensive line. Seth Wilfred, the No. 4 offensive tackle in the JUCO ranks, will also enroll for spring practices within the next few weeks, and Auburn believes he could contend for a starting job at tackle right away. Dillon Wade will likely move from left tackle to guard, so the true vacancies in terms of 2023 starters will likely be at left tackle and right guard. And Auburn still has players like Jaden Muskrat, Jeremiah Wright, Tyler Johnson and Dylan Senda that will be eyeing starting jobs in 2024. Johnson, a rising sophomore, could be a sleeper candidate at left tackle, while Muskrat was a versatile backup this season who can play tackle or guard. In short, Auburn isn’t panicking about its transfer outlook on the offensive line, but it does hope to get some good fortune soon. The Tigers targeted Georgia transfer Joshua Miller within the last week, but he committed to Syracuse. With the winter transfer window open for another nine days, Freeze and Thornton hope there will be a few options available for them to get on campus for an early January visit, so they can be with the team before spring ball, but even if Auburn has to wait until after the spring, it won’t be in a bad spot at the position. “Hopefully there’ll be a few that go in the portal that we can try to get in on,” Freeze said last week. “There’s no question, that one position has been the biggest challenge for me to try to figure out and for Jake to try to figure out. We’re still trying to figure that one out, truthfully.” MORE EXPERIENCE AT RECEIVER Both numbers- and production-wise, no position group has been hit harder for Auburn in the portal than wide receiver. Three of the Tigers’ four entries didn’t make much impact, as Malcolm Johnson Jr., Jyaire Shorter and Omari Kelly combined for only nine receptions this season. But when Ja'Varrius Johnson entered the portal, it served as Auburn’s biggest transfer loss of the cycle by far, as the fifth-year senior led the receiving corps in yards and touchdowns this season. Auburn is now left with seven scholarship receivers in the bowl game. Of course, Auburn not only has one transfer receiver on board in Georgia State’s Robert Lewis, but it also just signed the highest-rated receiver haul in the 2024 class. The goal is for that group’s immense talent to catalyze a success facelift for the passing game. But that may not be right away in 2024; they’ll just be true freshmen, after all. So Auburn is still keeping its eyes peeled for another transfer to take some pressure off those youngsters; quarterback Payton Thorne said himself last week that the team is still doing so. FAU transfer Lajohntay Wester is the big fish right now, after he had nearly 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Much like the offensive line, Auburn doesn’t feel like it’s under pressure to get another receiver in the portal, and rolling with the current group in 2024 wouldn’t change much of the offensive staff’s plans — especially if that player can’t arrive until the summer, and freshmen like Cam Coleman and Bryce Cain will be early enrollees. ANOTHER PIECE FOR THE D-LINE Here’s the top of Freeze’s list to Santa. Auburn needs at least one more difference-maker on the interior defensive line — especially if starting nose tackle Justin Rogers decides to head to the NFL after the bowl game. With first team All-SEC pick Marcus Harris off to the draft, there is a significant void of experience for next season. Flipping top-50 overall recruit Amaris Williams from Florida was a big step in the right direction, but in terms of returning players at defensive tackle, Auburn is thin on production right now. Lawrence Johnson is out of eligibility, so when excluding the nose tackles, the only returning pieces on the interior are Darron Reed Jr. and Quientrail Jamison-Travis, with the former not appearing in a game this season, and Jamison-Travis only playing two games in mop-up duty. Keys comes over from Kansas after posting 21 tackles and 13 QB pressures this season. Standout true freshman Keldric Faulk should be even more capable of kicking inside with another full offseason bulking up in the strength program, but he’s also the team’s best returning defensive end. Auburn’s lone transfer visitor along the defensive line was Michigan State’s Derrick Harmon two weekends ago. He then visited Oregon and Ohio State before the end of the dead period, and there’s since been steam that an NIL push from Michigan State could pull him out of the portal and bring him back to the Spartans. As is the case at most transfer positions for Auburn after the dead period, this feels like a spot where the Tigers will be resetting their board with upcoming transfer entries. At least one addition will be needed for position coach Jeremy Garrett’s group. BRIDGING THE SECONDARY GAP Auburn has an army of young and talented defensive backs on the roster, now with eight 247Sports Composite 4-star signees over the past two cycles — and that doesn’t even include 3-star safety Laquan Robinson, the No. 1 JUCO safety in the 2024 class whom Auburn’s staff thinks can compete for one of the two starting vacancies at safety right away. The most-utilized youngsters in the secondary this season were cornerback Kayin Lee, who started three games at the beginning of the season due to an injury and Nehemiah Pritchett, and held down the No. 3 cornerback job for the rest of the season, and safety Terrance Love, who played in five games and was one of the team’s highest-graded defenders despite limited snaps. But with Pritchett, fellow cornerback starter D.J. James, and starting safeties Jaylin Simpson and Zion Puckett all off to the NFL, Auburn knows it shouldn’t start from scratch at all four spots. Keionte Scott’s upcoming move from nickel to outside cornerback solves a big piece of the puzzle, giving Lee an experienced, NFL talent as his starting counterpart, plus Donovan Kaufman will be entering his fourth season at Auburn and has plenty of experience playing and starting at nickel. Still, some of Auburn’s most common transfer targets in the early stages of the winter window were corners and safeties. The most popular name right now is Georgia’s A.J. Harris, a former 5-star recruit from right down the road in Phenix City who visited Auburn last weekend just two days after entering the portal. Caleb Wooden and Robinson would likely be the starters at safety if the season began today, but Auburn would prefer to add some experience into that competition via the portal. The Tigers kicked the tires on some of the top safeties in the portal, like Liberty’s Preston Hodge and Oregon State’s Akili Arnold, but weren’t able to lock in any visits or commitments. Auburn’s staff will be looking closely at some of the top defensive back transfer entries over the next few weeks.

si.com Auburn Tigers Snap Counts: 2023 Recruiting Class Brian Smith 2–3 minutes Snap counts for each 2023 Auburn Tigers football recruit Here are the year-long snap counts for the Auburn Tigers' freshmen class. Each player's information comes from the Pro Football Focus database. Eligibility Notice: Any college player who plays four or fewer games can preserve a redshirt year. There is an extra point about that number as well. Bowl games do not count against a freshman's eligibility. More specifically, even if a Tigers freshman plays against the Terrapins and already has seen action in four contests, the fifth game against Maryland allows that Auburn player to hold his redshirt. Quarterback Hank Brown: 0 (redshirt preserved) Running Back Jeremiah Cobb: 249 Center Connor Lew: 365 Offensive Tackle Izavion Miller (Junior - JC recruit): 574 Offensive Tackle Tyler Johnson: 41 (redshirt preserved) Offensive Guard Clay Wedin: 0 (redshirt preserved) Offensive Guard Bradyn Joiner: 0 (redshirt preserved) Defensive End Keldric Faulk: 437 Defensive Tackle Darron Reed, Jr.: 0 (redshirt preserved) Defensive Lineman Wilky Denaud (in the Transfer Portal): 0 (redshirt preserved) Defensive Lineman Brenton Williams: 14 (redshirt preserved) Defensive Tackle Quientrail Jamison-Travis (Junior - JC recruit): 21 (redshirt preserved) Defensive Tackle Stephen Johnson (in the Transfer Portal): 0 (redshirt preserved) Cornerback Kayin Lee: 401 Cornerback Colton Hood: 15 (redshirt preserved) Cornerback JC Hart: 36 (redshirt preserved) Cornerback Champ Anthony (Sophomore - JC recruit): 260 Safety Tyler Scott: 17 (redshirt preserved) Nickel/Safety Sylvester Smith: 51 Safety Terrance Love: 160 Safety C.J. Johnson: 0 (redshirt preserved)

starts at seven central time

merry christmas to all and let us not forget little timmy!

G is one of the best cats on here.............

Merry Chsistmas Fam! slim pickings today. included is one of my favorite christmas with Greg Lake RIP>

al.com Auburn NFL roundup: Anders Carlson kicks game-winner Updated: Dec. 24, 2023, 11:53 p.m.|Published: Dec. 24, 2023, 11:42 p.m. 6–7 minutes When sixth-round rookie Anders Carlson lined up for his first attempt at game-winning field goal for the Green Bay Packers with 22 seconds left on Sunday, the former Auburn standout was taking aim from only 32 yards out – a piece of cake compared to the 53-yard field goal he had made in the first half. But the game-winner was coming from just about extra-point distance, and Carlson has missed four of those this season, including one that went wide left in the second quarter after the Packers’ second touchdown on Sunday. State NFL roundup: Quincy Williams continues to make case for Pro Bowl Alabama NFL roundup: Amari Cooper turns in rare game for Browns Tua Tagovailoa guides Miami to last-snap win over Dallas Carlson didn’t miss with the game on the line, though, and his field goal with 19 seconds remaining lifted Green Bay to a 33-30 victory over the Carolina Panthers. After the Panthers tied the score with 4:05 to play, the Packers got a 36-yard completion on a third-and-4 throw from quarterback Jordan Love to wide receiver Romeo Doubs and a 20-yard connection between Love and tight end Tucker Kraft to reach the Carolina 13-yard line with 1:54 remaining. From there, Green Bay played for the field goal, and Carlson made the strategy pay off as the Packers kept their playoff hopes alive by improving to 7-8 with two games left on their regular-season schedule. Carlson has made 24-of-29 field-goal attempts and 29-of-33 extra-point kicks in his first NFL season. The 53-yarder on Sunday is the longest field goal of his NFL career. He’s 3-of-5 from 50-or-more yards. Carlson was among the 16 former Auburn players who got on the field on the 16th Sunday of the NFL’s 104th season. Five other former Auburn players were involved in the Green Bay-Carolina game: · Derrick Brown started at defensive end for the Panthers. Brown made nine tackles. Brown recorded his fourth game with at least nine tackles, and three have come in his past seven outings. · Packers safety Rudy Ford (New Hope) made two tackles on special teams. · Panthers outside linebacker Eku Leota was designated as a game-day inactive. · Packers defensive lineman Colby Wooden made one tackle. · Panthers linebacker Chandler Wooten is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. In the other Sunday games: Atlanta Falcons 29, Indianapolis Colts 10 · Colts offensive tackle Braden Smith was designated as a game-day inactive. A knee injury kept Smith out of the lineup for the third game in a row. Cleveland Browns 36, Houston Texans 22 · Texans offensive tackle Kilian Zierer is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. New York Jets 30, Washington Commanders 28 · Jets defensive end Carl Lawson made one tackle in his first appearance since Nov. 12. · Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood did not record any stats. · Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. Seattle Seahawks 20, Tennessee Titans 17 · Marlon Davidson (Greenville) started at defensive tackle for the Titans. Davidson made two tackles and recorded one tackle for loss in his second NFL start. His first came on Nov. 7, 2021, with the Atlanta Falcons. · Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall made two tackles and recorded one tackle for loss. · Roger McCreary (Williamson) started at cornerback for the Titans. McCreary made seven tackles. · Titans quarterback Malik Willis dressed for the game but did not play. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 12 · Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby did not record any stats. · Jaguars defensive tackle Angelo Blackson was designated as a game-day inactive. · K.J. Britt (Oxford) started at inside linebacker for the Buccaneers. Britt made one tackle. · Carlton Davis started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Davis made two tackles before leaving the game to be evaluated for a head injury. · Jamel Dean started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Dean made four tackles. · Jaguars safety Daniel Thomas (Lee-Montgomery) did not record any stats before leaving because of an arm injury. · Jaguars wide receiver Seth Williams (Paul Bryant) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. Chicago Bears 27, Arizona Cardinals 16 · Owen Pappoe started at inside linebacker for the Cardinals. Pappoe made two tackles in his first NFL start. · Cardinals tight end John Samuel Shenker is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. Miami Dolphins 22, Dallas Cowboys 20 · Dolphins defensive tackle Byron Cowart is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Cowboys cornerback Noah Igbinoghene (Hewitt-Trussville) was designated as a game-day inactive. · Dolphins wide receiver Anthony Schwartz is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. New England Patriots 26, Denver Broncos 23 · Jonathan Jones started at left cornerback for the Patriots. Jones made one tackle and broke up one pass. · Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham dressed for the game but did not play. Week 16 started on Thursday night, when the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the New Orleans Saints 30-22, and continued on Saturday, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 34-11 and the Buffalo Bills defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24-22. Week 16 concludes on Monday, with three games – Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs at noon CST on CBS and Nickelodeon, New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on FOX and Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers on ABC. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AmarkG1.

247sports.com At 29 years old, Marcus Davis an elite recruiter at alma mater Nathan King 6–8 minutes Just over a year ago, Auburn was still looking for a receivers coach for Hugh Freeze’s inaugural staff. And on Wednesday, the Tigers signed the best class in the country at the position. It’s been a whirlwind first year for Marcus Davis back at his alma mater in 2023 as an assistant, from scrambling to get transfer pieces in place last offseason, to heading up an inexperienced and oft-criticized receiving corps during the season, and now signing the most talented crop of wideouts in program history. Wednesday was arguably the biggest day of Davis’ young coaching career. Less than Seven years after hanging up his cleats on the Plains, he brought some unprecedented talent to his alma mater. “All of our staff put in great effort, but Marcus Davis — he had to spend extra, extra time because of the number of kids we were trying to sign there, too, and the ranking of them,” Freeze said on signing day. The Tigers signed two 5-stars — Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson — at the same position for the first time in program history. All four signees are blue-chippers, too, as Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons are both ranked as 4-stars and top-200 overall players in the 2024 class. So what about Davis’ recruiting chops — doing so as a Power Five assistant for the first time in his career — allowed him to be so successful? For starters, Coleman, who committed to Texas A&M in the summer, said Davis has made him feel like a part of the class at Auburn even when he was pledged to another SEC program. “Even though I just joined the family, it feels like I’ve been a part of this since the beginning of my recruiting process,” Coleman said on this week’s Auburn Undercover Podcast. “Auburn never stopped showing me love.” It was a staff-wide effort to eventually flip Coleman earlier this month — helped by the fact Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher, and Aggies receivers coach Dameyune Craig was not retained — but it was Davis who maintained the biggest relationship and kept that avenue open for Auburn to land him. “When Cam made his commitment to another school, we immediately said, look, that's fine, but we're not going to waiver,” Freeze said. “We're not going away, and we're going to fight to the end. We'll prove to you that we want you more, that we obviously feel like you're a difference-maker here. We just were relentless with making sure he understood that. Obviously it helped that the other school had a coaching change. I'd like to think we were going to win it anyway, but I don't know if that's the case or not. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.” Coleman and Thompson are the big, flashy gems of the class, but Davis also secured two other top receiving talents from the state in Simmons and Cain. Auburn signed four of the top five wide receivers in the state of Alabama, per 247Sports ratings, and could have all five if 5-star Ryan Williams flips in February. “Going to see other receiver coaches, they weren’t talking how he was talking,” Simmons said on this week’s Auburn Undercover Podcast. “I felt like Coach Davis was a coach I could play for and is going to push me to be the best I can be.” Davis’ history at Auburn is also attractive to a recruit, Simmons said, after Davis won an SEC championship in 2013 and played for a national title. “Knowing that he played for Auburn and was on that championship team — it’s a dream come true to play for a coach like that,” Simmons said. “He’s given back to us so we can be successful at Auburn and make it to the next level.” With the dust settled on the early signing period, Davis finishes ranked as the No. 3 recruiter in the country by 247Sports. The two coaches ahead of him — Syracuse head coach and former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown, and Alabama receivers coach Holmon Wiggins — have seven and nine commitments that they were primary recruiters for, respectively. Davis has only the four wide receiver commits. The next highest-ranked recruiter on the list with only four commitments is Georgia’s Tray Scott at No. 8. (Austin Perryman / Auburn Athletics) Following a few years in off-the-field roles at his alma mater and Florida State, Davis began his career as a full-time assistant just three seasons ago, when he landed a gig as Hawaii’s receivers coach in 2021. He then spent one season at Georgia Southern. Helping to close the deal on the flips of Coleman and Thompson was Auburn quarterback signee Walker White, rated as the No. 7 passer in the country and the unquestioned leader of the class. Since committing in February, White was instrumental in recruiting other players to Auburn’s 2024 class, and he took multiple visits to campus just to develop relationships with targets and other commitments. “It was very important,” Coleman said of his continued relationship with White and Auburn’s fellow receiver commits, even while he was pledged to Texas A&M. “At the end of the day, those are my teammates and my brothers for life. It shows they want a relationship and want to build a relationship with each other.” With a ratings bump, Coleman is now the No. 2 overall recruit in Auburn history, now ahead of Derrick Brown and behind only Byron Cowart. Thompson alone would have already been the team’s highest-rated receiver signee since Ben Obomanu in 2022. Freeze is no stranger to high-level receiving talent in the SEC, and he hopes Davis’ infusion of playmakers in the passing game is what Auburn needs to take the next step as an offense. “It’s no secret we needed to get some difference-makers at the receiver position,” Freeze said. “To land two of the top 10 in the nation in Perry and Cam and then two others that I think are sleepers. But they are ranked in, what, the top 150 in the country? Bryce and Malcolm. Now, they’re going to have to get thrown into the deep end of the pool and swim pretty fast, but I think they have that ability. It changes our offense if we have guys like that on the outside and in the slot that can make plays. I’ve seen them do it. “I’m reminded when we started rebuilding Ole Miss, that first full class just like this first full class, we talked a guy by the name of Laquon Treadwell in coming with us. It changed the way we called games. I feel the same about Cam and Perry and Malcolm and Bryce. You combined Walker (White) with those, I think we did pretty good at the skill positions.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

si.com 'Must Watch': Perry Thompson Documentary Brian Smith 1–2 minutes Many of the young men who battle for the Auburn Tigers and other college football programs come from humble beginnings. 2024 Auburn signee Perry Thompson fits that profile well. He's been through battles in life that many could not imagine before he was even on the recruiting map for Auburn, Alabama, or any other college football program. Thompson is allowing people to see part of his life story through the following documentary which includes several Auburn coaches, including Hugh Freeze, coming to his house for an in-home visit. Truly inspirational. This is the kind of young man a person can happily root for. Edit: Note that this is directly from Thompson's YouTube page.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Connor Lew makes PFF's All-Freshman team JD McCarthy ~2 minutes It didn’t take long for Connor Lew to cement himself as one of Auburn’s best players and a building block for Hugh Freeze and Co. The true freshman turned heads once he arrived on campus and became the backup center behind veteran Avery Jones. When Jones went down with an injury in Week 8, Lew was inserted into the starting lineup and the offense did not miss a beat. According to Pro Football Focus, he did not allow a sack and surrendered just three quarterback pressures in nine games this season. His PFF pass-blocking grade of 75.5 was the highest on the team and they honored him by naming him to their 2023 All-Freshman Team. Lew is expected to start in Auburn’s bowl game against Maryland and will enter his sophomore seasonas the clear starter and someone Auburn can build the offensive line around, PFF’s 2023 All-Freshman Team: Offense🔥 pic.twitter.com/kx3hsCLbBH — PFF College (@PFF_College) December 24, 2023 Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15

247sports.com Britton looks to end amazing year with a victory Jason Caldwell 3–4 minutes AUBURN, Alabama—When Gunner Britton was looking for a new home after leaving Western Kentucky after last season, one of the things he wanted to find was a place that felt like home. As the offensive lineman heads into his final game with the Auburn Tigers, Britton said the season and his time at Auburn has been everything he hoped for and so much more. But there’s still more work to be done. Facing Maryland in the Music City Bowl on December 30 in Nashville, Britton said this team is focused on winning to send the team into the 2024 season on a positive note. “It has been special,” Britton said. “It has been everything I wanted it to be. It has been amazing. I thank God for giving me the ability to play this game. To see how the fans have welcomed me and welcomed coach Freeze. “It’s awesome that we won 6 games and have a chance to win 7, but to see what it can be for this team and this program in the years to come is something special for me. I won’t be able to be on the field with these guys, but they’re going to build something special here. I know they are. I can see it. I can see who they’re bringing in. It’s going to be special. I can’t wait to be just a small part of that.” Dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season that limited him in practices and forced coach Jake Thornton to rotate guys up front at both guard positions with Kam Stutts also dealing with his own injuries, Britton said the time off after the regular season was great for him and the rest of the group. Now they’re ready to put their best foot forward after having a good week of work before breaking for Christmas. “It’s nice getting to knock some of the rust off. It was really good for the team and myself, getting to have a couple of weeks off and getting to go home and see my family. Just being able to get my body back underneath me has been huge. I think we have done a really good job this first week of practice of learning the game plan and getting some guys some reps that haven’t been able to get reps all year. “I think that’s really crucial because you almost get to have 15 extra practices that some teams don’t get. I think it’s huge that we use that to our advantage. I think it has been really good for us so far. I feel great getting back out there. That’s always nice.” With one more game to put on the Auburn uniform, Britton said the goal is to play the best game of the season and celebrate one final time before he’s done on the Plains. “I think a big statement for us is winning the bowl game,” he said. “It kind of gives you momentum going into the next year, especially if you can dominate it. For us to be able to win it would be huge. It’s always nice finishing above .500, 7-6 instead of 6-7. I think it’s kind of going to set the stage for these guys coming back next year. If we finish with a win they can kind of go from there. It’s going to be big for them. I’m excited about it.”

who in the world goes to a porn site and watches granny. good grief.....................i am laughing....

merry christmas mr salty to you and yours.................

let em play coach!

i want to see golf come out at halftime with a hoola hoop and entertain wid his sexy self! on a more serious note i would love to see improvement but i am happy with a win. they have been hard to come by for a couple or three years.