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auburnwire.usatoday.com Examining Auburn football's top offensive performers Taylor Jones 5–6 minutes The first regular season of the Hugh Freeze era is now behind us, and it is time to take a look back at how well his team performed during the season. With Auburn’s heartbreaking loss to Alabama on Nov. 25, the Tigers ended the regular season with a 6-6 record, which is par for the course for a program that is looking to get back to national relevancy. Now, Auburn will sit back and await their bowl destination, as they look to earn their first bowl win since the 2018 Music City Bowl. In Freeze’s first season, Auburn averaged 355 yards per game which is 10th best in the SEC. Auburn’s strong suit was its run game, which was 3rd best in the SEC behind just LSU and Tennessee with an average of 198 yards per contest. Pro Football Focus‘ final grades are consistent with Auburn’s successful run game, as six of Auburn’s top 10 offensive producers all played a role in the accomplishments of Auburn’s rushing attack. Which players made the most impact on the success of Auburn’s offense this season? Here are Auburn’s top 10 offensive players according to PFF, with the lone criterion being that they must have appeared in at least nine games during the regular season. AU/Athletics PFF Grade: 62.9 This list kicks off with offensive lineman, Kam Stutts. Stutts participated in 526 snaps this season: 500 at right guard, 24 at left guard, and two snaps at right tackle. He was most effective as a pass blocker this season. In 526 snaps, he allowed 10 total quarterback pressures with five sacks. The Montgomery Advertiser PFF Grade: 67.7 Quarterback Robby Ashford was given a tall task this season as he was asked to become a rotational quarterback. The job ultimately dissolved and he took just 13 snaps over the team’s final five games. His strong suit was running the football, where he graded out at 79.3. Ashford rushed for 217 yards on 46 carries with five scores. As a runner, he gained 128 yards after contact and had 11 rushes that lasted over 10 yards. Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers PFF Grade: 70.3 jay fair received plenty of hype during preseason camp, and was able to back it up by becoming Auburn’s third-leading receiver with 300 yards on 30 catches. He was targeted 43 times this season with just one drop. He was also one of four receivers who gained over 100 yards after making a catch this season. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis PFF Grade: 71.5 Brandon Frazier did not factor into the receiving game much this season, as he caught just five passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. However, he played a key role in allowing Auburn’s skill players to make plays. In 156 snaps as an interior tight end, Frazier allowed just eight quarterback pressures. John Reed-USA TODAY Sports PFF Grade: 72.1 Known more for his return game, Brian Battie had a successful first season in Auburn’s backfield. Battie earned at least one carry in 10 of Auburn’s 12 games, with his best game coming against Texas A&M when he rushed for 59 yards on eight carries. He forced seven missed tackles and 134 of his 227 rushing yards were created after first contact. Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers PFF Grade: 73.2 Jeremiah Cobb earned playing time in 10 games during his true freshman campaign, and ended the regular season with 168 yards on 30 carries. He scored a touchdown in his first-ever game, and rushed for a season-high 69 yards against LSU. He had five runs of longer than 10 yards, with his longest going for 42 yards. Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports PFF Grade: 74.5 Damari Alston was a great complimentary back to Jarquez Hunter this season. He rushed for 297 yards on 55 carries with two touchdowns in 2023, all career-bests. His longest rush of the season went for 55 yards, and he added and extra 155 yards after initial contact. The Montgomery Advertiser PFF Grade: 76.4 Jarquez Hunter got off to a slow start, but ended the regular season with a respectable 865 yards and seven touchdowns. Hunter forced 35 missed tackles this season, and added 612 yards after contact. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images PFF Grade: 77.6 In his first season at Auburn, Payton Thorne was as consistent as runner as he was a passer. At the end of the regular season, Thorne graded out at 73.8 as a passer while earning a 71.1 as a rusher. He completed 62.3% of his passes this season to 18 different receivers. He completed 15 “big time throws” and nine turnover worthy passes this season. His receivers dropped 16 passes this season, or 9.7%. He was also involved in 82 plays that resulted in 1st downs. Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers PFF Grade: 78.2 Auburn receiver Ja'Varrius Johnson is Auburn’s top offensive player based on criteria. Johnson appeared in nine games this season, and hauled in 19 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 19 of 27 passes thrown his way for 18.3 yards per catch.

247sports.com Jason Caldwells Monday morning quarterback column Jason Caldwell 3–4 minutes Going toe-to-toe As I was working on recruiting stories on Sunday afternoon, it hit me just what Auburn did on Saturday despite losing the game. The Tigers played Alabama straight up for four quarters and more than held their own, and did it with a roster that isn’t even comparable across the board. There are spots this Auburn team can hold its own with Alabama. One of those is running back. Another is probably in the secondary. I would say Auburn’s tight end group is probably as good or better. Auburn’s offensive line played well on Saturday and did a really good job, but in terms of matching talent for talent, it’s not close. I would take Auburn’s combination of kicker and punter against anyone in the country. I think Payton Thorne has improved and is someone that you can win with when you add more talent around him, but Jalen Milroe is playing at a pretty high level at the moment. I don’t think it’s particularly close anywhere else on the field at the moment. I’m not sure how much more Auburn could have squeezed out of Saturday’s game. Unfortunately they came up a few plays short of pulling off the upset. Every former player I spoke with was impressed by the job that Hugh Freeze and this staff have done getting the program back headed in the right direction. It’s not perfect and there are things that need to continue to get better, but it all starts with improving the talent level on the field. Everyone sees that and knows it’s necessary to take the next step. I spoke to a former high profile coach in another sport before the game on Saturday and he agreed with my thoughts. I have always said that having great players doesn’t necessarily make you a great team, but if you don’t have enough of them it makes it almost impossible to be good enough. That’s the battle that Auburn has been fighting much of the last decade, but not for much longer. Offensive line building depth I have written about the offensive line group already, but I felt like I needed to mention them again after the job they did against Alabama on Saturday. What makes it even more impressive is that they rotated eight different players, something that just isn’t done on the offensive line. They’ve had to do it out of necessity with Kam Stutts, Gunner Britton and Izavion Miller all battling nagging injuries this season, but Avery Jones was back against Alabama and got some quality minutes as well. Guard Jeremiah Wright played perhaps his best game of the season against the Crimson Tide, which is huge heading into next year for him. He’s always had a defensive lineman mentality, but continues to work on the finer points of the game as an offensive lineman. If he can have a healthy bowl practice and spring, he could be set up to really take off in 2024. One of the things to watch for this team is just how much Miller is able to progress after playing a full season at this level. There’s no question he’s athletic enough, but if he can add the strength and size to take the next step then he could become a different player for coach Jake Thornton on the offensive line.

al.com Rewinding what Hugh Freeze said about Auburn’s Iron Bowl loss, looking ahead to bowl preparation Updated: Nov. 27, 2023, 12:31 p.m.|Published: Nov. 27, 2023, 10:00 a.m. 6–7 minutes With Saturday’s narrow, 27-24 loss to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, the Auburn Tigers finished their first regular season under Hugh Freeze with a 6-6 record, meaning Auburn will be heading to the postseason after missing the bid last fall. And as Freeze said after Saturday’s loss, reaching bowl eligibility was goal No. 1 in year No. 1. “I really didn’t have a vision for this year, other than to try to get us to a bowl game and improve us from week to week,” Freeze said. Surely beating Auburn’s in-state rival was on that list of goals as well, but that was narrowly missed Saturday as Alabama scored a come-from-behind touchdown in improbable fashion to win its fourth consecutive Iron Bowl. Here’s everything Freeze said the Monday following Saturday’s heartbreaker in Jordan-Hare Stadium. — Hugh Freeze opens his press conference in saying that Saturday night’s Iron Bowl was the best college football atmosphere he’s ever experienced. He thanks the Auburn Family. “It will forever be a regret that we didn’t get to celebrate together after it.” — Freeze says he believes the team played with the passion and energy that’s necessary to compete with one of the top teams in the country. He adds that the sting from the loss hasn’t gotten any better. — “There’s still a lot of hurt... this game means so much and we let it slip away,” Freeze said. He adds the foundation has been laid and that many of the recruits in attendance saw how special of a place Auburn is and the vision of the program going forward. — Freeze says that recruiting will start today, and that includes recruiting new guys and recruiting to retain current players as that’s the new world of college football. — When Freeze was asked about how he woke up feeling on Sunday, he admitted that he didn’t sleep on Saturday night. — Freeze said he spent a lot of time reliving the game and questioning what, if anything, he could’ve done differently. He adds that he watched the films several times. However, he says if “you’re made of the right stuff,” it makes you determined. — “I wanted the ball. I felt like we had a good plan offensively,” Freeze said of winning the toss and wanting the football. — Freeze said he sat with both DJ James and Koy Moore for quite sometime after the game to help console them after both James and Moore were on the losing end of Saturday’s game. “No one hurt more than Koy and DJ,” Freeze said. — “Coach I let you down, I let you down,” Freeze said, echoing what James told him after the game. “He felt the weight of the world on him.” — “Keionte (Scott) dings his shoulder on third down and goes to the training room so you have to put a backup in,” Freeze said of Moore being back to receive the punt late in the game. Freeze adds that he didn’t know Scott was hurt in the moment, but Moore has returned punts all year and has the trust of the staff. — “Your choices are: Do you rush him? If you do, we haven’t gotten him on the ground very much... or you can drop under and play five-under, three-deep... and that’s the choice we made,” Freeze said of the 4th-and-31 defensive play call. “It is something we work every Thursday. That was our two options and that was the one we went with... And we didn’t play with vision on the ball.” — “The recruits, I think, see it,” Freeze said. “It certainly is a positive for us. I’m not sure they’ve been to a game that’s quite like that.” — “That is a difficult deal for me,” Freeze says about approaching players who might forego playing in the bowl game. Freeze admits that he hasn’t dealt with it much at his previous stops, but certainly believes in players finishing the season. — “I have no idea how the makeup of how the 85 will look,” Freeze said of what his roster will look like next season with the transfer portal and high school recruiting. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this transfer portal window is as long as it is.” — “I am absolutely, totally, positively convinced this can be a winning program,” Freeze said when asked what he’s learned through a year at Auburn. “Everything is here for us to build — and I say build, these things don’t happen overnight — to build a championship team.” — “Only way I know to be is to be totally transparent,” Freeze said when asked how he approaches conversations with players who might be considering transferring. For some, that means telling a player that he might not play much here. For others, that means asking a player to be patient. — “If you take away Week 11, I think we have made great strides within our culture,” Freeze said. “I do not think you can win big games if you don’t have a large percentage of your team buying into that culture of accountability... I’m still wanting that to grow, but it’s gotten better. I want us to truly be a community.” — “I’m probably most proud of the Auburn Family that supported us,” Freeze said when asked what he is most proud of in Year 1. “I’m proud of our kids and our fight that they showed. You lose four straight games and that could’ve gone a different way... all of that is encouraging. But it’s hard for me to sit here and say that I am proud of delivering six wins when I feel like it could’ve been more. But the Auburn Family and fans have just blown me away.” — Freeze says as it pertains to bowl game prep that he likes to let the players enjoy the journey a bit more than grind away. He adds that he will push that some of the younger players — especially defensive backs — get more reps in practice. — Freeze ends his press conference with an unprompted rant about how Saturday’s result shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of DJ James and Koy Moore or the play calls there. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

al.com How will Hugh Freeze and Auburn handle the transfer portal when it opens next week? Updated: Nov. 27, 2023, 5:06 p.m.|Published: Nov. 27, 2023, 11:46 a.m. 4–5 minutes Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze watches warm ups before an NCAA football game against New Mexico State Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. (Julie Bennett | preps@al.com)Julie Bennett | preps@al.com A week from Monday, on Dec. 4, the transfer window for college football will open. From that point forward, the portal will have its neon “OPEN” sign plugged in and hanging in the window for 30 days, allowing college football players at both the FBS and FCS levels to put their names into the portal and let coaches around the country know that they’re in the market for a new home. And Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze isn’t a fan. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this portal window were about to have is as long as it is,” Freeze said. “It makes no sense. We have to go all the way through Christmas worrying about people tampering with players on your team... This idea that we have this long portal window, it wasn’t made by anybody that’s having to live through it, I assure you.” It’s Freeze’s belief that most players approach the transfer window with a pretty clear-cut idea of what their plan is. “Either they know they’re going in or they’re not,” Freeze said, tabling the idea of a window from Dec. 1-10. “Make your decision and let’s move on.” That said, Freeze was also asked how he and his staff will handle those conversations with players who might be considering transferring away from Auburn. And those conversations — aside from being transparent — vary on a case-by-case basis, Freeze says. “Tell them the truth,” Freeze said. “The truth for some is your chances to play here are probably slim. The truth for other is, man, there’s an element of patience that needs to be involved in your decision.” When it comes to players who make up the back half of that quote, Freeze said less than two weeks ago that he has a plan in place to keep them from flirting with the idea of transferring. He calls it the SOAR program. “We’ve got a group of men in this building, that’s one of their sole charges is developing the relationships with these young kids to try to convince them of truth and not believing some lies or hopes,” Freeze explained during the SEC Teleconference on Nov. 15. However, Freeze recognizes that those efforts aren’t going to land every single time — especially with name, image and likeness being an added factor in a player’s decision-making. Together, all of it makes for a very difficult situation for coaches when it comes to roster management, Freeze says. “I don’t think there’s any possible way that any coach can sit here and tell you how he’s going to come up with his 85,” Freeze said Monday. “I don’t.” Freeze hasn’t been shy about his preference of landing high school recruits and developing them for a season or two before getting them onto the playing field. But he realizes that’s not the reality in this new, transfer-heavy era of college football. “I’d love to sit here and tell you, ‘Hey, we’re going to build it with high school kids and you’re going to give me time to build it that way.’ I would love to say that,” Freeze said. “But then this week, if I have 10 guys walk in and transfer and I haven’t been recruiting enough high school kids to replace those, it’s impossible for me to say that. So I have no idea exactly how the makeup of the 85 will look and what we have to replace.” What Freeze does know, however, is that the transfer portal will likely need to be a part of it his plan, regardless of his negative feelings towards the matter. “Do we have to replace just 22? Do we have to replace 32? None of us know,” Freeze said. “And I think that’s become the biggest challenge for us coaches is, man, how do you even manage the 85? It will take you all the way through spring and summer to really figure that out because of the way the portal windows are set up.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

si.com Auburn Football Expected to Lose Wide Receiver to the Transfer Portal Lance Dawe ~2 minutes The Tigers are expected to lose a backup receiver to the portal. Auburn is expecting to lose a wide receiver to the transfer portal. Omari Kelly, a sophomore receiver for the Tigers, is expected to enter the transfer portal, per Mike Gittens of The War Rapport. Kelly has five receptions for 101 yards and no touchdowns through two seasons with Auburn. He caught two passes for 45 yards this season, both of which came in Auburn's blowout win over Samford in September. As it stands, the Tigers have three receivers committed in their 2024 class, including five-star Perry Thompson and four-stars Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons. Five-star Cam Coleman may be flipping to Auburn soon as well. It could be a loaded receiver room on the Plains next season. A three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, Kelly was the No. 27 overall athlete and the No. 17 player in the state of Alabama. Rivals ranked him No. 13 among prospects from the state of Alabama and was top 25 nationally at his position by ESPN and 247Sports.He finished second team Class 7A all-state as a junior for Coach Josh Floyd at Hewitt-Trussville High and made an appearance in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. Kelly is also a sprinter in track & field. He should have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

saturdaydownsouth.com Hugh Freeze breaks down how 4th and 31 happened Andrew Peters | 14 hours ago ~3 minutes Auburn lost the Iron Bowl on Saturday after one of the craziest plays of the season. After a muffed punt set up Alabama with great field position in the final minutes of the game, Jalen Milroe and Alabama faced a 4th and goal from the 31-yard line. Milroe connected with Isaiah Bond in the back of the endzone on a game-winning touchdown after Hugh Freeze decided to rush two and bring the rest of the coverage to the endzone. On Monday, Freeze broke down why he went with that decision and what went wrong. Here is the full quote from Freeze breaking down the play during his press conference on Monday: “We had a lot of discussion on that. They had a timeout and then we saw what they were in. They were in empty, so your choices are: Do we rush him? And if you do, we haven’t really got him on the ground very much, and he can scramble around, and you’re going to have a bunch of one-on-ones back there. You could do that, and one of their guys goes up and makes a play. Or you can drop everybody, and play 5-under, 3-deep and just play vision on the ball, knock the ball down because it has to go in the end zone. That’s the choice we made. I can show you still shots. I’ve taken pictures of every still shot from the 10-yard line in, and. I mean, we are in perfect position. We’ve got three over two. So either we didn’t coach it well enough, or we didn’t execute it well enough, and it’s probably a combination of both. It’s something we work every Thursday. That was our two options, and that’s the one we went with and felt like we could stay with their empty set and stay three over two, four over three and play with vision on the ball and knock the ball down. We didn’t play with vision on the ball.” The play is one that both Alabama and Auburn fans will remember for a long time in two very different contexts. Now, Alabama is preparing for the SEC Championship against Georgia with hopes of earning a spot in the CFP. Auburn is looking to put the game behind them and get ready for a bowl game and a new season.

247sports.com Quick Quotes Freezes final thoughts on Iron Bowl loss looking to bowl season Nathan King ~4 minutes After three straight wins, Auburn's first regular season under Hugh Freeze ended with a pair of heartbreaking losses. More painful was a 27-24 defeat at the hands of rival Alabama on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide made its own Iron Bowl miracle by winning the game with a touchdown pass on fourth-and-31 with 32 seconds left. Auburn ends the regular season with six wins for the third time in the past four years. Follow along here for live updates from Freeze's weekly press conference, as he recaps Auburn's brutal loss in the Iron Bowl and looks to bowl season. * Freeze thanks Auburn fans for Saturday: "It was, in my opinion, the best college football atmosphere I've ever experienced." * Freeze: "It will forever be a regret that we didn't get to celebrate after it." * Freeze on the team's mood Monday: "The sting is not getting any better right now." * Freeze talks a lot about the prospects that were on campus: "A lot of the recruits saw what it can be." * Auburn's recruitment of its own roster — plus NFL draft and other departure decisions — "starts today," Freeze said. * Freeze said he didn't sleep at all Saturday night, just went straight into Sunday. * Freeze says as upsetting as the loss was, "If you're made of the right stuff, it makes you really determined." * Freeze says he sat with D.J. James and Koy Moore at their lockers for "a while" after the game. * On James defending the last play, "There should have been someone else there with him." * Freeze says Keionte Scott "dinged his shoulder" on the third down before Koy Moore's muffed punt and went briefly into the training room. That's why Moore was out there. * Freeze on the fourth-and-31, says Auburn was "in perfect position" leading up to the touchdown: "We didn't coach it well enough, and we didn't execute it well enough." * In terms of a recruiting pitch Saturday, Freeze says Auburn got "everything but the win." * "Every situation is a little different," Freeze says of players who may want to opt out of the bowl game. * Freeze: "I have no idea" what Auburn's roster makeup will look like for 2024 in terms of transfers vs. high-school newcomers. Says the coaching staff will have to continue to adapt depending on how many players transfer out within the next couple weeks. * Freeze: "It is absolutely ridiculous that this portal window coming up is as long as it is." * Freeze is "totally convinced" Auburn can be a program that wins championships after Year 1. Says the team should "be in every game." * Freeze on his upcoming conversations with Auburn's prospective outgoing transfers: "The only way I know to be is totally transparent." * Freeze says, with the exception of the New Mexico State week, Auburn made "great strides" in terms of its culture and buy-in. * Freeze: "It's hard for me to sit here and say I'm proud of delivering six wins when it could have been more." * Freeze on bowl practices: "I'm not one that grinds them during the bowl. I want them to enjoy the journey and the process." Says he wants to see the young defensive backs in particular get into the bowl game. Freeze says he'll make a hypothetical practice schedule for the bowl week later today. * Freeze takes some time at the end of his press conference to talk more about the muffed punt and the fourth-and-31: "It's not just those two plays or coaching decisions. We had other chances, too, in that game."

auburnwire.usatoday.com Press conference review: Hugh Freeze reflects on Iron Bowl, previews bowl season Taylor Jones 19–24 minutes Head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media on Monday to further discuss Auburn’s loss to Alabama last Saturday, and to dive into details regarding recruiting, the transfer portal, and bowl season. After suffering a demoralizing loss such as the one Auburn experienced last Saturday, it can take time to digest. For Freeze, the agonizing loss was enough to keep him awake. “Well, I never went to sleep. So I didn’t wake up. This profession, we sign up for it and it’s difficult, and I try to keep things in great perspective about the big picture of why we coach. I have to preach that to myself after losses like the last few because my window of coaching, in the spectrum of life, is pretty small. What I do with that window matters long after the program is over. I know fans and media and coaches and all of us live and die with every game. But, if you look at the big spectrum, I know that we’re pouring into the people in this program the right things. You try and get some comfort with that , but it’s hard. There is no two ways about it. You run through every single play that could have made a difference. Do you do anything different? You’re going to relive all of that. I didn’t sleep at all. It means so much to so many people and when you care, you want to deliver when you have an opportunity in a game of that magnitude. When you don’t, you’re not going to sleep very much. I watched the film several times. But again, as disappointing and hurtful as it is, if you’re made of the right stuff, it makes you determined to get in those situations again and to go get some players that want to do it with you. To say that you wake up on Sunday morning and it’s all over in your mind and in your spirit, that’s not real. It’s still not over truthfully, but I’m a fighter and so are these kids and so is this staff. Time makes things a little better, and you’re encouraged that you found a way to compete with one of the elite programs in the country in year one.” Freeze discussed plenty of items surrounding his program on Monday. Here’s a rundown of everything he said during his weekly press conference. John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “Thank you, everyone, for coming. I know that this wasn’t originally scheduled, but I felt like it would be good for us all to visit one more time before we hit the recruiting trail and just revisit Saturday night, which, in my opinion, was the best college football atmosphere I’ve ever experienced. I just wanted to say to our fans and supporters and students and band and cheerleaders, everybody that provided that type of atmosphere for our young men to play in and for us to coach in – thank you. It was incredible. Off the charts good. I think it’s the best home atmosphere in the country. I know a lot of good recruits got to see that, so that was incredible. So, thank you to all the Auburn Tiger family. It will forever be a regret that we didn’t get to celebrate together after it. I would have immensely enjoyed that. That would have really, really been nice. Having said that, I think our kids played with the type of passion, energy and physicality that you have to to play with top teams in the country. As hurt as we are, as hurt as our kids are, the sting is not getting any better right now from losing the Iron Bowl when you had a real shot and should have won the game based on how it played out. But that is something that has certainly laid a foundation. We’ve played three top-10 teams within a touchdown; (we were) in three of those games with a first-year roster. Now the consistency that we need to seek to find is to get that every single game. But I’m very proud of the effort from our kids. The game plan was good and obviously wish that it would have just ended a bit differently, and we’d all be feeling a lot better. There is still a lot of hurt. I texted with some kids this morning. This game means so much, and we let it slip away. A lot to build on. Obviously, I think all the recruits saw what can be, and it can be pretty fast. So now we’ve got to take the positives from that and go and recruit to this great university. We’ve got a lot of great commitments that we can hopefully hold on to. We have to recruit our current roster, I’m sure. That’s the new world we’re in. That’ll start today. We’ve got to get all the NFL information and try to give our kids the best information to make the wisest decision. And at the same time, go recruit high school kids, portal kids, whatever it takes to enhance our roster so that we’re better able to have depth and compete with more consistency next year. So, I’m excited, but absolutely still heartbroken over Saturday evening as are our kids. More determined than ever and more confident than ever that this place can be an elite college football program.” John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “It showed our resolve. I wanted the ball. I thought we had a good plan offensively, but the first possession didn’t go really well. That happens against good teams. They’re going to stop you. Alabama’s pretty good on defense. For them to jump out on us … but our kids never quit, not one ounce. So that was good to see them fight back.” John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “I wish I had the words for him. I tried hard. I sat with him at his locker for a while, he and Koy (Moore). I texted with him yesterday. It’s just tough. This world can be brutal. I get it on coaches, they’re going to be brutal on me and every decision I make, good or bad. And everybody’s got the answer, what they would do. I get that for coaches. You hate to see it when young men who are playing the game get attacked. That’s just… I hate that. I think those people need to get a life and a perspective. No one hurt more than Koy and D.J. And truthfully, in the scheme we were in on that play, I know D.J. will get all the criticism, but truthfully there should have been somebody else standing there with him to help him. So it’s not just him, even though he’s feeling the weight of it. His words at his locker were, ‘Coach, I let you down. I let you down.’ And he felt that because of not only that play, but the one right before the half when we were up 14-10, he didn’t get the call and gave them a long TD pass there. So he felt the weight of the world on him. I just told him, ‘We’ll get through it. We love you, we’ll get through it together.’ Somehow, in time, if handled right, it makes them stronger.” Wesley Hitt/Getty Images “The punt, I don’t know what discussion you can have. Keionte (Scott) dings his shoulder on third down, goes to the training room, so you put your backup in, which Koy (Moore) has been solid all year doing that. I didn’t know that in the moment, but you have to play backups sometimes. The last thing you want to do in that moment is just let them pin us back on the five-yard line with their three timeouts. Koy has been solid all year at catching punts, and something happened with his footing it looked like. It’s one of those awful plays that I think we win the game if we catch that punt, but Koy has been dependable as can be so there’s really no discussion there. If Keionte is out, you put your next guy in there, and we trust Koy to do his job. He’s done it well all year and unfortunately just had a bad break there. “We had a lot of discussion on that (fourth and 31) because they had a timeout and we saw what they were in. They were in empty, so your choices are ‘Do we rush him?’, and if we do, then we haven’t really got him on the ground very much, and he can scramble around and they’ll have a bunch of one-on-ones back there. So you could do that and one of their guys goes up and makes a play, or you can drop everybody and five-under, three-deep and play vision on the ball and knock the ball down because it has to go in the endzone. That’s the choice we made. I could show you still shots, I took pictures of every still shot from the 10-yard line in, and we are in perfect position. We have three-over-two, so either we didn’t coach it well enough or we didn’t execute it well enough. It’s probably a combination of both. It’s something we work every Thursday on. Those were our two options, and that’s the one we went with. We felt like, with their empty set, we could stay three-over-two and four-over-three and play with vision on the ball and knock the ball down, and we didn’t play with vision on the ball.” Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports “Anytime you go undefeated in college football, regardless of what people say or don’t say about your schedule, something is really, really, really going good and in the right frame in that building. Coach (Jamey) Chadwell and his staff, I don’t know him tremendously well, but you have to give them credit for getting those kids ready every single week. As that season went on I’m sure the pressure to succeed kind of builds in that building. Credit to their staff and their kids for responding every single time. Now they get to play for their first ever conference championship. Obviously, what we did there was fun and good, and I think we helped start building that program in FBS play, but the credit goes to those guys there right now that have found a way take all of those pieces that were there. I’m really happy for all of the kids that I know. Really (Coach Chadwell) combined those kids with some others and made them a team. Congratulations to them and to AD Ian McCaw and that entire administration and fan base. They’re getting to host a conference championship Saturday and then who knows? They may get into one of those New Year’s Six games, which is always something we talked about. I’m not sure where all of that stands right now. They’d have my vote if I had a say in it, but congratulations to them.” John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “The recruits, I think see it. I mean the battles are never over when you’re talking about battling for the top guys in the country but for them to have that as an experience, that’s certainly a positive for us. I don’t know that they’ve been to a game that was quite like that. I think it was a step in the right direction for us to hopefully get to the finish line with some of those guys. Again, a lot of credit goes to our fanbase.” Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers “This is new to me. Didn’t have a single kid at Ole Miss. I didn’t get to coach in the Arkansas State one because I had left. Didn’t have a single kid do that and obviously, at Liberty, I didn’t either, but I left last year before the last one. That is a difficult deal for me. I’ve always believed you finish. You finish with your team. We signed up for this. However, I will say every situation is a little different. I’m gonna have to really put a lot of thought and prayer and seek wisdom for if that becomes the case here. There’s obviously some kids that will probably move on from here, so our people need to know that. That’s the new world we live in. Do you take to the bowl game those guys that are choosing to do that, or do you not? You certainly need to have some numbers. You want to do well, and you want to prepare well, so you have to have some numbers to do that. Some (coaches ) are probably pretty cut and dry. This is my first experience with it, believe it or not. I’ve never had to deal with it before. I’ll be learning through the process myself.” John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports “I don’t think there’s any possible way that any coach can sit here and tell you how he’s going to come up with his 85. I’d love to sit here and tell you we’re going to build it with high school kids and y’all are going to give me time to build it that way. I would love to say that, but then, this week, if I have 10 guys walk in and transfer, and I haven’t been recruiting enough high school kids to replace those, it’s impossible for me to say that. So, I have no idea how exactly the makeup of the 85 will look and what we have to replace. Do we have to replace just 22 or do we have to replace 32? None of us know. I think that’s become the biggest challenge for us coaches. How do you manage the 85? It will take you all the way through spring and summer to really figure that out because of the way the portal windows are set up. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this portal window we’re getting ready to have is as long as it is. It makes no sense. We have to go all of the way through Christmas worrying about people tampering with players on your team. Either they know they’re going in or they’re not, so give them from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10, and make your decision, and let’s move on. This idea that we have all this long portal window — it wasn’t made by anyone that’s having to live it. I assure you.” Austin Perryman/Auburn Athletics “I am absolutely, positively, totally convinced this place can be an elite program. Now, being an elite program in this conference, there are some others too. Does that mean you’re going to win every single game? Probably not. I don’t know of many teams who are going to do that anymore, truthfully, but we should be in every game. This place, the support it has, the energy, the fanbase, the culture, the family feel, the administration alignment, the facilities, everything is here for us to build — and I say build because these things don’t happen overnight — to build a championship team. It’s here and we can do it. I do think it’s important that we recruit young men who understand that they’re going to be blessed by being at Auburn. We have the resources to bless them, but entitlement doesn’t come with that. They need to fit the culture and the standard that should be for everybody regardless of how blessed they feel they are. We should continue to try to earn those every single day because people are investing in us. I’m totally convinced and my family loves living here. We love the encouragement you get from the common fan who loves this place. It’s been a blessing. Wish we would’ve delivered more wins, but I’ll always feel that way.” Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers “The only way I know to be is totally transparent and tell them the truth. The truth for some is ‘your chances to play here are probably slim.’ The truth for others is ‘man, there is an element of patience that needs to be involved in your decision. You’re going to be really good if you can just be patient and not listen to the voices that want immediate gratification.’ Certainly, you’ve got the money aspect that’s involved in all of this now. I think you should choose the place, the culture and the environment that’s going to develop you for the long term, for the long haul. I think everything is better when you’re in that environment for yourself. But some need to have patience and other discussions are just going to be truthful with how we see you fitting into this roster.” The Montgomery Advertiser “If you take away Week 11, I think we have made great strides in our culture. Even with that week, we have started learning about true accountability, what it’s like for me as an individual to meet the standard every single day that it takes. I do not think that you can win big games if you don’t have a large percentage of your team that are buying into that accountability to each other. I think the one thing that I’m still searching for more wisdom on, and we’ve gotten better is this element of – when you and I played, there was this element in our locker room and outside the locker room of community and communication. This new world of we talk to each other through text, and we date through SnapChat and all of that world, I think you miss this element of true community. When you have true community, it’s easy to hold each other accountable because you and I have a relationship and I can say to you, ‘come on, now. That’s not the way we do that.’ I’m still wanting that to grow. It has gotten better, but I do want us to truly be a community that has a relationship with one another that when you get through practice, why don’t we go hang out instead of going and put our headsets on and just play a video game with somebody else online somewhere in the world. What about ‘let’s put our phones away and let’s have a conversation.’ Maybe I’m living in a fairytale world. I don’t know. I want to develop that here. The culture has gotten better. The standard has gotten better. The accountability has gotten better. I’m hopeful that I can continue to build the community aspect of what a team really is.” The Montgomery Advertiser “Probably I’m proudest of the Auburn Family that supported us. It’s hard for me to sit here and say one thing. I’m proud of our kids and the fight that we showed. I mean you lose four-straight games, and that thing could’ve gone a lot of different ways and I thought they stayed engaged which shows our staff did a decent job of keeping them engaged. We certainly played some of our better football in last Saturday’s game. So, all of that is encouraging, but it’s hard for me to sit here and say that I am proud of delivering six wins, when I feel like it could’ve been more. Man, the Auburn Family and fans have just blown me away which makes us want to deliver a product that we can be so happy with. I know we were limited, and you could see there was different athleticism on the field in some games but yet our kids found a way to compete so I’m very proud of that. Sure wish we could’ve had a few more in the win column.” John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “He (Alex McPherson) probably would’ve been good from about 53 or so, 54 maybe. I can’t remember that scenario with 11 seconds. Did we still have a timeout left? I think we dropped a ball on that possession which would have put us close to field position. I can’t remember what happened with 11 seconds. I know it was six seconds on the Hail Mary. I can’t remember what we did there. He (Payton Thorne) had to throw it away? So, you know, we do that a lot. We’ve been pretty balanced on those types of decisions, and I guess felt like we had some open things. I thought we had some good route concepts that would give them problems, we just had to call them at the right time. We could have tried that, I’m sure.” The Montgomery Advertiser “Thank you, number one. Thank you, thank you, thank you and get your season tickets for next year. We are going to make you proud and you are going to enjoy watching us build this program, so stay in the fight with us and we thank you so much.” Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers “I’m not the one who grinds them during bowl week. I am really not. I want them to enjoy the journey and the process. I’ll try to get our young kids a lot of work and get them in the game, particularly those DBs. We need to get those young DBs a lot of reps in those games. We think they have a chance to be really good players. Tyler Scott, Kayin Lee, Terrance Love, Sylvester Smith, JC Hart, that group of kids. We all think they have a chance, and they are going to have to play next year so we need to see them. I am going to sit down today, it is one of the things on my list, and make a hypothetical practice schedule based on the bowls that I think we could end up going to, so I’ll have that ready. We will try to get five to six here and then usually three more at the practice site. So, usually around eight practices is what we will try to get in and get a lot of good individual work and obviously a game plan together, but excited to get some of the young kids some work.” Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports “I will say one more thing. Everybody will point to the last plays and D.J. (James) and Koy (Moore) and everything, but there are other plays in that game too that make a difference. So, it’s not just on those two for those kids. Obviously, they’re magnified because of the time to which it was in. But we could’ve put it away with another TD down on the five-yard line, too. I thought Payton (Thorne) threw a heck of a ball there and it hit our guy right in the facemask and we have to make that play. So, it’s not just those two young men and those two plays or coaching decisions on those two plays. We had other chances too in that game and so anyway just wanted to say that. Thank you guys for this year. I appreciate you covering our program, and I guess we’ll visit again toward the bowl game.”

247sports.com With transfer window fast approaching, Auburn shifts into roster management mode Nathan King 5–6 minutes Aside from what he expects to be eight bowl practices, Hugh Freeze is shifting into roster management mode for his 2024 squad. He and his Auburn staff don’t have much time to fester on their shortcomings in Saturday’s 27-24 Iron Bowl loss. The recruiting dead period ends Thursday — and a few days later, the annual transfer extravaganza kicks off. There will likely be some roster rumblings this week, but the real craziness will get under way next Monday. Starting Dec. 4, players have 30 days to enter their names into the transfer portal and retain eligibility for the 2024 season. Not only is that 15 days less than the previous winter transfer window, but it’s also during a month where Auburn’s staff will be furiously recruiting the 2024 class, looking to close out strong with a number of top prospects the Tigers feel they’re close to securing for the early signing period Dec. 20. Of course, that transfer window is only for players to enter the portal. Teams will still be adding those available players to their rosters well into the summer. Freeze said he didn’t sleep at all Saturday night thinking about Auburn’s Iron Bowl loss. There likely won’t be a lot of time to rest for the next month, either. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this portal window we’re about to have is as long as it is,” Freeze said Monday. “It makes no sense. We have to go all the way through Christmas worrying about people tampering with players on your team. Either they know they’re going in or not. So give them from December 1 to December 10. Make your decision and move on. But this idea that we have all this long portal window is — it wasn’t made by anybody that’s having to live it, I assure you.” At the moment, Freeze has “no idea” what kind of transfer needs will be the most pressing for his team. All of that depends on who decides to leave, and those conversations will begin this week. “We've got to recruit our current roster I'm sure — that's the new world we're in,” Freeze said. “That will start today. We've got to get all the NFL information and try to give our kids the best information to make the wisest decision. And at the same time, go recruit high school kids, portal kids, whatever it takes to enhance our roster so that we're better able to have depth and compete with more consistency next year.” Last season, Auburn’s outgoing transfer situation wasn’t bad, and the Tigers brought in a 20-man transfer class to fill holes across the roster. Freeze expects to have some players come into his office over the coming days. “Only way I know to be is totally transparent,” Freeze said. “Tell them the truth. The truth for some is that your chances to play here are probably slim. The truth for others is, ‘Man, there’s an element of patience that needs to be involved in your decision. You’re going to be really good if you can just be patient and not listen to the voices that want immediate gratification.’ Certainly you’ve got the money aspect that’s involved in all this now. I think you should choose the place and the culture and environment that’s going to develop you for the long term and the long haul. I think everything is better when you’re in that environment for yourself. Some need to have patience. Other discussions are just going to be truthful with how we see you’re fitting into this roster.” As Freeze mentioned, part of the upcoming roster management includes NFL draft decisions. Though the draft declaration deadline isn’t until Jan. 15, players will weigh the possibility of sitting out Auburn’s bowl game to avoid an injury if they’ve already decided they’ll enter the draft. “That is a difficult deal for me,” Freeze said. “I’ve always believed you finish. You finish with your team. We signed up for this. However, I will say I think every situation is a little different. I’m going to have to really put a lot of thought and prayer and seek wisdom for if that becomes a case here. There’s obviously some kids that probably will move on from here, so our people need to know that and that’s the new world we live in. Do you take to the bowl game those guys that are choosing to do that? … This is my first experience with it, believe it or not. I’ve never had to deal with it before. I’ll be learning through the process myself.”

we had kids out of position in the end zone. one receiver had three defenders and i am not sure that is on roberts.

well do not hold us in suspense tell us the whole story there fella. i am pretty sure i just told you about our own and you need to remind me?ok there fella i know it is an ugly topic.

i sat here and watched some horrible stuff said on this site. by a lot of folks. i said not one word to any of you. not one. and when i choose to show some results of the hate all of a sudden i am a bad guy.

i guess whomever was following him on social media. go check it out on the rant if you like. i am not sure there is a link.

panhandlebama Alabama Fan Member since Oct 2021 1205 posts A few nuggets from aufamily.com. Auburn fans are broken LOL this is why i hate negative stuff. aufam gets called out on another site .one year al.com did an article on aufam and our meltdown. we give our enemies too mych ammo guys........

i hope you had a good turkey day wed.

one person on the rant said koy has muffed punts in the last two iron bowls. so maybe that is part of the hate? i have no idea.

if you claim the creed and being family it is a bad look. as far as bama fans i doubt they were doing the hating.i imagine they would want to buy moore a drink. and as for moore no one feels any worse than he does. i do not get the hate. i report the damn news good and bad.

i could careless what you think. how bout dat?

So much for family. right?

i watch mostly football and basketball and let me say ALL losses hurt.

well folks it is the monday after letting a win slip through our hands. i saw several bad calls while doing the video's. i have no idea if they would made a difference or not.folks they expected us to get the crap stomped out of us and they were all wrong. like mr sanders said you best be getting us now. and like coach "O"says..........we coming! it was a tough loss but i feel in my heart better days are coming.