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al.com With Auburn, Vanderbilt transfer Elijah McAllister will finally play a home game in Nashville Updated: Nov. 02, 2023, 12:09 p.m.|Published: Nov. 02, 2023, 12:09 p.m. 5–6 minutes For four years, Elijah McAllister ran out of the tunnel at his home stadium in Nashville and never saw a stadium full with the black and gold Vanderbilt colors he wore. He’s human, of course that bothered him. There’s a different type of exhilarating feeling, he said, when running out of the tunnel to the 88,000-plus fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium — his new home field — all cheering loudly for him. In Auburn, there is a home-field advantage Vanderbilt never had. “I get that exhilarating feeling when I’m here, and I didn’t get that at my previous school,” McAllister said Monday. “Obviously, it’s a little difficult, every time you go out there and play and there’s not a lot of people rooting you on.” McAllister played at Vanderbilt for his four years as an undergraduate. He played 36 games and was a two-time team captain. Then, as a graduate, he transferred to Auburn for this season. He quickly became a team captain at Auburn, too, and served an important rotational and leadership role as a pass-rushing jack linebacker on this defense. This week, he’s going back. Auburn plays Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday. The game will kick off at 3 p.m. central time and will be aired on the SEC Network. “On a personal level, I think it’ll be like playing backyard football with some of your best friends,” McAllister said. “A lot of shared experience with the guys on that roster. I’m just excited to go over there, play against some of my best friends and get a win. So I’m excited.” McAllister said there isn’t any standoff between himself and his old teammates this week. He’s been in touch with them as he always has been since he left — though of course leaving any game plan conversations kept tight within Auburn’s football building. However, this game will be the first time McAllister has seen most of his former Vanderbilt teammates since he left. He did get to see former Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright last week as he started for Mississippi State in a game Auburn won 27-13. McAllister called that a good “tune-up” for this week. The stadium he’ll be returning too, though, does not exactly resemble the one he may remember. Vanderbilt is playing home games despite significant construction in both endzones of its stadium. The seating capacity in Nashville before the project was just over 40,000 people. Now, the number is closer to 28,000. The project means a scoreboard suspended by cranes behind one endzone. It means a visiting locker room that is quite literally a tent, though it does have showers and air conditioning. “I’ve heard the stories, I’ve seen the pictures and just hearing from them is unique,” McAllister said. “I think for guys on this roster, I don’t think any of them have played there. It’ll be a different experience for them playing in that stadium just because we’re used to there being all these fans for us here at Jordan-Hare. It’s the best fans in the country. It’ll be a lot different playing there. We just have to have a professional approach to it, honestly. I’ve played many games there, so it’ll be different.” Yet even in all the weirdness of Vanderbilt football this year, this will essentially be the first time McAllister has played what will feel like a home game in Nashville. The crowd is expected to heavily favor Auburn, and McAllister has already seen how well Auburn fans travel this season — highlighted by the thousands of fans who traveled all the way to Berkeley, California for Auburn’s September game against Cal. Auburn, despite the home-crowd advantage it often has in Vanderbilt’s small stadium, has a quite trepidatious history in Nashville. Auburn has lost each of its last two trips to Vanderbilt and the all-time series is tied 21-21-1. And that’s considering the fact Auburn closed its series deficit by winning 14 of the last 16 games since 1978. The two schools haven’t played since 2016, a game Auburn won 23-16 in Auburn. For as much as Vanderbilt has been a bottom-feeder in the SEC, Auburn has struggled with Nasvhille’s SEC school. “This is a scary game to me, I’ve always thought playing there is difficult for whatever reason,” head coach Hugh Freeze said Monday. In a weird setup, Auburn will look to McAllister, its team captain. He’s never seen Vanderbilt with a scoreboard swaying in the wind, but he certainly knows how to handle an odd look.

247sports.com PMARSHONAU Roberts defense a key for Tigers down the stretch Phillip Marshall 7–9 minutes Roberts' gameday acumen keeps Auburn's defense going AUBURN, Alabama – For those into statistics, Auburn’s defense, ranked No. 82 nationally, might not seem impressive. But when you consider Auburn has played the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 12 offenses in the country, you might be a little more impressed. Despite key injuries at linebacker, on the defensive line and in the secondary and a struggling offense, first-year coordinator Ron Roberts’ defense has played well enough to give the Tigers a chance to win every game but one. They lead the SEC in takeaways. That includes 10 interceptions, the most since 2019. Saturdays 27-13 win over Mississippi State was typical. Mississippi State had some explosive plays and moved the ball. But two fourth-down stops and an interception kept the Bulldogs from getting any closer than two touchdowns behind in the second half. Auburn’s defense is healthier now than it’s been since early in the season. And Roberts’ men intend to make a difference down the stretch. “It’s been amazing to play under his defense,” Elijah McAllister, who plays the Jack position, said. “He’s an old-school football guy. He knows exactly what offenses are doing because he’s seen it. It’s fun playing for him, honestly.” Roberts feel for calling defenses is the first thing that attracted Freeze when he went in search of a defensive coordinator after arriving at Auburn last December. “He is one of the best in the nation at calling a game,” Freeze said. “I think we all have strengths, we all have weaknesses, and you want to play to your strengths. And one of his strengths is definitely game day, calling the football game from a defensive perspective and making adjustments within his system. I think he's really gifted at that.” Roberts is a 34-year coaching veteran. In two stints as a head coach, he was 47-16 in five seasons at Delta State and 42-29 in six season at Southeastern Louisiana. For his entire 27-year college career, he has been a head coach or defensive coordinator. He moved to Auburn in January after three seasons at Baylor. Roberts has seen the game change in significant ways in those seasons. Offenses have become more sophisticated, faster and more imaginative. “You have to be multiple these days in college football,” Roberts said. “You can’t just sit in one front. Unless you have better players than everybody, you can’t do that. The offensive coordinators will pick you apart. They will find chinks in your armor.” Auburn’s armor has some chinks. There is no denying that. With the likes of nickel Keionte Scott and linebacker Austin Keys back from injuries, some of those chinks might not be quite as noticeable. Roberts and the Tigers face another challenge Saturday when they go on the road to Vanderbilt in search of their fifth victory. The Commodores have lost seven straight games and are 0-5 in the SEC. But Freeze says the they can’t be taken for granted on senior day and homecoming at FirstBank Stadium. “This is a scary game to me,” Freeze said. “I've always thought playing there is difficult for whatever reason. I know you can look at their record and say whatever, but they've played a tough stretch with Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss — that's a tough stretch of games. They've been competitive at times in all of them. It's a difficult place to play, and it has my full attention.” Vanderbilt plans to play two quarterbacks against Auburn The Commodores have struggled at the quarterback position this season Auburn utilization of its two-quarterback system may be dwindling after Payton Thorne’s performance last weekend. But the Tigers’ defense will still have to prepare for two signal-callers this week. Vanderbilt plans to play both Ken Seals and Walter Taylor against Auburn on Saturday afternoon, head coach Clark Lea said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. The Commodores did so in a 33-7 loss at Ole Miss over the weekend, as starter A.J. Swann continues to recover from an elbow injury that’s forced him to miss the past four games. Seals took over as Vanderbilt’s starter in the three games after Swann’s injury. But against Ole Miss, Lea’s plan was to get Taylor — a redshirt freshman from Jackson, Alabama — involved in the offense with some package work, like Auburn has done with backup Robby Ashford. But midway through the second quarter, Vanderbilt turned to Taylor for more extended work, and he was the primary QB for the rest of the game. Taylor went 4-of-12 for 38 yards, while Seals was 4-of-8 for 22 yards. Both quarterbacks had an interception. Taylor led Vanderbilt with 59 rushing yards. Lea’s explanation of Vanderbilt’s quarterback rotation against Ole Miss is not dissimilar to how Hugh Freeze has shuffled Thorne and Ashford this season. “The plan was to have Ken play the game but insert Walt in certain situations,” Lea said Wednesday. “We’re trying to get him some snap experience, and we also feel like he has a skill set that can help us generate offense. It became about interjecting a spark there in the second quarter, and Walt was able to do that. So coming out of halftime, we wanted to continue to pull on that thread.” Much like Auburn was looking to avoid when it was rotating Thorne and Ashford — a trend that screeched to a halt against Mississippi State, when Ashford took only two snaps — Lea said his biggest concern is getting his quarterbacks out of rhythm when taking them in and out of a game. “We want to control that (against Auburn) and hope the game play allows us to,” Lea said. “Meaning we want to strategically insert the quarterbacks to fit both situations, but also in ways that keep a flow to our game. That’s the one thing you worry about with playing two guys — getting out of sync or out of rhythm, and it impacting or affecting the chemistry on the field.” Earlier this week, Lea called Swann questionable for the Auburn game, so it’s technically a possibility that the Commodores could have their starter back. Swann had been completing 53.8 percent of his passes, with 11 touchdowns and seven picks, while Seals has six touchdowns and three interceptions on 60.8 percent passing across four starts. Auburn’s defense leads the SEC with 14 takeaways this season, including 10 interceptions. The Tigers have picked off the opposing quarterback in all but one game this season (Texas A&M). As a team, the Commodores are second-to-last in the SEC in combined quarterback rating this season, in front of only Auburn. Their 11 interceptions on the season are tied for No. 120 in college football. Another injury of note for Vanderbilt is that of leading receiver Will Sheppard, who exited the Ole Miss loss with an apparent upper-body injury and didn’t return. Sheppard is third in the SEC this season with eight receiving touchdowns, plus 591 yards. Kickoff in Nashville is set for 3 p.m. CDT on SEC Network. Vanderbilt is currently on a seven-game losing streak, as Auburn is favored by 12.5 points in what would be its second straight SEC win after an 0-4 start. *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more ***

saturdaydownsouth.com Hugh Freeze beams about Eugene Asante’s inspirational journey Rolando Rosa | 19 hours ago 3–4 minutes Hugh Freeze showed major love to junior linebacker Eugene Asante during a recent appearance on the SEC Network’s Out of Pocket. When Asante transferred from North Carolina to Auburn last season, he was a member of the scout team. However when injuries occurred early this season, Asante was pressed into action and hasn’t looked back. Asante has notched 40 solo tackles and 3.5 sacks this season, including a team-high 10 tackles in Auburn’s 27-13 victory vs. visiting Mississippi State last weekend. “I wish everyone would really look at his journey. This kid is not a starter for us this year. He didn’t start last year. He was on the scout team. Never lost his engagement. Never lost his desire,” Freeze said.”Truthfully, wouldn’t have started for us this year had we not had injuries. All of a sudden we have injuries and the thing that he did was he prepared himself for his opportunity.” Freeze says that Asante is a testament to the merits of hard work and honing your craft. “I think sometimes that’s lost now. People want an opportunity but they want it given to them and they’re not prepared because they didn’t engage themselves, whether it’s on scout team or second-team reps,” Freeze said. “Eugene did that. His opportunity came at the Cal game and he just exploded.” Asante is now also reaping the benefits in terms of NIL. “Then the benefits that he gets from that are obviously a lot in this day and age. I think he had a very little collective deal at that point,” Freeze said. “The collective now wants to give Eugene a good deal.” Next up for Auburn is a road contest at Vanderbilt on Saturday (4 p.m. EST/SEC Network).

247sports.com The Real Deal Vanderbilt week Jason Caldwell ~2 minutes Luke Deal talks about the Tigers as they get ready to face Vanderbilt. Coming off a win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the Auburn Tigers look to make it two in a row when Hugh Freeze's team travels to Nashville on Saturday to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 3 p.m. kickoff on the SEC Network. Tight end Luke Deal looks back at the win over the Bulldogs, what he saw from the offense, facing the Commodores and much more in this week's Real Deal. Keenan Britt returns to watch Auburn win, older brother be honored Keenan Britt was in attendance for the Mississippi State game as he continues to be a frequent visitor on the Plains. Keenan Britt didn't get to just watch Auburn win its first SEC game on Saturday against Mississippi State. He also got to come to the game with his family and watch his older brother and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer, K.J. Britt, serve as the honorary mic man. A 4-star recruit in the Class of 2017, K.J. chose Auburn over a strong collection of other offers and played for the Tigers from 2017-'20 before being selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs. Vanderbilt Brian Hauch ~4 minutes The 4-4 Auburn Tigers will put on their dancing shoes on Saturday when they travel to Broadway to take on the 2-7 Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. Quarterback Payton Thorne and the Auburn offensive line look to keep the good times rolling in Music City after coming off arguably their best game of the season. Vanderbilt on the other hand could really use somebody to step up, as the Commodores have lost 7 straight games after starting 2-0. The different directions of these two teams explain why Auburn is favored by a 12.5-points on the road in this one, according to BetMGM. ESPN FPI also believes in the Tigers’ chances to take a wrecking ball to the Commodores. The Index is giving Auburn an 84.1% chance to win. That is by far the highest Auburn has been favored in FPI since their game against Samford all the way back in September. Will the tale of the tape show us Auburn will set the world on fire and take care of business, or does a closer look show us this game might be closer than expected? As always, we’ll start with the quarterbacks. Starting quarterback Payton Thorne played his best as an Auburn Tiger last week in the win over Mississippi State. The transfer has struggled most of the season, but threw for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s victory, putting his season totals at 1,075 yards and 8 touchdowns in 8 games. Auburn’s “QB1” has also been a threat with the legs, rushing for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns this season. Vanderbilt’s quarterback situation on the other hand has been more disgusting than the floors at Tootsie’s. The Commodores started the season with sophomore AJ Swann. Swann went on to start Vanderbilt’s first 5 games of the season, throwing for 1,290 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions before going down with a shoulder injury. Senior Ken Seals took over as the de-facto starter and threw for 740 yards and 5 touchdowns in his first 3 starts before getting benched in favor of redshirt freshman Walter Taylor last week against Ole Miss. I’m giving the edge to Thorne and Auburn in this category due to the simple fact Vanderbilt’s quarterback situation is a mess. The skill position battle is a little bit murkier. Vanderbilt has the best receiver in this game, Will Sheppard, but it’s hard to judge how much of his output is attributed to the Commodores always playing from behind. I will say Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter is the most talented player for either team on the offensive side of the ball. That fact alone gives the Tigers the edge in the skill position battle, although it’s close. Auburn also gets the edge up front. Gunner Britton is not only the best lineman in this game, but he has also become one of the premier blockers in the SEC. The Tigers has the edge across the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of things, it’s not even close. Auburn boasts one of the best defenses in the SEC (22.5 opponents PPG), while Vanderbilt has arguably the worst (36 opponents PPG). The talent gap on the defensive side of the ball is bigger than Dolly Parton’s Brentwood mansion. After taking a closer look at this game, it’s clear why Auburn is favored by 12.5 points. The Tigers have an incredible chance to come out of Nashville one win away from being bowl-eligible. 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 Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

si.com Could Jarquez Hunter still rush for 1,000 yards this season? Andrew Stefaniak 2–3 minutes Jarquez Hunter will need a strong end of the season to rush for 1,000 yards. Heading into the 2023 Auburn football season, many thought Jarquez Hunter would surpass 1,000 yards rushing with ease. Now that we are eight games into the season, Hunter only has 453 yards on the ground. This means he would need 547 yards over the next four games to get over a thousand. Hunter would need to average 136.8 yards per game over the next four games to get to a thousand yards. Three of the final four opponents are teams that Hunter could early run for 136+ yards against, but Alabama will make that task much more difficult. What Hunter would need to hit the 1,000-rushing-yard mark would be to have a couple games over the next three where he pops off for 150+ yards on the ground. This would make it easier for him against Alabama if he only needed 100 yards in this game instead of 136. Hunter missing the season opener definitely did not help his cause to get to 1,000 yards on the ground. It won't be an easy ask for the junior running back from Mississippi, but all Auburn fans know how talented he is, and if Hunter finishes the season strong, he can get the job done. Auburn has a long list of 1,000-yard rushers in the program's history, so Hunter would love to add his name to the list.

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al.com Auburn to publicly sell alcohol at athletics events for the first time in school history Updated: Nov. 01, 2023, 6:14 p.m.|Published: Nov. 01, 2023, 6:07 p.m. 2–3 minutes Auburn will sell alcohol at an athletic event for the first time in school history at the Nov. 1 basketball exhibition against Auburn-MontgomeryMatt Cohen Auburn will begin publicly selling alcohol at athletics events for the first time in school history at the men’s basketball team’s exhibition Wednesday against Auburn-Montgomery. Auburn is the final SEC school to offer alcohol sales at athletic events. There are seven concession stands at Neville Arena that will have food and alcohol sales, including multiple grab-and-go refrigerator stations. The school is selling regular domestic and import beers, four craft beers, seltzers and canned wine. Auburn will sell alcohol at an athletic event for the first time in school history at the Nov. 1 basketball exhibition against Auburn-MontgomeryMatt Cohen For now, Auburn will be limiting alcohol sales to just Neville Arena. Auburn officials plan to rolling out alcohol sales at Jordan-Hare Stadium in future seasons. Auburn released a statement to AL.com on the new concession stands: “After extensive research and discussion, Auburn Athletics made the decision to begin public alcohol sales at Neville Arena for the 2023-24 athletic season which will be followed by gradual roll outs at other athletic venues throughout the year ahead. Currently, 84 percent of all power five schools have public offerings at their venues and Auburn is the last Southeastern Conference institution to implement public sales. Multiple studies show selling alcohol in athletic venues decreases binge drinking and creates a culture with fewer alcohol-related offenses on game day.” Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

SEC Network’s Roman Harper: Auburn ‘right on target’ in Hugh Freeze’s first year Roman Harper talks Alabama-LSU, Auburn and College Football Playoff rankings By Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com SEC Network analyst Roman Harper said Wednesday he’s been impressed with Auburn’s progress under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze. Harper, also a former Alabama and NFL safety, appeared Wednesday along with ESPN colleagues Matt Stinchcomb and Taylor Zarzour at the “Passion for Prichard” fundraiser for Prichard Prep Academy at Mobile’s GulfQuest Museum. He said Freeze has done a good coaching job with the Tigers this season, and that quarterback Payton Thorne’s performance in last week’s 27-13 win over Mississippi State could be a sign of things to come. “I actually really like what Auburn’s doing, especially on the coaching staff,” Harper said. “I think they’re getting a lot out of their players. Payton Thorne played better. He completed some passes, he let the ball go, he let his wide receivers have one-on-one situations. I thought Mississippi State was a little bit more friendly on defense than I would have liked, but hey, they won the game. They did a great job. “I think also getting (running back) Jarquez Hunter the ball as much as possible is also gonna help that offense out. You’re not gonna go out there if you’re Auburn and win games when you’re throwing the ball 40 times. That’s just not who this offense needs to be. But if they can run the football effectively, then Payton Thorne throw the ball effectively — and he also uses his own legs because he’s sneaky athletic — Auburn will be able to compete.” Though Auburn is 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the SEC, Harper said their record is probably a true measure of where the program is in Freeze’s first season. Freeze will be able to make up the difference in the next offseason, he said. Harper noted that Auburn’s schedule the next three weeks — at Vanderbilt Saturday, at Arkansas Nov. 11 and at home for New Mexico State on Nov. 18 — sets up nicely for the Tigers to gain some confidence going into the Nov. 25 Iron Bowl vs. Alabama. “I’m looking at the schedule, they should be 7-4 going into the Iron Bowl,” Harper said. “And if they’re not, it’s a little bit disappointing. But as of right now, I wouldn’t say they’ve lost the game that anybody didn’t anticipate them losing already before the season. So they’re kind of right on schedule. “Sometimes I look at them, I think they’re ahead of schedule. They’re just missing a couple of pieces. … I really like what Hugh Freeze has done in that whole staff. Overall, Auburn’s right on target. They’ve got a big Iron Bowl at the end of the year that can really just seal them a great season or not. That’s kind of a determining factor for them.” Stinchcomb, a former Georgia and NFL offensive lineman who also calls games for ESPN in addition to studio work, is taking a more “wait and see” approach on Auburn. He said it’s possible the Tigers have underachieved, particularly on offense. But as Harper also noted, Auburn’s schedule the next three weeks perhaps points toward a bit of a winning streak. “They’re a team that, I think from a personnel standpoint, has been challenged,” Stinchcomb said. “They passing offense has not, as yet, been what I think many would have hoped it could be. But you’d think that perhaps (the upcoming schedule) is a chance for them to build on some success.” 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 3 takeaways from Auburn basketball’s preseason exhibition against AUM Updated: Nov. 01, 2023, 10:18 p.m.|Published: Nov. 01, 2023, 9:08 p.m. 6–7 minutes Basketball is, somewhat, back in Auburn. Auburn beat Auburn-Montgomery 102-66 in a preseason exhibition Wednesday at Neville Arena. It was a game where Auburn dealt with two key injuries: 5-star freshman Aden Holloway hurt his ankle in the days leading up to the game and center Johni Broome injured his shoulder during the game. Broome went to the locker room and came back to the bench but did not return to the game. He was ruled out, according to a team spokesperson, in the first half. So Auburn’s exhibition showed depth tested a bit more than imagined — though depth is exactly what head coach Bruce Pearl believes Auburn has a surplus of. It meant working through some kinks and some experimenting. Here are three takeaways from Auburn’s win. The score didn’t tell the full story, mostly of Auburn’s 3-point shooting Auburn won by a lot. Yet it did so with some shooting statistics that don’t really seem to line up a margin of this size. Auburn went on a 23-2 run in the first half despite shooting 3-16 on 3-pointers in the first half. That doesn’t make sense. Well, it kind of does, it’s because a significant amount of Auburn’s points game within a few feet from the basket or in the paint against an AUM team that Auburn is much bigger and stronger than. This win and this margin were a result of Auburn’s significant talent advantage, because it shot the ball quite badly on 3s and turned the ball over nine times in the first half before cleaning things up in the second half. Auburn out-muscled AUM with 50 points in the paint. One of Auburn’s biggest talking points this fall has been to improve its 3-point shooting. It’s been Auburn’s biggest weakness since it went to the Final Four in 2019. FIU transfer Denver Jones, who Auburn brought here to make 3s, shot 4-8 in the win. The rest of the team shot 1-17. That isn’t anything to do with the opponent, Auburn just shot the ball poorly. A night this bad from long range isn’t going to be an every night occurrence, at least Auburn hopes it isn’t. But it can take a silver lining from Jones’ shooting. He’s been one of Auburn’s better shooters in scrimmages. He’s going to have to be this season. He can’t do it alone. This type of shooting performance can cut it against AUM purely because of how much better Auburn’s roster is. It might not cut it against the better opponents like Baylor coming up. Auburn’s defense is going to be inconsistent It took Auburn a little while to pull away from an AUM team that it is much better than. There doesn’t need to be a lot of stock put into that because it is a scrimmage and Auburn wasn’t fully healthy. That said, Auburn was down 16-15 in the first half and allowed AUM to shoot nearly 60% from the field over the first 10 minutes. It got better from there, of course, but the defensive issues Pearl has discussed throughout the fall showed in Auburn’s first public showing against another team. Pearl has frequently commented on Auburn’s potential as a great offense but noted where Auburn has succeeded in practice scoring means it has struggled to defend. That isn’t always evident until facing an opponent. But Auburn stepped things up, big time. Auburn pulled away with a 12-0 run in the first half and in that time, forced five turnovers in four minutes. That is certainly not sustainable but much more of what Pearl wants to see. In this stretch, Auburn was very active defensively and played like Chad Baker-Mazara and K.D. Johnson stuck out. The run extended into a 20-point lead as Auburn pulled away for good. Certainly an inconsistent defense, but there’s potential. It’s just going to take some time. Injury report First things first. There is zero need to panic at this moment, but it is worth a note. Auburn had two key injuries in the win. Neither appears particularly serious. Holloway injured his ankle in the team’s scrimmage Sunday against Furman. Has been seen wearing a boot early in the week but did not wear one during the pregame warm-ups. He didn’t partake in warm-ups and wore a T-shirt and sweatpants while his teammates wore their uniforms. The severity of his injury is unclear, but he is moving on the ankle and able to put weight on it. Broome hurt his shoulder within the first four minutes of the game. It appeared he was bumped while Auburn was on the offensive end and then went down hard to the ground. It’s not exactly clear where he injured his right shoulder in that process, but he did walk off on his own power and went straight to the locker room. He came back with his shoulder wrapped in an ice pack and did not return to the game. Largely as a precaution. He actually no longer had the ice pack on by the second half. Dylan Cardwell also went down with a hard fall in the second half and had his left leg looked at by trainers. He also went to the locker room on his own power. He returned to the bench quickly, but did not come back into the game. Likely, also a precaution, but it did mean Auburn played the final eight minutes without a true big man. Broome is Auburn’s best player and Holloway will be a key contributor. They are potentially two starters. Auburn needs them both. There will be updates on their status before the season opener against Baylor next week. 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 Worst to first: Tigers lead SEC in takeaways entering November Nathan King 3–4 minutes Auburn would obviously like to forget a number of statistics and trends from the Bryan Harsin era, and one of the team's biggest turnarounds thus far in 2023 has come from an opportunistic defense. Through nine games, Auburn has surpassed its takeaway total from all of last season, now with 14 on the year compared to 13 in 2022. Auburn's 10 interceptions on the season are already its most since the 2019 season, when it also had 10. Much of that success is due in large part to midseason All-American safety Jaylin Simpson, who has five takeaways on the year and four of the team's 10 interceptions. In five SEC games, six different defensive players — linebacker Eugene Asante, Simpson, pass-rusher Jalen McLeod, cornerback D.J. James, nickel Donovan Kaufman and safety Zion Puckett — had registered a turnover. Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts talked in the preseason about his "Havoc Rate," a formula he's used throughout his career. Roberts said the goal is to create a havoc play on 20 percent of defensive snaps, and the defenses that have reached that mark over the course of a season have been some of his best. In two of Roberts' three seasons at Baylor, the Bears were top 30 nationally in forced turnovers. Auburn is currently tied for No. 30 in 2023. "Just emphasizing them in practice," pass-rusher Elijah McAllister said of the defense's forced turnovers this season. "He has something he calls Havoc Rate: TFLs, sacks, QB pressures, hits, turnovers. We track it throughout every single week. Just emphasizing it in practice allows us to do it every single game on Saturdays. It helps when you've got good players, as well." Roberts' veteran presence as a seen-it-all coordinator was one of the reasons Hugh Freeze hired him on his inaugural staff in the offseason, but he's not the only Auburn coach who's done well in that department previously. Freeze said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference that Auburn D-line coach Jeremy Garrett, linebackers coach Josh Aldridge and special teams coordinator Tanner Burns had what Freeze thought was a successful system for practicing and emphasizing turnovers in practice when they coached under Freeze previously at Liberty. This season, Freeze said Auburn has a turnover board directly outside the team meeting rooms that shows which players and which position groups are leading the standings in takeaways so far. "That's something we've always believed in," Freeze said. "It's an emphasis, for sure. I'm sure everybody does that — and some years it works, some years it doesn't. Our guys have certainly tried to get turnovers for us in a lot of ways, and have been somewhat successful this year. So I'm thankful for that." For as porous as Vanderbilt's team has been this season, Auburn's next opponent this Saturday is tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC behind Auburn, with 13 takeaways this season. The Commodores also have 10 interceptions on the year. "That's a stat that's going to mean a lot in the outcome of this game on Saturday," Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said Wednesday. Kickoff in Nashville is set for 3 p.m. CDT on SEC Network. *** 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 ***

al.com Hugh Freeze addresses rumors of Auburn stealing signs against Mississippi State Published: Nov. 01, 2023, 12:42 p.m. 2–3 minutes Hugh Freeze on Auburn winning its first SEC game of the season During the SEC’s weekly head coach’s teleconference, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was asked about a report from Sunday his team may have been stealing signs during the 27-13 win against Mississippi State. The report suggested Auburn’s defense may have figured out terminology for if Mississippi State’s offense was calling a run or pass play. But if Auburn did figure out such a code, the stats didn’t suggest Auburn played any better. “Well, we did a poor job if we did,” Freeze said Wednesday. “They had more yards and more explosive plays in the second half than in the first.” In the second half, Mississippi State’s offense had more than 100 yards more than it did in the first half —122 compared to 223. “You need to come to your own conclusions from that report,” Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett said Monday. “I let the facts speak for themselves.” Freeze didn’t explicitly deny the report and said that it’s “no secret” that teams look across the sidelines during games. But he again reiterated that if Auburn did steal signs, they didn’t do it particularly well. This rumor comes at the same time as a significantly larger scale sign stealing investigation involving the Michigan football team and led to Michigan reportedly rescinding a contract extension to head coach Jim Harbaugh. Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com