aubiefifty

i am not going to argue with you all day. with the bs comment i assume that is what you are looking for. O did have problems with the team and maybe he got that fixed but it did happen. and like i said there is a ton of stuff still to come out. keep watching.

Do These Viral Stories About s***ty Bosses Signal an Anti-Work Revolution? A subreddit dedicated to the once-radical idea of “antiwork” is exploding during the pandemic era Getty Images Kevin McKenzie used to work six days a week at a South Carolina bar — on his only day off, he says, he was required to return to work to water the plants. So you could say he intimately understands why a rash of text screenshots depicting workers quitting their jobs after being outrageously mistreated has gone viral. And why, post-peak-pandemic, people have been flocking to the source of those much-shared screenshots: the antiwork subreddit, for which he is a moderator. Some highlights from r/antiwork include: A boss trying to guilt-trip an employee into working on their day off by bragging that said employee got a week off when their spouse died; an employer threatening a worker’s health insurance if they didn’t cover for another employee; a person who gets axed for not coming back to work during vacation — the hits keep coming. But the subreddit is not all grievances. As the official description says, it’s a resource for people who “want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on anti-work ideas and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles.” And it’s been blowing up during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which many have found the space and time to reevaluate their lives outside the constant grind. For eight years, the subreddit has had a modest following, but over the last few months, its membership has increased sevenfold as the U.S. undergoes what folks are calling the Great Resignation: a mass exodus of workers fed up with bad treatment and worse pay. New users seem to be lured in by screenshotted texts of employees telling their bosses to **** off in deeply satisfying ways. Last year at this time, the board had 175,000 idlers, according to moderator Doreen Ford; idlers are what antiwork folk call themselves, a dig at what Protestants would call “idle hands.” At press time, r/antiwork currently has more than 700,000 members and is on track to break one million by the end of the year. “This is bonkers,” Ford, a 30-year-old dog walker from Boston, tells Rolling Stone. “We never really thought anything like this would happen. I’ve never been a part of something so successful in my life.” The concept of being antiwork, however, is far from new — and it’s not really about not working. According to McKenzie, anti-work has long been embraced by anarchists, communists, and radicals of all stripes. Kathi Weeks, associate professor of Women’s Studies at Duke University and author of 2011’s The Problem with Work, explains that it’s not directed specifically at certain jobs, but, rather, at the power difference between workers and employers. “[Antiwork] identifies a fundamental inadequacy and sweeping problem with paid work as a system of income allocation,” she tells Rolling Stone. “That’s supposed to be how it works: workers give up control over their own labor and receive income. But that system is broken by unemployment, underemployment, non-living wage employment, employment discrimination by race, gender, disability, citizenship, age, and more. The problem is not this or that job, but the present organization of waged work.” Weeks says the antiwork ethos has taken off in recent months due, in part, to the pandemic. According to the Labor Department, a record 4.3 million people quit this past August, many of whom worked in foodservice and retail. “The pandemic forced many workers out of jobs and it would seem that many are unwilling to accept the employment terms being offered — with their low wages, intensified work rates, and long hours,” Weeks says. “They have had a taste of freedom from a life reduced to working and trying to recover from it in order to go back and do it all again, and from the control that employers have over so much of our waking life.” McKenzie, 33, who is working as a bartender as he gets his masters’ in social work at the University of South Carolina, agrees. “I think we all kind of took that time to kind of get away from the lifestyle that we’ve been kind of indoctrinated into [where our] lives are were revolving around work,” he says. “We got to partake in our hobbies. We got to be with our family. We got to do all these things that kind of make us feel like people. I think that kind of opened up a lot of people’s eyes toward this philosophy that, you know, hey, maybe our lives shouldn’t have to revolve around work.” Hence the influx of idlers. “The support has been growing because there were a couple of viral posts that revolved around people quitting [their jobs] via text, stuff like that. And I think that resonated a lot with people,” McKenzie says. “I think the general displeasure with working as a whole and not feeling fulfilled and feeling stressed and feeling all those types of feelings that go into day-to-day life on our capitalistic style government, I think just resonated with people. … We all kind of have this fantasy of ending employment where you didn’t feel valued.” McKenzie and Ford both note that there has been some speculation on the board about the veracity of the text screenshots, but Ford doesn’t really care if some are fabricated. “I don’t think it matters whether they’re real or not,” she says. “I think the fact that people can believe it, the fact that people can see that and go, ‘Well, that’s not outlandish. I could see that happening to someone in the U.S.,’ I think that’s what matters.” Seven hundred thousand idlers and counting is certainly a movement, but as the pandemic continues to abate and more and more people return to work, and unfavorable positions, it remains to be seen if real action will manifest in the physical world. Ford is hopeful, pointing to a rash of worker strikes going down this month that have earned the nickname Striketober. “A lot of the subreddit is for education and awareness,” she says. “I don’t have anything against people turning it into something concrete, specific — a strike or a direct action call or something like that. I would love that stuff. It seems like at this point it’s inevitable.” Newswire

The Senate will vote Wednesday on the Freedom to Vote Act, a once-in-a-generation bill to safeguard the right to vote, disclose dark money, and stop the partisan operatives who tried to steal the last election from stealing the next one. here are a couple of reasons i dislike repubs. they could care less about fair elections and are not above trying to steal one. and dark money? why are they so unwilling to expose dark money?

Rolling Stone Andy Kroll 14-18 minutes October 20, 2021 10:32AM ET McConnell Is About to Block a Voting-Rights Bill. It’s All Part of Democrats’ Plan Democrats are ready for the GOP to stonewall their massive voting-rights bill. It’s the next fight over the filibuster that really matters. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks at a news conference outside of his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. Andrew Harnik/AP WASHINGTON — It’s not often the leader of the United States Senate holds a vote knowing it will fail. It’s even less often the Senate leader calls a doomed vote for one of the most important bills in his party’s legislative agenda. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is about to do just that. The Senate will vote Wednesday on the Freedom to Vote Act, a once-in-a-generation bill to safeguard the right to vote, disclose dark money, and stop the partisan operatives who tried to steal the last election from stealing the next one. The vote is almost certainly going to fail. Democrats hold 50 seats, they need 60 votes to beat a Republican filibuster, and there’s no indication that even one GOP senator, let alone 10, plans to break ranks and support the bill. But for the Democratic lawmakers and outside activists pushing the bill, failure on Wednesday’s vote isn’t just expected — it’s part of the plan. They say it’s one of the final steps in a years-long, carefully choreographed strategy, one more proof point that Republicans won’t support even the most popular voting-rights and clean-government reforms. And if not a single Republican will vote for those reforms, then Democrats have no choice but to negotiate a change to the filibuster rules that will allow them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and try to shore up America’s battered democratic system in time for the 2022 elections. Even with years of planning, the odds are long they pull it off. They have to win over centrist Sen. Joe Manchin and rogue Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, not to mention half a dozen other senators who’ve privately expressed doubts about changing the filibuster. But those close to the action, the congressional aides and activists on the inside, believe this is their moment. A Tidal Wave of Lies The timing of tomorrow’s vote — and the even more critical fight to follow — couldn’t be more urgent. From January to September, 19 states have passed 33 new laws that will make it harder to vote and easier to sabotage elections, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Some of these laws seek to reduce the number of polling places available to voters and limit the number of hours for early voting. Some of these laws reduce the window of time available to apply for a mail-in ballot and minimize the number, location, and availability of dropboxes in which you can safely submit your mail-in ballot. Some of these laws increase criminal penalties for local election workers who try to assist citizens exercise the right to vote, whether it’s giving out water or snacks to voters waiting in line, helping voters with disabilities turn in their ballots, or encouraging voters to request mail-in ballots. Those are the only bills that have become law. According to the Brennan Center, more than 425 bills that include measures to restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 states this year. To be sure, there are state lawmakers pushing to improve voting rights at the state level, with at least 25 states passing 62 laws in 2021 that would help expand voting access. But Daniel Weiner, a voting-rights expert at the Brennan Center, says the wave of voter suppression laws this year is an unprecedented assault on access to the ballot box driven, in large part, by Republican legislatures acting on former president Donald Trump’s baseless claims about a stolen election. “A lot of it has been driven by falsehoods about the 2020 election, particularly around things like vote by mail,” Weiner says. Soon after winning control of the House, Senate, and White House earlier this year, the Democrats came out with the For the People Act, their answer to the growing assault on voting and democracy by Trump-inspired GOP lawmakers. The For the People Act was like the pot roast of progressive politics: A doorstop of a bill, Democrats had grabbed every reform idea they had in the cupboard and tossed it in the bill — combat gerrymandering, drag dark money into the daylight, protect the franchise, crack down on big money super PACs. The bill passed easily out of the House. But it died on arrival in the Senate. Not only would no Republican support it; Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), a key moderate member of the Democratic caucus, announced his opposition to the bill, saying it was a partisan piece of legislation affecting an issue that required bipartisanship. “Congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward,” Manchin said at the time, “or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.” In the same statement, Manchin also declared his opposition to weakening the filibuster. Democrats quickly offered up a revised version of the bill, one that Manchin was generally more supportive of, but it died in the face of a Republican filibuster. And with that, it seemed, the For the People Act was well and truly dead. Manchin in the Middle But the small group of Democratic lawmakers and the dozens of activist groups pushing for the bill took hope from another statement of Manchin’s. In a tweet from May about the need to reauthorize the landmark Voting Rights Act, Manchin said that “inaction is not an option.” The rest of the tweet talked about the need to act in a bipartisan way to reauthorize the VRA, but it was those initial five words — “Inaction is not an option” — that Senate Democrats and the allies seized upon. Speaking on the Senate floor last month, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said: “As Senator Manchin said earlier this year regarding congressional action on voting rights, inaction is not an option. I agree with Senator Manchin in that regard.” After the defeat of the For the People Act in June, Manchin released a list of requests for what he wanted to see in a retooled voting-rights bill. Democrats spent the rest of the summer incorporating Manchin’s demands into a new compromise bill called the Freedom to Vote Act. The new bill, which was announced in late September, contains much of what was found in the For the People Act — provisions to increase disclosure of dark money, make Election Day a federal holiday, enact automatic voter registration at DMV offices, and pass nationalized standards for expanded access to early and same-day voting. While the bill pares back reforms to the Federal Election Commission, redistricting reform, and the use of voter ID policies, it includes a raft of new protections against efforts to subvert or sabotage the vote-counting and certification process along the lines of what happened after the 2020 election. Despite the changes to parts of the bill, reformers say it would still make huge improvements to everything from voting and campaign funding to shoring up American democracy against the next onslaught of “stop the steal” skullduggery. “Following the 2020 elections in which more Americans voted than ever before, we have seen unprecedented attacks on our democracy,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a leader on voting-rights in the Senate, tells Rolling Stone. “We must take action. The Freedom to Vote Act will protect the right to vote by setting basic national standards to ensure all Americans can cast their ballots in the way that works best for them, regardless of what zip code they live in.” Democrats not only crafted the Freedom to Vote Act to address Manchin’s concerns; they also gave him several weeks this fall to try and find 10 Republican senators who would support the new bill. From June onward, Democrats have adopted a Manchin-centric strategy, according to multiple congressional aides who have worked behind-the-scenes on the bill. Recent reporting indicates Manchin has not found GOP votes for the new bill, even though it contains policies that are popular with Democrats, Republicans, and independents, according to recent polling. “It’s lawmakers on the Republican side of the aisle in Washington standing against this reform; it’s not Republican voters,” says Rep. John Sarbanes. Filibuster Reform — or Bust Which brings us to Wednesday’s vote. The vote is not about whether to pass the Freedom to Vote Act — it’s a procedural vote on whether to begin debating the bill. If Republicans filibuster that vote, as they’re expected to do, then the final phase of Senate Democrats’ strategy begins. To pass the Freedom to Vote Act, Democrats will need to change the filibuster. Beltway media outlets use scary language to describe this process — “going nuclear” or using the “nuclear option” is the typical formulation — but in truth the Senate changes the rules of how it does business all the time. Between 1969 and 2014, the Senate made 161 such changes, according to research by the Brookings Institution. The Senate changed the filibuster during Barack Obama’s presidency to confirm lower-court judges by a simple 50-vote majority; it did so again during Donald Trump’s presidency to confirm Supreme Court justices and cabinet secretaries. The bigger hurdles to filibuster reform are Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Manchin himself called for filibuster reform in 2011, but has since come out strongly against it, saying the existing rules of the Senate protect small, rural states like his. “We will not solve our nation’s problems in one Congress if we seek only partisan solutions. Instead of fixating on eliminating the filibuster or shortcutting the legislative process through budget reconciliation, it is time we do our jobs,” he wrote in April. Sinema, for her part, takes the opposite position of her more liberal counterparts: She argues that a strong filibuster is good for the Senate and for democracy. “The filibuster compels moderation and helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policy poles,” she wrote in a June op-ed. The filibuster, she rightly points out, has been used to stop policies that Democrats deem dangerous or hateful — indeed, Democrats used the filibuster hundreds of times during Donald Trump’s four years in office. If anyone can convince Manchin and Sinema — and that’s a big if — it’s President Biden. Publicly, Biden has signaled his support for bringing back the talking filibuster, which would require physically holding the Senate floor and speaking continuously for however long you intended to block a vote. Privately, as Rolling Stone first reported, Biden has told Schumer he’s ready to pressure Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and other resistant Senate Democrats to vote in favor of filibuster reform of some kind. This is the endgame, Democrats and activists say. It will play out over the next few weeks, this pressure campaign to get all 50 Senate Democrats to approve filibuster changes in order to pass the Freedom to Vote Act along party lines. If Democrats can’t find the votes to so much as tweak the filibuster, then their once-in-a-generation voting-rights bill is dead. All year long, Democratic leaders have invoked Joe Manchin’s line that “inaction is not an option.” Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, likes to go one step further. “Failure,” he says, “is not an option.” That vow will now face its toughest test yet.

Taking stock of Auburn’s freshmen at the bye week, who can still redshirt By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 7-8 minutes Auburn is just beyond the midway point of its 2021 regular season, with five games still remaining on the schedule as the team enjoys a much-needed bye week. Auburn, which is coming off a 38-23 win against then-No. 17 Arkansas on the road, will use the off week to regroup, refresh and focus on areas it needs to improve upon heading into the final stretch of the season. So, what better time to take stock of Auburn’s freshman class and take a look at which newcomers have carved out a role so far this season -- and which of the 2021 signees could still be in line to redshirt. Jarquez Hunter, running back: The former three-star prospect and last-second addition to the Tigers’ class has been the most impactful freshman on the roster this season. Hunter has appeared in all seven games, and he made his first career start last week against Arkansas -- when Auburn trotted out him and Tank Bigsby in a split-back set to open the game. He is second on the team with 57 carries for 492 yards and three touchdowns, and he is averaging 8.36 yards per carry, which is tops in the SEC and third-best among qualifying FBS players. Hunter opened his career with back-to-back 100-yard performances and set the program record for longest run from scrimmage (94 yards). His production has tailed off in recent weeks, but he remains a key part of Auburn’s rushing attack. Landen King, tight end: The former three-star tight end out of Texas has emerged in recent weeks, working his way up from the scout team to see meaningful reps within Auburn’s offense against Georgia and Arkansas. He has appeared in three games this season, meaning a redshirt is still, technically, on the table. Don’t expect that to be the case, though, as he looks to have a growing role on offense. He has four receptions for 54 yards over the last two games. Tar’Varish Dawson Jr., wide receiver: A four-star athlete out of Florida, Dawson’s stock was on the rise before the season, as he was the lone true freshman to appear on Auburn’s season-opening two-deep depth chart. Since then, however, he has appeared in just one game, seeing limited action against Georgia State. He was unavailable for each of Auburn’s first two games for undisclosed reasons, and while he traveled to Penn State, he did not see the field. He has also not played in any of Auburn’s three SEC games. Once thought to be a potential breakout freshman, a redshirt is still possible for Dawson this season if he appears in only three of the team’s final five games. Dylan Brooks, edge defender: The highest-rated signee in Auburn’s 2021 class, as well as the last addition to the group, Brooks has yet to see the field for the Tigers, as the team’s depth and production at edge rusher has been impressive with the likes of Derick Hall, Eku Leota, Romello Height and T.D. Moultry. Barring a late-season emergence, the 6-foo4-, 227-pounder who was once thought to be an instant-impact freshman is likely to redshirt this season. Lee Hunter, defensive tackle: The second-highest rated recruit in Auburn’s class, the four-star defensive tackle out of Mobile has not seen the field for the Tigers this season. The 6-foot-4, 321-pounder has, like Brooks, been stuck behind some veteran talent on the defensive line, with Marcus Harris, Colby Wooden, J.J. Pegues, Marquis Burks and Tony Fair holding things down on the interior. Hunter is in line to redshirt at this rate. Dematrius Davis, quarterback: The four-star quarterback out of Texas hasn’t seen the field this fall. He is behind third-year starter Bo Nix and backup T.J. Finley on the depth chart at quarterback, and barring some unexpected injuries or other impacts to the depth chart, it’s unlikely Davis will get much of an opportunity to get game action this season. Expect him to redshirt. Marquis Robinson, defensive tackle: A four-star defensive tackle out of Florida, Robinson has seen the field in just one of Auburn’s seven games this season. He got his first action in the 24-point loss to Georgia, playing a handful of snaps on the interior of the line and recording one tackle. The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder will likely redshirt, though he can appear in three more games this season before that opportunity is burned. Tobechi Okoli, defensive lineman: Okoli has appeared in just one of Auburn’s seven games, getting his first college action during the team’s blowout of Alabama State in Week 2. The 6-foot-5, 252-pounder did not record a tackle or any other stat during his brief appearance against the Hornets. He’s in line to redshirt this season. Colby Smith, offensive lineman: A three-star offensive tackle out of North Carolina, Smith has yet to see the field for Auburn this season. The Tigers returned all five of their starters along the line and have considerable veteran depth in the trenches this season. As is often the case for offensive linemen, it will take some time for Smith to develop for the college level and get onto the field in a meaningful capacity. He’s all but guaranteed to redshirt this season. Garner Langlo, offensive lineman: Like Smith, Langlo has not appeared in a game for Auburn this season. An early enrollee, Langlo got a jumpstart on his development, but it’s still going to take time for him to get in a position to where he can contribute along the line at this level. The 6-foot-6, 277-pounder will certainly redshirt this season. Ian Mathews, defensive lineman: A 6-foot-4, 272-pounder out of Columbus, Ga., Mathews has yet to make his collegiate debut. Like Hunter, Brooks and Robinson, he has been developing behind key returners from last year’s team as well as impactful transfers along the defensive line. Anticipate a redshirt for the former three-star prospect. A.D. Diamond, defensive back: A three-star recruit out of Mobile, Diamond has not seen the field this season. With an influx of transfers in the secondary -- including Donovan Kaufman, Ro Torrence, Bydarrius Knighten and Dreshun Miller -- and an increased emphasis on starters contributing on special teams, it was always going to be difficult for Diamond to crack the rotation this season. Expect him to redshirt. Cayden Bridges, defensive back: Bridges, the lowest-rated signee in Auburn’s 2021 class, has appeared in just one game this season, getting in one some special teams work. Like Diamond, it was going to be hard for him to find reps in a deep secondary. Unless he continues to work his way onto the field on special teams, Bridges is likely to redshirt this season as well. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Grading Auburn’s season to date in Year 1 of the Bryan Harsin era By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 11-14 minutes Auburn has hit the bye week. It’s time for introspection and self-evaluation, as the program assesses what it has done well and what it needs to improve on as it prepares for the homestretch of its 2021 campaign. So, what better time to do some evaluating of our own and hand out position-by-position grades for the Tigers’ season to date in Year 1 of the Bryan Harsin era? Quarterbacks: B Bo Nix got off to a hot start to the season, even setting the program single-game record for completion percentage in Auburn’s season-opener, before an uneven two-game stretch that saw him get benched in the second half of the team’s come-from-behind win against Georgia State. Since then, Nix has responded nicely, putting together three consecutive strong performances—including two difference-making efforts on the road against LSU and Arkansas, as well as a Georgia performance that was better than it looked on paper, due to several dropped passes from teammates. Nix hasn’t been perfect this year, but his inner competitor has made him dangerous the last few weeks. Overall, his completion percentage (60.7 percent) is up slightly from last year, and he has thrown for 1,488 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions in seven games while also rushing for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns. T.J. Finley, meanwhile, has proven to be a valuable offseason addition as Auburn’s backup quarterback. If not for his poise off the bench against Georgia State, the Tigers likely have their worst loss in 30 years. Running backs: B- Auburn’s ground game got off to a strong start this season, as the Tigers had one of the nation’s best rushing attacks through the season’s first five weeks. Production has dropped off the last three games, though, as Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter and Shaun Shivers have not been as effective on the ground—though reestablishing the downhill rushing attack if something Auburn wants to prioritize down the homestretch of the season. Still, the group has been solid this year. Bigsby opened the season with three straight 100-yard performances and leads the team with 526 yards and six scores, the former of which ranks sixth in the SEC. Hunter has been arguably the biggest surprise of the season, opening his career with back-to-back 100-yard games, breaking the school record for longest run from scrimmage (94 yards) and ranking third among FBS players (and first in the SEC) at 8.63 yards per carry while totaling 492 rushing yards. Shivers missed some time for undisclosed reasons and has seen limited touches, but he has emerged as a valuable third-down back who has made some big plays in the passing game. The group can definitely stand to be more consistent coming out of the bye week, but for a position that had questions about its depth throughout the offseason, Auburn has to be pleased with the production from that trio. Wide receivers: C The most inconsistent position group on Auburn’s offense has been the wide receivers, and it has been a point of contention for coach Bryan Harsin for much of the season. It’s a relatively inexperienced group, but it has struggled with dropped passes and misalignments throughout the year—so much so that Harsin parted ways with first-year receivers coach Cornelius Williams after just four games. The group is coming off a much-improved performance against Arkansas, and Auburn is hoping to build off that during the bye week and apply it down the stretch. Some bright spots for the group: Georgia transfer Demetris Robertson is the team’s leading receiver, with 23 receptions for 312 yards and four total touchdowns; sophomore Kobe Hudson has emerged as perhaps the most reliable pass-catcher among the group and has 22 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown, and Shedrick Jackson has overcome some early-season struggles to catch 21 passes for 271 yards and a score. Auburn has done well in spreading the ball around, but the team would benefit from getting Ja’Varrius Johnson more involved in the passing attack after he was Nix’s go-to target throughout the offseason; he has just seven catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and he was limited somewhat early in the season. Tight ends: A The most promising development for Auburn’s offense in its new wide-open, pro-style system has been the emphasis placed on the tight end position. After years of tight ends being an afterthought in the Tigers’ offense, the position is seeing a prominent role in the passing game this season, and Auburn’s depth at the position has shown through. John Samuel Shenker has been one of the team’s most consistent playmakers, with 20 receptions for 268 yards, while the team has gotten the likes of Tyler Fromm, Luke Deal and, most recently, freshman Landen King more involved in the gameplan. Even when Auburn hasn’t been targeting the tight ends, the offense has predominantly fielded one- and two-tight end sets throughout the season — so the group is well-involved in what the Tigers are doing, whether it’s run or pass. Also, bonus points here to Fromm, whose effort against LSU helped produce perhaps the most memorable play of the season — Nix’s magician-esque touchdown pass in Death Valley. Offensive line: B Auburn’s offensive line faced plenty of questions in the offseason, even as it returned eight players with starting experience—including its core five starters—from last season. The group has performed admirably this year, both in pass protection and largely in run blocking. The Tigers are top-10 nationally in fewest sacks allowed, giving up just one per game, and they’ve only surrendered a sack to one of their four Power 5 opponents so far this season: top-ranked Georgia and its elite defense. Keeping Nix upright has been key to the quarterback’s growth, as he has seemed more trusting of his pass protection this year. As mentioned earlier, Auburn’s run game got off to a strong start to the season but has fallen off in recent weeks. The Tigers still rank a respectable 36th nationally in rushing offense and are seventh among FBS teams in yards per carry (5.74), which is second in the SEC. If Auburn can continue to keep Nix from getting sacked and reestablish its ground attack, its offense could get closer to its true potential down the stretch. Defensive line: B+ Auburn lost a lot from last year’s defensive line, with Big Kat Bryant, Daquan Newkirk and Tyrone Truesdell all transferring to other programs in the offseason. That left some questions up front, but the Tigers have answered them with Colby Wooden and Derick Hall both improving off their 2020 campaigns, T.D. Moultry playing some of the best ball of his career prior to missing the last few weeks, Marquis Burks and Romello Height coming into their own and the offseason additions of transfers Marcus Harris, Eku Leota and Tony Fair. Wooden has quietly been one of the top interior linemen in the country, proving to be an effective pass-rusher on the inside and strong against the run. He is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (seven) and sacks (four), and he has been on a tear the last month, with 25 tackles over the past four games. Leota, a transfer from Northwestern, is tied with Wooden in tackles for loss and sacks, while Hall also has four sacks to go along with six stops behind the line of scrimmage. Moultry, who has missed the last three games, still has six tackles for loss and three sacks — and was the team’s most consistent pass-rusher through the season’s first month. While the team has been more productive in the pass rush, it needs to continue to find more consistency in affecting opposing quarterbacks. The run defense was also stout through the first five weeks — ranking eighth in the nation—but the Tigers have given up 200-plus rushing yards in three of the last four games and could stand to get back on track in that aspect. Linebackers: A Owen Pappoe made the proclamation before the season that Auburn had the best linebackers in the country, and while that hasn’t exactly been the case, the Tigers’ linebackers have been the backbone of this defense. Zakoby McClain leads the team with 53 tackles, while Chandler Wooten is just behind him with 52. Pappoe has missed the last four-plus games due to a leg injury he sustained in the second half against Penn State, and his return could be imminent, but he still had 15 tackles in two and a half games. McClain has picked right back up where he left off last season, when he was the nation’s leading tackler, while Wooten has been one of the most impressive players on either side of the ball. The senior, who opted out of the 2020 season, has been better than ever since returning to the team. Defensive backs: C Auburn’s secondary was expected to be one of the team’s strengths this year. The Tigers returned senior safety Smoke Monday, as well as a trio of corners in Roger McCreary, Nehemiah Pritchett and Jaylin Simpson, and they added to the fold key transfers in Donovan Kaufman, Bydarrius Knighten, Ro Torrence and Dreshun Miller. That talent and depth, paired with Derek Mason’s prowess as a defensive backs coach, seemed like the perfect recipe for success in the secondary this season. Things haven’t gone to plan, however, as Auburn has struggled some in its transition from a press-man coverage to Mason’s preferred off-man zone philosophy in the secondary. It resulted in several blown coverages earlier in the season, as well as inordinately high completion percentages by opposing quarterbacks. Things have improved a bit of late, but the Tigers still rank 118th nationally in opponent completion rate (66.5 percent), 63rd nationally in yards allowed per pass attempt (7.1) and 83rd in pass efficiency defense (137.68). Auburn also ranks 89th in total passes defended, with 22 (18 pass breakups and four interceptions). Overall, Auburn’s play in the secondary has not been reflective of its talent in that room. Specialists: A- Anders Carlson is 12-of-15 on field goals this season, with two of his three misses coming from 50-plus yards and the other from 40 yards out. He is also 27-of-28 on extra-point tries this season and has had 61.7 percent of his kickoffs go for touchbacks. Punter Oscar Chapman has been solid in his second season, averaging 44.88 yards per punt—which ranks 29th nationally — with a net punting average of 43.2 yards, which is 13th in the nation. Auburn is also holding opponents to 18.78 yards per kickoff return and 5.5 yards per punt return while averaging a respectable 25 yards per kick return and 13.17 yards per punt return this season. The Tigers have also blocked three total kicks — one field goal and two punts — which is tied for fourth in the nation. Auburn has put an emphasis on its special teams play under Harsin, with more starters and members of the two-deep playing larger roles than in seasons past — and it is paying dividends. Coaches: B It hasn’t always been pretty, but Harsin and his staff have Auburn sitting at 5-2 overall, with a 2-1 record in SEC play, and ranked 19th in the nation as the team hits the bye week. Auburn’s two losses are against teams currently ranked in the top-seven nationally in the AP poll — with a close road loss to Penn State and a 24-point home loss to top-ranked Georgia. Auburn needs just one more win to become bowl eligible, and an eight- or nine-win season is certainly in play. The Tigers are also right in the thick of the SEC West race at this point. There’s not much more Harsin could have asked for in Year 1 as he instills his culture and his particular process on the program. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

believe what you want fella everything has not come out yet. the dude had his girlfriends show up at practice. sorry i know and trust my friend more than you because i do not know you. but for the record i believe players complained about him not marching with the team like gus did with us and the turds did with nick. that started the whole thing. here is Si on coach O and what happened. and they say the black lives matter was a significant factor. com The Swift Fall of Ed Orgeron at LSU: Inside a Stunning Post-Title Collapse Ross Dellenger 17-21 minutes Last week, during Ed Orgeron’s weekly call-in radio show, a fan buzzed the line asking the coach to wish his younger sister a happy birthday. The caller claimed that the young woman was in attendance at the radio show, held each Wednesday in the fall at a Baton Rouge restaurant. The caller seemed serious and authentic. Orgeron scanned the room for the woman. And then, abruptly, the man on the line revealed himself as a prankster. Using more blunt words, he told Orgeron not to pursue his sister romantically. Orgeron’s face hardened, and, despite the show’s host attempting to move on quickly, the coach stretched back in his chair, smirked and said, “You know, down the bayou, we got a nice little fishing hole for people like that.” Two years ago, while LSU marched undefeated to its national championship, Orgeron’s reply might have been brushed off as a humorous retort, a facetious response from a man known for such quips. Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports This year, with his team struggling and issues mounting within the program, Orgeron’s comment was received as another public embarrassment for the university—a veiled death threat even—that created more friction between the coach and the school’s frustrated administration. Get SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's best stories every weekday. Sign up now. Roughly a week after that call-in show, the school and its coach—such a happy marriage that produced the ultimate success—began negotiations to split, days before LSU’s surprising 49–42 win over Florida on Saturday. By the end of the week, the two sides agreed to a settlement, sources tell Sports Illustrated: He will not return in 2022 but will coach the remainder of the ’21 season (LSU announced the news later Sunday). It is a historic and unprecedented move: a school ushering out a coach with a 74% winning percentage who is a mere 21 months removed from winning a national championship. It is a stunning fall from grace—a bayou-born man who rose from previous failures, claimed the sport’s greatest prize and signed one of the richest contracts in the sport fewer than two years ago. Orgeron, the second-highest paid coach in the country at more than $8 million a year with a buyout of $17 million, saw his program begin crumbling under the weight of myriad issues. A strained relationship between the coach and administration warped into an untenable situation in Baton Rouge, producing rampant distrust and outbursts. For example, in the locker room following LSU’s season-opening loss against UCLA at the Rose Bowl and with athletic director Scott Woodward in earshot, Orgeron angrily suggested that school officials could fire him if they wanted, a loud and stirring recognition of his own troublesome job security just one game into the season. Three people privy to the incident spoke to SI, with one source saying: “He said that to the team: ‘They can fire my ass! I’m a grown man. They can come try to get me!’ ” Closed-door eruptions—which included at least one chair-throwing incident—are only part of explaining one of the quickest collapses of a football program in the history of the game, from assembling one of the sport’s greatest teams to spiraling toward the basement of the SEC. How did LSU get here? More than a dozen people in and around the university spoke to SI, under condition of anonymity, to share stories that help answer that question. They paint a picture of a program that began tilting toward disaster last summer during a mishandling of a player-led social injustice march. Others cite Orgeron’s eccentric behavior, both private and public, that remind many of his tenure as Ole Miss’s coach, which ended in 2007. The answer for some is much more simple. The foundation of Orgeron’s early-career success in Baton Rouge left him. That includes key assistants, defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and pass-game coordinator Joe Brady, and one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the college game, Joe Burrow—the three anchors of the 2019, 15–0 national championship squad. Combine the departures with failed coordinator hires, a rash of significant injuries this year, lingering NCAA and Title IX investigations and a brand-new school president, and LSU finds itself looking for a new leader. “You get on top and you start to live differently. And that’s when the fall happens,” says one source close to the football program. “Here’s a coach who finally, after decades in the game, achieves the maximum goal. But when you achieve it, it’s ‘My problems are done!’ No. Success sometimes isn’t an end to a problem. It’s the beginning of more.” Orgeron was awarded the American Football Coaches Association Coaches Trophy in January 2020 after leading LSU to a national title. Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports After taking over as interim for the fired Les Miles four games into the 2016 season, Orgeron led the Tigers to a 6–2 record, excited a fan base with a more high-flying offense and endeared himself to athletic director Joe Alleva and a group of decision-makers with a job pitch. He’d hire strong coordinators, stay out of their way and serve as the face of LSU football—a recruiting whiz and motivational force. When Tom Herman chose to coach Texas and not LSU, Orgeron, originally from about 100 miles south of Baton Rouge, landed his dream job. Outside of some hiccups in his first year—he sparred with offensive coordinator Matt Canada and the Tigers lost to Troy—LSU steadily improved on the field. Orgeron’s Year 1 finished at 9–4, and he landed Ohio State transfer Burrow during that offseason. A 10–3 season followed in 2018. And then Orgeron went bold. He plucked a little known, low-level offensive assistant from the New Orleans Saints staff to overhaul LSU’s offense into a pass-heavy spread scheme. The combination of Brady and Burrow plus the defensive mastery of Aranda, along with a plethora of talented receivers and a dozen other NFL-caliber players, created one of the best teams in college football history. And then everyone left. Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, was selected with the first pick in the NFL draft. Brady left to be the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator, and Aranda was hired to be Baylor’s head coach. A record-tying 14 LSU players were selected in the draft, five of them in the first round. Since the completion of that season, LSU has gone 9–8, and the program’s two long-standing pillars—a strong, feisty defense and a lethal rushing attack—have cratered. The 5–5 record last year ended one of the nation’s longest stretches of winning seasons, dating back to 2000. During the offseason, Woodward expressed his frustration both publicly and privately about the team’s .500 mark. “We don’t do 5–5 at LSU,” he told boosters and alumni. “It’s unacceptable.” But the losses on the field are a direct result of the off-the-field problems, sources claim. The 5–5 season came only after a turbulent summer in Baton Rouge, where players, as they did at many other programs after a police officer murdered a Black Minneapolis man named George Floyd, staged a march across campus to protest social injustice and support the Black Lives Matter movement. At LSU, it took a different turn. Two weeks before the march, Orgeron appeared on a Fox News segment where the host asked him repeated questions about the post-championship trip to the White House and his thoughts on then-President Donald Trump. He said he “loved” Trump and that “he’s doing a fantastic job.” Amid the pandemic and in an election year, it was a startling comment for the leader of a largely Black football team during one of the most divisive times in the country’s history. Word about the television comments reached the team. One former player even weighed in on Twitter. Orgeron is a “great man,” but he is “blind to everything else,” defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson tweeted. A childhood friend of Orgeron and a longtime LSU booster defends the coach. “They asked him if Trump treated him good and he said yeah, Trump treated him good,” the man says. “I mean, what are you supposed to say?” The friend acknowledges that “it all went downhill from there.” A couple of weeks later, LSU players staged their march. A former player’s parent described the march as more of a player “revolt” as anger within the team swelled over the coach’s comments and inaction. JaCoby Stevens, then a senior safety, told players inside the locker room that they would not play football for Orgeron until “we get this fixed,” a source recalls. Without their coach, the players then marched to the school president’s office, where Orgeron later arrived, emerging from a Black SUV with Woodward and then holding a team meeting at the site. Despite the glowing public portrayal of the meeting, those who attended describe it differently. One source says it was Woodward’s first piece of real “evidence” that “the job is too big for [Orgeron].” Nearly every person who spoke to SI described that day—Aug. 28, 2020—as the date in which the coach “lost” his football team. “They really f----- up all the social justice stuff last year,” says one former player. “There’s no getting the team back after that.” “The players believed in their heart that this president [Trump] is causing harm to them and their culture,” says another source. “Whether you believe it or not, you can’t go on there.” With Burrow (left) at quarterback, LSU's potent spread offense routinely destroyed defenses en route to the 2019 championship. Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports The hiring of Bo Pelini in January 2020 was supposed to return LSU to what Orgeron wanted—a four-man defensive front as opposed to the 3–4 unit that Aranda operated. In Baton Rouge, Pelini’s hire was heralded by many who recall his days of leading LSU to the ’07 national title as the coordinator for Miles. The hire came with a steep price tag—a guaranteed three-year $7 million deal. Ultimately, the decision resulted in an unmitigated disaster. Orgeron and Pelini rarely talked, those who worked around them say. Pelini refused to follow orders, even missing meetings or arriving late. On the field, LSU gave up 429 yards a game, better than only three other FBS teams in 2020. From a statistical standpoint, it was the worst defensive year in LSU football history. And the Tigers cut Pelini a $4 million check to go away—the third such costly early exit of a coordinator under Orgeron. Among Pelini, Canada and 2020 pass game coordinator Scott Linehan, the program paid nearly $7 million in buyout money to fire them after their first seasons. “O is an amazing recruiter and motivator, but he failed at a head coach’s most important job: recruiting the finest coordinators and assistant coaches possible,” says one person who helped hire Orgeron as LSU’s full time coach. “We utterly failed at that.” In 2021, Orgeron sought to return LSU to the offensive philosophy that Brady and Burrow executed in ’19. So he hired Jake Peetz, a 38-year-old Carolina Panthers assistant who had studied the system in one season with Brady in the NFL. Peetz had never been a coordinator. The effort to rebrand Brady’s offense has failed. LSU ranks 72nd in total offense, and the struggles have resulted in private eruptions from the coach targeted at his offensive coordinator. One source describes the hiring of Peetz as “chasing the ghost of Joe Brady.” Without Burrow and his legion of receivers, the success hasn’t arrived. “It’s like they put Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel of a Corolla and were like, ‘Come on, make it go fast!’ ” says one person who used to work on staff. Defensively, Pelini’s replacement, Daronte Jones, another first-time coordinator, has dealt with a rash of injuries. In fact, LSU played Florida without five defensive starters, including three who are out of the season and another who has been deemed the nation’s best cornerback, Derek Stingley Jr. The team is also without its best offensive player, receiver Kayshon Boutte, and highly touted running back John Emery, who is academically ineligible. Quarterback Myles Brennan, a fifth-year player groomed to take over last year for Burrow, suffered a season-ending injury midway through last season and then reinjured himself while fishing in July days before preseason camp. While injuries bugged LSU this year, roster-management problems, exacerbated by COVID-19 issues, resulted in a lack of depth last year. In the final 2020 regular-season game, against Florida, the Tigers were down to 54 scholarship players, more than 30 below the NCAA-allowed 85. How did it get to such a point? There was the wave of departures from the 2019 team, including nine players who left early for the NFL draft, and then five transfers during the ’20 offseason, including elite linebacker Marcel Brooks. Seven players opted out of last season, including receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall Jr. and tight end Arik Gilbert. Three more players transferred during the fall. Some attribute the exodus to a culture within the program stemming from the summer of 2020. Others point to Orgeron’s ramp-up of physically grinding practices, something he had reversed after taking over for Miles. Lastly, sources point to the team’s strict drug-testing policy, which resulted in the dismissal of the team’s best offensive lineman, Dare Rosenthal, now a starter at Kentucky. “Two things make players quit,” says one source, “all the hitting and the drug-testing.” The Tigers went just 5–5 in a COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, ending a long run of winning seasons by the program. Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports While walking into the Rose Bowl in September, Orgeron glanced above him at a heckling UCLA fan. Television cameras caught the coach playfully calling the fan a “sissy” and proposing the fan enter the stadium to find himself a fight. “Bring your ass on [in here] in your little sissy blue shirt,” Orgeron said. The video went viral. It spread so quickly that after UCLA beat the Tigers, 38–27, the Bruins poked at the coach by selling T-shirts monogrammed with the words “Sissy Blue.” It was a fitting response, as Orgeron’s team was the one knocked around on the field, stunningly unable to stop the run or run the football against a Pac-12 team that, now, has lost two games. The Tigers’ offensive line struggled mightily, of which some attribute to the school’s firing of line coach James Cregg in June. Already under investigation by the NCAA for an assortment of violations, the school split with Cregg over his providing improper benefits to a recruit during the NCAA dead period, sources tell SI. “The offensive line basically had a midseason coaching change,” one person describes it. “They’ve got to get used to you, get used to the new guy.” The trip to Los Angeles, while exposing the line issues, provided more reason for school officials to think that their coach wasn’t fit to lead, given both the postgame locker room outbursts, his “sissy blue” comment and the team’s overall performance. Nationally, LSU was branded as soft and lacking effort. Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst, derided the program on national television. Before one game, he questioned whether the team “cares about playing football anymore.” Ahead of another game, he quipped, “LSU does not play hard. That’s the new LSU.” Meanwhile, within LSU’s football operations building, the atmosphere has been described by three people as extraordinarily “volatile” and “hellish.” Orgeron has grown distant from many staff members and eruptions are commonplace. One Friday night in the team hotel, before the loss at Kentucky, multiple sources describe an incident in which the coach threw a chair and blasted some support-staff members for an issue over the team’s hype video. “He’s felt the pressure,” says one source. “It’s the pressure. ‘We gotta win.’ ” Some believe Orgeron feels betrayed. He got divorced a month after the team won the national title, and his dating life has become fodder for fans, with even a photo surfacing in the middle of last season of him and a woman in bed together. Plus, the two people to which he answers, Woodward and school president William Tate IV, did not hire him. Woodward, like Orgeron a Louisiana native, arrived in the spring of 2019. Tate, hired from South Carolina, arrived this past summer. Tate has a history of being an influential voice in athletics and, early on, has been involved in the situation around Orgeron, sources tell SI. In fact, the president and Woodward met Saturday after the win over Florida near the Tigers’ locker room, while LSU players and coaches celebrated a stunning victory as near two-touchdown underdogs. It was an awkward postgame atmosphere, made even more unique when Orgeron earlier had brushed off congratulatory messages from the new president and high-level administrators—a clear sign that the two sides had hashed out this deal days ago. Orgeron’s LSU legacy, in many ways, will be similar to that of his predecessor. Miles, like Orgeron, claimed a championship, but the Tigers’ fan base never seemed to embrace a stubborn man with an old-fashioned offense. “Some fans say that every good thing that ever happened, O had nothing to do with, but every bad thing is on him,” says one source. “I don’t agree with that.” Now, attention turns to a coaching search that is expected to include those at the top of college football. The LSU job is one of the country’s most attractive. It is the only flagship college institution in the state, is dropped in a fertile recruiting area and has bountiful resources and flashy facilities. In fact, the school’s last three coaches have each won a national title, a run that began with Nick Saban’s awakening this sleeping giant. And now, here it is, roaring onward. “No coach is bigger than the brand at LSU,” says one source. “That’s what Scott Woodward can’t let happen.”

i never said it was fact because i never went back and checked up on it.

i remember reading back in the day obama and company had to allow certain changes the repubs wanted to get it passed. and i have always believed the republicans care more about medical profit than the true health of americans.

you got me on the last one and trump.

i was told by a friend who keeps up with lswho that O lost the team when he would not march with his team supporting political issues and was openly supportive of trump. now please lord i am not trying to start a political discussion. i am just pointing out what started all this before all the skirt chasing. there were some grumblings when it happened but it seems it effected the team worse than most thought? sometimes we are our own worst enemies. i have been most of my own life. and now i know better on most things i am too damn old to do anything about it.

my guess is stoops from kaintuck. and with upgraded talent he would be scary good.

i like gus. i hope he does well wherever he goes but he appears to be letting the game pass him by. and i think he was hurting auburn at the end and that is my honest belief and not a smear. so i am glad he is gone but i will forever hope he does well as long as it is not against auburn. and belle not trying to start something but my opinion is these kind of threads are a shot at SOME gus supporters. now before you get mad ask yourself why? i believe most of the folks not big on gus thought he was hurting their beloved auburn. i am doing a lot of thinking for other people on here and i could be wrong. i can say as much as i love auburn if i thought someone was hurting us i would not be high on gus. so i guess i am trying to say with most it is not hate for auburn but love for auburn if that makes you feel better. at least i hope it does.

who is the big turd? is that a bama fan? lol

i used to ride a motorcycle and had a patch with your name on it. small world lol

one would think he was busted selling drugs in the dorm parking lot or something.

marshall should be renting himself out on halloween to scare the kids. i cannot decide if he is making faces for the info he is hearing or if he sees golf in the audience.........

here is how we are doing groupings on receivers at arkie for anyone interested. stolen by yours truly at the rant. All info courtesy of Stat Tiger of 247 Personnel Groupings against Arkansas: 2-TE ……… 22 3-WR ……... 13 3 TE ………. 11 Empty …….. 8 4-WR ……... 4 (Includes TE’s split out) 2-RB ……… 2 4 TE ………. 1 TE’s have been targeted 47 times this season, 29 times during the last three games. With Auburn’s struggles in the running game, I believe we will continue to see more 2 TE formations to assist the OL. The key is making sure Auburn utilizes them in the passing game too, which they have. Auburn’s TE’s have accounted for 33 receptions for 401-yards, a solid 12.1 YPR. I believe Landen King can become the vertical threat out of the TE grouping to begin making plays in the intermediate passing game. John Samuel Shenker already recorded a couple of intermediate receptions this season and Tyler Fromm is certainly cable of doing it too.

lets go to auburn and kick some azz golf. i will drive and you can do the kicking............grins

i got mine on reddit. i looked for a link but i am not sure they are required at that site. i scrounge all over to find auburn news not on al.com but it is getting harder and harder.

i am not positive but i believe this guy might be a troll.

wow. thanks for the additional info.

to be honest i read few threads with all the fussing. and here i was worrying on if marshall is a pay site or not. anyway it is weird because there is nothing i saw on tigerland about it. man i thought i had a scoop! i love scoops lol

Bo Nix honored for top quarterback award Zac Blackerby 3-4 minutes FORT WORTH, Texas (Oct. 18, 2021) — The Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced the eight quarterbacks comprising the week seven Davey O’Brien Great 8 list. This week’s Great 8 list includes: Stetson Bennett of Georgia, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Kaleb Eleby of Western Michigan, Auburn’s Bo Nix, Aidan O’Connell of Purdue, Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams, Bryce Young of Alabama, and Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe. Any player named to a Great 8 list during the season who was not previously named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Preseason Watch List is officially added to the Midseason Watch List and becomes eligible for consideration for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Following this week’s additions of three quarterbacks (Eleby, Nix and O’Connell), 66 players now comprise the current list. The list will be pared down to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2021 next Tuesday (Oct. 26). The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.2 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. In 1938, O’Brien, who wore No. 8 as a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org. Stetson Bennett, Georgia, Sr., 5-11, 190, Blackshear, Ga. Completed 14 of 20 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 17.9 yards per completion, in a 30-13 win over No. 11 Kentucky. Matt Corral, Ole Miss, Jr., 6-2, 205, Ventura, Calif. Rushed for a career-high 195 yards on 30 carries and amassed 426 total yards (21-for-38 passing, 231 yards, two touchdowns) to lead the Rebels past Tennessee, 31-26. Kaleb Eleby, Western Michigan, So. 6-1, 210, Maryland Heights, Mo. Was 15-for-22 passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns and carried three times for 33 yards and a score in a 64-31 win over Kent State. Bo Nix, Auburn, Jr., 6-3, 214, Pinson, Ala. Connected on 21 of 26 pass attempts for 292 yards and two scores and rushed five times for 42 yards and a touchdown in a 38-23 victory over No. 17 Arkansas. Aidan O’Connell, Purdue, Sr., 6-3, 210, Long Grove, Ill. Led the Boilermakers to a 24-7 upset win at No. 2 Iowa by completing 30 of 40 passes (75 percent) for 375 yards and two touchdowns and also tallying a rushing score. Caleb Williams, Oklahoma, Fr., 6-1, 218, Washington, D.C. Totaled five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) and 361 yards of offense (295 passing, 66 rushing) in a 52-31 triumph over TCU. Bryce Young, Alabama, So, 6-0, 194, Pasadena, Calif. Was 20-for-28 through the air for 348 yards and four touchdown strikes during a 49-9 victory over Mississippi State. Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky, Sr., 6-1, 220, Victoria, Texas Accumulated 397 passing yards and five touchdowns while completing 37 of 54 attempts in WKU’s 43-20 win over Old Dominion.