First-year backs, including 'great surprise,' could play in opener

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247sports.com

 

First-year backs, including 'great surprise,' could play in opener

ByMark Murphy

4 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–It is a given that last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, Tank Bigsby, and senior Shaun Shivers will be a major part of the opening night game plan for the Auburn Tigers. On Wednesday Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin said a trio of newcomers at the running back position could see game action on Saturday night vs. Akron and noted that the walk-on in the group has been a “great surprise.”

The trio includes freshman Jarquez Hunter, a 5-10, 202-pounder. who put up big rushing and scoring numbers the past three seasons at Neshoba Central High in Philadelphia, Miss.

The Tigers also brought in Jordon Ingram, a 6-1, 199 redshirt freshman from Mobile, who transferred to Auburn this summer from Central Michigan.

Also in the newcomer group is 5-9, 236-pound Sean Jackson, a walk-on from Hewitt-Trussville High who earned Class 7A All-State honors as a senior after finishing with 1,425 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns.

“Sean Jackson has been a great surprise,” Harsin said on the SEC weekly coaches' teleconference on Wednesday. “You say that because you don’t know what some of these young guys coming in what they are going to do. He has been very good in scrimmages, one of our most productive guys.

Sean Jackson is hoping to make his mark as a walk-on for the Tigers. (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Inside The Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

“He runs very hard, very physical, very consistent,” the coach pointed out. “You know what you are going to get from him and he shows up every single day and brings it. I have been very happy with him and pleased with the effort of what he has been able to do.”

Asked if Auburn fans could see any of the newcomer running backs in action on Saturday vs. the Zips, Harsin said, “There is definitely a possibility.

“I think Jarquez has had a really good camp,” the coach said. “He is young, he is learning, but he is physical. He has improved on just his overall understanding of the offense.”

Hunter won a Mississippi Mr. Football Award as a senior after rushing for 1,687 yards and 22 touchdowns while finishing the year with 2,069 all-purpose yards.”

Ingram played his high school football at St. Paul’s where he was a second team Class 6A All-State pick after rushing for 1,394 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior in 2019.

“I think Jordon, he transferred in here, and had a little bit of experience when he got here,” Harsin said. “It is the same as Jarquez, just learning and developing. I think he has done a good job on special teams and getting himself in the mix and being a guy we feel can contribute in a role there.”

None of the new running backs are on the initial depth chart for the Tigers.

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“All three of those guys are going to be good players,” Harsin declared. “They are all just young and they are learning so it is not for a lack of ability or want-to, it’s just experience and letting these guys go through a normal game week and prepare themselves and get into just a game and see how the whole thing operates. Once they do that they are going to get better and better, and it just going to be a matter of time before those guys are on the field contributing.”

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