aubiefifty 18,248 Posted October 6, 2022 Share Posted October 6, 2022 Wooden's role expected to expand beginning with road trip to face Georgia Mark Murphy 6-7 minutes AUBURN, Alabama–Something old could be part of Colby Wooden’s new game day assignment on Saturday when his Auburn football Tigers hit the road for the first time this season. The junior, who has been a staple on the defensive front in 2022 as a tackle, said on Tuesday that he expects to also be helping at end when the Tigers take on the Georgia Bulldogs. “I will be playing outside, but I will still be playing inside predominantly,” Wooden said. “I will get a few reps outside, but not too much is going to change. I will still be inside mostly. “I may have to bump out, you know, slightly more than normal, but other than that, we have got Marcus Bragg, who came from Western Kentucky,” Wooden pointed out. “Now it is time for him to step up.” Bragg’s role increased dramatically after starter Eku Leota injured his shoulder late in the first quarter last Saturday rushing LSU’s quarterback on a play that ended in a sack as Jayden Daniels tried to step up in the pocket to get away from Leota’s outside charge. Wooden was in the right spot at the right time to pick up his second sack of the season. With Leota is expected to miss the rest of the season it will give Wooden a chance to show his versatility. “Any time I get to get outside, it brings me back to my sophomore year when I was out there,” the 6-5, 284 junior said. “I love being out there. Every time I get out there I feel like Derick (Hall) just rushing, running around the end. I feel like I can show off how fast I am, show I can keep the edge, just show position versatility. That's a big word, but yeah, show off my position flexibility. “Any time I get to do something other than what I normally do, you know, three-technique or two-wide, it is great,” he added. “I enjoy playing everywhere on the line if we are being real.” For the season Wooden has 16 solo tackles with three assists. He has made 4 1/2 stops behind the line of scrimmage for 25 yards in losses. In addition to two sacks for 18 yards in losses, he has three quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. Last season as a sophomore he made a leap in production as he played in 13 games, all starts, when he finished with 34 solo tackles, 27 assists, 8 1/2 tackles for lost yardage, four sacks and six quarterback hurries. The Tigers will need his skills on Saturday as they go into the contest a huge underdog to the defending national champions. “It is going to be an old-fashioned fist fight,” he predicted. “Roll up your sleeves and let's get it on. Their O-Line vs. our D-Line. “They want to run the ball,” he said. “It's going to be between the hedges, CBS, primetime game. They are looking to show dominance after last week, and they are going to get back to their bread and butter, which is running the ball–good old-fashioned counters, duos, all that. “We have got to get back to our fundamentals and playing ball, recognizing your technique, playing behind your pads, you know, getting it on,” Wooden said. Georgia had to rally last week to avoid an upset at Missouri to pull out a 26-22 victory. Asked what Missouri’s defense did to have success against the Bulldogs, Wooden answered, “Basically, they just weren't scared. Any time you have a bully on the block, if you stand up to them nine times out of 10 they are not going to want to fight back, but Georgia was able to fight back and find a way to win that game so kudos to them. “Just being able to stand up to them and not being scared, going in there and attacking them, showing them that playing against them they are human. It is just simple. Like, line up and play football. That's how I look at it.” Georgia is a heavy favorite to win a sixth consecutive game in the series. This year’s matchup will be televised by CBS. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for shortly after 2:30 p.m. CDT with TV coverage on CBS. The Bulldogs, who are 5-0 overall, are 2-0 in the SEC and ranked second nationally. Auburn, which is unranked and 3-2 overall, will be trying to climb above .500 in the league standings after losing last week to LSU following a win in overtime vs. Missouri a week earlier. Wooden noted that Auburn’s defensive coordinator, Jeff Schmedding, told his defenders that the Tigers can improve. “We held the last two opponents to 14 points, but we still haven't played our best ball,” Wooden said. “We can do so much better and create more turnovers, get our offense the ball back more. We have played well, but we haven't played dominantly and I think that's the key–play dominantly.” Through five games the Auburn defenders have one intercepted pass and two fumble recoveries. Colby Wooden is ranked seventh among Auburn players in tackles this season. (Photo: Greg McWilliams, 247Sports) His brother, Caleb Wooden, is a freshman safety who graduated from high school early and earned praise from the coaches for his performance in AU’s spring drills. However, he began the season on the scout team. “Then, Missouri week he had to get moved up because DK (Donovan Kaufman) got injured,” Wooden pointed out. “I didn't know the boy was out there playing with me. He was like, 'Colby, I got in the Missouri game all four quarters. Did you see me?' But, I didn't know he was out there. Yeah, so having him on the field is great. “He's getting that experience under his belt and wow, he's also getting to play,” big brother added. “How many freshmen get to say they've played two SEC games? It's just cool having him out there. I know that he is getting his stuff together. He's asking me questions about what I see. But, I'm excited for that kid. I want to see what he does.” *** Subscribe: Receive the latest Auburn News and Opinions*** 10COMMENTS Quote Quote Anger is sadness that had no where to go for a very long time. Expand aubiefifty Platinum Donor 15k 10.2k 0 Member ID: 40502 Days Won: 21 Joined: 01/22/2010 Birthday: 08/16/1955 Interests:auburn is my heart. music is one of my main loves. big reader Location:anniston al Gender:Male Author Posted 12 minutes ago Brandon Council, Colby Wooden say Auburn is ready for an ‘old-fashioned fist fight’ at Georgia Keith Farner 2-3 minutes Brandon Council and Colby Wooden are ready to lead Auburn into Sanford Stadium on Saturday to attempt an upset of No. 2 Georgia. To do that, the Tigers will need to stem the crowd noise, and quiet the Georgia fans who will make the 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff a lively atmosphere. After all, Auburn hasn’t won in Athens since 2005. Along those lines, Auburn hasn’t rushed for more than 150 yards at Georgia since 2005. Wooden told reporters that he knows what this game is going to be like: “It’s gonna be an old-fashioned fist fight. Roll up your sleeves.” Auburn’s offensive line will need a big game, and Brandon Council, Auburn’s center, has a plan mapped out: “If we keep them out of their third-down packages, we can demolish them, I believe.” Part of the plan, Council said, “Our goal is to go in there like a SWAT team. Get in, quiet the noise, get out.” Quote Quote Anger is sadness that had no where to go for a very long time. Expand aubiefifty Platinum Donor 15k 10.2k 0 Member ID: 40502 Days Won: 21 Joined: 01/22/2010 Birthday: 08/16/1955 Interests:auburn is my heart. music is one of my main loves. big reader Location:anniston al Gender:Male Author Posted 10 minutes ago Georgia vs Auburn Prediction, Game Preview By Pete Fiutak | October 5, 2022 1:17 am CT 3-4 minutes Georgia vs Auburn prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 6, Saturday, October 8 Georgia vs Auburn How To Watch Date: Saturday, October 8 Game Time: 4:30 ET Venue: Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA How To Watch: CBS Record: Georgia (4-0), Auburn (3-2) – Sign up and live stream college football on ESPN+ College Football Week 5 Roundup CFN 1-131 Rankings | Rankings by Conference Bowl Projections | Week 5 Scoreboard Week 6 Early Lines | Hot Seat Coach Rankings What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like Cavalcade of Whimsy: The Silly Coaching World – Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak Georgia vs Auburn Game Preview Why Auburn Will Win Didn’t you used to be Georgia? The whining over the performance in the 39-22 win over Kent State was overblown – it was an unfocused effort for a team that played like it was taking a break – but the 26-22 win over Missouri was way too close against a mediocre team. What’s going wrong? The pass rush has all of a sudden gone bye bye, star DT Jalen Carter has a knee injury, and the five turnovers after not giving it away in any of the first three games showed just how off the team is. Auburn’s defense isn’t taking the ball away, but it has to somehow not screw up. The passing game has to be fearless from the start, the defense has to continue to be solid against the run after allowing just 3.7 yards per carry so far, and … – NFL Expert Picks, Week 5 Why Georgia Will Win Auburn turns it over. A lot. It didn’t lose the ball in the overtime win over Missouri, and it ended up a +2 in turnover margin helped by a miraculous fumble to close. However, it turned it over two times in each of the first two games, and four times against Penn State, and four times against LSU. At -8 Auburn is the third-worst team in the nation in turnover margin, and it starts with an offensive line that’s having huge problems keeping defenses out of the backfield. This is where the Dawg O line starts to eat. More than anything else … – Schedules, Previews College | NFL What’s Going To Happen Auburn just doesn’t score. Turnovers have killed too many drives, but it doesn’t have any semblance of consistency and can’t figure out how to get this all going. Dealing with an angry Georgia team that’s looking to get its mojo back is no way to rebound. It still won’t be the Georgia we saw over the first three games, but the turnovers will stop, and the final score will make this seem like it was easy. The Auburn D, though, will keep this from being at total wipeout. – CFN Expert Picks, Week 6 Georgia vs Auburn Prediction, Line Georgia 38, Auburn 7 Line: Auburn -29.5, o/u: 49 ATS Confidence out of 5: 2 Georgia vs Auburn Must See Rating (out of 5): 3 Quote Quote Anger is sadness that had no where to go for a very long time. Expand aubiefifty Platinum Donor 15k 10.2k 0 Member ID: 40502 Days Won: 21 Joined: 01/22/2010 Birthday: 08/16/1955 Interests:auburn is my heart. music is one of my main loves. big reader Location:anniston al Gender:Male Author Posted 9 minutes ago Young receivers stepping up for Auburn Updated: Oct. 04, 2022, 3:44 p.m.|Published: Oct. 04, 2022, 3:43 p.m. 3-4 minutes By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com Auburn (3-2, 2-1) didn’t celebrate quarterback Robby Ashford’s 20th birthday with a victory. The Tigers blew a 17-0 lead during Saturday’s 21-17 loss against LSU. Moral victories don’t exist in the Southeastern Conference, especially when head coach Bryan Harsin’s seat is hotter than fish grease. As difficult as it was to lose after allowing 21 unanswered points, there was positivity in Ashford connecting with his wide receivers. Ashford quickly broke the four-game streak of Auburn not having a touchdown pass to a wide receiver on the game’s first drive. He rolled out as the pocket broke down to throw a laser to Ja’Varrius Johnson for 53 yards. Read More Auburn Football: What ESPN’s College Football Power Index says about Auburn after LSU loss Is Robby Ashford ready to elevate as Auburn’s QB1? Instant Analysis: Auburn drops a 17-point lead in 21-17 loss against LSU “You want to be able to run it and throw it. And be able to move the ball down the field, because a lot of those big plays came in the passing game,” Harsin said. “That’s where our chunk yardage was in the passing game. And that was good for us. And you know, to move the ball down the field, be explosive, get into better field position, you’ve got to do that. And I thought we did some of those things well tonight.” Camden Brown caught his first career touchdown pass on an 18-yard throw in the end zone from Ashford. Earlier in the week, Ashford was asked about the lack of production from the wide receivers. We’ve got dogs in that room, and we haven’t been able to show it as much, Ashford said. We’ve got a lot of ballers, and they’re just waiting to pop out. I think they will really soon. Koy Moore had a 33-yard reception against his former team. Moore finished the game with four catches for 55 yards. It was the second game when Moore had multiple catches. Omari Kelly had a big 25-yard catch in the second half. The freshman is one of several receivers developing chemistry with Ashford this season. Ashford spread the ball while throwing for 337 yards against LSU. Moore, Kelly, Brown, and Johnson each caught passes. Ashford also had completions to running backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. Tight ends John Samuel Shenker, and Tyler Fromm caught balls from Ashford. Auburn ran several four, and five wide receiver sets against LSU. The Tigers successfully got the ball to its wide receivers versus LSU in ways they hadn’t this season. Auburn hopes to see more when the team plays Georgia this weekend. “Our young wide receivers have been thrust into playing, Omari Kelly has a big catch, and Camden Brown has a big catch. Var had a couple of big catches in there as well,” Harsin said. “Those things were good. That was encouraging to see some young players step up and do some things on the perimeter.” “We obviously have to be better than that going into this game and every game moving forward because we weren’t good enough to win the football game, but overall, there were some positive things in the pass game that I thought helped us.” Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group. Quote Quote Anger is sadness that had no where to go for a very long time. Expand aubiefifty Platinum Donor 15k 10.2k 0 Member ID: 40502 Days Won: 21 Joined: 01/22/2010 Birthday: 08/16/1955 Interests:auburn is my heart. music is one of my main loves. big reader Location:anniston al Gender:Male Author Posted 7 minutes ago Auburn Football Notebook: Georgia is the 'bully on the block' Nathan King 9-11 minutes AUBURN, Alabama — One of several high-profile recruits from Georgia, Colby Wooden has never been part of a win over his home-state Bulldogs. In fact, only a few sixth-year seniors on Auburn's roster have — those who were on the 2017 squad that handled Georgia in Jordan-Hare Stadium toward the end of the season before losing in the SEC championship game rematch. During Georgia's five-game winning streak in the series, things haven't exactly been close, either; Auburn has lost by a combined 137-47 during that span. Georgia's certainly been able to bully the Tigers under Kirby Smart. But Wooden and Auburn don't plan on cowering away Saturday afternoon (2:30 p.m. CST, CBS). Missouri refused to over the weekend, when it led Georgia for three quarters and nearly pulled off an upset. "They just weren't scared," Wooden said Wednesday of Missouri's efforts. "Any time you have a bully on the block, if you stand up to them, nine times out of 10, they're not gonna want to fight back. But Georgia was able to fight back and find a way to win that game. So, kudos to them. Just being able to stand up to them and not being scared, going in there and attacking them, showing them that, playing against them, they are human." For more comments from Wooden, center Brandon Council, punter Oscar Chapman and coach Bryan Harsin, dive into our midweek Auburn Football Notebook. Letting Ashford play his game Auburn's quarterback depth remains thin heading into its first road game, with Oregon transfer Robby Ashford still with the reins, preparing for his third straight start. If Ashford gets injured, next up will be true freshman Holden Geriner — but that's not going to alter Auburn's game plan for its starting QB. Ashford has, in the early stages of the season, shown a fearlessness in blocking for his teammates, pushing for extra yardage, and he even made a big tackle on LSU's Greg Brooks Jr. after an interception. Harsin and his staff, of course, try to protect Ashford the best they can. But they're not going to change the player he is, lest they restrict some of his best qualities in the process. “You’ve got to let these players play their game,” Harsin said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “That’s one of the reasons I think he’s improving — he can go out there and play the way he’s able to play. You must balance keeping him healthy and letting him be a football player.” Defense checking boxes against SEC opponents After allowing 41 points at home in a brutal performance against Penn State in Week 3, Auburn's veteran-laden defense has tightened up since SEC play began. It's given up 14 points against both Mizzou and LSU, while creating three total takeaways, and has entered the top 40 of several national defensive statistical categories. Those efforts won't get Auburn very far unless the other side of the ball pulls its weight, though. "We’ve got to complement that with our offense more — because we haven’t," Harsin said. "In at least SEC play, we’ve done some really good things on our defensive side. But we’ve got to put points up there. We’ve got to score more than just 17 and give our defense a chance, with how they’re playing." Wooden has been a force himself, currently leading all SEC interior defensive linemen in QB pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He and his fellow upperclassmen, naturally, aren't satisfied with four touchdowns in two games. "I mean, yeah, we held the last two opponents to 14 points," Wooden said. "But we still haven't played our best ball. We can do so much better and create more turnovers, get our offense the ball back more. We've played well, but we haven't played dominantly." Brandon's brazen confidence Seventh-year offensive lineman Brandon Council, who's now Auburn's primary option at center after Tate Johnson's likely season-ending elbow injury, wasn't mincing words Wednesday when discussing the confidence level he has for his unit going against Georgia's defensive front. "They got some interior stunts that kind of hinders the run game, but we’re going to start off fast," Council said. "If you start off fast, run the ball on them and keep them out of their third-down packages, really, we could demolish them, I believe personally, up front." Auburn has averaged only 218 yards of offense and 7.7 points per game in its past three trips to Athens. "Our goal is to go in there like a SWAT team: in and out and quiet the noise and beat their behinds and get out," Council said. O-line's increased comfort with Ashford Similar to Bo Nix, whom many of Auburn's current offensive linemen blocked for in practice or in games for multiple seasons, Ashford prefers to do his damage from outside of the pocket. It's not always a scramble, either; Ashford was effective in bringing safeties' eyes into the backfield against LSU, then pushing the ball downfield. Council said another start only served to further increase the offensive line's comfort level in knowing Ashford's tendencies as a passer and scrambler on a play-to-play basis. "When the D-line starts running you know what’s going on," Council said of continual experience working with Ashford. "Stay on your blocks because he’s going to make something happen. He’s fast as crap. He’s so fast. We trust him back there, especially if we give him time last we did last week and we protect him long enough, he’s going to make something happen.” 'A slight change' for Wooden's alignment With starting pass-rusher Eku Leota likely out for the year after injuring a pectoral muscle against LSU, Auburn will look to Western Kentucky transfer Marcus Bragg as his replacement. But Wooden, who was recruited as an outside 'backer, will also flex out this week and moving forward, he said, to help shore up the depth. "A slight change," Wooden said of his role after Leota's injury. "I'll be playing outside, but I'll still be playing inside predominantly. I'll get a few reps outside, but not not too much is gonna change. I'll still be inside mostly. I may have to bump out, you know, slightly more than normal, but other than that, you know, we got Marcus Bragg who came from Western Kentucky. So, you know, now it's time for him to step up." Wooden bulked up 45 pounds since the last time he was a full-time edge rusher when he first arrived at Auburn, and he's excited to test out his experience and athleticism — and do his best Derick Hall impression, he joked. "I feel like I can show off how fast I am, show I can keep the edge," Wooden said. "Just show position versatility." Keeping Bennett in the pocket Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has come a long way since Auburn faced him in Athens in 2020 in Bennett's first college start. In addition to adding a national championship ring, Bennett has evolved as a passer, and has been able to make plays with his legs — as Auburn saw last season, when he ran for 41 yards in Jordan-Hare Stadium. "He did outrun me once or twice," Wooden said. "I know firsthand how fast he can be, so which is why we have to contain him. I feel like they're gonna, you know, watching our tape and seeing other quarterbacks and how they've escaped, they may try to do quarterback sneaks and quarterback runs and do stuff with the quarterbacks. If his read's not there, take off and run. So we've got to, you know, contain rush and keep him in the pocket, and we'll be fine." Chapman's unit 'pushing blokes down' Auburn has been exceptional punting the ball this season, with Chapman's net average of 44.1 serving as the sixth-best in college football. Entering a matchup where Auburn needs to win the field-position battle and likely can't give up more than a couple touchdowns on the road if it wants a shot at the upset, Chapman is tied for the No. 7 return rate in the country, having allowed only two returns for -1 yards on 19 punts. "It goes back to me trying to get good hangtime, good distance and putting the ball where coach wants me to," Chapman said. "Just our gunners and team are working really hard on punts, pushing blokes down, getting around them and working downfield, putting pressure on the returner so he doesn't want to catch it on me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 18,248 Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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