11/12/22 Auburn Articles

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Auburn's Cadillac on what this has meant to him: 'makes me want to sell out even more for this university'

Jason Caldwell

4-5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama—As the Voice of the Auburn Tigers, Andy Burcham has done hundreds of broadcasts of different sports and hosted Tiger Talk countless times. On Thursday night at Baumhower’s Victory Grille, Burcham said he saw something he’s never seen before.

Heading into his second game as Auburn’s interim head coach after taking over for Bryan Harsin last week, former standout running back Cadillac Williams walked through the front door of the restaurant along with Derick Hall and Robby Ashford. They were greeted by a very loud standing ovation, something that Burcham said was amazing to see.

“I have never seen a standing ovation for any head coach of any sport walking through the door coming in to Tiger Talk like we saw with Carnell tonight and Derick Hall and Robby Ashford,” Burcham said. “It’s indicative how this Auburn family has rallied around Cadillac, his coaching staff, and this team.”

A player that was a first round draft choice by the Tampa Bay Bucs after playing on Auburn’s undefeated season, Williams was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2005 and has had his share of big moments. None of those prepared Williams for what he walked into on Thursday night, however.

“I’m so honored and blessed to be part of the Auburn family,” Williams told Auburn247. “To see people show up in this pouring rain and to have a packed house and to see these people cheering for the players and the Auburn family, it’s just special. It just gives me so much strength while I’m doing this and makes me want to sell out even more for this university.”

Veterans of Tiger Talk and fixtures when the broadcast is on location, Sandy and Sally Heely knew something was going to be different for Thursday’s edition. The expectation was exceeded by the reality of the situation.

“I have been here since they started and I graduated in 1968,” Sandy said. “I have been a GAF giver and hold season tickets. Tonight is a big night.

“It was magic. When we saw Caddy walk in, he represented about as much as he could of an Auburn man. He’s not Pat Dye, but he’s right there with him. He is the Auburn man. He brings the excitement we haven’t seen for years and years and years.”

As the owner of Baumhowers for the last four years, Auburn native and graduate Kevin Tudhope said he's seen the program and university from close range for his now 50 years. What he saw Thursday night and has seen the last week is exactly what he thinks about when the term 'Auburn family' is used.

"I have seen the good and bad times over those years," Tudhope said of his life. "But what I saw tonight was special. I have never seen the alumni, this town, and this fan base rally around each other like they did tonight. We honestly haven't seen crowds like that for Tiger Talk in years. It was refreshing. It was exciting. It's what the Auburn family is all about."

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With Auburn putting the finishing touches on the plan for Saturday night’s game against Texas A&M, Thursday night’s excitement points to what should be a wild atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium. While this game might not have championship implications, it has become a very big game for Auburn and Burcham said he can’t wait.

“You wouldn’t expect that for two 3-6 teams, but considering what has happened on the Auburn campus, who is the head coach, the way the Auburn family has reacted to that, and the fact that it’s going to be fabulous weather and a night game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. All of those go into what should be a phenomenal atmosphere for football. I cannot wait to call the game.”

">247Sports

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Tiger Buzz: Auburn vs. Texas A&M TV info, key matchups and what to watch for

Published: Nov. 11, 2022, 8:00 a.m.

5-6 minutes

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Texas A&M (3-6, 1-5 SEC) at Auburn (3-6, 1-5)

When: 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday

Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn.

TV: SEC Network

Line: Auburn -1.5

This game will determine...

Whether either of these teams can keep their fleeting hopes of a bowl game alive, as well as who will finish at the bottom of the SEC West this season. Both Auburn and Texas A&M need to win out to become bowl eligible, with three games remaining on the schedule. The winner will also move out of the division basement and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with one conference game remaining.

Three things to look for...

1. A rockin’ Jordan-Hare Stadium. Cadillac Williams knows the atmosphere that awaits him in his first home game as Auburn’s interim coach. So, too, do his players. There has been growing buzz leading into this game, which was announced Wednesday as a sellout under the lights. Expect Jordan-Hare Stadium to have a big-game feel—think Iron Bowl or Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry levels of insanity. It would typically be hard to imagine that for a game between two last-place teams, but Williams has ignited hope and excitement within the fanbase, and Auburn faithful want to reciprocate in his home debut.

2. Will Auburn’s offense benefit from a more normal week? Last week was, as Williams put it, “a rare one,” as well as a hectic one for Auburn, particularly its offense. Along with the firing of Bryan Harsin, the Tigers also saw offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Eric Kiesau and tight ends coach Brad Bedell get shown the door. Auburn promoted Will Friend and Ike Hilliard to co-offensive coordinators, and the entire offensive staff took on new or expanded roles on a shortened week. Gameplanning was difficult, to be sure, and Friend and Hilliard scrambled to familiarize themselves with an offensive play-sheet that wasn’t their own. Auburn’s offense showed progress in the second half at Mississippi State, despite a rough start, and Williams is confident the offense will have a more cohesive and successful gameplan against Texas A&M after things slowed down for everyone this week.

3. Can Auburn improve its discipline? Williams was just trying to keep things from falling apart last week, putting out fires left and right after being named interim coach. His message was “serve, discipline, believe” — but the discipline part wasn’t emphasized until late in the week. That showed against Mississippi State, when Auburn committed a season-high 14 penalties for 115 yards (the team’s most penalties in a single game since the 2019 LSU game, and its most penalty yards since 2014 at Ole Miss) with some costly ones along the way. Williams plans to address that this week and hope for a cleaner game for the Tigers at home.

Key matchup

Auburn’s passing offense against Texas A&M’s passing defense. Robby Ashford is coming off a game in which he struggled to get anything going through the air, completing just 7-of-22 passes for 75 yards against Mississippi State. Now the Tigers face an Aggies defense that leads the SEC in passing defense (173.6 yards per game) while limiting opposing quarterbacks to 6.1 yards per pass attempt, which is ninth nationally this season. Williams said Wednesday that Auburn needs to find a way to get a more efficient and effective performance from Ashford, because being one-dimensional offensively against a team of Texas A&M’s talent won’t cut it.

By the numbers

.791 — Auburn’s all-time winning percentage in November home games. The Tigers are 105-40-5 all-time at home in November games.

Key injuries

Auburn — OL Nick Brahms out (retired), OL Tate Johnson out (elbow), OL Austin Troxell out (knee) QB Zach Calzada out (shoulder), Edge Eku Leota out (pectoral), RB Jordon Ingram out (knee), WR Landen King out (transfer), WR Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. out (transfer), DL Zykeivous Walker out (transfer), CB A.D. Diamond out (transfer), QB T.J. Finley out (shoulder), S Donovan Kaufman questionable (foot).

Texas A&M — WR Ainias Smith out (ankle), QB Max Johnson out (hand), OL Bryce Foster out (knee), OL Aki Ogunbiyi out (knee), OL Jordan Spasojevic-Moko out (ankle), DB Denver Harris out (suspension), OL P.J. Williams out (suspension), WR Chris Marshall out (suspension), DB Antonio Johnson out (undisclosed), WR Chase Lane questionable (undisclosed), DB Myles Jones questionable (undisclosed).

Texas A&M player to watch

Devon Achane, running back. For the third time in four games, Auburn’s defense will face one of the SEC’s top running backs. After recent matchups with Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins and Arkansas’ Raheim Sanders, Auburn will be tasked with slowing down Achane, who is third in the SEC in rushing this season. Achane has run for 887 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 5.61 yards per carry on the year. In SEC action, he’s averaging 6.17 yards per carry and 115.17 yards per game on the ground. He’s coming off back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances against Ole Miss and Florida. He has also caught three touchdowns for the Aggies.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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REPORT: Alex McPherson will kick field goals for the Tigers against Texas A&M

Andrew Stefaniak

2 minutes

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This is going to sound crazy, but for the first time since 2014, Auburn's kicker won't have the last name, Carlson. 

Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live has reported ($) that true freshman kicker Alex McPherson will take over the place-kicking duties against Texas A&M for the Tigers. 

Anders Carlson, the incumbent placekicker, is just 12-of-17 on the year kicking field goals. He is second in Auburn career scoring with 403 points, right behind his brother Daniel. Anders missed a field goal in overtime against Mississippi State this past weekend.

McPherson is the brother of Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson who was money in the playoffs a season ago to take the Bengals to the Super Bowl. 

Last year, McPherson broke the Alabama high school state record by nailing a 61-yard field goal. Which, for the record, would have been good from about 65 yards.

He's next up.

Let's watch McPherson nail his state-record-setting field goal from a season ago in high school. 

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Walk-on Auburn linebacker and former Marine named team captain for Saturday's game against Texas A&M

Rick Karle

3-4 minutes

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It's a story that may have slipped under the radar, but it's a story that is as inspirational as they come, just in time for Veterans Day.Jonathan LeGrand is a walk-on linebacker at Auburn. While I can't say if he will see action Saturday night, I can say that LeGrand will be honored in a heartfelt way.LeGrand is everybody's All-American.A high school star in football and baseball in Dothan, Alabama, LeGrand joined the Marines after high school and served our country for five years.After serving, LeGrand attended Troy-Dothan, and always dreamed of playing football at Auburn.He enrolled at Auburn, where, in 2020, he failed to make the football team.LeGrand joined the Auburn fly fishing club and the Auburn Rugby Club, where he helped AU win a national championship.LeGrand kept working hard and, last spring, once again tried his hand at football.How did it turn out? Saturday night, Auburn linebacker Jonathan LeGrand will be an honorary team captain when the Tigers host Texas A&M.Coach Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams is honoring LeGrand for his service and dedication.Fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be going crazy Saturday night. And while No. 41 will see limited or no action, he will have the respect of teammates, coaches and fans from Americans around the world.Let's thank LeGrand for serving our country. Let's give him a hand long before the game begins.

It's a story that may have slipped under the radar, but it's a story that is as inspirational as they come, just in time for Veterans Day.

Jonathan LeGrand is a walk-on linebacker at Auburn. While I can't say if he will see action Saturday night, I can say that LeGrand will be honored in a heartfelt way.

LeGrand is everybody's All-American.

A high school star in football and baseball in Dothan, Alabama, LeGrand joined the Marines after high school and served our country for five years.

After serving, LeGrand attended Troy-Dothan, and always dreamed of playing football at Auburn.

He enrolled at Auburn, where, in 2020, he failed to make the football team.

LeGrand joined the Auburn fly fishing club and the Auburn Rugby Club, where he helped AU win a national championship.

LeGrand kept working hard and, last spring, once again tried his hand at football.

How did it turn out? Saturday night, Auburn linebacker Jonathan LeGrand will be an honorary team captain when the Tigers host Texas A&M.

Coach Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams is honoring LeGrand for his service and dedication.

Fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be going crazy Saturday night. And while No. 41 will see limited or no action, he will have the respect of teammates, coaches and fans from Americans around the world.

Let's all thank LeGrand for serving our country. Let's give him a hand long before the game begins.

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Auburn's offensive keys to beating Texas A&M

JD McCarthy

3-4 minutes

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After narrowly losing Cadillac Williams’ debut as head coach, Auburn is returning to Jordan-Hare Stadium for a showdown with the struggling Texas A&M Aggies.

Both teams are riding five-game losing streaks and are 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC. The loser of the game will have sole possession of last place in the SEC West. Despite this, Jordan-Hare Stadium is sold out and is expected to be a wild atmosphere.

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The Auburn faithful want to watch Williams make his home debut as head coach of the Tigers and they want to do their part to make sure the Tigers come out on top, something Vegas thinks will happen.

If Auburn is going to come out on top then their offense will need to have a good night and here are five things they can do to make that happen.

Todd Van Emst / AU Athletics

Texas A&M is the worst team in the SEC at stopping the run and Tank Bigsby is one of the best running backs in the country. This matchup is a massive advantage for the Auburn offense and one they must exploit. He had a season-high 20 carries against Ole Miss and should have right around that many against the Aggies.

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

While Auburn’s offense did not change a ton with Will Friend and Ike Hilliard calling plays, one notable difference was the designed runs for Robby Ashford. These plays were effective against Mississippi State and was how Auburn scored its second touchdown of the game. The Tigers need to keep dialing up designed runs and not just rely on Ashford’s scrambling ability.

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Ashford has struggled to complete short passes this season and it seems like every screen is nearly an interception. While these should be high-percentage passes that allow Ashford to get comfortable that is clearly not the case and Auburn needs to move away from them.

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

After a disastrous start to the season, Auburn has improved its ball security and has won the turnover margin in the past two weeks.

Turnovers can keep a game close when it should not be and can quickly deflate a crowd, Auburn can not afford to do that against the Aggies.

Zach Bland/ AU Athletics

Auburn’s offense has struggled all season to finish their drives, they have scored on 59.38% of their red zone trips, the second-worst rate in the SEC.

In addition, Anders Carlson’s struggles have made field goals a riskier chance than they should be, he has made 70.6% of his field goals and he missed multiple from inside 40 yards. The Tigers should look to be aggressive on fourth down when they get into Texas A&M territory and not settle for field goals.

Sure Texas A&M does not have a great offense but Auburn needs to make the most of its drives and field goals are not good enough.

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Ten thoughts: Texas A&M defense vs Auburn offense

Jeff Tarpley

9-11 minutes

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Texas A&M's defense continues to have issues stopping the run and it's grown from an annoyance (when the team was still winning games in September) to a crisis, especially now that the offense is putting up 400 yard games. There were complaints about the three man front that veteran coordinator DJ Durkin brought with him from Ole Miss but the team hasn't been able to stop the run no matter what type of front it's using. Two weeks ago versus Ole Miss, the Aggies allowed the Rebels to rush for 390 yards on the ground, clock in at a 31:47 time of possession, and run 83 plays in all. Last week against Florida was more of the same (290 yards allowed, a 37:07 time of possession, and 78 plays run). It's hoped that a return to normalcy on the injury front could help but multiple defenders were missing due to illness as even more of them were out due to physical issues.

Auburn's offense struggles any time they have to throw the ball and they completed just eight throws versus Ole Miss and seven of them against Mississippi State. However, they can still run the ball via running backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter when they play programs that have issues via their run defense....and the Aggies certainly qualify as one of those teams given that they're now 14th in the Southeastern Conference in run defense.

Here's the Aggies' Southeastern Conference rankings on defense.

8th in scoring defense at 24 points per game

14th in rushing defense at 215 yards per game

9th in pass efficiency defense at 126 overall

9th in total defense at 389 yards per game

Here's Auburn's Southeastern Conference rankings.

11th in scoring offense at 24 points per game

8th in rushing offense at 181 yards per game

14th in passing efficiency at 113 overall

9th in total offense at 382 yards per game

1. A&M has varied between three and four man fronts this season, especially as Durkin brought over an every down 3-2-6 look from Ole Miss with him. They're young in spots and don't play fundamentally sound football ranging from shedding blocks to keeping an outside arm free to containing the edge. In addition, the need to protect the backers means that A&M's defensive linemen don't get upfield and make negative plays, they don't get enough guys in the box to do so either, or they get too many defensive backs on the field.

In case you're wondering if this sounds familiar, it's basically the same thing I typed last week.

2. Auburn is still running the scheme that the departed Bryan Harsin brought with him from Boise State. The scheme attempts to leverage you via pre snap movement and they'll operate under center and out of the gun. In addition, they use a lot of two tight end sets (second tight end Luke Deal has 252 snaps out of the offense's 600+ total snaps). They'll line up with a tight end to one side, watch you overshift your defense to that side of the field, and run a play back the other way. They put the quarterback on the move so that they don't get hit a lot (they rank fourth in the SEC in pass blocking efficiency) and they run play action about 27% of the time.

3. Oregon transfer Robby Ashford became the starter after TJ Finley went down with an injury and was rated as a dual threat quarterback coming out of high school. He's been a better runner than passer so far this season but he also hasn't had a lot of help from his teammates in the passing game. He's got a baseball background and so he not only has a strong arm but also can make throws from a variety of angles. He can run and scramble but also has seven fumbles on the season.

4. Auburn's offensive line is helped by the use of misdirection and shifts which give them favorable numbers and angles and they're not a great run blocking group as a whole. Right tackle Austin Troxell, Auburn's best player up front, is gone with an injury. The other tackle, Kilian Zierer, is from Germany and didn't pick up the game of football until about five years ago in Germany. He can be had via leverage since he's only about 312 pounds on a 6 foot 7 frame and still is learning the game from a technical standpoint. Troxell suffered from some of the issues and the duo has given up 31 pressures on 619 pass sets.

Brenden Coffey will take Troxell's place and he's similar to Zierer from a physical standpoint. Thus, he projects to be a much better pass blocker with his length and feet but is less capable as a run blocker. Veteran Brandon Council moved from guard to center due to the retirement of Nick Brahms prior to the beginning of the season and has has been a quality blocker in the run game via his 328 pounds (which makes him difficult to overpower).

5. A&M's McKinnley Jackson can attack shoulders and redirect things in the backfield and has five tackles for loss in the three games since he has been back from injury. However, their style means that they attack blockers head up which makes it difficult for them to shed and they're young as a group so they're not consistently sound from a technical standpoint. As a result, they struggle to protect the backers (when the backers themselves aren't having issues) and don't generate much pass rush (14 sacks in nine games). In addition, the younger guys on the roster struggle to contain on the edge and allow too many ball carriers to get outside. 

The Council-Jackson matchup is one to watch in the middle of the defensive line. 

6. A&M's Andre White Jr., and Edgerrin Cooper both played last week and Cooper had seven stops (four solos) He maintained his run fits, scraped over the top of the defensive linemen, and didn't over pursue. The rest of the unit struggled in some measure in those categories and they weren't tested in the passing game much since most of the throws went to the third level of the defense. 

7. The defense will have a physical challenge in terms of Bigsby who can has great feet and vision but is not a breakaway threat. Second year man Jarquez Hunter is short, powerfully built, and can really run with burst although he struggles versus the better competition on their schedule. 

8. A&M's secondary has struggled the past two weeks with misdirection and motion in terms of their run fits versus both Ole Miss and Florida. They were caught running with receivers who proceeded to block them down the field. In addition, they wound up in a lot of one on one situations in space and didn't tackle well. As a result, both teams had several big runs and averaged six yards per pop on the ground.  Not only that, A&M was without multiple starters in the backfield last week due to injury, illness, or penalties.

They'll be faced with motion, misdirection, and play action again this week much like they were in those two contests (which means man coverage down the field) and fitting the alleys against a more traditional running game. The difference is that Auburn's passing game should not stress them as much as either that of the Gators or Ole Miss. 

9. Auburn's receiving corps lost their three top receivers from 2021. Slot Ja'Varrius Johnson (23 catches, nearly 20 yards per reception) has good long speed, explosion, can track the ball in the air, and doesn't drop many passes. He works the third level relatively well as opposed to being a down to down player who moves the chains. Koy Moore is an outside guy who is fluid enough to be better after the catch than before. Three of the team's six leading receivers are backs or tight ends which indicates how much of a struggle it is for the Tigers to get the ball down the field.

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10. On paper, even with all of its injury woes, A&M has more talent. In addition, up until last week, the Aggies had been more successful versus offenses such as South Carolina's or Auburn's that reduced their formations and allowed them to get more people into the box. A&M allowed the Tigers just 73 yards rushing last season and no one is going to argue that Auburn has a better offense in 2022 than they did in 2021. 

Nonetheless, the Tigers have run the ball well lately and they're averaging nearly 35 points per game in their last three outings while the Aggies run defense has gone south. As a result, A&M is going to have to do some things much better than they have lately (and on the road as well) in order to use the Tigers to end the season on a high note.

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Achane is traveling but likely isn’t playing tonight. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Gowebb11