1/10/23 Auburn Articles

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Brian Battie, All-American returner and 1,000-yard rusher at USF, announces SEC commitment

Andrew Olson

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Brian Battie is headed to The Plains after 3 seasons at USF. Battie has committed to Auburn to continue his college football career.

Battie shared the big news on social media.

Battie has played in 31 games over 3 seasons at USF, averaging 6.6 yards per carry and 24.2 yards per kick return. The 2020 season does not count against his eligibility with the NCAA’s COVID-19 blanket waiver.

In 2021, Battie earned All-America recognition as a return specialist. He led the nation with 3 kickoff returns for touchdowns and tied an NCAA game record with 2 100-yard returns in the same game and broke the Bulls’ season return average record. Battie finished 2021 with 20 returns for 650 yards and 3 touchdowns to go with 58 rushes for 324 yards and a TD along with 7 receptions for 67 yards.

In 2022, Battie shined as a running back, logging 176 carries for 1,186 yards and 8 touchdowns. He also had 33 returns for 659 yards and 14 catches for 91 yards.

Battie is the 9th player to join Hugh Freeze’s Auburn program from the transfer portal.

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Auburn WR coach Marcus Davis helps snag familiar face from portal

Published: Jan. 09, 2023, 4:40 p.m.

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1. Auburn Football

Cincinnati WR Nick Mardner becomes Auburn’s 8th transfer under Hugh Freeze

 

Auburn WR signee Daquayvious Sorey highlights from Chipley High School

By

• Nick Alvarez | nalvarez@al.com

Auburn football’s quarterback will have a revamped supporting cast next fall, whether it’s Robby Ashford or another player in the portal.

Nick Mardner, a Canadian-born wide reciever who’s caught touchdowns for Hawaii and Cincinnati, became the eighth transfer into Hugh Freeze’s program on Monday. Mardner announced the commitment on his social media accounts. His decision comes after five players pledged their 2023 seasons to Auburn over the weekend.

Mardner, listed at 6-foot-6, 215-pounds, recorded 218 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Bearcats last season. In his career, Mardner’s totaled over 1,400 yards with 11 touchdowns. His best campaign was in 2021 with Hawaii when, under new Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis, Mardner was named an All-Mountain West honorable mention.

Mardner held offers from South Florida, West Virginia and more after entering the portal on Dec. 7. Davis’ hire was confirmed later in the month. Mardner has one year of eligibility remaining.

Mardner should give Auburn a big-bodied target on the outside that can beat cornerbacks in one-on-one matchups. He ranked ninth nationally with 19.9 yards a reception as a junior. During Cincinnati’s season-opening loss to Arkansas on Sept. 3, Mardner caught a 35-yard touchdown in the one-score loss.

Along with three-star high school pledge Daquayvious Sorey, Mardner will be the second wide reciever and fourth offensive skill player to help reshape an offense designed by offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery. Auburn is awaiting the letter of intent from Montgomery Catholic running back Jeremiah Cobb and the first transfer of the current cycle, FIU tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, who committed in December.

Auburn’s returning scholarship wide receivers include Ja’Varrius Johnson, Malcom Johnson Jr., Koy Moore, Landen King, Camden Brown, Omari Kelly and Jay Fair. That group combined for 63 receptions and six touchdowns.

MORE Tigers football: Where things stand with Auburn’s roster, positions of need in transfer portal after busy weekend

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com

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Where things stand with Auburn’s roster, positions of need after busy weekend

Published: Jan. 09, 2023, 2:49 p.m.

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Auburn’s roster for Year 1 of the Hugh Freeze era is taking shape as the spring semester gets underway.

The program enjoyed a busy, productive weekend on that front, with the Tigers picking up four additions through the transfer portal, two more 2023 high school signees and welcomed 13 mid-year enrollees onto campus for the start of spring. And Auburn isn’t done yet with the retooling of its personnel for the 2023 season.

Read more Auburn football: Auburn football snags Texas 3-star safety CJ Johnson

Auburn adds 7th player via the portal as DT Lawrence Johnson transfers

Auburn lands former 4-star linebacker, LSU transfer DeMario Tolan

After a flurry of movement over the weekend, Auburn sits at 82 projected scholarship players on roster for the upcoming season. The NCAA limit is 85, leaving Auburn with a few spots to fill before the season begins in a little less than eight months. There will be more shuffling, of course; the fall transfer window ends Jan. 18, while National Signing Day is Feb. 1, followed by the spring transfer window from May 1-15.

While Auburn’s roster has filled out nicely since Freeze was hired at the end of November, there are still some areas for the Tigers to address this offseason, so let’s take a closer look at where things stand for the program as the spring semester begins.

Weekend additions

First, let’s recap who Auburn to the fold over the weekend, with six new commitments — or at least newly announced commitments — joining the fray.

The action picked up for Auburn on Thursday, when Western Kentucky transfer Gunner Britton committed to the program following a visit to the Plains. Britton is the seventh offensive line addition for Auburn since Freeze took over, as the program has worked to swiftly overhaul its numbers in the trenches. Britton, who started every game for WKU last season, signed with Auburn two days later, on Saturday, when the Tigers also got two more pickups.

Three-star 2023 cornerback Tyler Scott announced his commitment to Auburn during the All-American Bowl. Scott signed with Auburn last month but held off until the all-star game to unveil his decision. Later that day, the Tigers also added Maryland transfer defensive lineman Mosiah Nasili-Kite, who committed following a visit to campus.

The action continued into Sunday, as LSU transfer and former four-star linebacker DeMario Tolan committed to and signed with Auburn. That was followed by another portal addition in the form of Purdue defensive line transfer Lawrence Johnson. Then 2023 three-star safety CJ Johnson announced he had signed with the Tigers, wrapping up a whirlwind weekend of additions for the program.

Midyear enrollees

Auburn welcomed a baker’s dozen of spring enrollees to campus for move-in day Sunday, providing a wealth of new faces for the program to mix in for spring practices. Among the midyear enrollees are eight true freshmen, one junior college transfer and three portal additions.

On the transfer front, former Tulsa offensive tackle Dillon Wade, Vanderbilt edge rusher Elijah McAllister, FIU tight end Rivaldo Fairweather and the aforementioned Britton all arrived on campus. As did junior college offensive tackle Izavion Miller. The freshmen enrollees included four-star defensive end Keldric Faulk, four-star offensive lineman Clay Wedin and four-star corner Kayin Lee, as well as three-star defensive lineman Stephen Johnson, three-star offensive lineman Bradyn Joiner, three-star center Connor Lew, three-star defensive lineman Wilky Denaud and three-star edge Brenton Williams.

Positions still needing to be addressed

With a few scholarship slots still open, Auburn has a chance to address a few more positions of need before the start of the 2023 season. Roster management is a fluid situation, of course, and more spots could open up if any more returning players choose to transfer out of the program, but as it stands, limited spots remain before the Tigers hit the 85-scholarship limit, so Freeze and staff will have to be selective in how they supplement the current roster.

Looking at the Tigers’ scholarship distribution by position and class (as detailed in this evolving 2023 projected scholarship chart), there are still some key areas Auburn stands to address this offseason, with some targets still on the board.

Freeze has gone on record saying that Auburn would still like to add a quarterback through the transfer portal, so long as it’s the right fit. The Tigers return starter Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley (the starter entering last season), redshirt freshman Holden Geriner and welcome freshman Hank Brown. Auburn had interest in Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall before he opted to return to the Chanticleers, as well as NC State transfer Devin Leary before he committed to Kentucky, and while Freeze has expressed enthusiasm about working with Ashford, Auburn has yet to find a quarterback to add to the fray — but optimism remains that one could become available.

“If it’s the right one, that we believe we can win games with” Freeze said last month. “And we’ve gone back and forth on our rankings of them and we’re kind of looking at that list right now, and in conversations with the next man up, and hopefully we’ll get the right one.”

The Tigers would also like to add another player to their running back room, especially after leading rusher Tank Bigsby declared for the NFL Draft last month. Auburn returns Jarquez Hunter, as well as Damari Alston and Sean Jackson, and four-star 2023 commit Jeremiah Cobb is still expected to sign with the program next month. Still, Auburn would like to bring in another experienced back to work in tandem with Hunter. The program over the weekend hosted USF transfer Brian Battie, according to his Instagram story and multiple reports. Battie was the AAC’s third-leading rusher last season (1,186 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 6.74 yards per carry) and was a consensus All-American in 2021 as a kick return specialist.

Elsewhere on offense, Auburn remains in the mix for Cincinnati transfer wide receiver Nick Mardner, who previously played for new Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis at Hawaii in 2021. The 6-foot-6 Mardner, who visited Auburn last week, will reportedly choose between Auburn and Cal this week as a grad transfer, according to 247Sports. He enjoyed his best season -- 46 receptions for 913 yards and five touchdowns -- while playing for Davis two years ago.

Though Auburn has already undergone an extensive retooling along both lines of scrimmage, it’s possible the program still adds more to its numbers up front on either side of the ball. Auburn has added seven offensive linemen this cycle — with four high school signees, a JUCO pickup and two key transfer additions at offensive tackle — but it’s still in the mix for Baylor transfer Micah Mazzccua, who will announce a decision Tuesday night from a final three of Auburn, Florida and Nebraska. Mazzccua was a two-year starter at Baylor, where he primarily played left guard. On the defensive side, where Auburn has already added three transfers up front, the Tigers are reportedly in the mix for Kentucky defensive tackle transfer Justin Rogers.

Even with the recent addition of Tolan over the weekend, Auburn could stand to add an additional linebacker to its corps. The Tigers have a top-heavy distribution of scholarships in that room, with five seniors for 2023, and could use another underclassman to help even things out in the long run with the likes of Tolan (a rising sophomore) and redshirt freshmen Robert Woodyard and Powell Gordon.

Again, there should be plenty more movement over the next eight months before the 2023 season kicks off, but this is a snapshot of where things stand for Auburn at the start of the spring semester.

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

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Jason Caldwell's Monday morning quarterback column

Jason Caldwell

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Rebuilding the offensive line

We’ll see how much of an impact it’s going to make for the Auburn football team in Year 1 of the Hugh Freeze era, but the job done by him and his staff over the course of the last few weeks was absolutely a necessity if they want to compete in 2023. With huge holes on the roster on both sides of the ball, they have rebuilt the lines of scrimmage with a few key names still left on the board.

It’s not something you can do (or need to do) every year, but taking this job meant having to go very portal heavy right out of the gate, especially on the line of scrimmage. Going back to the 2017 offensive line class, Auburn signed Calvin Ashley and Austin Troxell that year before bringing in Jalil Irvin and Kam Stutts for the 2018 class. A year later the Tigers signed Keiondre Jones, Justin Osborne and Kamaar Bell for 2019. For 2020, Auburn brought in junior college transfers Kilian Zierer and Brenden Coffey along with high school signees Jeremiah Wright, Tate Johnson and Avery Jernigan. In 2021, Auburn signed its first high school offensive tackle since 2017 when Colby Smith inked with the Tigers along with guard Garner Langlo, and in 2022 Eston Harris, Jr. was the one and only signee on the offensive line.

That’s how you get into the position Auburn was in on the offensive line when Freeze arrived. In two years Bryan Harsin and his staff signed just three offensive linemen and the Tigers signed just one true tackle from the high school ranks in five classes. That should be a fireable offense in itself to just totally drop the ball on one of the most important parts of a football team.

It’s one thing to miss on a quarterback or two and have some issues at that position, but the offensive line is a developmental position. It requires signing guys who might take some time to be ready to contribute, knowing all the while that guys can change dramatically over the course of a few years along the offensive line.

Fortunately for Auburn, it has a head coach in place who understands the importance of the position, but also saw the dire straits the Tigers were in when he arrived. With Bradyn Joiner the only commitment when Harsin was fired, Auburn added 4-star Clay Wedin under interim coach Cadillac Williams before adding Connor Lew, Tyler Johnson and junior college tackle Izavion Miller all in December. 

Since then the TIgers have picked up Tulsa transfer Dillon Wade and Western Kentucky transfer Gunner Britton to add a veteran presence to the line for next season, which is important considering the huge hole at the tackle position.

Speaking of Britton

I had the chance to talk to his dad and found out some interesting nuggets about the big offensive tackle. I remembered him from Auburn’s game against Western Kentucky last season, but seeing him in person he looked much bigger than he did in uniform last fall and that’s not normally the case. This week I found out why. During the course of last season, Britton had a tooth issue that required some surgery. He went almost three weeks without eating solid food and lost 27 pounds in the process. That’s impossible to gain back during the season so he played through it.

Coming to Auburn to compete with and against the best in the Southeastern Conference, Britton said he is excited about the strength and conditioning program as well as Auburn’s training staff and medical staff. Those are things that some may take for granted, but Britton isn’t one of them as he prepares for the next year on the Plains.

Guard play the key

If you want to look at what the difference is between winning and losing in college basketball, all you have to do is look at the last two games for the Auburn Tigers. Your best players have to play well and efficiently for most teams to win, especially on the road. Against Georgia, Wendell Green, Jr. was just 2-12 from the floor and turned the ball over four times in a loss. On Saturday against Arkansas, Green was 5-8 from the field, but also 7-9 from the line and added five assists in one of the best performances of the season for the Tigers.

17COMMENTS

He’s a huge part of the equation, but it’s going to take more than just him at the guard position. We’ve seen K.D. Johnson be a sparkplug for this team, but right now he’s only draining the battery. In three SEC games the guard is just 5-23 from the floor and 1-9 from behind the arc. The other issue is that he’s just 4-7 from the free throw line. For a guy who is as aggressive as Johnson is, he has got to find a way to get to the free throw line more for this team as the SEC schedule heats up.

While Johni Broome has played really well in SEC play to this point, college basketball is a guard game. We saw that become the ultimate issue down the stretch for Auburn last season and if the Tigers want to make a run this year it will be on the shoulders of the smallest guys on the court.

">247Sports

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Why USF transfer RB Brian Battie's dad said his son chose Hugh Freeze, Auburn football

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

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AUBURN — With Tank Bigsby heading to the NFL, Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze knew he needed to add a running back that could make an immediate impact. The best way to do that was through the portal, and the Tigers landed USF transfer Brian Battie on Monday.

Battie was a consensus All-American kick returner as a sophomore in 2021 and followed that up a year later by busting onto the scene with 1,186 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games with the Bulls. The 5-foot-8 Battie averaged 6.7 yards per carry and added 659 more return yards in his final year at USF.

Once he entered the portal Jan. 6, it only took him three days to find his new home.

RECRUITING:Auburn football adds Nick Mardner, 6-6 WR from Cincinnati, from transfer portal

TRANSFER PORTAL:Auburn football adds Purdue DT Lawrence Johnson from the transfer portal

"When we got the phone call, it was like ‘Whoa, Cadillac Williams. Auburn.’ He’s the one that gave the offer," Battie's dad, Tommie, told the Montgomery Advertiser on Monday. "Originally, we were contacted by an assistant coach, a guy that’s from Tampa. Ty (Holder) actually contacted us first, or contacted Brian first. And then from there it kind of took off."

Tommie said they were peripherally aware of the run Williams had as the interim head coach for Auburn during the last month of the season, but were too focused on Brian's play at USF to fully pay attention. Once speaking to the former Auburn standout turned coach, though, the connection was immediate.

The professional pedigree Williams has didn't hurt, either.

"Brian has never had a running back that played in the league be his coach ... So that was good knowing that he would have an actual running back, a guy that played the position at a high level being his coach," Tommie said.

The Battie family − Brian's parents and one of his sisters − visited Auburn on Sunday. They had a chance to check out the new Woltosz Football Performance Center and Jordan-Hare Stadium. Tommie said the whole visit was "great," and the family could really feel the "school-pride atmosphere" while walking on Pat Dye Field.

But it was the people that drew them in. Aside from Williams, Tommie had a chance to talk with Freeze about how he sees Brian fitting onto the team, but mostly discussed how he'd be taken care of off the field, and what things the coaching staff planned to do to shape him as a person, as well as a football player.

"I think really what it was with him, he didn’t seem like he was desperate," Tommie said of Freeze. "He didn’t seem like he was trying to sell anybody on anything. He just kind of was a straight shooter. He really didn’t talk a whole lot about football. ... That was important because as a father, you want to know that your son is going to be able to handle himself as a man once he gets out of school. ...

"He talked a little bit about football, don’t get me wrong, he told us that he’s had running backs that were Brian’s size. ... So, he was excited to have a guy like Brian, somebody that can make plays in the open field. That was the biggest thing. He was more focused on the man after football than the man on the field. He didn’t seem like a car salesman."

 

South Florida running back Brian Battie, front left, runs past Florida linebacker Amari Burney (2) for a 10-yard touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

 

Tommie mentioned the well-known back-to-back wins Freeze had over Alabama and coach Nick Saban in 2014 and 2015: "That let us know that, hey look, this guy can really coach.”

As expected, the plan is for Battie to continue returning kicks. Tommie said Williams also wants to add a pass-catching element to Brian's skill set, as he only caught 14 passes for 91 yards at USF last season.

"He was just talking about how he’s going to help Brian expand his game," Tommie said. "He feels like he’s a great runner. He does a good job of being patient with the ball, but they would like to see him out on the edge a little bit more catching the ball out of the backfield. That was a plus.”

The Batties were scheduled to visit Colorado and new coach Deion Sanders before committing to a new school, but after spending the day on the Plains, Tommie said he and his family knew what their choice was ultimately going to be.

Auburn also begins classes Wednesday, and Battie didn't want to miss the start of the semester.

"I think he pretty much knew that he wanted to go to Auburn," Tommie said. "The facilities and everything was nice, but we know there’s other programs that’ve got really nice facilities that had courted Brian or reached out to him. But the coaching staff just seemed so genuine (and) faith-based. I think that was more of the reason why we just said, ‘You know what? As much as we’d like to go check out Deion, Auburn checked all the boxes.’ So, there was really no point in missing school knowing that you really want to go to Auburn over any other school. ...

"It was the coaches more so that blew us away than anything else.”

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why transfer RB Brian Battie's dad said his son chose Auburn footbal

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Auburn depth chart impact: WR Nick Mardner

Familiarity with Auburn's new receivers coach has helped the Tigers add more quality depth to the room for 2023.

Cincinnati transfer Nick Mardner became Auburn's first offensive skill position pickup of the cycle. He committed on Monday and rejoins his former position coach, Marcus Davis, the Auburn alum who was hired at his alma mater late last month. Mardner played for Davis at Hawaii in 2021 before transferring to Cincinnati last year.

"He’s like family," Mardner said after his Auburn visit last week. "We were tied back to Hawaii in ‘21 and he was a big part of my development. I think I played my best ball with him. That’s like family."

Originally from Canada, Mardner immediately settled into Hawaii's receiver rotation in 2019 and 2020 before exploding as one of the best wideouts in the Mountain West in 2021 under Davis' leadership. Fifth in the conference in receiving, Mardner had 913 yards and five touchdowns before he left Hawaii as part of a mass exodus in the program following allegations of player mistreatment against Hawaii head coach Todd Graham.

This past season at Cincinnati, Mardner wasn't as productive but was still a relied-upon member of the Bearcats' passing game, with 218 yards and three scores.

Just an hour after Mardner committed, USF running back Brian Battie became Auburn's ninth transfer addition. They join Purdue defensive tackle Lawrence Johnson, LSU linebacker Demario Tolan, Maryland defensive tackle Mosiah Nasil-Kite, Western Kentucky offensive tackle Gunner Britton, Tulsa offensive tackle Dillon Wade, Vanderbilt pass-rusher Elijah McAllister and FIU tight end Rivaldo Fairweather.

Here's a look at what Davis currently has in his receiving corps following the addition of a fifth-year senior with nearly 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career.

Seniors: Nick Mardner, Ja'Varrius Johnson

Juniors: Koy Moore (RS), Malcolm Johnson Jr. (RS)

Sophomores: Tar'Varish Dawson (RS), Camden Brown, Omari Kelly

Freshmen: Jay Fair (RS), Daquayvious Sorey

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Way-too-early depth chart projection

WR/X: Camden Brown, Nick Mardner

WR/Z: Koy Moore, Malcolm Johnson Jr.

WR/H: Ja'Varrius Johnson, Tar'Varish Dawson

Now the lengthiest member of Auburn's receiving corps at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Mardner should now work alongside Brown, another big-bodied target, at the outside receiver spot. Assuming Landen King moves back to tight end, Mardner represents a target in the passing game the Tigers don't have much of, and like Brown, that could help him see the field a lot in 2023.

The slot receiver position, with Johnson returning and Dawson opting to pull out of the portal, may not need any added transfer depth, but Auburn could possibly stand to pick up another name at flanker, where a couple veterans in Moore and Johnson Jr. are back but neither produced much in 2022.

Mardner's familiarity with Davis doesn't guarantee a role in 2023, considering the passing concepts will be significantly altered from what Hawaii ran in 2021, but the fact that Davis knows his tendencies, strengths and weaknesses is an immediate boost for Hugh Freeze, and it's one less player the new offensive staff has to deep dive in the spring. 

Johnson is probably the best returning player in the room, but he by no means has a stranglehold on that designation. Auburn hasn't had a true alpha receiver on the outside since Seth Williams was at his peak, and Mardner certainly will have every opportunity to make a splash as an instant-impact transfer in a deep but not overly impressive room.