3/12/23 Football articles

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saturdaydownsouth.com

 

Greg Sankey updates timeline for revealing new SEC football schedule

Crissy Froyd Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South. Follow on Twitter.

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Greg Sankey gave an update this week on the timeline in which the new SEC football schedule will be released and how Oklahoma and Texas will be implemented for 2024, though the answer he gave was a vague one.

Sankey did make clear that he wants to come to a decision by the time SEC spring meetings finish up in Destin, Florida, in May. The structure that will be used after going through and evaluating tens of different types of models has now been narrowed down to a pair of options.

There will be either an eight-game slate with a permanent opponent or a nine-game slate with three permanent opponents. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in the midst of conference realignment, but it’s clear some headway of note has been made.

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

'Big-boy ball' awaits transfer Brian Battie at Auburn

Taylor Jones

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After Tank Bigsby announced his intentions to declare for the NFL draft following his junior season, Auburn’s running back room remained stacked with talent, but a question mark arose in the form of experience. That all changed the day that Brian Battie arrived on campus.

Battie, a 1,000-yard rusher last season at South Florida, brings in three years of starting running back experience to mesh with the returning talent of Jarquez Hunter and Damari Alston. Mixing in those three with incoming freshman Jeremiah Cobb, and Auburn potentially owns one of the SEC’s top running back units.

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Running backs coach Cadillac Williams says that Battie will bring a natural running style to the Tigers’ offense.

I know he’s a smaller guy, man, but if you watch his film, he always falls forward,” Williams said of Battie. “He has that natural running style where he makes guys miss. Very seldom does one guy tackle or the first guy ever tackles him so he’s a guy you get him out in space, he breaks tackles, but he also is a guy who can run between the tackles.”

Hunter is also impressed by Battie’s mentality and talents and says that he will work just as hard as the other running backs on the roster.

“He’s going to make us work harder because everyone is competing for a spot,” Hunter said. “He comes out and works hard, does what he’s got to do and does everything Coach tells him.”

Battie had the chance to showcase his talent at South Florida, but now he will have a shot to prove his worth against SEC competition, which has Williams feeling excited.

“I mean, he is a guy who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year. He was a dangerous kickoff returner. Now, his whole thing is he gets to come here and have an opportunity to define his role and play big-boy ball,” Williams said.

Battie joins Auburn’s running back room with three years of experience, where he rushed for 1,842 yards and 10 touchdowns.

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ESPN names Auburn football's Justin Rogers biggest newcomer to watch

Lance Dawe

2–3 minutes

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ESPN believes that Justin Rogers is the newcomer to watch for the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn's transfer portal acquisitions are going to help boost their play this upcoming season.

With the load of additions on the offensive and defensive lines, the Tigers should be able to begin to return to form under new head coach Hugh Freeze.

Which newcomer could make the biggest impact for Auburn upfront in 2023?

In a recent ESPN article detailing SEC spring storylines and newcomers to watch, Chris Low named Tigers' defensive tackle Justin Rogers as Auburn's biggest newcomer to watch for the 2023 season. 

"When Auburn has been at its best, the Tigers have almost always been menacing in the defensive line," Low wrote. "That's what makes Kentucky transfer Justin Rogers so valuable to this defense. The 6-foot-3, 330-pound tackle has gotten better each year he's been in the SEC and should be a staple in the middle of the Auburn defensive front."

The former high four-star transferred to Auburn from Kentucky in January, where he played in all 12 games for the Wildcats as a freshman in 2021. Rogers brings size and physicality to the Auburn defensive line, and is expected to play a significant role in stopping the run - something new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts specializes in.

With the addition of players like Rogers, Mosiah Nasili-Kite, and Lawrence Johnson, Auburn's d-line should be revitalized.

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