8.17.23 Football Articles

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si.com

 

Offensive line coach Jake Thornton gives fall camp update

Daniel Locke

~3 minutes

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The offensive line unit is expected to be improved this season. Jake Thornton talked about what he has seen from the group so far.

Auburn's offensive line has struggled for a few seasons now.

Head coach Hugh Freeze said from the very beginning that improving the offensive line would be a top priority. With several quality transfers and the hiring of a quality position coach in Jake Thornton, brighter days are expected to be ahead for the unit.

"It's going good," Thornton said on how camp is going so far. "I think we've had a good almost two weeks now. Like any start of the season, you've got growing pains. Guys are trying to shake off the rust from the summer. We've got new guys to add in there."

A few players have stood out from the rest of the guys in the room. Thornton talked about which guys he has been the most impressed with.

"I think (Kam) Stutts has had a great camp," Thornton said. "Just like in Spring, I think he's done a really good job stepping in there. Jalil Irvin has done a really good job two of the last three or four days. He's stepped up which has been a really good presence for us."

Stutts has been a member of the Tigers for six seasons and finally has the chance to become a regular starter. Thornton weighed in on what Stutts means to the group.

"Stutts means a lot to me," Thornton said. "In today's world where it's so easy to leave, he's stuck it out and he's been through good and bad here. In our room, there's not a bigger presence for what it means to be an Auburn offensive lineman. 

Auburn's offensive line does not have to wait much longer before it will have the chance to show off the improvement it has made.

The Tigers will open up the 2023 season against the UMass Minutemen at home in Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 2.

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saturdaydownsouth.com

 

Auburn football: 10 bold predictions for 2023

Glenn Sattell Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.

6–7 minutes

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So how many times will fans legally roll Toomer’s Corner this season? That remains to be seen, but Charmin sales are rumored to be up in anticipation of Hugh Freeze’s 1st year as head coach of the Auburn Tigers.

How that translates into wins and losses is highly anticipated. Here are 10 bold predictions heading into the 2023 season.

1. The Tigers go 7-5 in Freeze’s debut

That’s not the national championship game that Gus Malzahn’s Auburn team achieved in his 1st season on The Plains, but it’s a start. You’ll remember that Gene Chizik went 7-5 in his 1st season at Auburn, then won a national championship in his 2nd year.

That’s the formula Auburn fans are hoping is repeated with Freeze, whose Ole Miss teams improved with each year until the last, when allegations began piling up and interfering with his progress in Oxford.

2. 1st big win vs. Ole Miss

Auburn opens SEC play with a brutal 4-game stretch that starts at Texas A&M, then continues at home vs. defending 2-time national champion Georgia before visiting LSU and winding up at Jordan-Hare vs. Ole Miss.

A victory in College Station would be huge and is certainly doable. Not so much against Georgia, however. I just don’t see the Tigers ready to take down the defending champs just yet. But I’m not discounting what Freeze might pull off, either. Remember, his Ole Miss teams beat Nick Saban and Alabama in back-to-back seasons and came within a play of what could have been a 3rd straight victory over the Crimson Tide.

No, more than likely, Freeze’s 1st big win at Auburn will come in late October, when the Tigers take down his former school in front of what should be another sellout at Jordan-Hare.

3. Bowling again

After snapping a 9-year bowl streak in 2022, the Tigers are back in the postseason. With 7 victories and the buzz around Freeze and his improvement to the program, the Tigers accept an invite to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., to take on a Miami Hurricanes team also on the rise.

4. Hunter goes for 1,000

Auburn has had just 1 1,000-yard rusher over the past 5 seasons. Tank Bigsby amassed 1,099 yards in 2021. Jarquez Hunter adds his name to the Tigers’ 1,000-yard club in 2023. The rising junior ran for 675 yards and 7 TDs in a backup role to Bigsby and dual-threat QB Robby Ashford last season.

Hunter will be the main focus this year in the Tigers’ backfield. That’s because Michigan State graduate transfer Payton Thorne is set to take over at quarterback, supplanting Ashford. The pocket passer won’t look to run anywhere near what Ashford’s numbers were last year. So Hunter will be given many more opportunities to carry the ball. And if he comes anywhere near his 6.5 yards-per-carry average from last season, Hunter will smash the 1,000-yard mark.

5. Transfer LB Larry Nixon III will lead the SEC in tackles

The senior transfer linebacker from North Texas isn’t getting much buzz, but this guy has proven he can play. In 45 games with the Mean Green, Nixon piled up 246 tackles, including 11.5 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He recorded 106 tackles last season alone, 2nd in Conference USA.

Nixon will transfer that over to the SEC, where he’ll lead the conference in tackles in 2023.

6. Punter Oscar Chapman paces the SEC

The Auburn punter has finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, over the past 2 seasons, averaging 44.12 and 43.75 yards per punt. In 2023, Chapman gets over the hump and leads the SEC. As one of the most consistent punters around, Chapman makes his senior year one to remember. He currently ranks 4th on the Auburn list with a career punting average of 43.40. Look for him to move up the ladder slightly in his senior season, chasing Auburn’s all-time leader Terry Daniel (44.51 from 1992-94).

7. Kicker Alex McPherson is SEC’s best

Now that the Anders Carlson era is over at Auburn, it is imperative that McPherson step up and fill the void. He will. Nearly perfect in limited action as a freshman last season, McPherson successfully booted 6 of 7 field-goal attempts and made good on all 9 PAT attempts. He will quickly develop into the SEC’s top placekicker, as early as next season.

8. OL is weakest link

It won’t be by season’s end, but initially, Auburn’s rebuilt offensive line will be the team’s weak link. It will take time for the new faces (transfers) to jell, and that will hold back the Tigers in the early part of the season. But strides will be made, and by the end of the year, this will be a group to be reckoned with.

9. Passing game is revived

With the addition of a handful of transfers, the Auburn passing game will once again be formidable. Of course, these new faces will have to jell. But these are veteran performers by college standards, and that maturity level should help in getting them all on the same page when the lights come on.

Last in the SEC in passing a year ago, the Tigers have finished no higher than 8th over the past 5 seasons. But Thorne transfers in having thrown for 6,011 yards over the past 2 seasons (46 TDS, 21 INTs). That’s more than any returning SEC quarterback not named Will Rogers.

Add to that wide receiver transfers Jyaire Shorter (North Texas), who last year led the FBS in yards per reception (27.2); and Shane Hooks (Jackson State, Ohio U), who in the past 4 seasons piled up 116 catches for 1,609 and 18 TDs, and you have the basis for a solid passing game.

By season’s end, Auburn will be among the top 5 passing teams in the SEC.

10. It won’t take long for Freeze to compete

It may not happen this season (however, don’t totally discount it). But Freeze is a winner, and he will have Auburn competing again for conference and national honors within a couple of seasons on The Plains.

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si.com

 

College football expert predicts Auburn linebacker to lead SEC in tackles

Lance Dawe

~2 minutes

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One expert believes an Auburn linebacker will lead not just the Tigers in tackles, but the entire SEC.

The Tigers needed help in the linebacker room this offseason. So, Hugh Freeze went out and got some players in the transfer portal to help out.

Auburn added Austin Keys (Ole Miss) and Larry Nixon through the portal, with Nixon currently projected to start for Auburn alongside former North Carolina transfer Eugene Asante.

Glenn Sattell of Saturday Down South recently wrote a piece including his 10 bold predictions for Auburn this upcoming season.

Sattell predicts Larry Nixon to lead not just Auburn in tackles this fall, but the entire SEC. Here's what Glenn had to say about Nixon:

"The senior transfer linebacker from North Texas isn’t getting much buzz, but this guy has proven he can play. In 45 games with the Mean Green, Nixon piled up 246 tackles, including 11.5 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He recorded 106 tackles last season alone, 2nd in Conference USA. Nixon will transfer that over to the SEC, where he’ll lead the conference in tackles in 2023."

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al.com

Will Herring joins Auburn broadcast as sideline reporter

Published: Aug. 16, 2023, 8:07 p.m.

2–3 minutes

AUBURN, AL - April 08, 2023 - Auburn Head Coach Hugh Freeze during the 2023 A-Day Spring Game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL. Photo By Austin PerrymanAuburn University Athletics

The Auburn Sports Network will have a different feel this upcoming season.

In addition to Jason Campbell taking over as radio analyst, replacing Stan White after 22 seasons, the network is adding a little defense to its sideline reporting.

Will Herring, a member of Auburn’s 2004 undefeated season, will share sideline reporter duties with former teammate Ronnie Brown. Paul Ellen returns to anchor the tailgate show, halftime report and post-game show, while Brad Law continues in his role as pre-game and post-game locker room host.

“The running back will split time on the sideline with another member of the 2004 team, and we get some defense with Will Herring,” Andy Burcham, the Voice of the Tigers, told “The Final Drive” on WNSP-FM 105.5 on Wednesday.

Herring had 141 total tackles and eight interceptions for the Tigers before he was drafted No. 161 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Campbell’s move to the booth comes after the former quarterback spent the last seven seasons serving as the program’s pregame and halftime show analyst on the Auburn Sports Network. He has also worked several A-Day spring games as a radio analyst.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

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