8.29.23 Football Articles

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

Auburn releases depth chart ahead of season opener against UMass

JD McCarthy

4–5 minutes

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The Auburn Tigers have released their depth chart for their week one game against Umass.

Auburn entered fall camp with several position battles and while some were resolved, not all have been officially ended. The depth chart reveals how those battles are going as well as some surprise reserves, even if Hugh Freeze downplayed its importance.

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“I’m going to be totally candid with you, I don’t even have a depth chart,” he admitted Monday. “I don’t know where that came from. I guess that’s from the SID world. I don’t do depth charts. I just don’t, it’s really nonsense.”

I don’t care who runs out there with the first group or the second group. They freely rotate, so I don’t make much of those depth charts.”

With that being said, here’s a look at Auburn’s depth chart for their game against UMass on Saturday.

Photo by Austin Perryman

Starter: Payton Thorne

Backups: Robby Ashford OR Holden Geriner

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Starter: Jarquez Hunter

Backups: Damari Alston, Brian Battie

Photo by Austin Perryman

Starter: Rivaldo Fairweather OR Luke Deal

Backups: Tyler Fromm OR Brandon Frazier, Micah Riley

Auburn Tigers wide receiver Omari Kelly (19) reacts after making a catch as Auburn Tigers take on LSU Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Auburn Tigers lead LSU Tigers 17-14 at halftime.

Starter:  Jyaire Shorter OR Omari Kelly

Backups: Koy Moore

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Starter: Jay Fair OR Ja’Varrius Johnson

Backups: Caleb Burton III

Photo by Jamie Holt/Auburn Tigers

Starter: Shane Hooks

Backups: Camden Brown OR Nick Mardner

Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Starter: Dillon Wade

Backup: Jaden Muskrat

Photo By Austin Perryman

Starter: Jeremiah Wright

Backup: Tate Johnson

Photo by Austin Perryman

Starter: Avery Jones

Backup: Connor Lew

AU/Athletics

Starter: Kam Stutts

Backup: Jalil Irvin

Photo by Austin Perryman

Starter: Gunner Britton

Backup: Izavion Miller

Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Starter: Mosiah Nasili-Kite

Backups: Keldric Faulk OR Zykevious Walker

Auburn Tigers defensive lineman Jayson Jones (99) celebrates after making a stop as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.

Starter: Jayson Jones

Backup: Justin Rogers

Auburn Tigers defensive lineman Marcus Harris (50) breaks through the line during the A-Day spring practice at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, April 9, 2022.

Starter: Marcus Harris

Backup: Lawrence Johnson

Photo by Declan Greene

Starter: Elijah McAllister

Backups: Stephen Sings V OR Jalen McLeod

AU Athletics

Starter: Austin Keys

Backups: Larry Nixon III, Wesley Steiner

Photo by Austin Perryman

Starter: Cam Riley

Backup: Eugene Asante

(AP Photo/Stew Milne)

Starter: D.J. James

Backups: Kayin Lee OR Colton Hood

(AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Starter: Keionte Scott

Backup: Donovan Kaufman

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Starter: Jaylin Simpson

Backup: Griffin Speaks

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Starter: Zion Puckett

Backups: Marquise Gilbert, Terrance Love

Shanna Lockwood/ AU Athletics

Starter: Nehemiah Pritchett

Backups: Champ Anthony OR J.D. Rhym

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Starter: Keionte Scott

Backup: Caleb Burton III

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Starter: Brian Battie, Jarquez Hunter

Austin Perryman / AU Athletics

Punter: Oscar Chapman

Place Kicker: Alex McPherson

Holder: Oscar Chapman

Long Snapper: Reed Hughes

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247sports.com

 

Hometown kid expected to play a role for Tigers in 2023

Jason Caldwell

8–9 minutes

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Griffin Speaks has made an impact this preseason for the Auburn Tigers.

AUBURN, Alabama—There was never any question in Scott Goolsby’s mind that Griffin Speaks could play the game. Auburn High’s defensive coordinator when Speaks played safety for the Tigers prior to becoming the starting quarterback as a senior. Walking on at Baylor and playing on special teams and at safety, Speaks is someone that has a chance to play a role this fall. It’s not a surprise to Goolsby.

"He was always a great athlete," Goolsby said. "He's always had speed. I'm not surprised at all. He's just a football player. He started at safety for us his junior year and then as a senior they moved him to quarterback. It was a big loss for us on defense, but it was a big gain for our team because he was so dynamic. He could throw and run it. You know what a difference that makes for an offense when you have a guy that can do both. He was just a football player. He was always a strong kid and always had great speed. He was a good teammate too. He's a good kid and comes from a good family. I know his family well and go to church with them. I'm not surprised at all."

Freeze agrees with Goolsby and sees a player that is going to help his team on defense and special teams this fall. The son of former Auburn player Tim Speaks, he has impressed his coach with what he brings to the table for this team.

“I think he's got a shot to be in the rotation this Saturday,” Freeze said. “What happens from that point on? I know he's on special teams, and I know he's got a shot to get some reps. We'll see how he performs. He's in the right spot at the right time. Knows the system, gets the checks. I wish he was a little bigger and faster, but he's going to be in the right spot, and he's not afraid of contact. I think he can get everybody on the right page back there. Particularly if you're playing all those young ones around him.”

That comes from playing at Baylor the last three seasons under Ron Roberts. Learning the system while playing in 31 games for the Bears, Speaks came in and immediately showed his teammates that he was going to make some noise this season.

“Griffin Speaks, that's my guy from Baylor,” linebacker Eugene Asante said. “He's a good dude. In terms of Griffin and his progression and his development, it's like when he first got here, we had a meeting — and it was actually in this room — and I was talking in front of the team and saying that I wanted to learn a lot more about my teammates. 

“Griffin was actually somebody I pointed out. I wanted to learn a little bit more about him. He was a little bit more quiet when he came in. But Griffin, in terms of being a field general at the safety position, he does it to a T. He knows the defense and absolutely commands the defense when he's out there. It's a totally different thing when Griffin is out there. He's getting everybody in line and knows the checks. It's good to have him, and it's a good addition to our team.”

As much as anything, Speaks’ knowledge of the defense has been the biggest part of his addition this summer. It’s something that Asante said has shown up on the field as the Tigers continue to learn the ins and outs of the system under the veteran coordinator.

“Yeah, it helped a lot,” Asante said. “Just seeing things from his perspective, he's in the back end, so he gets a view of the whole defense. We're kind of closer. He helps us out with the coverage. Basically, his coverage... we align the defensive line, but in terms of the coverage piece of it, he's out there commanding us and helping us, and what he says kinda goes. It's good to have somebody like that you can really trust and lean on, and it ultimately helps out the defense entirely. Griffin is a big-time pickup.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Hugh Freeze expects 'magical experience' in Auburn debut

"We usually don’t listen to outside noise. But right now the outside noise is excited for UMass."

VIDEO: How Payton Thorne won Auburn's starting QB job

Eight years later, Hugh Freeze is returning to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The last time Freeze patrolled the sidelines on Pat Dye Field, his Ole Miss team beat the Tigers 27-19. And after one of the most exciting offseasons in recent memory for the program, Freeze is now days away from his official return to SEC coaching, when Auburn begins its 2023 campaign against UMass (2:30 p.m. CST, ESPN).

Freeze would be lying if he said he didn’t have some nerves — especially with all the support he’s felt from the fanbase, not only in recent weeks, but all offseason.

"It's just going to be a magical experience in that stadium, provided that we play well," Freeze said Monday during his season-opening press conference. "That's the pressure or the anxiousness that you feel sitting in this chair — just wanting to deliver. ... The incredible fanbase that we have welcomed us so much and bought season tickets. And we've expanded the stadium size and it'll be at capacity for Saturday and you hear all of those things and you just so badly want to deliver. Hopefully we'll play well. No question that we're extremely excited to kick off.”

Freeze said he’ll have more family at Saturday’s opener than any game of his coaching career. It’s a moment he’s been looking forward to since he took the job last November, signifying a new era on the Plains after the unsuccessful Bryan Harsin experiment.

As he’s mentioned several times as Auburn’s coach, the one aspect of his first game with the Tigers — if he had to choose — is simply taking in the environment on the home sideline for the first time, starting with running out of the tunnel.

“I think the most exciting thing for me would just be taking in what I consider to be one of the best home atmospheres in college football,” Freeze said. “ I don't know that I've had that. No offense to any other places that I've been, but I just don't think I've ever been at a place that has quite the enthusiasm and passion and energy that I think Jordan-Hare's going to have. So I will take a moment to take that in.”

More than five weeks of preseason practice are now in the books, including two scrimmages and a full-uniform walkthrough this past Saturday in the stadium.

In at least one of those stadium practices, Freeze said he wasn’t thrilled with the team’s energy. His hope was that won’t be an problems when it’s a packed house. There are other potential issues when it comes to a season opener, though, especially with a team composed of more than 50 percent first-year players.

“That's always a fear, I guess, you have of you're not quite sure how a new team that we've piecemealed together,” Freeze said. “Since we've been here and now they're fixing to get out there in front of 88,000 and a loud crowd, and how will we handle all of our emotions? And does it cause us to have a foolish penalty here or there? Things like that you can't do and win games. So I just hope it's a clean game for us.”

There’s much more of a big-game feeling around Auburn vs. UMass, players said Monday, than recent season openers, even with the level of competition; Auburn sits at a 38-point favorite on Vegas Insider.

“In the past, there’s been some of that leak-in from the outside,” fifth-year senior tight end Luke Deal said. “We’re looking forward to LSU, Georgia, Bama. Right now, with this new era, the Auburn family is excited for Week 1. We’re excited for UMass. All the season-ticket holders, the records that are being broken.

“... We usually don’t listen to outside noise. But right now the outside noise is excited for UMass."

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si.com

Auburn Briefing: Game week is finally here

Zac Blackerby

2–3 minutes

The Auburn Tigers play football this week.

Week zero is always fun, giving us a glimpse of real football but always leaves us wanting more. 

There was a viewing interest for Auburn football fans when UMass traveled to New Mexico State. The Minutemen, Auburn's first opponent, would win 41-30 but showed several issues that Auburn should be able to capitalize on.

UMass was 4 of 12 on third down, NMSU had almost 100 total yards more than UMass, and UMass lost the time of possession battle. UMass capitalized on three turnovers to help win the game. Auburn will aim to take care of the football in the debut of the Hugh Freeze and Philip Montgomery offense at Auburn.

Auburn is a 36.5-point favorite on multiple sportsbooks. Auburn hosts UMass this Saturday at 2:30 CT on ESPN.

Shedrick Jackson is having a solid preseason

After going undrafted, Shedrick Jackson is having a solid preseason as he continues his battle for a roster spot with the Cincinnati Bengals.

He's totaled 112 yards through the air, a touchdown, and 65 kick return yards. Hopefully, he makes the roster.

We wrote it

Steve Simpson wrote our weekly SEC Power Rankings and put AUburn at number 10 in the SEC. Here's what he said about the Tigers.

Forget last year, this is a whole new team and a much-needed new staff for the Tigers. Hugh Freeze has rebuilt the offensive line, has the best running back room in the SEC, brought in Michigan State transfer Peyton Thorne at QB, and added some much-needed depth to the wide receiver room. Games against Cal, Texas A&M and Georgia in September will set the tone for the rest of the season.

Here's the full list of our power rankings.

Tweet of the Day

The official Auburn Football account said what we were all thinking - The Auburn Tigers play football this week.

Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!

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saturdaydownsouth.com

Hugh Freeze speaks to the difficulty facing a Don Brown defense

Grant Bricker

~3 minutes

Hugh Freeze will be facing a familiar foe in the season opener. It will be none other than UMass’ Don Brown, who played against Liberty plenty when Freeze was there.

Liberty and UMass both used to FBS Independents so Freeze and Brown played one another every year. Liberty is now in the C-USA.

Freeze knows that going up against Brown is going to be a dog fight. Freeze respects Brown and called the UMass head coach one of the best play callers in the country.

“I’ve played him every year, the last four years. I saw drastic improvement last year under Coach Brown, I have great respect for him, and I think he’s one of the best defensive play-callers in the country. Last year, their record was atrocious, and they had a top 10 defense in the country. Defensively they play as hard as any team in the country. They create a lot of negative plays. That was the problem for us up at UMass. We managed to score enough points to win the game, but it was a challenge.”

The Tigers are favored by 36.2 points in the season opener. Kickoff will be Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Grant Bricker was a former freelancer for The News TN in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. He now freelances for Saturday Football. Follow on Twitter @GrantBricker.

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247sports.com

PMARSHONAU Freeze nears the start of his Auburn journey

Phillip Marshall

6–7 minutes

Freeze: 'It's still a journey and will be throughout the season'

College football coaches have different personalities, different beliefs, different approaches to the game they teach. But that all have things in common. One of those things is that their paranoia grows as the first game gets closer.

They worry that a player will say something he shouldn’t, though none of them can come up with a time when something a player said impacted the outcome of a game.

They worry about the first opponent, regardless of who the opponent is. They worry that they haven’t worked on something enough or that they have overlooked something.

For first-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, it’s no different. And he faces challenges unlike any other time in his career.

More than two-dozen players wearing Auburn jerseys for the first time on game day are expected to be in the playing rotation when Auburn plays UMass on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Some of those, including starting quarterback Payton Thorne, did not arrive on campus until this summer.

The transfer portal and penalty free transfers gave Freeze and some other coaches chances to rebuild rosters faster than they otherwise would have. But then comes the challenge of pulling it all together in three weeks of preseason camp. He goes into his first Auburn game with questions yet to be answered.

“It's something that has to be done daily that whatever is driving your beliefs are going to drive some type of behavior and that behavior is going to create habits and those habits will ultimately give us all our destiny,” Freeze said at his Monday press conference. “The more of those days that we stack that we're doing things the right way with the right attitude and the right passion, then the more prepared we'll be.

“I think we're still ongoing with that. It's still a journey and it will be throughout the season. To this point I think we've made progress and made strides in the right direction, and hopefully that shows on Saturday.”

Freeze claims he doesn’t believe in depth charts, and he made it clear he didn’t like it at all that Auburn released a depth chart Monday. Not even a little bit. He seemed a bit miffed at the media relations department.

So will Auburn have a depth chart going into Saturday’s game against UMass? Of course it will. Eleven players have to be on the field for the first snap. That doesn’t mean the starters will play the most or that they will start the next game.

“We're going to play all of those pieces that have earned that opportunity,” Freeze said. “And then what they do with that opportunity will determine how big a piece of the puzzle they are. It's pretty simple. If they go out there and they rush for 150 yards, there's probably going to be some more carries. If you go out there and you complete a high percentage of your passes, you're probably going to get more opportunities. The same thing with every position that we'll grade out.

“I'll get the grades on Sunday. The guys that did really well will continue to get those opportunities.”

And so it begins, a journey fraught with peril. It will all begin at sold out Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Quick Quotes: Hugh Freeze opens Auburn game week vs. UMass

Auburn football game week is here

VIDEO: How Payton Thorne won Auburn's starting QB job

Auburn football game week is here, as the Tigers are set to take on UMass in their 2023 season opener (2:30 p.m. CST, ESPN) and the first game of the Hugh Freeze era.

UMass already grabbed its first win of the year, beating New Mexico State 41-30 in Week 0 for the program's first road victory since 2018. Now that Freeze and Auburn have some tape on their first opponent of the year, what are their impressions of the Minutemen?

Follow along here for live updates from Freeze's Monday press conference, set to get under way at 11 a.m. CST.

* Freeze: "Really excited that game week is here. A lot of work goes into getting to this point, and now this Saturday it's real."

* Freeze says he has more family coming to his Auburn debut than any game of his coaching career.

* Freeze: "I think we've made strides in the right direction. Hopefully that shows this Saturday."

* Freeze on whether the run game is healthy, or if the run defense is struggling: "I don't know. We'll find out Saturday."

* J.D. Rhym, Nick Mardner, Jalen McLeod are questionable for Saturday's game. Nehemiah Pritchett will play with a minor issue, and Robby Ashford is dealing with an oblique strain.

* Freeze: "I don't even have a depth chart. I don't even know where that came from. I don't do depth charts. It's really nonsense."

* Freeze, who played UMass every year at Liberty: "I saw drastic improvement from them. ... Coach Brown is tremendous." Notes that UMass has added 27 transfers, and looked "quite different" on Saturday.

* Freeze: "No offense to any other places I've been, but I don't think I've been at a place that has the enthusiasm, passion and energy that Jordan-Hare has."

* Freeze said he'll have high expectations of Payton Thorne on Saturday.

* Freeze said he's excited to lean on his running game as the offense comes together early in the season.

* Freeze is glad to have some tape on UMass because "they're quite different on offense."

* Freeze still wants to see improvements from the receivers on option routes: "We don't know the ball is coming to us half the time."

* Freeze said he's probably more excited about Alex McPherson and Oscar Chapman than any kicking game he's had in his career.

* Walk-on safety Griffin Speaks "has a good chance to be in the rotation this Saturday."

* Freeze is highly complimentary again of Brown's defensive schemes, said they were as impressive as he's ever seen in UMass' season opener.

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al.com

 

Auburn Week 1 injury report: Robby Ashford has an oblique strain

Updated: Aug. 28, 2023, 12:14 p.m.|Published: Aug. 28, 2023, 11:46 a.m.

~2 minutes

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Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford (9) throws a pass during practice Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023 in Auburn, Ala. (AL.com Photo/Stew Milne)Stew Milne

Backup quarterback Robby Ashford was the biggest name on Auburn’s injury report after Hugh Freeze’s press conference Monday to preview the upcoming season opener against UMass.

Ashford has an oblique strain, Freeze said. But said he “will likely” be able to play.

After Payton Thorne was named Auburn’s starting quarterback, Freeze said Ashford would still have a role in Auburn’s offense, but that exact space hasn’t been specified.

This was the first time Ashford had been listed by Freeze among Auburn’s injuries during the preseason. Ashford had been practicing in full going into Auburn’s second scrimmage.

Freeze also said starting cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett may be able to play. No specific injury was listed. Another cornerback, JD Rhym, is questionable according to Freeze.

Nick Mardner and Jalen McLeod have previously been on the injury report, and also appear questionable for Saturday.

“It wouldn’t shock me if all those went truthfully,” Freeze said. “But it really wouldn’t shock me if a few didn’t make it either.”

Others like Austin Keys and Keldric Faulk, who had previously been in injury uniforms, were not mentioned.

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al.com

 

Rewinding how Hugh Freeze previewed Auburn’s first game of 2023

Updated: Aug. 28, 2023, 12:07 p.m.|Published: Aug. 28, 2023, 10:45 a.m.

~4 minutes

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Hugh Freeze previews Auburn's week 1 game vs UMass

At long last, it’s time to turn the page from preseason fall camp to a real, bonafide game week.

It means too that we’re turning the page to Auburn’s game week media schedules and head coach Hugh Freeze’s weekly Monday press conference to set the table for the upcoming game.

Auburn opens the season at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium against UMass. This is a game Auburn is largely expected to win comfortably, but will be the first chance to see how the puzzle pieces of Auburn’s new-look roster could fit together.

Freeze’s media availability begins at 11 a.m. When that begins, refresh the page below for live updates from his address.

- Hugh Freeze is here (a minute early!). “It’s that time that we find out what the reveal party shows,” Freeze says in his opening statement.

- Freeze said he’s excited to run out the Jordan-Hare Stadium tunnel for the first time. He’ll have more family “than ever” in the stands for the game, he said.

- Asked if he’s confident in Auburn’s run game from what he’s seen in practice, or has a struggling defense just made the running backs look good, Freeze said he isn’t sure. He hopes it’s more about the running backs being good, but we’ll find out.

- Robby Ashford has an oblique strain among a number of injuries for Auburn. Also listed Nick Mardner, JD Rhym, Jalen McLeod as questionable.

- Freeze said the depth chart is nonsense to him. He said he didn’t say anyone is first team or second team. “That doesn’t fly with me.” His point is there will be a lot of rotation, especially at wide receiver. Said the depth chart Auburn released today comes from “SID world.”

- Freeze making a point of not looking past a UMass team that it is expected to beat by 37, according to betting lines. Complimented a lot of improvements in the program even if the record doesn’t show it.

- While Freeze hasn’t been in the SEC since his tumultuous and controversial exit at Ole Miss, he has been around SEC venues during his four years at Liberty. But now at Auburn, he said he plans to take a moment Saturday to take everything in as he runs out into his new home field.

- Freeze said he plans to lean on a running back room that coach Cadillac Williams called the deepest in his time at Auburn.

- The biggest struggle Freeze has with his receivers is getting them to play with the same tempo every single play even if the ball isn’t coming their way. That applies to Omari Kelly, who is listed as a starter. But Freeze said he is quickly improving each week in practice.

- Asked about Auburn’s offensive identity, Freeze said they have to be able to run the ball. But he describes a big pass play that comes after a running play to him counts as a run because he set up the pass.

- Backup safety Griffin Speaks has really impressed Auburn coaches, enough to get himself potentially in the rotation to play this weekend against UMass. His experience, albeit at Baylor, may help especially if Auburn plays other young players in the secondary.

- Freeze said UMass head coach Don Brown’s defense is meant to confuse the offensive line. That’s something Auburn has focused on with so many new faces in that group to start the year.

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247sports.com

Jason Caldwells Monday morning quarterback column

Jason Caldwell

14–18 minutes

VIDEO: How Payton Thorne won Auburn's starting QB job

Well, we’ve finally made it. After what’s felt like an eternity of an offseason, game week here back on the Plains.

Auburn will open the Hugh Freeze era Saturday afternoon against UMass (2:30 p.m. CST, ESPN), a team that already notched its first win of the season in Week 0, defeating New Mexico State 41-30 for its first road win as a program since 2018. The Tigers will hope to find their bearings quickly at home, as they’ll be traveling to Cal for a nonconference game in Week 2, and will be on the road twice in September (Texas A&M in Week 4).

After a massive roster overhaul and what certainly seems to be an improvement at head coach, Auburn looks to be in position for an improved 2023 season, after the program notched back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1999.

Is a bounce-back year in store?

Here are five bold(ish) predictions on what will transpire over the next three-plus months for the Auburn football program.

1. Running game will miss Bigsby but be more consistent overall

As balanced as Auburn’s running back room is entering 2023 — Cadillac Williams deems it’s his deepest since he returned to his alma mater to coach the position in 2019 — it will undoubtedly be difficult to replace Tank Bigsby. As inconsistent as Auburn’s offense was last season, the Tigers could certainly run the ball, as 970 yards and 10 touchdowns from Bigsby helped generate a running game that was No. 5 in the SEC in yards per game (against conference opponents) and No. 6 in yards per carry.

Is this group better without Bigsby now? In terms of top-end talent, Bigsby is one of the most dynamic ball-carriers to ever suit up in the orange and blue. But the Tigers now have a trio of capable running backs in Jarquez Hunter, Damari Alston and USF transfer Brian Battie — not to mention the running threat of quarterback Robby Ashford, whom Auburn hopes will still be a fixture in the offense despite not winning the starting QB race.

The biggest difference for this group should stem from the offensive line, though, where the Tigers have almost completely reworked their two-deep from last season’s unit that struggled mightily against most teams on their schedule. Bigsby and Hunter were able to pick things up down the stretch of the season, but all too often, they were clipped down at the line of scrimmage by gaping openings for defenders, as Auburn’s yards per carry was near the bottom of the SEC until Williams took over as interim head coach.

There’s no data on how Auburn’s new-look offensive line will gel together. It’s a starting group that, right now, looks like it contains four transfer players — all of whom were excellent at their respective institutions last season, but have no experience doing so against an SEC schedule. Still, all indications from the preseason are that the O-line could be one of the most improved position groups on the team — and that bodes extremely well for a good-looking crop of running backs.

Auburn could be in a position entering the season where its No. 3 running back, Battie, ran for 1,000 yards last season. It’s fourth-string option is Jeremiah Cobb, the highest-rated recruit at the position since Bigsby in 2020. A more balanced rotation this season may not yield a 1,000-yard rusher in this offense — and the yards per game may not be as high if the passing game is in a better place and utilized more consistency — but by the end of the year, Auburn as a team may boast a more consistent rushing attack that, frankly, should be the focal point of the offense.

At times last season, particularly against the top defenses on its schedule, Auburn’s running game was able to be corralled somewhat simply by loading the line of scrimmage and daring Ashford make one-on-one throws. That was often a huge ask for Auburn’s passing game, but a more seasoned starting quarterback this year — and what looks to be a roster with more pass-catching weapons — should provide a nice complement to the Tigers’ running backs.

2. Thorne will start all 12 games — but Ashford will still play a big role

“Short leash” may be the wrong term for new Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne, but Freeze has reiterated that the Michigan State grad transfer has to continue to progress within his new offense in order to keep the job over Ashford. That goes without saying, yes, but it speaks to Ashford’s improvement as a quarterback this offseason. Throughout preseason camp, Ashford’s passing abilities appeared more consistent than last year, when he completed less than 50 percent of his passes.

Does that mean Ashford can overtake Thorne for the starting job this season? I don’t see that being a huge possibility. Thorne has 26 games of career experience at the Power Five level already, and he didn’t come to Auburn to sit on the bench. Ashford may show more explosive flashes because of his dual-threat abilities, but in terms of consistent, possession-to-possession execution of the passing game, it’s tough to see anyone other than Thorne giving Auburn its best chance to win from that perspective. Right now, Ashford still needs to show his improvements as a passer in a game setting.

Whereas it could be tough for Thorne to still contribute to the team as a backup, though, Freeze has big plans in mind for Ashford. The term “package quarterback” often carries a negative connotation in college football — a way for coaches to make promises of utilizing a playmaker at QB that often ring hollow. But at the start of Freeze’s Ole Miss tenure, he balanced a comparable quarterback dynamic nicely.

West Virginia transfer Barry Brunetti was beaten out by Bo Wallace in each of Freeze’s first two seasons with the Rebels, but Brunetti — an athletic, big-armed QB, much like Ashford — still helped Ole Miss win games, thanks to Freeze following through on his promises. While it’s nowhere near a clean comparison between two completely different players and teams a decade apart, Brunetti’s usage could provide a rough sketch of Ashford’s role this season.

Brunetti in 2012: 5.5 carries per game, 25 rushing YPG, 3 TDs; 3.3 pass attempts per game, 17.8 passing YPG, 1 TD

Brunetti in 2013: 5 carries per game, 25.8 rushing YPG, 4 TDs; 3.4 pass attempts per game, 24.5 passing YPG, 6 TDs

It’s clear from listening to Freeze that he’s been enamored with Ashford’s athletic abilities — not just as a quarterback. All Freeze wants to do this season is give the Tigers the best chance to win games, and he’ll put the 11 players on both sides of the ball who he believes will do so. Given what he thinks of Ashford’s potential as a home run hitter in the ground game and a change-of-pace for the passing game — and Freeze’s history of using a similar player — there should be a significant role in store for Auburn’s No. 2 QB in 2023.

As we move on from the passing game, some other quick predictions: Behind an improved offensive line, Thorne will be a good-not-great SEC quarterback whose best quality is his ball security and poised decision-making in pressure situations. Shane Hooks will lead Auburn in receptions, and Rivaldo Fairweather will lead in receiving touchdowns.

(Austin Perryman / Auburn Athletics)

3. At least one Auburn defensive back will garner national attention

Take your pick.

It’s no secret Auburn has more than its fair share of NFL talent on the back end of its defense in 2023. Cornerbacks D.J. James and Nehemiah Pritchett were both draftable players last year who decided to return for one last go-around at the college level. Keionte Scott, the team’s No. 2 returning tackler, is reprising his role as the starting nickel — the “star” position that carries a ton of responsibility within coordinator Ron Roberts’ defense.

And it’s difficult not to be excited to watch Jaylin Simpson, a fifth-year veteran who’s gearing up for his first full season at safety. In the last few games of 2022, when injuries shuffled some of Auburn’s starters in the secondary and slid Simpson back to safety, he flourished and looked like a natural ball hawk, patrolling the back end and keeping a lid on the Tigers’ deep passing defense.

Or, could cornerback Kayin Lee emerge as a potential All-Freshman performer in the SEC, should he land the No. 3 job at the position behind James and Prtichett?

Auburn’s secondary certainly can’t succeed on a consistent level if it doesn’t get help from its front line and its pass rush. More on that later. But throughout preseason practices, there was almost always an experienced Auburn defensive back making a huge impact every day.

And not that it’s as simple as looking at the names at quarterback, but the Tigers’ schedule isn’t necessarily lined with killers in the passing game.

It’s certainly not a hot take, but my prediction is that at least one of Auburn’s veteran DBs will make waves in the SEC with a string of big performances against quality opposition. I can see James locking up a couple highly touted receivers, or Simpson snagging a couple interceptions to secure an important SEC win.

With the versatile skills and top-end talent the Tigers boast this season, it’s difficult to imagine they won’t have a first team All-SEC selection at year’s end. It’s definitely a strength Auburn needs to take advantage of, considering it could find itself losing at least six senior defensive backs — James, Pritchett, Scott, Simpson, Zion Puckett and Donovan Kaufman — after the season.

4. Auburn’s front seven will take its lumps

Much has been made of Auburn’s struggles stopping the run this preseason. Maybe it has more to do with the aforementioned stable of running backs and their potential in 2023.

Regardless, it’s an issue that continues to bother Freeze, and one he knows needs to be remedied soon. He’s been rather blunt about it.

"The want-to is there,” Freeze said last Thursday. “We've got a ways to go in tackling. ... We've got to stop the run somehow, someway in this league. And we've got a ways to go with that."

Across the entire roster, Auburn’s defensive line and linebackers are probably the two position groups with the most question marks, with wide receiver maybe lumped in there, too. The good news is Auburn’s coaches with assuredly be rotating the front seven much more than the Tigers became accustomed to over the past two seasons, when three or four D-linemen played almost the entire game, and only three linebackers were relied upon once SEC play rolled around.

The depth is there for the defensive line: Marcus Harris, Jayson Jones, Keldric Faulk, Jalen McLeod, Justin Rogers, Lawrence Johnson, Mosiah Nasili-Kite, Stephen Sings and Elijah McAllister will all play this year on a consistent basis. But how much proven punch does that group pack? Harris, a third-year starter, is probably the best player on the interior D-line, while McLeod has been a revelation at the “jack” pass-rusher spot.

But there are still plenty of “if’s.” Auburn could start a true freshman, Faulk, at defensive end. Jones and Rogers will rotate at nose tackle, but is either capable of dominating at the line of scrimmage? McLeod was superb in preseason camp, but how ready are Sings and McAllister — both backups at their previous school — to go toe-to-toe with SEC offensive tackles?

The linebacking corps could be a nice equalizer here. Yes, the room lost two-time captain and NFL draft pick Owen Pappoe, but even with Pappoe in the fold, it was an extremely inconsistent group in 2022. But under the new coaching staff, Cam Riley looks to be playing a more natural and fluid position, while Wesley Steiner may have been passed up by multiple players.

Having a legitimate four- or five-man rotation — Riley, Austin Keys, Eugene Asante, Larry Nixon III and maybe Steiner — is something that could help to offset struggles up front. As the groups gels early in the year, they may have some unsightly performances. But down the stretch of the season, the coaching staff hopes it will be able to ride the hot hand at linebacker and ensure that the two or three players on the field on any given play are always fresh.

Still, Auburn’s ability to stop the run will be under a big microscope over the next few weeks. Luckily, the Tigers may have some time to work out the kinks: They don’t face a team with better than a top-80 running game (from last season’s numbers) until Week 5 against Georgia.

5. Auburn will go 7-5

What good is a prediction story without a final record?

All told, I picked Auburn to go 7-5 last year but wasn’t feeling confident in the slightest. Then, of course, the Tigers’ severe issues reared up almost immediately, and a 41-12 pasting at the hands of Penn State was the beginning of the end for Bryan Harsin.

There’s a much more plausible path to seven wins for this year’s squad. And it starts with running the table in nonconference play. In that sense, the Week 2 road trip to Cal, I think, is one of the Tigers’ most important matchups of the season, considering their next three FBS games should be tough to win: an SEC opener on the road against Texas A&M, a home game against No. 1 Georgia, and a road game at defending division champ LSU.

With a baseline of four nonconference wins, that means Auburn needs to snag two SEC victories to return to a bowl game. Between a road game at Vanderbilt, home matchups against the Mississippi schools, Arkansas on the road and the Iron Bowl in Jordan-Hare Stadium, are there at least two wins available? I say yes, at this point over Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, and Auburn could jump up and bite someone like Ole Miss or Arkansas.

Why those two games? Ole Miss should be a charged-up home environment for Auburn, which could be on a three-game losing streak at that point, anxious to get off the schneid and beat Freeze’s former team — and Lane Kiffin. On the other side of that coin is the Arkansas game, which could see Auburn on a mini SEC winning streak and playing with lots of confidence in the latter stage of the season. If the Tigers have developed a solid identity to that point — and, maybe most importantly, have a consistent defense against the run — that could be a trap game of sorts for the Razorbacks.

At the end of the day, though, 6-6 certainly would not be a disaster for Freeze. Depending on how things play out, a 5-7 season may not mean the Tigers were dreadful, either. Even with a couple nice breaks, it’s still one of the toughest schedules in the country.

But seven wins feels like a sweet spot for this team, with the opportunity to grab eight in a bowl game.

My schedule prediction has been the same for the better part of the past few months, but for the last time before we start watching some actual football, let’s take one more stab at it.

vs. UMass: W

at Cal: W

vs. Samford: W

at Texas A&M: L

vs. Georgia: L

at LSU: L

vs. Ole Miss: W

vs. Mississippi State: W

at Vanderbilt: W

at Arkansas: L

vs. New Mexico State: W

vs. Alabama: L

*** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more ***

*** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Auburn vs. UMass: Prediction, point spread, odds, best bet

JD McCarthy

3–4 minutes

It is officially game week for the Auburn Tigers as they are set to open their season against UMass on Saturday, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet at BetMGM.

The game will be Hugh Freeze’s first as head coach of the Tigers and is set to start at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be on ESPN. It will be the first chance for Auburn fans to enjoy the new amenities at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which include improved seating, better WIFI and a DJ Booth in the student section.

Buy Tigers Tickets

While it is Auburn’s season opener, UMass has already picked up its first win of the season, beating New Mexico State 41-30 in week zero. The Minutemen were led by quarterback Taisun Phommachanh who threw for 192 yards and rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown.

The lines, courtesy of BetMGM

Point spread: Auburn -37.5 (-110)

Click here to place your bets at BetMGM.

Auburn

RB Brian BattieFootQuestionable

WR Koy MooreAnkleQuestionable

WR Malcolm Johnson Jr.ShoulderQuestionable

WR Camden BrownHamstringQuestionable

WR Nick MardnerUndisclosedQuestionable

UMass

RB Tim Baldwin Jr.UndisclosedDay-to-day

Auburn is looking to start the Freeze era off with a win and should be able to pick up a comfortable one on Saturday. The Tigers have a massive talent advantage and will be playing in front of what should be a fired-up fanbase.

The only question is if they will be able to score enough to cover the 37.5-point spread as all of the newcomers get adjusted to playing with each other. I’m expecting Auburn’s offense to pull off several explosive plays and the defense to shut down the Minutemen offense, allowing Auburn to start the season 1-0 and cover the spread.

Prediction: Auburn 48, UMass 3

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.

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247sports.com

Welcome to game week 5 predictions for Auburns 2023 season

Nathan King

14–18 minutes

Well, we’ve finally made it. After what’s felt like an eternity of an offseason, game week here back on the Plains.

Auburn will open the Hugh Freeze era Saturday afternoon against UMass (2:30 p.m. CST, ESPN), a team that already notched its first win of the season in Week 0, defeating New Mexico State 41-30 for its first road win as a program since 2018. The Tigers will hope to find their bearings quickly at home, as they’ll be traveling to Cal for a nonconference game in Week 2, and will be on the road twice in September (Texas A&M in Week 4).

After a massive roster overhaul and what certainly seems to be an improvement at head coach, Auburn looks to be in position for an improved 2023 season, after the program notched back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1999.

Is a bounce-back year in store?

Here are five bold(ish) predictions on what will transpire over the next three-plus months for the Auburn football program.

1. Running game will miss Bigsby but be more consistent overall

As balanced as Auburn’s running back room is entering 2023 — Cadillac Williams deems it’s his deepest since he returned to his alma mater to coach the position in 2019 — it will undoubtedly be difficult to replace Tank Bigsby. As inconsistent as Auburn’s offense was last season, the Tigers could certainly run the ball, as 970 yards and 10 touchdowns from Bigsby helped generate a running game that was No. 5 in the SEC in yards per game (against conference opponents) and No. 6 in yards per carry.

Is this group better without Bigsby now? In terms of top-end talent, Bigsby is one of the most dynamic ball-carriers to ever suit up in the orange and blue. But the Tigers now have a trio of capable running backs in Jarquez Hunter, Damari Alston and USF transfer Brian Battie — not to mention the running threat of quarterback Robby Ashford, whom Auburn hopes will still be a fixture in the offense despite not winning the starting QB race.

The biggest difference for this group should stem from the offensive line, though, where the Tigers have almost completely reworked their two-deep from last season’s unit that struggled mightily against most teams on their schedule. Bigsby and Hunter were able to pick things up down the stretch of the season, but all too often, they were clipped down at the line of scrimmage by gaping openings for defenders, as Auburn’s yards per carry was near the bottom of the SEC until Williams took over as interim head coach.

There’s no data on how Auburn’s new-look offensive line will gel together. It’s a starting group that, right now, looks like it contains four transfer players — all of whom were excellent at their respective institutions last season, but have no experience doing so against an SEC schedule. Still, all indications from the preseason are that the O-line could be one of the most improved position groups on the team — and that bodes extremely well for a good-looking crop of running backs.

Auburn could be in a position entering the season where its No. 3 running back, Battie, ran for 1,000 yards last season. It’s fourth-string option is Jeremiah Cobb, the highest-rated recruit at the position since Bigsby in 2020. A more balanced rotation this season may not yield a 1,000-yard rusher in this offense — and the yards per game may not be as high if the passing game is in a better place and utilized more consistency — but by the end of the year, Auburn as a team may boast a more consistent rushing attack that, frankly, should be the focal point of the offense.

At times last season, particularly against the top defenses on its schedule, Auburn’s running game was able to be corralled somewhat simply by loading the line of scrimmage and daring Ashford make one-on-one throws. That was often a huge ask for Auburn’s passing game, but a more seasoned starting quarterback this year — and what looks to be a roster with more pass-catching weapons — should provide a nice complement to the Tigers’ running backs.

2. Thorne will start all 12 games — but Ashford will still play a big role

“Short leash” may be the wrong term for new Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne, but Freeze has reiterated that the Michigan State grad transfer has to continue to progress within his new offense in order to keep the job over Ashford. That goes without saying, yes, but it speaks to Ashford’s improvement as a quarterback this offseason. Throughout preseason camp, Ashford’s passing abilities appeared more consistent than last year, when he completed less than 50 percent of his passes.

Does that mean Ashford can overtake Thorne for the starting job this season? I don’t see that being a huge possibility. Thorne has 26 games of career experience at the Power Five level already, and he didn’t come to Auburn to sit on the bench. Ashford may show more explosive flashes because of his dual-threat abilities, but in terms of consistent, possession-to-possession execution of the passing game, it’s tough to see anyone other than Thorne giving Auburn its best chance to win from that perspective. Right now, Ashford still needs to show his improvements as a passer in a game setting.

Whereas it could be tough for Thorne to still contribute to the team as a backup, though, Freeze has big plans in mind for Ashford. The term “package quarterback” often carries a negative connotation in college football — a way for coaches to make promises of utilizing a playmaker at QB that often ring hollow. But at the start of Freeze’s Ole Miss tenure, he balanced a comparable quarterback dynamic nicely.

West Virginia transfer Barry Brunetti was beaten out by Bo Wallace in each of Freeze’s first two seasons with the Rebels, but Brunetti — an athletic, big-armed QB, much like Ashford — still helped Ole Miss win games, thanks to Freeze following through on his promises. While it’s nowhere near a clean comparison between two completely different players and teams a decade apart, Brunetti’s usage could provide a rough sketch of Ashford’s role this season.

Brunetti in 2012: 5.5 carries per game, 25 rushing YPG, 3 TDs; 3.3 pass attempts per game, 17.8 passing YPG, 1 TD

Brunetti in 2013: 5 carries per game, 25.8 rushing YPG, 4 TDs; 3.4 pass attempts per game, 24.5 passing YPG, 6 TDs

It’s clear from listening to Freeze that he’s been enamored with Ashford’s athletic abilities — not just as a quarterback. All Freeze wants to do this season is give the Tigers the best chance to win games, and he’ll put the 11 players on both sides of the ball who he believes will do so. Given what he thinks of Ashford’s potential as a home run hitter in the ground game and a change-of-pace for the passing game — and Freeze’s history of using a similar player — there should be a significant role in store for Auburn’s No. 2 QB in 2023.

As we move on from the passing game, some other quick predictions: Behind an improved offensive line, Thorne will be a good-not-great SEC quarterback whose best quality is his ball security and poised decision-making in pressure situations. Shane Hooks will lead Auburn in receptions, and Rivaldo Fairweather will lead in receiving touchdowns.

(Austin Perryman / Auburn Athletics)

3. At least one Auburn defensive back will garner national attention

Take your pick.

It’s no secret Auburn has more than its fair share of NFL talent on the back end of its defense in 2023. Cornerbacks D.J. James and Nehemiah Pritchett were both draftable players last year who decided to return for one last go-around at the college level. Keionte Scott, the team’s No. 2 returning tackler, is reprising his role as the starting nickel — the “star” position that carries a ton of responsibility within coordinator Ron Roberts’ defense.

And it’s difficult not to be excited to watch Jaylin Simpson, a fifth-year veteran who’s gearing up for his first full season at safety. In the last few games of 2022, when injuries shuffled some of Auburn’s starters in the secondary and slid Simpson back to safety, he flourished and looked like a natural ball hawk, patrolling the back end and keeping a lid on the Tigers’ deep passing defense.

Or, could cornerback Kayin Lee emerge as a potential All-Freshman performer in the SEC, should he land the No. 3 job at the position behind James and Prtichett?

Auburn’s secondary certainly can’t succeed on a consistent level if it doesn’t get help from its front line and its pass rush. More on that later. But throughout preseason practices, there was almost always an experienced Auburn defensive back making a huge impact every day.

And not that it’s as simple as looking at the names at quarterback, but the Tigers’ schedule isn’t necessarily lined with killers in the passing game.

It’s certainly not a hot take, but my prediction is that at least one of Auburn’s veteran DBs will make waves in the SEC with a string of big performances against quality opposition. I can see James locking up a couple highly touted receivers, or Simpson snagging a couple interceptions to secure an important SEC win.

With the versatile skills and top-end talent the Tigers boast this season, it’s difficult to imagine they won’t have a first team All-SEC selection at year’s end. It’s definitely a strength Auburn needs to take advantage of, considering it could find itself losing at least six senior defensive backs — James, Pritchett, Scott, Simpson, Zion Puckett and Donovan Kaufman — after the season.

4. Auburn’s front seven will take its lumps

Much has been made of Auburn’s struggles stopping the run this preseason. Maybe it has more to do with the aforementioned stable of running backs and their potential in 2023.

Regardless, it’s an issue that continues to bother Freeze, and one he knows needs to be remedied soon. He’s been rather blunt about it.

"The want-to is there,” Freeze said last Thursday. “We've got a ways to go in tackling. ... We've got to stop the run somehow, someway in this league. And we've got a ways to go with that."

Across the entire roster, Auburn’s defensive line and linebackers are probably the two position groups with the most question marks, with wide receiver maybe lumped in there, too. The good news is Auburn’s coaches with assuredly be rotating the front seven much more than the Tigers became accustomed to over the past two seasons, when three or four D-linemen played almost the entire game, and only three linebackers were relied upon once SEC play rolled around.

The depth is there for the defensive line: Marcus Harris, Jayson Jones, Keldric Faulk, Jalen McLeod, Justin Rogers, Lawrence Johnson, Mosiah Nasili-Kite, Stephen Sings and Elijah McAllister will all play this year on a consistent basis. But how much proven punch does that group pack? Harris, a third-year starter, is probably the best player on the interior D-line, while McLeod has been a revelation at the “jack” pass-rusher spot.

But there are still plenty of “if’s.” Auburn could start a true freshman, Faulk, at defensive end. Jones and Rogers will rotate at nose tackle, but is either capable of dominating at the line of scrimmage? McLeod was superb in preseason camp, but how ready are Sings and McAllister — both backups at their previous school — to go toe-to-toe with SEC offensive tackles?

The linebacking corps could be a nice equalizer here. Yes, the room lost two-time captain and NFL draft pick Owen Pappoe, but even with Pappoe in the fold, it was an extremely inconsistent group in 2022. But under the new coaching staff, Cam Riley looks to be playing a more natural and fluid position, while Wesley Steiner may have been passed up by multiple players.

Having a legitimate four- or five-man rotation — Riley, Austin Keys, Eugene Asante, Larry Nixon III and maybe Steiner — is something that could help to offset struggles up front. As the groups gels early in the year, they may have some unsightly performances. But down the stretch of the season, the coaching staff hopes it will be able to ride the hot hand at linebacker and ensure that the two or three players on the field on any given play are always fresh.

Still, Auburn’s ability to stop the run will be under a big microscope over the next few weeks. Luckily, the Tigers may have some time to work out the kinks: They don’t face a team with better than a top-80 running game (from last season’s numbers) until Week 5 against Georgia.

5. Auburn will go 7-5

What good is a prediction story without a final record?

All told, I picked Auburn to go 7-5 last year but wasn’t feeling confident in the slightest. Then, of course, the Tigers’ severe issues reared up almost immediately, and a 41-12 pasting at the hands of Penn State was the beginning of the end for Bryan Harsin.

There’s a much more plausible path to seven wins for this year’s squad. And it starts with running the table in nonconference play. In that sense, the Week 2 road trip to Cal, I think, is one of the Tigers’ most important matchups of the season, considering their next three FBS games should be tough to win: an SEC opener on the road against Texas A&M, a home game against No. 1 Georgia, and a road game at defending division champ LSU.

With a baseline of four nonconference wins, that means Auburn needs to snag two SEC victories to return to a bowl game. Between a road game at Vanderbilt, home matchups against the Mississippi schools, Arkansas on the road and the Iron Bowl in Jordan-Hare Stadium, are there at least two wins available? I say yes, at this point over Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, and Auburn could jump up and bite someone like Ole Miss or Arkansas.

Why those two games? Ole Miss should be a charged-up home environment for Auburn, which could be on a three-game losing streak at that point, anxious to get off the schneid and beat Freeze’s former team — and Lane Kiffin. On the other side of that coin is the Arkansas game, which could see Auburn on a mini SEC winning streak and playing with lots of confidence in the latter stage of the season. If the Tigers have developed a solid identity to that point — and, maybe most importantly, have a consistent defense against the run — that could be a trap game of sorts for the Razorbacks.

At the end of the day, though, 6-6 certainly would not be a disaster for Freeze. Depending on how things play out, a 5-7 season may not mean the Tigers were dreadful, either. Even with a couple nice breaks, it’s still one of the toughest schedules in the country.

But seven wins feels like a sweet spot for this team, with the opportunity to grab eight in a bowl game.

My schedule prediction has been the same for the better part of the past few months, but for the last time before we start watching some actual football, let’s take one more stab at it.

vs. UMass: W

at Cal: W

vs. Samford: W

at Texas A&M: L

vs. Georgia: L

at LSU: L

vs. Ole Miss: W

vs. Mississippi State: W

at Vanderbilt: W

at Arkansas: L

vs. New Mexico State: W

vs. Alabama: L

*** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more ***

*** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

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thanx for stopping by. Florida folks and those impacted by the hurricane be careful out there.

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yahoo.com

 

Auburn checks in at No. 32 on ESPN’s Week 1 FPI Index

Brian HauchTue, August 29, 2023 at 6:00 AM CDT·3 min read0Link Copied

4–5 minutes

---

Last season could not have been much more of a disaster for the Auburn Tigers. The team finished 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the SEC, losing more games than they won for the second season in a row under head coach Bryan Harsin.

Still, there is reason to be optimistic as a Tigers fan this year with new head coach Hugh Freeze and his band of transfers leading the charge. ESPN seems to share that optimism, at least for now, as they ranked Auburn just outside of the top 25 teams in the nation according to their College Football Power Index (FPI).

The FPI ranks each college football team by a variety of factors; Strength of record, strength of schedule, offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, and overall efficiency.

Overall Ranking: No. 32

 

Photo By Austin Perryman

 

ESPN’s FPI ranked Auburn as the 42nd best team in the country at the end of 2022. This year, the Index has the Tigers opening up 10 spots higher, at 32nd overall and 11th in the SEC.

On the surface it’s easy to see why they would jump. The team has a new head coach, a new quarterback in Payton Throne, a handful of transfer receiving threats like Jaylin Shorter, and Shane Hooks, and three new offensive lineman.

Of course, none of the aforementioned players have played a meaningful snap in the orange and blue, so things are certain to change.

Strength of Record: N/A

 

Photo By Austin Perryman

 

If Auburn doesn’t have a positive number in the strength of record category after week one, they have a few more things to worry about in their FPI ranking.

The power index gives Auburn a 93.5% chance to defeat the UMass Minutemen and BetMGM has Auburn favored by 37.5 points.

Only two teams have managed to get upset when favored by 37 or more over the last 25 years; the USC Trojans (-40.5 vs. Stanford) in 2007, and the UNLV Rebels (-45.5 vs. Howard) in 2017.

Strength of Remaining Schedule: No. 2

 

Photo by Austin Perryman

 

If there is one thing the Auburn athletic department is really good at, it’s making an impossibly difficult football schedule.

A tough schedule is impossible to avoid in the SEC, but Auburn’s is continuously extra hard due to the fact they have to play Georgia and Alabama every year. The good news for Auburn? They get to host the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide this season.

Overall Efficiency: N/A

 

Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

 

The Auburn Tigers had a whole lot of issues in 2022, and their final FPI efficiency ranking indicates that.

Auburn finished 2022 ranked 60th in Overall efficiency according to the FPI index. To truly emphasize how bad that is, three teams from the mighty Sunbelt; South Alabama, Troy, and James Madison (who was playing in the FBS for the first time in program history) all finished with an overall efficiency in the above 60.

Offensive Efficiency: N/A

 

Photo by Austin Perryman

 

Auburn’s offense was a train wreck in 2022.

The team mustered 24.8 PPG amid inconsistent quarterback play and an offensive line that opened up more holes behind the line of scrimmage than it did in front of it.

This led Hugh Freeze to completely overhaul the unit through the transfer portal over the offseason, adding proven contributors like Peyton Thorne, Shane Hooks, Avery Jones to the offense.

Even if it takes some times for things to click, this offense should be much better than it was a year ago.

Defensive Efficiency: N/A

 

Syndication: The Montgomery Advertiser

 

The Tigers strength as a team last year was their defense. The Tigers finished 2022 ranked 39 in the FPI’s defensive efficiency.

There is no reason to believe this year’s defense can’t replicate the same kind of production.

They should get a nice head start in the FPI rankings, as their first test will against a UMass team that averaged just 12.5 PPG in 2022.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

[WarTim 3,525]

Thanks Fifty 

[SaltyTiger 8,579]

Thanks again Fiddy

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al.com

Does Auburn football have the ingredients to fix last season’s turnover woes?

Published: Aug. 29, 2023, 6:00 a.m.

7–8 minutes

In Hugh Freeze’s first year as Auburn’s head coach, there’s a monster opponent that he and the Tigers will have to face this season.

It’s not his former program Ole Miss or Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide. Heck, it’s not even the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs, who come to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 30.

Instead, it’s Auburn’s tussle with the turnover battle.

In 2014, Bill Connelly, who is now with ESPN, published an article asserting that there were five factors to winning college football games: explosiveness, efficiency, field position, finishing drives and turnovers.

Connelly’s findings are certainly some that might make you ask — with sarcasm — “Who would’ve thunk?” But even he admits “the most revolutionary ideas are sometimes the simplest”.

Using data from the 2013 college football season, Connelly found that whichever team wins the turnover battle has a 73% chance of winning the football game. So while that factor doesn’t decide as much as the explosiveness battle, winning the turnover battle is important. And Auburn didn’t do much of that last season.

Of the 133 FBS programs in 2022, Auburn ranked 122nd in turnover margin, finishing the season 10 turnovers in the hole.

While the Tigers were able to force 13 turnovers in 2022, they gave up 23 — 12 interceptions and 11 fumbles.

Who was to blame last year?

Robby Ashford, who lost the starting quarterback job to junior Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne earlier this month, was a liability with the football in his hands last fall. Just a freshman, Ashford threw seven interceptions and had nine fumbles.

And as easy as it is to single one guy out, it’s also unfair.

If we’re calling it like it is, Auburn’s offense — from top to bottom — just wasn’t very good last season. While the Tigers had a reliable running back in Tank Bigsby, one guy carrying the football can only get you so far.

When Ashford was looking to pass, he was doing so behind a porous offensive line that gave up 32 sacks and 192 yards in the opposite direction — two marks that rank the Tigers No. 89 in sacks allowed for 2022.

This year, however, whether it’s Thorne, Ashford, Holden Geriner or the kid Freeze invites to walk on after seeing him play catch in a frat yard — whoever is under center for the Tigers should have more time to throw the football and should spend less time with their rear ends in the dirt than they would’ve last fall.

And that’s thanks to the relentless work Freeze and his coaching staff did in the transfer portal in the offseason. Using the depth chart Auburn released Monday, three of the Tigers’ five starting offensive linemen came out of the transfer portal ahead of the 2023 season.

Who can fix it this year?

While it’s easy to look at interceptions and fumbles and point the finger at whoever committed them, Auburn’s offensive line will be the key component in limiting turnovers this fall.

That being said, it does appear that the Tigers are leveling up their quarterback play in handing the keys to Thorne. However, there’s still plenty of room for Thorne to improve.

Last fall, which saw him lose many of his weapons on offense and fight through nagging injuries, Thorne threw 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Thorne’s 19 touchdowns would’ve tied Kentucky’s Will Levis for the seventh most in the SEC, while Thorne’s 11 interceptions would’ve tied Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart for the second most in the league.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, however, it would be fair to say that Thorne is set to be surrounded by more talent at the receiver positions than he was when he was in East Lansing. The receiving corps was another area Freeze and Co. prioritized as soon as they arrived.

The addition of Jackson State transfer Shane Hooks has proved to come with a huge upside throughout fall camp. Meanwhile, fellow transfers like North Texas transfer Jyaire Shorter, Ohio State transfer Caleb Burton III and FIU tight end transfer Rivaldo Fairweather are all weapons the Tigers added to their arsenal this offseason.

The mix of a stouter offensive line, a more experienced quarterback and a handful of talented receivers – including those who are returning to The Plains, like Ja’Varrius Johnson, Omari Kelly and Jay Fair – all make for a recipe that should help Auburn address the offensive side of turnover issue it had last fall.

However, the Tigers’ defense will have to hold true to its end of the deal, too. And just like the offense, that starts with the big fellas up front either forcing fumbles or forcing opposing quarterbacks to make poor decisions.

Auburn is really without much returning production along the defensive line.

Marcus Harris returns as the Tigers’ leading producer with three quarterback hurries and one pass breakup from 2022. Jayson Jones, on the other hand, returns tallying one quarterback hurry and one fumble recovery.

This fall, it’ll be up to them, along with a slew of transfers to make up for the production lost without Owen Pappoe, Colby Wooden and Derick Hall – three guys who applied the pressure and combined for seven forced fumbles in 2022.

Some guys who could fill those shoes include Maryland transfer defensive end Mosiah Nasili-Kite, freshman defensive end Keldric Faulk, Ole Miss transfer linebacker Austin Keys and Auburn’s room of Jack linebackers, which includes Vanderbilt transfer Elijah McAllister, Appalachian State transfer Jalen McLeod and Liberty transfer Stephen Sings.

The backend of Auburn’s defense is a different story.

With Jaylin Simpson returning at safety, the Tigers’ return their leader in interceptions from 2022. Simpson led the team with two interceptions last fall, while also tallying five pass breakups.

Auburn also returns its borderline-elite cornerback tandem in DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett. James grabbed and interception and recorded eight pass breakups last fall, while Pritchett tallied eight pass breakups and a forced fumble of his own.

Keionte Scott, Auburn’s star cornerback, is another guy who could have a major role in helping on the defensive end of the Tigers’ turnover battle. In 2022, Scott notched an interception, three pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.

All this is said to get to this final point: Freeze and his coaching staff have the pieces to fix the turnover battle that haunted Auburn last year. The jury is still out on how quickly and to what extent the issue will be fixed, but the pieces are certainly there.

And as Connelly noted in 2014, correcting that one issue can go a long way.

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al.com

 

3 takeaways from Auburn football’s first 2023 depth chart

Published: Aug. 29, 2023, 6:30 a.m.

5–6 minutes

---

After weeks of looking closely at every practice drill and looking for all the ever-so-slight changes, Auburn released its first official look at a depth chart Monday before the season opener against UMass at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

And there certainly is no time quite like before Auburn even plays a single game of the 2023 season to analyze a depth chart that Hugh Freeze himself called “nonsense” at his press conference Monday.

Okay yeah, there probably are actually a lot better times, but we’re doing it here anyway.

Here are five takeaways from the depth chart Auburn released Monday after the conclusion of the preseason.

1. The curious case of Holden Geriner

How does Geriner fit into a quarterback competition that seemed to ultimately come down to Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford — especially after Freeze said there is a chance both Thorne and Ashford could play this season.

There isn’t a lot that Geriner brings that Auburn isn’t already getting in Throne. Freeze may have called Geriner Auburn’s most talented passer, but he is far behind the rest of the bunch when it comes to experience and Auburn isn’t going to bench Thorne, a good passer in his own right, for Geriner.

So as a result, it was interesting to see Ashford “Or” Geriner listed as the backup to Thorne.

What does that say about what Ashford place in the offense if any might look like? Unclear

But it does seem to give an impression that Geriner was truly in the mix of this competition all the way to the end.

Given the blockades in his way to playing time, it will be up to him to choose if he is willing to sit for another season at Auburn, this time without a redshirt waiting for him.

2. The wide receiver starters don’t matter

Freeze said he didn’t actually make this depth chart himself, and claimed he doesn’t view a player as “first team” or “second team.”

The problem is that somebody has to start.

In no position group is this more evident than the wide receivers. It had long been the route Auburn was looking at was going to include a lot of rotation of a lot of pass catchers. This depth chart signifies that.

Five receivers are listed as starters for three starting spots. They are Jyaire Shorter “OR” Omari Kelly, Jay Fair “OR” Ja’Varrius Johnson as well as Shane Hooks. Koy Moore, Caleb Burton, Camden Brown and Nick Mardner are listed as backups across the three positions.

In many cases, a team may use the word “OR” to list two apparently equivalent players on the depth chart. In some occasions, that is used as a way to not disclose a final decision. In this, Auburn legitimately means it.

All nine receivers listed as starters or backups are going to play at various levels.

This tracks with what Auburn has shown and discussed during the preseason.

Any depth chart should be taken with a grain of salt, but this is especially the case in the wide receiver group.

3. Defensive surprises

Two big surprises stand out on defense.

After a preseason where he hardly had any chatter amid hype for Eugene Asante and Larry Nixon III, Cam Riley looks to have won the starting linebacker job next to Ole Miss transfer Austin Keys.

Riley has lots of experience with Auburn and as he discussed during a media availability last week, could play in both the middle as well as in a pass-rushing role. His versatility may have gotten him the starting job. But after a preseason that from the outside appeared quiet, his spot atop the first depth chart was a bit unexpected.

So too was the inclusion of Griffin Speaks as the backup safety behind Jaylin Simpson.

As a graduate student, Speaks followed Ron Roberts coming over to Auburn from Baylor. But Auburn is more than just a change of scenery on the football field for Speaks. Auburn is home. He grew up in Auburn, played football at Auburn High School. His dad, Tim Speaks, played at Auburn.

And his name hadn’t come up at all during the preseason. Nor was he seen working with the second unit during periods of practice open to media members. That wasn’t a name anyone was anticipating seeing listed on Auburn’s initial two-deep depth chart.

Asked about Speaks inclusion, Freeze didn’t roll out the chance for him to play against UMass on Saturday in his first chance to play at his hometown stadium. Speaks at a minimum will have a role on special teams.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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al.com

 

How will Auburn football answer these 10 questions in 2023?

Published: Aug. 29, 2023, 6:00 a.m.

11–14 minutes

---

As Auburn’s beat reporters, Ainslie Lee and Matt Cohen have asked lots of questions throughout fall camp.

And while most of our preseason questions have been answered, there are still plenty of answer-less questions that remain as first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers approach their Week 1 matchup against the UMass Minutemen.

Here are 10 questions — five from each writer — that we’ll be looking for the answers to as Auburn’s season unfolds.

Ainslie: Can Payton Thorne and the Auburn offense strike up the band in 2023?

Five years ago, Bill Connelly, who is now with ESPN, did a case study looking at the five most influential factors in a college football game.

At the top of the Connelly’s list was explosiveness. Connelly calculated a team’s explosiveness by averaging the team’s points per play. And a team who won the explosiveness battle against its opponent won the game 86% of the time.

Anyone who watched the Tigers last fall knows they lacked in explosiveness. Heck, Auburn’s biggest play of the season came on a 62-yard screen play. And that 62-yard play was the shortest of the Tigers’ longest play of the year since the 2012 season.

Sophomore receiver Jay Fair, who had an impressive fall camp, said first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and first-year offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery are placing an emphasis on big plays.

“My reaction from hearing big plays? My eyes kind of lit up... the receiver’s dream,” Fair said. “But once you start to see it happen in that practice, it’s kind of a routine thing now, so we’re expecting that a lot this season.”

Ainslie: How much will we really see of Robby Ashford?

After a lengthy quarterback competition throughout fall camp, Freeze and the Tigers finally named junior Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne their starting quarterback. on Aug. 17.

Thorne beat out redshirt freshman Holden Geriner and incumbent starter Robby Ashford for the job. And ever since, Freeze has assured that Ashford boasts too much athleticism to keep off the field in 2023.

Last fall, Ashford tallied 710 yards and seven touchdowns with his legs, while passing for more than 1,600 yards and another seven touchdowns.

“I want to say this about Robby: He will always have a package,” Freeze said.

“Robby is not just a runner — he’s a dynamic runner, but he can throw. Certain things, he throws better. Hopefully, his consistency in that will continue to improve to where if we, whatever package he is in, they have to respect the pass off of it as well.”

It’s clear Freeze intends on using Ashford this fall. But just how much will be an interesting story to follow this season.

And, just to play devil’s advocate, let’s remember Ashford took over Auburn’s starting job by Week 4 last year.

Ainslie: Who will be the Tigers’ leading skill player?

Auburn’s offense will have a new look to it this fall with Freeze and Montgomery at the helm of the offense. The track records of both Freeze and Montgomery vary, pointing to this: The Tigers are going to play to their offensive strengths this fall.

Auburn’s rushing attack will likely be the Tigers’ bread and butter, but it’ll likely be a “by committee” approach, meaning an individual ball carrier probably won’t be the heads and shoulder leader in the backfield.

That paves the way for Auburn’s leading skill player to come from the receiving corps, which is just as deep.

Jackson State transfer Shane Hooks has turned heads a lot heading into the season with hands that are big and consistent. Hooks might highlight Auburn’s receivers, but slot guys Ja’Varrius Johnson and Jay Fair are two others to keep an eye on.

Ainslie: Will DE Keldric Faulk live up to the hype?

One’s gotta wonder if true freshman defensive end Keldric Faulk is feeling the pressure yet.

Faulk enters his first season on The Plains as the crown jewel of Auburn’s 2023 recruiting class after being a 4-star prospect who picked Auburn after flipping from Florida State.

Having been an early enrollee, Faulk has been on campus since January, meaning he had the opportunity to go through spring and fall camp — a luxury that can’t be understated for freshmen like Faulk, who is likely to see a lot of the field this fall.

When Faulk first arrived to Auburn, he was spending time with the Jack linebackers. But midway through fall camp, he transitioned over to defensive end, much to the delight of defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett.

Faulk, who was named to On3′s preseason true freshman All-American team, will share defensive end duties with Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite. And it’ll be really fun to see how well Faulk performs on Saturdays — especially in a conference like the SEC.

If Faulk can live up to the hype as a freshman, you can book it that Faulk will be a household name at Auburn in the seasons to come.

Ainslie: What will be the tight ends’ role in Auburn’s offense?

To keep it short and sweet, Florida International transfer tight end Rivaldo Fairweather is entirely too talented to be misused or underutilized.

Fortunately for Auburn, Freeze is aware of that and that’s why he and the Tigers prioritized Fairweather once the transfer portal opened up.

In recent years, however, Auburn hasn’t utilized its tight ends much in the pass game — especially in the red zone. In 2022, John Samuel Schenker was the Tigers’ leading receiving tight end with 20 catches, just over 200 yards and just one touchdown. Tyler Fromm, who returns to Auburn this season, was next with just three receptions for 51 yards.

When you look at Georgia, TCU, Ohio State and Michigan — the four playoff teams from last fall — their tight ends averaged more than 39 catches, over 500 yards and just under five touchdowns last season.

And with the addition of Fairweather, it might be time Auburn looks to utilize its tight ends in a similar fashion.

Matt: What is Holden Geriner’s future at Auburn... or somewhere else?

On its first depth chart of the season, both Robby Ashford “OR” Holden Geriner were listed as the backup quarterback to Payton Thorne. Yet while the trio was at the center of the quarterback battle, only Thorne and Ashford seemed to have a clear route to playing time. Thorne is Auburn’s entrenched starter but Ashford’s athletics was going to make it hard to keep him off the field, according to Hugh Freeze.

And Ashford had his best days of practices after losing the starting job to Thorne. Though he does enter the first game with an oblique strain.

So where does that leave Geriner? He may be the most talented thrower of the group, and Freeze said as much. But that isn’t going to get him onto the field. Auburn isn’t going to use three quarterbacks. Barring injury, Geriner isn’t going to play much at all. But he can’t redshirt having already used that last year.

Is he willing to sit for a second year at Auburn, especially with a talented quarterback recruit in Walker White on his way and Thorne still eligible for the 2024 season? Will he want to pursue playing time elsewhere?

Matt: How long does Hugh Freeze’s honeymoon period last?

Optimism is high in Auburn. That’s not unfounded with a new coach, a new quarterback, a new scheme and new life breathed into this program.

This is the prototypical honeymoon period for a head coach where the sheer optimism will gloss over any flaw.

That doesn’t last forever.

There’s only one way to extend the wave of good feeling and that comes down to one word: winning.

The early part of Auburn schedule would seem favorable to that. Auburn will largely be expected to beat Cal in the second game, but a trip across the country to Berkeley is not easy on the body. Lose that game, and the optimism begins to fade.

Get through the non-conference unscathed and enter the gauntlet of SEC play. Can Auburn find a way to pull off an upset? Do the results generally stay chalk?

Play to chalk and Auburn is going to a bowl game this year for the first time in two seasons. That alone should be enough to keep long-term confidence with a strong recruiting class expected to come to campus next all.

Speaking of which...

Matt: How does Auburn maintain its recruiting momentum?

What a start for Hugh Freeze on the recruiting trail, right?

In Freeze’s first full recruiting cycle, Auburn has landed commitments from 5-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick and 5-star wide receiver Perry Thompson. Its 2024 class is ranked about the top 20 in the nation and in the top five based on the average rating of recruit.

The next challenge is to keep that going.

A lot of the recruiting momentum tends to play hand-in-hand with the honeymoon period for a head coach. Win, and the head coach can make good on promises, keep fans excited and keep jobs. Lose or fail to hit certain benchmarks, and a high school player may begin to question if that’s a program they want to invest their long-term future in.

A commitment does not equal a signing. Riddick and Thompson’s flips to Auburn signify that. Freeze said recruiting continues even after a player commits because he has to keep them committed.

So what, or maybe better yet who, is next?

Matt: Did the Tigers win the transfer portal lottery? What happens if not?

If you win this roulette wheel of the modern day we call the transfer portal, you truly can hit a proverbial jackpot. Look at TCU and its roster of transfers that made it all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game last season.

Is a run to the Playoff in the cards for Auburn? Probably not.

Is this a significantly upgraded roster on paper because of the transfer portal? Yeah, I’d say so.

There are over forty (40!) new players on this roster compared to last season whether it be freshman or the transfer portal. That is a lot. A lot.

Half the battle here is fitting the puzzle pieces together. It’s a different world than recruiting out of high school because these transfers are all at different stages of their college career with different experiences and different personal goals. Can these new pieces form chemistry with players who were already at Auburn and stayed through a coaching change?

The offensive line could be a key place to watch with three transfers — Dillon Wade from Tulsa, Avery Jones from East Carolina and Gunner Britton from Western Kentucky — expected to start against UMass, and potentially a fourth if junior transfer Izavaion Miller cracks the starting lineup.

This new-look bunch will be the crucial point of an Auburn offense that needs an improved offense line.

Having a strong-looking transfer class is good to look at. How that works in a game that matters is the more important question.

Matt: Can Auburn truly, legitimately, seriously, actually stop the run?

This question came up quite a lot at Auburn’s media availability before playing UMass this Saturday.

Is Auburn’s expected strong running game a product of a deep running back room? Or a product of going up against a bad Auburn run defense in scrimmages and practice.

History would lend itself to the latter.

Auburn returns multiple starters from a defensive interior that was ranked 96th out of 131 FBS teams last season. Does returning starters mean improved play with experience and age?

Or does it mean much of the same?

Transfers like Justin Rogers, Lawrence Johnson, Mosiah Nasili-Kite, Elijah McAllister, Stephen Sings V, Jalen McLeod and freshman Keldric Faulk will provide some reinforcements and depth along the defense front which may ultimately help the overall play of the defensive front.

But does that mean Auburn can stop the run?

Stopping the run is essential to the foundation of Ron Roberts’ defensive scheme. Auburn has the talent and experience at secondary to be good against the pass, but that can’t then leave Auburn’s run defense out to dry as a product. It’s all about balance.

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247sports.com

 

Auburn opponent preview A look at the UMass defense

Jason Caldwell

5–6 minutes

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Veteran defensive coordinator Don Brown is back for his second stint as the head coach at UMass and is looking to turn the program around after going 43-19 from 2004-2008 while leading the Minutemen to a pair of postseason appearances. A former coordinator at Michigan and Arizona, Brown is known for his somewhat unconventional fronts at times with his teams moving around and showing different looks. While it can allow big plays at times, it’s also something that can create negative plays and turnovers. 

That showed up last week in a 41-30 win over New Mexico State. Creating three turnovers and adding three sacks, the UMass defense did some big things on that side of the ball. They also allowed 20 first down, 210 yards rushing (5.7 ypc) and 248 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air.

There will be some chances to make plays, but Auburn’s Hugh Freeze said it’s a game that is going to require his offense to be very good before the snap to make sure they are identifying the defense properly.

“I think defensively they play as hard as any team in the country,” Freeze said. “And you combine that with Coach Brown's system, which is very chaotic and very hard to identify for your offensive front at times, they will create negative plays with that.

“That was a big challenge for us last year when we played them up at UMass. They created a lot of negative plays against us. We managed to score enough points to win the game, but it was a challenge. And so they have our full attention. I mean, if you look at them defensively, obviously Don is pretty special. I mean, he's been one of the best at Michigan and Arizona and many other places.

“But 48 jumps off the page at you, as does 1 and 7. They can play at any Power Five schools. Those guys are really, really good. And really again, chaotic in their defensive front when they're mixing it up with all their three-down and four-down. I think they're deeper than they have been and better in the secondary.”

A defense that will show a three-man front, a four-man front, a five-man front and bring plenty of blitzes from linebackers and the secondary, UMass wants to pressure from start to finish. That means Auburn’s offensive line is going to need to be really good to handle what the Minutemen will bring on Saturday.

That starts with a big defensive line led by sophomore Marcus Bradley. Playing the anchor position on the defense, the 6-3, 260 redshirt sophomore started 11 games last season and provides a punch up front. He’s joined in the starting lineup by 6-1, 310 senior Billy Wooden, 6-2, 295 Hugo Klages, and 6-2, 255 Louce Julien. Bradley had six tackles last week while Wooden added a sack.

At linebacker, redshirt senior Jerry Roberts (6-1, 235) is a player that controls things in the middle for the UMass defense. A transfer from Arizona, he started 18 games in the last two years for the Wildcats and had 100 total tackles. A sixth-year senior, he played three seasons at Bowling Green before transferring to Arizona for the 2021 season.

He’s joined in the starting lineup at linebacker by 6-3, 220 junior Gerrell Johnson and 6-2, 250 redshirt freshman Tyler Martin. Johnson and Martin combined for eight tackles last week for the UMass defense. Last season Johson made 54 total tackles in 12 games for the Minutemen.

On the outside, junior cornerback Jordan Mahoney (6-0, 180) is coming off a strong 2022 when he had three interceptions, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries while adding 42 tackles. That was enough to put him on the Bronko Nagurski Award Watch List before the season. 

Penn State transfer safety Tyler Rudolph has been a big addition to the UMass defense after playing in all 12 games a season ago and finishing with 62 tackles. A 6-0, 210 junior, he led the team last week with eight tackles and also added a sack. Redshirt junior Isaiah Weatherford (6-1, 190) starts opposite Mahoney at corner while 6-0, 195 junior Te-Rai Powell rounds out the secondary for the Minutemen.

Defensive depth chart:

ANCHOR 

1 MARCUS BRADLEY R-SO. 6-3 260

4 JB BROWN R-SR. 6-1 280

50 AQUAN ROBINSON R-SO. 6-4 245

DT 

42 BILLY WOODEN SR. 6-1 310

44 AARON BECKWITH R-SO. 6-4 300

NT 

99 HUGO KLAGES JR. 6-2 295

56 CLETUS MATHURIN SR. 6-1 305

49 SHAMBRE JACKSON R-SO. 6-3 275

DE 

18 LOUCE JULIEN R-SO. 6-2 255

10 ZUKUDO IGWENAGU R-JR. 6-4 245

52 UCHENNA EZEWIKE R-SR. 6-2 250

MIKE 

48 JERRY ROBERTS JR R-SR. 6-1 235

-OR- 23 JALEN STEWART JR. 6-0 225

WILL 

22 GERRELL JOHNSON JR. 6-3 220

-OR- 9 MYLES TURNER R-SO. 6-1 235

-OR- 15 DERRIEON CRAIG SO. 5-10 205

SAM 

5 TYLER MARTIN R-FR. 6-2 250

-OR- 40 DOMINIC SCHOFIELD R-SO. 6-2 230

30 DONOVAN DYSON FR. 6-1 225

VIPER 

24 MICHAEL OPPONG R-JR. 6-0 195

-OR- 11 NAHJI LOGQN JR. 6-3 230

0 JALEN HARRELL R-SO. 6-2 210

CB 

7 JORDAN MAHONEY JR. 6-0 180

8 TRISTAN ARMSTRONG JR. 5-11 190

33 DARIUS GOODEN R-JR. 6-2 205

CB 

12 ISAIAH RUTHERFORD R-JR. 6-1 190

27 NOAH BOYKIN R-SR. 6-2 185

28 JERROD CAMERON R-FR. 5-10 160

SAFETY 

21 TE'RAI POWELL JR. 6-0 195

14 DASHAUN JERKINS R-SR. 5-11 200

20 DORIAN HELM JR. 5-11 190

SAFETY 

2 TYLER RUDOLPH R-JR. 6-0 210

19 JALON FERRELL R-SR. 6-2 205

6 JEREMIAH MCGILL R-FR. 5-11 185

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