11.1.23 Football Articles

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247sports.com

 

Auburn Opponent Preview Vanderbilt offense

Jason Caldwell

4–5 minutes

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For the second straight week, the Auburn defense will face a team that is expected to play multiple quarterbacks when the Tigers travel to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. While leading passer AJ Swann could miss the game with an elbow issue, Vanderbilt still has plenty of firepower to pick from in Ken Seals and Jackson, Alabama native Walter Taylor.

Playing in seven games this season, Seals has completed 69-113 passes for 858 yards and eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a surprising Vanderbilt passing attack. This season the three quarterbacks have combined for 2,186 yards and 19 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. More of a runner, Taylor has played in three games and has completed just 4-12 passes, but has 64 yards rushing on the year.

Currently ranked 81st in scoring offense at 25.4 points per game, Vanderbilt has been one of the best teams in the country in making big plays in the passing game. In nine games, the Commodores have 39 passing plays of 20 or more yards. That’s good enough for seventh nationally. 

A big reason why is senior playmaker Will Sheppard. Playing in 39 career games with 32 starts, Sheppard has put up monster numbers for Vanderbilt for four years and this season is no different. In nine games, Sheppard leads the team with 40 catches for 591 yards and eight touchdowns. For his career, the Louisiana native has 145 receptions for 1,974 yards and 21 touchdowns. 

He’s joined in the starting lineup by physical freshman London Humphreys. This season he has 14 catches, but for 350 yards and four touchdowns. The third starter is speedy Jayden McGowan, who has 31 catches for 365 yards. Backup Richie Hoskins has added a pair of touchdowns on six receptions. Tight ends Justin Ball and Kamrean Johnson have combined for 18 catches, 158 yards and three touchdowns.

As good as Vanderbilt has been throwing the football this season (242.9 yards per game), that’s how bad they’ve been on the ground. The Commodores are averaging just 92.8 yards rushing per game with nine total touchdowns. When you take out the 215 yards and three touchdowns against Alabama A&M in week two, you have a rushing offense that has been the worst of the worst. The good news for the Commodores is they broke a streak of five straight games being held under 100 yards when they ran for 169 yards on 44 carries last week in a 33-7 loss at Ole Miss. 

The addition of Taylor at quarterback played a part in that, but the Commodores have a sold one-two punch of Patrick Smith and Sedrick Alexander to carry the load. This season Smith leads the team with 66 carries for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Alexander has 65 carries for 251 yards, but leads the team with four touchdowns. 

Up front the Commodores have an experienced group that features four players with at least 18 starts under their belts. Leading the way is right tackle Bradley Ashmore, who has started 36 of 37 career games. In the middle, Vanderbilt has one of the best centers in the league in Julian Hernandez. The St. Thomas Aquinas standout has played in 37 games with 33 career starts. 

WR

14 Will Sheppard 6-3 198 Sr. 39-32

85 Junior Sherrill 5-11 172 Fr. 9-1

WR

83 London Humphreys 6-3 186 Fr. 9-3

or 3 Quincy Skinner Jr. 6-2 205 Jr. 26-5

WR

6 Jayden McGowan 5-8 181 So. 21-15

15 Richie Hoskins 6-1 196 Jr. 16-1

RB

28 Sedrick Alexander 5-9 199 Fr. 9-3

4 Patrick Smith 5-9 189 Jr. 27-9

or 13 Chase Gillespie 5-10 197 So. 13-0

or 46 AJ Newberry 6-1 197 Fr. 1-0

QB

8 Ken Seals 6-3 220 Sr. 24-20

or 2 Walter Taylor 6-7 235 So. 3-0

5 AJ Swann 6-3 228 So. 14-11

7 Drew Dickey 6-1 215 So. 1-0

TE

84 Justin Ball 6-6 247 Gr. 35-13

48 Kamrean Johnson  6-5 221 Fr. 9-0

F

18 Logan Kyle 6-3 224 Sr. 27-2

49 Chris Boyle 6-3 239 Gr. 29-0

LT

55 Gunnar Hansen 6-5 321 Jr. 21-21

73 Charlie Clark 6-7 309 Jr. 9-0

LG

64 Xavier Castillo  6-5 361 Jr. 22-18

52 Kevo Wesley  6-4 317 Sr. 31-1

C

62 Julian Hernandez 6-4 310 Gr. 37-33

76 Grayson Morgan 6-5 280 So. 6-3

RG

71 Gage Pitchford 6-6 315 Jr. 20-6

55 Jake Ketschek 6-5 320 Jr. 5-3

RT

50 Bradley Ashmore 6-6 303 Sr. 37-36

57 Leyton Nelson 6-6 308 So. 9-0

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al.com

All dad jokes aside, Ron Roberts has delivered as Auburn’s defensive coordinator

Updated: Nov. 01, 2023, 6:11 a.m.|Published: Nov. 01, 2023, 6:00 a.m.

6–8 minutes

Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts caught some flak from his players when he first arrived to The Plains after making the move from Baylor, where he spent three seasons as the Bears’ defensive coordinator.

A father of three, Roberts was quick to dig into his deep pockets of dad jokes and crack them with his players. Except more times than not, they didn’t land.

“He tries to make jokes that ain’t really funny,” Auburn safety Jaylin Simpson said in an interview during the preseason. “He’s definitely a player’s coach.”

Not every player on Auburn’s defense had the guts to criticize Roberts’ joke-telling – at least not directly.

“No comment,” Auburn defensive lineman Jayson Jones said when asked if Roberts’ jokes were funny. “I love you, Ron. Love you.”

But Jones and the rest of Auburn’s defense don’t just “love” Roberts when trying to stay in good graces with their defensive coordinator and tiptoe around questions about his poor joke-telling.

They legitimately enjoy playing for the guy.

“It’s been amazing to play under his defense,” said Auburn Jack linebacker Elijah McAllister, who came to Auburn as a graduate transfer after spending five seasons at Vanderbilt. “He’s an old-school football guy; he knows exactly what he’s doing because he’s seen it. It’s fun playing for him, honestly.”

Auburn’s defenders like playing for Roberts because everyone gets a piece of the pie in a Roberts-led defense.

Roberts himself gives his defense the distinction of a linebacker-led defense.

“They’re going to have to answer the bell and be productive,” Roberts said of Auburn’s linebackers in the preseason.

So Auburn’s corps of linebackers have eaten it up, starting with Eugene Asante, whose breakout season continues to build as he leads the Tigers’ defense with 62 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks – all coming after a season in which Asante spent most of his time on Auburn’s scout team.

“That kind of thing fuels me, just being out there,” Asante said after his heroic performance against Cal in Week 2. “Coach Roberts, coach Alridge, this staff giving me the opportunity to show what I can do, I’m just forever grateful to them.”

For Jack linebacker and Appalachian State transfer Jalen McLeod, the prospect of playing for Roberts was one of the biggest factors that played into his move to Auburn.

At 6-foot-1 and just less than 240 pounds, many might argue McLeod is a bit undersized for the position he plays, but McLeod trusted Roberts to put him in the right position in the right situations.

“I’m not the biggest guy,” McLeod said in the preseason. “Coach Roberts, the defensive coordinator, he played with people my size before. He knows how to use him. He lets us play free a little bit. Just set the edge and get after the quarterback. Play fast and physical.”

McLeod has gone on to tally 24 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries.

Meanwhile, guys along Auburn’s defensive front have seen success, too — despite there being no shortage of challenges put in front of them.

Given the season-long struggles to sustain drives on offense, paired with injuries along the defensive line, Auburn’s defensive linemen have had to spend a lot of time on the field and not much time on the sideline on Saturdays.

For guys like defensive lineman Marcus Harris, that means playing a ton of snaps – 352 on the season or 44 a game, to be exact.

“Marcus and some of those guys are just having to play too many snaps,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said ahead of the LSU game.

And though a lot has been asked of Harris, the senior has delivered. With 31 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks and a forced fumble, Harris has graded out as the 15th-best defensive lineman in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. And that makes it hard to justify pulling him off the field.

So it’s been a bit of a balancing act for Roberts – on the defensive line and especially in the backfield as there was once a time during the season that Auburn was without defensive backs Nehemiah Pritchett, Keionte Scott and Donovan Kaufman all at once.

Auburn’s secondary has been the group that’s probably been bit the hardest by the injury bug with guys like Jaylin Simpson and Zion Puckett also missing time here and there.

But when the Tigers’ defensive backs are on the field and in full force, they’re a stingy group. They’re ball-hawks and they have a lot of fun – hence the turnover seatbelt that’s been introduced this season and Simpson’s sideline dances with Freeze.

“He definitely makes the ball a priority,” Simpson said of Roberts. “He’s big on like, if that ball comes your way, we got it we gotta get it, if you’re in position.”

With a heavy focus on notching takeaways through the air, the Tigers lead the SEC with 10 interceptions through their first eight games.

Meanwhile, Auburn tallied just six interceptions through the course of the entire season last fall.

And without a doubt, all of that has pleased Freeze.

“I think for our lack of depth, they’ve done a marvelous job,” Freeze said of Roberts and the defensive coaching staff after Saturday’s win over Mississippi State. “The staff and kids and we’re not a very deep football team in the front six, and at times this year we’ve been very short on the back end too.”

But like his jokes, Roberts’ play calls aren’t going to land every single time.

There have been lapses on the defensive side of the football with the game at LSU and some of the explosive plays given up against Mississippi State immediately coming to mind.

And those things certainly frustrate Roberts, Freeze says.

But Freeze feels comforted that perhaps unlike his jokes, Roberts’ play calls are going to land a majority of the time.

“He is one of the best in the nation of calling a game,” Freeze said of Roberts. “One of his strengths is definitely game day, calling the football game from a defensive perspective and making adjustments within his system. I think he’s really gifted at that.”

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247sports.com

 

PMARSHONAU Alex McPherson carries on a family tradition of excellence

Phillip Marshall

7–8 minutes

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Auburn's Alex McPherson has made 14 consecutive field goal tries. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, Auburn Undercover, 247Sports)

AUBURN – Alex McPherson was aggravated. His first Auburn field goal attempt had missed in the third quarter of Auburn’s 13-10 win over Texas A&M last season. Sure, it was a 54-yarder, bur McPherson, a freshmen getting his chance because of an injury to Anders Carlson, expected to make it.And he hasn’t missed one since.

McPherson, rated the nation’s No. 1 kicking prospect as a high school senior, made six straight last season after that miss. And he’s made eight straight this season. He might look like a fresh-faced teen-ager, but he has an uncommonly powerful right leg, uncommon poise and uncommon accuracy. It all started back home in Fort Payne, where LaDon and Amber McPherson’s three sons, all soccer players at one time, took up kicking on their own and became a prominent kicking family known far and wide.

It started when Logan, the oldest, asked his mom as an eighth-grader if he could try out for football. Then came Evan, who set the state high school record with a 60-yard+ field goal, became a standout at Florida and now is one of the more prominent kickers in the NFL. He kicks for the Cincinnati Bengals and is 19-for-19 on field goal tries in the postseason.

When Evan was a senior at Fort Payne High School, eighth-grader Alex was his older. Evan was watching on live stream when Alex kicked a 61-yard field goal, breaking Evan’s state record. Logan was a four-year starter as a punter at Louisiana Tech and is now a successful medical device salesman in Greenville, S.C.

The three brothers started their journey by practicing with a makeshift goalpost made with a soccer goal with PVC pipe on each side for uprights. They competed hard with each other and still do on the unusual occasions when they are back home together. Evan is the first player from Fort Payne to play in an NFL game. Alex will almost certainly be the second. That will be a dream-come-true for Alex, but for now, he is living another dream.

Alex had seven scholarship offers, all from SEC programs, as high school senior. His family had never really chosen sides between Auburn and Alabama, but Alex had.

“Auburn was really my dream school,” Alex says. “To come here and play is the dream I’ve always had. Making the decision wasn’t hard. When they made the offer, I was ready to commit right then.”

Alex had known what he wanted since he had attended a camp at Auburn as a seventh-grader.

“We weren’t diehard Auburn or Alabama,” Alex says. “When I came to my first camp here, I really loved it – just the town, the university, everything about it.”

First-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze didn’t know what to expect from any of his kickers when he arrived last December. In spring practice, he quickly found out. Here is what he said last spring:

“Look we haven’t had a game yet but look in spring practice and I was overjoyed like every time we kicked. “It was like ‘Oh my gosh!’ I got a kicker. This guy can put points on the board.”

That’s exactly what Alex has done as place-kicker and field goal man.

“Yeah, I mean, I coach him, so I, I take credit for him,” Freeze says with a laugh. More seriously, “I wouldn't know what to tell him. That comes from genetics, I think, and his genes. But I'm extremely comfortable with him. I think in these next few road games, he plays a huge role in getting points when we get in field position.”

***

Kickers come and go in college football and in the NFL. Approaches are different. Mindsets are different. All of those things, Alex says, go back to his brothers and that makeshift goalpost in the yard.

“I think, for me, it’s just being myself,” Alex says. “I know I can trust what I’ve always done. I know when I go out there I am prepared and have done everything I need to do leading up to that moment. I just have to trust. Going into any kick, I think of what I need to do to make the kick and not about the moment.”

What if he was sent to kick a game-winning field goal against Alabama?

“I don’t think I would be nervous,” Alex says. “I think I would be excited that I got to do it.”

Kicking a ball through the uprights with consistency is about muscle memory, concentration and nerves of steel. Those things are the same, Alex says, in high school or college. Probably the NFL, too. His mother, who frequently shagged balls for her kicking sons, helped convince him of that when he would become frustrated because he couldn’t kick as far as his older brothers.

“For me it was always technique,” Alex says. “It wasn’t as much how far I could kick the ball. That is probably a testament to, honestly, my mom. She would always tell us ‘If you can keep it down the middle, as you get older you will kick it farther and it will still be down the middle.’ That’s a pretty good mindset to have. If you can keep it down the middle, your strength will come and you will make those kicks eventually.”

Frrom left, Evan, Alex and Logan McPherson

Alex jokes with Auburn coaches about putting a fake field goal into gameplans. He is not just a kicker. He has some athletic ability, too.

“Hey, I played quarterback in middle school,” Alex says. “I wasn’t terrible. I was the fourth-string quarterback. I actually played receiver, but then all the quarterbacks got hurt and they said ‘Can you play quarterback?’ I said ‘sure.’ My first play I threw a touchdown and kicked the PAT. That was pretty cool.”

On the soccer field, Alex was a standout goalie through his junior year in high school, but he gave it up to devote all his attention to kicking. And his right leg was too valuable to the Fort Payne High School team to risk it playing another position. Chris Elmore, his high school coach, says his impact unlike he had witnessed.

“Most of the time, after high school football games, you see kids running around, throwing touchdown passes, running the ball, tackling, whatever it is,” Elmore says. “At Fort Payne, we had about 10 kids trying to kick extra points. They saw Alex make a state record, and they were trying to figure out how they could kick."

For Alex, Evan is more than just a brother. He’s a friend, a confidant and even a coach. Evan learned from Logan and Alex from Evan. It’s a true family tradition.

“If I ever need to tweak anything or have any questions, I can just ask my brother,” Alex says. “That is kind of a unique outlet to have. We talk pretty much every day. We work out together when he comes back.”

Alex’s Auburn journey is just getting started. He didn’t flinch when Bryan Harsin was fired and Freeze was hired. He didn’t sign with Auburn because of a coach.

“It has been,” Alex says, “everything I ever dreamed of.”

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247sports.com

Why Freezes team reminds Bruce Pearl of his first season at Auburn

Nathan King

7–9 minutes

“My first team knew that we were going to get it going,” Bruce Pearl said Wednesday.

Hugh Freeze hopes his team’s turnaround can mirror some of the success of a coach he admires at Auburn.

And Bruce Pearl, whom Freeze called Monday “one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met,” thinks there are plenty of similarities between the job Freeze is doing in Year 1, and how Pearl’s team fought in his first season at Auburn all the way back in 2014-15.

Freeze’s Tigers are finally off the schneid, winning their first SEC game Saturday by defeating Mississippi State 27-13 at home. But wins and losses aren’t where Pearl has been seeing parallels.

“I'm so happy for his locker room, happy for his staff, happy for the Auburn family,” Pearl said Monday, taking the podium right after Freeze to discuss the Tigers’ exhibition game Wednesday against Auburn-Montgomery. “His approach this week was that we talked about that, and it reminded me again of my first season. KT Harrell and that group so badly wanted to be a part of the turnaround — whether it be culture or the way we trained. It certainly could not be in winning championships right away; that wasn't going to be their turn.”

Pearl inherited an Auburn basketball program that had a losing record in all four of Tony Barbee’s seasons, including an 18-50 mark in SEC play. Pearl knew he was in for a significant rebuild. All he wanted was fan support and patience as he improved the roster’s health and recruited at a higher level.

Freeze has obviously used a lot of that same language in his first season at Auburn, after taking over following the failed Bryan Harsin regime, which saw the Tigers miss a bowl game last year for the first time since 2012 and lose nine of 10 Power Matchups before Harsin was fired on Halloween.

On the hardwood, Auburn went just 4-14 in conference competition in Pearl’s first season, but saw fight from his program and a renewed confidence that they could play with anyone. That was validated when the Tigers won three games as the 13-seed in the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

“My first team knew that we were going to get it going,” Pearl said. “They didn't know when and they didn't know how big a part of it they would be. But they desperately wanted to be part of that history. So we can all look back to our first year and go, 'That team didn't quit.' They won three games in the SEC tournament down the stretch, and they were part of the rebuild.

“That's what this football team is doing right here, right now, and this program. So they've got a lot to play for.”

Pearl’s program then improved its SEC standing in each of its first three seasons before breaking through and winning a regular-season championship in 2017-18 and making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years. The Tigers have made four NCAA tournaments since, with 68 SEC wins, three combined SEC titles and the program’s first-ever trip to the Final Four.

Freeze and his players had felt they’ve been close to turning a corner, particularly in the passing game, but an SEC schedule that saw Auburn as an underdog in its first four matchups was unforgiving. A home game against another struggling SEC team proved to be the remedy, as quarterback Payton Thorne threw three touchdowns in the first half in the most efficient showing for the Tigers through the air against a Power Five opponent this season by far.

“Proud of the improvement that I thought our kids showed and the job our staff did,” Freeze said. “I think it's a direct reflection of accountability and little things that we've been trying to instill in the way we operate on a daily basis here. It was good to see them have success on the field. Hopefully we can grow from that.”

On paper, Auburn should be able to grow with potentially three straight wins. The Tigers are a double-digit favorite at Vanderbilt this weekend, then face an Arkansas team with zero SEC wins, followed by a matchup with New Mexico State in the pre-Iron Bowl warmup.

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Auburn offense 'searching for perfection' after win over Miss. State

Auburn's offense still has plenty to work on following a win over MSU.

AUBURN, Alabama—After failing to score more than 21 points in a Power 5 game this season, the Auburn Tigers scored 24 in the first half against Mississippi State on the way to a 27-13 victory. Struggling to find rhythm and success with multiple quarterbacks playing and rotating, on Saturday the Tigers stuck with Payton Thorne and it led to the best game of the year to this point.

But it’s an offense that is far from satisfied. Honored by the Southeastern Conference as one of the co-offensive linemen of the week, Gunner Britton said he believes there is plenty more ahead for this group as they get ready to face Vanderbilt in Nashville this Saturday.

“Sometimes you have to see it to believe it,” Britton said. “Guys on our team can now see we’re capable of doing it, we should be able to do it more consistently and have that breakthrough. I said it after the Ole Miss game of how close we were. I feel like we saw what this offense is capable of. We just have to go do it again this week.”

The offense revolved around the best passing day of the season for Thorne and the Tigers. Completing 20-26 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, the Michigan State transfer did some good things, but coach Hugh Freeze said even his performance didn’t come without things he can improve.

“He probably left two throws out there that he probably should've thrown, in my opinion, he'll agree when he sees the film,” Thorne said. “He had two other RPOs that probably should've been thrown. I thought he left the pocket early a couple times but he did good things with it. He took care of the ball.

“Outside of those four plays it was hard to argue that he didn't play really, really, really solid. Had one ball that was a little high but we've got to catch those, too. I just thought he played really solid, really confidently and I thought our kids responded to that around him well.”

For Thorne it’s all about capitalizing on every possession. Auburn did a good job of building an early lead, but was unable to get some first downs when backed up with poor field position in the fourth quarter. Auburn’s starter said that’s just one of the things they have to get better at this week.

“Obviously I wish we would have been more productive in the second half,” Thorne said. “I think we only scored three points, but we only had one possession in the third quarter. We could have been better there. We were backed up a few times, but our job is to get a couple of first downs at least and we didn’t do that. That wasn’t good by us. We finished the game on the field, which is a positive. There’s absolutely stuff we can improve on. There is every game. We’re going to take a critical eye and fix those up.”

Britton said that means chasing the unattainable goal of playing a perfect game. It’s not something that will ever happen, but the veteran offensive lineman said that doesn’t mean you can’t try.

“Everyone is chasing perfection,” Britton said. “The beauty of this game is no one is going to be perfect. If the quarterback goes out there and throws for seven touchdowns, there’s still two or three passes that he misses that he wants to have back. That’s the fun part of this game. It’s a little bit easier to do after a win because those mistakes are still magnified, but it’s not like it caused us to lose a game. It’s a little bit nicer for us. We can move on to the next one and see the mistakes and coach them up and move on from there.”

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al.com

 

LB Eugene Asante wearing non-contact jersey at Auburn’s Halloween practice, other injury notes

Updated: Oct. 31, 2023, 5:13 p.m.|Published: Oct. 31, 2023, 5:04 p.m.

3–4 minutes

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Auburn coach Hugh Freeze previews Vanderbilt

Auburn starting linebacker Eugene Asante wore a yellow non-contact jersey during a period of practice Tuesday open to media members. He did still take part in drills with the team.

Asante’s left arm — and specifically his elbow, it appeared — was wrapped as he went through drills. His status for this weekend’s game against Vanderbilt is unclear.

Auburn officials have not stated his specific injury.

Starting center Avery Jones who missed last week’s win over Mississippi State with an undisclosed injury, was seen on the practice field, but separate from the team as he worked on agility drills on the indoor practice field. His left leg was wrapped up and he wore a large brace as he went through rehab drills.

Freshman center Connor Lew played well enough to earn SEC Freshman of the Week in Jones’ place, and will likely start again against Vanderbilt.

On Monday, head coach Hugh Freeze mentioned starting offensive linemen Kam Stutts and Gunner Britton could be rested at Tuesday’s practice because of how beat-up they have been throughout this season. They have been playing at less than 100% health.

Stutts was seen off to the side riding a stationary bike, but Britton practiced in full.

“Kam Stutts is a warrior who loves Auburn and is giving everything he can, but he’s beat up,” Freeze said Monday. “It’s sad to see, because he would love to go every rep, but man, he’s one of these veterans that we probably need to not make practice tomorrow — seriously — to try to get through the year with him. And Gunner Britton was beat up some. We’ve got to rotate those guys to hopefully, I mean, it’s a long season. We’ve got four more games, and we need all those guys to play significant snaps.”

Starting defensive lineman Marcus Harris also practiced in full after picking up an injury in the Mississippi State win.

Freeze said Monday there is nothing “lingering” for Harris and offensive lineman Izavion ‘Too Tall’ Miller.

Wide receiver Nick Mardner was not seen at Tuesday’s open practice window. He has already missed time with an injury early in the season.

The practice on the evening of Halloween also featured an inflatable T-Rex costume.

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

Auburn DB Jaylin Simpson named one of 15 Jim Thorpe Award semifinalists

Published: Oct. 31, 2023, 12:04 p.m.

~2 minutes

Hugh Freeze does celebration dance with Jaylin Simpson after fumble recovery vs UMass

Auburn defensive back Jaylin Simpson hasn’t been able to stay out of the headlines this season. And in his case, it hasn’t been a bad problem to have.

From being the nation’s leader in interceptions at one point and dancing along the sidelines with Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, to coining the term “Plankton mentality” last week, Simpson has had himself a time through the front half of his fifth and final season on The Plains.

And it’s not going unnoticed.

On Tuesday morning, Simpson was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award, which is awarded annually to the best defensive back in college football.

Simpson lands himself on the list having tallied 22 tackles, four interceptions, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

According to Pro Football Focus, Simpson ranks as the nation’s fourth-best safety in coverage having played 216 coverage snaps and only allowing 11 receptions on 19 targets. Meanwhile, Simpson has yet to allow a touchdown catch.

Three finalists for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award will be announced on Nov. 28, followed by the winner being announced on Dec. 8 at the Home Depot College Football Awards.

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247sports.com

Offensive line depth paying dividends for Tigers

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

AUBURN, Alabama—Playing perhaps its best game of the season in a win over Mississippi State last week, Auburn’s offensive line continues to come together after being completely rebuilt by Hugh Freeze and Jake Thornton after they took over the job. Even with nagging injuries impacting everyone up front, the Tigers have more than held their own this season, said quarterback Payton Thorne.

“Yeah, they've been great,” Thorne said. “Loved working with those guys. A lot of really good human beings. That's always fun when you're working with good guys. They work hard and they work at taking care of their bodies as well. Those are important things.

“They show up everyday to work. Nobody is trying to sit out of a practice or anything. Coaches are having to pull our guys out because they want to be playing. Just keep working with those guys and getting on the same page as them. Keep improving as much as we can and I think we'll do that.”

Auburn’s line has continued to improve despite starting guards Kameron Stutts and Gunner Britton both dealing with nagging injuries along with right tackle Izavion Miller. Already without starting center Avery Jones against the Bulldogs, Freeze said they were forced to rotate in guys like Jeremiah Wright and Jaden Muskrat while true freshman Connor Lew earned his first career start.

“Kam Stutts is a warrior who loves Auburn and is giving everything he can, but he's beat up,” Freeze said. “It's sad to see, because he would love to go every rep, but man, he's one of these veterans that we probably need to not make practice tomorrow — seriously — to try to get through the year with him. And Gunner Britton was beat up some. We've got to rotate those guys to hopefully, I mean, it's a long season. We've got four more games, and we need all those guys to play significant snaps.

“So I think rotating them is in the best of us, but to handle all the stuff that State throws at a team the way they did in the first half was really, really remarkable, truthfully. I expected a lot more negative plays than we had. And they protected the quarterback really well, the first half especially.”

Rotating offensive linemen isn’t something that is normally done, but it’s something this Auburn team has been forced to do because of injuries. Saying they’ve handled things well to this point, Britton said it’s all about preparation and understanding what your role is.

“I think we do a really good job preparing everybody and making sure we have 10, 11, 12 guys that can go into a game and play at any given time,” he said. “That starts today when we go into meetings. Everybody has to be on the same page and understand what we’re doing. Even like Connor, you never know when your number is going to get called. When your moment is called and the team has to depend on you, you have to be able to respond.”

Auburn takes on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday at 3 p.m. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.

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saturdaydownsouth.com

Payton Thorne praises Auburn fans: ‘We have the best atmosphere in the country’

Bryce Lazenby | 1 day ago

~3 minutes

Payton Thorne had serious praise for the Auburn faithful on Monday. The crowd was a big factor for the Tigers as they secured a home win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

“We have an amazing atmosphere, I think it’s one of the best, if not the best, in the country,” declared Thorne. “We love our fans and appreciate their support.”

“We have the best atmosphere in the country. We love our fans and appreciate their support.”

? @PaytonThorne joined @SECNetwork this morning ↓

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 30, 2023

Even with the team entering last Saturday with a 3-4 record, the Tigers had a sell-out crowd of 88,043 at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the matchup with the Bulldogs. The crowd was noticeably raucous and was likely responsible for some of the Bulldogs’ 8 penalties.

Thorne had his best game of the season, completing 20 of his 26 passes for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also ran 8 times for 38 yards.

Jarquez Hunter also had a big day, rushing 17 times for 144 yards. The Tigers racked up 416 total yards of offense and didn’t turn the ball over once.

It will be a couple of weeks before Tigers fans get to show out again. The Tigers’ next 2 games will be on the road, at Vanderbilt and at Arkansas. The team will finish off the regular season with home games against New Mexico State and Alabama.

[aubiefifty 18,259]

 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

al.com

Auburn-Vanderbilt tickets available; Here’s how to get seats

Updated: Oct. 31, 2023, 7:41 p.m.|Published: Oct. 31, 2023, 7:41 p.m.

2–3 minutes

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter carries the football during an SEC game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.(AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Auburn travels to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Saturday, Nov. 4. Tickets are available Vivid Seats, StubHub and Seat Geek.

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers got their first SEC win of the season last week with a 27-13 win over Mississippi State. Payton Thorne passed for 230 yards and three first-half touchdowns and Jarquez Hunter ran for a season-high 144 yards to lead Auburn. The Tigers snapped a four-game skid and got their first league win under coach Hugh Freeze after racing to a 24-3 halftime lead, their biggest in an SEC game in four years.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is coming off a 33-7 loss to Ole Miss. The Commodores (2-7, 0-5) were led by reserve quarterback Walter Taylor, leading a third-quarter scoring drive capped by a 2-yard scoring run.

The Commodores managed 229 yards of total offense, including 65 yards on the touchdown drive and 53 on the game’s final series.

Check out the available seats:

Vivid Seats

Vivid Seats has tickets starting at $67.

StubHub

StubHub has seats for as low as $77 each.

Seat Geek

Seat Geek is offering seats for as cheap as $98.

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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[aubiefifty 18,259]

i woke up late because my heat is messed up. my three dogs literally kept me warm. anyway slim pickings this morning. it is almost like winning is not as much fun as being critical is. i will check back later for any updates. today is payday so i am going out and getting me some reeces cups!

[Gowebb11 9,882]

6 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i woke up late because my heat is messed up. my three dogs literally kept me warm. anyway slim pickings this morning. it is almost like winning is not as much fun as being critical is. i will check back later for any updates. today is payday so i am going out and getting me some reeces cups!

Solid post @aubiefifty Great articles, good dog reference, and Reese’s cups for breakfasts! Love it. Hope you get that heat right and appreciate the articles. 💪🏻

[aubiefifty 18,259]

1 minute ago, Gowebb11 said:

Solid post @aubiefifty Great articles, good dog reference, and Reese’s cups for breakfasts! Love it. Hope you get that heat right and appreciate the articles. 💪🏻

i get by but i sure did not want to crawl out of bed this morning!  grins thanx for stopping by!

[SaltyTiger 8,579]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

i woke up late because my heat is messed up. my three dogs literally kept me warm. anyway slim pickings this morning. it is almost like winning is not as much fun as being critical is. i will check back later for any updates. today is payday so i am going out and getting me some reeces cups!

Good stuff and Happy November Fiddy. Thanks to no trick or treaters I have a good supply of Reese’s cups. 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

2 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Good stuff and Happy November Fiddy. Thanks to no trick or treaters I have a good supply of Reese’s cups. 

that is so wrong salty........this is the very reason no one likes you..............grins