Tag: auburn footbal

‘A name doesn’t mean anything.’ Cal running back Jaydn Ott throws shade at Auburn

The talented running back from Cal has provided his opponent with bulletin board material ahead of Saturday’s game.

The Auburn Tigers just received some bulletin board material ahead of Saturday’s matchup with 1-0 Cal.

Golden Bears running back [autotag]Jaydn Ott[/autotag] spoke to members of the media on Wednesday, making sure to let everyone know he is not afraid of Auburn.

“There’s a lot of focus on the name Auburn. But what I see on film is not really in comparison to what their name is,” Ott said Wednesday. “I just want to get that into my guys’ heads that a name doesn’t mean anything.”

Ott, who rushed for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns in Cal’s opener against North Texas, obviously sees holes in an Auburn defense that struggled to stop the run in 2022 and was only able to hold UMass to 5.5 YPG a week ago.

The Tigers defense also took a hit this week, and possibly longer, with MLB [autotag]Austin Keys[/autotag] injuring his thumb in last week’s game. Key’s figured to play a large role in Auburn’s defensive front seven this year, but will be “out for a while” according to head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag].

Ott’s words ultimately ring semi-true in the sense that Auburn was not close to the best version of themselves over the last few seasons. The often-feared Tigers played more like house cats under [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag]. The film, and the record, reflect that.

Still, Auburn has been in the midst of finding its identity under [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], creating hype around the program once again. Quotes like this from opposing players are one surefire way to jumpstart a team coming together as one.

There is little doubt that Freeze and Co. will use Ott’s words to light a fire under this new-look Auburn team.

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Hugh Freeze ranked highly amongst new coaches by Mike Farrell Sports

The experts at Mike Farrell Sports continue to praise Auburn’s hire of Hugh Freeze.

[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has been hired to return the Auburn Tigers to prominence.

Through vamped-up recruiting efforts, the results are already visible through the renewed energy and purpose surrounding the program and its fanbase.

In an article from Mike Farell Sports, JC Nevils ranked the top head coaching hires for the 2023 season. Neville placed Freeze at No. 2.

Nevils’ take on Freeze:

While many people have a love-hate relationship with Hugh Freeze, and with good reason, no one can deny that he can coach the best of them. While his overall record wasn’t great at Ole Miss, he has shown he can beat the big boys and develop players to go on to the NFL as well. Malik Willis at Liberty is a great example going into the third round of the 2022 draft. Winning against Alabama also helps, and that is exactly what Auburn wants. With his recruiting and development, he should do well so long as the ship can stay intact, along with the NIL.

The only coach ahead of Freeze was Luke Fickell of the Wisconsin Badgers.

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Former Auburn player and coach Travis Williams to become DC at Arkansas

Auburn will face Travis Williams and Arkansas on Nov. 23 in Fayetteville next season.

Former Auburn linebacker [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] is back coaching in the SEC West just not at Auburn.

According to a report by Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, Arkansas is in the process of hiring him to become its defensive coordinator.

Williams has spent the past two seasons as UCF’s defensive coordinator after spending the previous seven years at Auburn in various roles. The former All-SEC linebacker played at Auburn from 2001-05.

His first coaching stint at Auburn was from 2009-11 as a graduate assistant and he returned in 2014 as a defensive analyst. He was promoted to linebackers coach in 2016 and co-defensive coordinator in 2018.

Williams followed former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn to become the defensive coordinator at UCF, his first time having complete control of the defense. The Knights held opponents to 23.2 points per game this season, good enough to rank 39th nationally. They had the best red zone defense in the American Athletic Conference, allowing touchdowns on 44.44% of opponent trips.

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Winners and Losers from Auburn’s win over San Jose State

It was ugly but Auburn got the win Saturday, something several other major programs can not say.

Well, it may not have inspired a lot of o confidence but on a weekend with several massive upsets, Auburn was able to pick up the win.

The Tigers beat San Jose State 24-16 in Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday and are now 2-0 on the season.

On a night when the offense was unable to get anything going in the first half, the Tigers’ defense was able to keep them in the game. The offense woke up in the second half and did just enough for Auburn to pull out the victory and avoid a disastrous loss, something Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M were unable to avoid earlier in the day.

Here are some winners and losers from Auburn’s win over the Spartans.

Auburn’s offensive keys against Mercer

Auburn is clearly more athletic than the Mercer Bears but here are five things they need to do on offense.

The start of Auburn football is just one day away and we can finally start talking about specific football games. 

Auburn is set to open the season against the Mercer Bears Saturday in Jordan-Hare at 6 p.m. CT and the Bears are already 1-0 after dominating Morehead State 63-13 last week. 

Auburn is clearly more talented and athletic than Mercer and it can be tough to have any big takeaways against an FCS opponent, even a good one. 

Despite that, there are lots of questions about Auburn’s offense and this game will be the first chance to see how they have progressed over the off-season. This includes both newcomers who were brought in this offseason and experienced players who are looking to fill bigger roles. 

Here are five keys for Auburn’s offense against Mercer.

Keys to Auburn’s 24-10 win over Mississippi State

Here were the keys to Auburns 24-10 win over Mississippi State.

It may have taken some time but the Auburn offense finally woke up and the Tigers picked up a critical win against Mississippi State. 

Auburn rode its defense and a strong fourth quarter to a 24-10 win where neither offense looked ready to play in the first half. 

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and improved Auburn to 6-4 on the season. 

Here were the keys to the important win.