Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Auburn has landed a huge need for the 2021 season!
Auburn has filled a big need on its roster.
On Thursday, former five-star recruit and Georgia Bulldog Demetris Robinson has committed to the Tigers.
Robertson’s best season with Georgia came as a freshman in 2016 in which he caught 50 passes for 767 yards and seven touchdowns. Auburn hopes that he can return to that playmaker this season as the Tigers are short on experienced receivers.
The Auburn Tigers are on fire on the recruiting trail!
Caleb Wooden did not want to wait any longer as he tweeted out that he was committing to the Auburn Tigers Thursday morning.
Wooden, the younger brother of Auburn defensive end Colby Wooden, is the third Auburn commit in as many days. The three-star safety from Archer High School in Lawrenceville, GA was offered by the Tigers on June 28th. Just a few weeks later he announced that he will be joining Auburn’s 2022 signing class.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound defensive back was in Auburn for an official visit on June 25th.
Wooden held offers from Duke, West Virginia, Appalachian State, and Georgia Southern.
Wooden joins tight-end Micah Riley-Ducker, kicker Alex McPherson, quarterback Holden Geriner, defensive back Jarrell Stinson, and linebacker Powell Gordon in Auburn’s 2022 signing class.
— ÇJW (@caleb_wooden) July 8, 2021
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Auburn lands a commitment from tight end Micah Riley-Ducker.
After Micah Riley-Ducker’s announcement to commit to Auburn, fortunes on the recruiting trail are starting to pivot in the right direction for Bryan Harsin’s program.
The Tigers landed a commitment from Riley-Ducker, a coveted 3-star tight end from the midwest Wednesday night. The Bellevue, Nebraska native was being pursued by multiple regional schools, including Illinois, Iowa State, and Iowa. The Hawkeyes, who have a prestigious track record of NFL-caliber tight ends, received several crystal ball predictions from 247 Sports to land Riley-Ducker, before Wednesday morning, when six crystal ball predictions were submitted for Riley-Ducker to select Auburn.
According to 247 Sports, Riley-Ducker is listed at six-foot-six, 235 pounds. During his two seasons with Bellevue West High School, Riley-Ducker caught 40 passes for 529 yards and six touchdowns.
Auburn’s fifth member of the 2022 class comes immediately following the commitment from the nation’s best kicker in Alex McPherson, who committed to the Tigers Tuesday night.
I’m on my own wave. 🦅💥#WarDamn pic.twitter.com/3IqZEZwsGp
— 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲-𝐃𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 (@micah_r_d) July 7, 2021
Auburn fans were becoming increasingly impatient with the coaching staff before the two additions in as many days.
Riley-Ducker joins McPherson, quarterback Holden Geriner, defensive back Jarrell Stinson, and linebacker Powell Gordon in Auburn’s 2022 signing class.
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A local Auburn radio host compared Bryan Harsin to a well-known Marvel character.
Bryan Harsin was brought to The Plains to be a hero for the Auburn fanbase and discussions happened this week on the local Auburn radio airwaves on which hero he could be compared to at this point of his career.
The local Auburn radio show, On The Line, dove into which SEC coaches could be compared to Avengers characters from the Marvel movies.
The show’s host, Noah Gardner, went through several popular main characters throughout the Marvel movies before he got to the Avenger that he compared Auburn’s new head coach to. That character was Ant-Man.
“For Ant-Man, I’m going to go with Bryan Harsin here,” Gardner said. “When he was at Boise State, at times Boise would be small and out of the limelight, and at other times Boise State could be viewed as a bigger program like Ant-Man can be small or large. He was all by himself in Idaho which is similar to how Ant-Man was just an offshoot character in the Marvel universe. He had a couple of movies but he didn’t actually connect into the main storyline in any way until late.”
Gardner also pointed out that Ant-Man was the key character to get everyone back together to fight Thanos again.
For what it’s worth, Gardner compared Nick Saban to Thanos.
On The Line can be heard weekday afternoons from 2 pm-4 pm CST on ESPN 106.7 and Fox Sports Central Alabama.
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Auburn is competing with Michigan and Oklahoma for this cornerback.
Auburn is in the final three schools for three-star cornerback Myles Pollard and will learn on Wednesday if he will become a Tiger.
From Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee, Pollard is ranked the No. 39 cornerback by 247Sports composite and the Tigers are joined by Michigan and Oklahoma in the final group for his signature.
Decision time Wednesday❕ pic.twitter.com/8ZhNJg8gim
— 𝑴𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒅 (@me1espollard) July 5, 2021
Bryan Harsin and his staff currently have just three commitments for the 2022 signing class including four-star quarterback Holden Geriner, three-star cornerback Jarell Stinson and three-star linebacker Powell Gordon.
Landen King could be a major factor at the tight end position in the near future.
Name: Landen King
Number: 40
Position: Tight end
Class: Freshman
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 214 lbs.
Hometown: Beaumont, Texas
High School: Atascocita
Twitter: @Landen_King3
Overview:
A talented tight end that also played H-back in high school, the three-star signee out of Beaumont, Texas will have plenty of chances to work his way up a crowded depth chart at his position. King brings a pedigree of being able to get open and, with good hands, be a reliable target for the quarterback. With the use of the tight end hopefully becoming a thing in Mike Bobo’s offense, he could be a major weapon in the near future.
Auburn’s running back room is growing thin.
A position where Auburn lacks depth just took a big hit.
On Friday, it was announced that backup running back Devan Barrett has entered the NCAA transfer portal. It was first reported by On3.com.
Barrett, who sat out the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, was expected to fill in as backups to both Tank Bigsby and Shaun Shivers during the upcoming season. A four-star signee at the running back position out of Tampa Catholic High School in 2017, Barrett made the transition to defensive back in 2018 at the end of fall camp and saw some playing time there that year.
Per 247Sports, Barrett’s high school coach, Jeris McIntyre, spoke on the position changes.
“He’s always had a skill set to play either side of the ball,” McIntyre, an Auburn wide receiver in the early 2000s, said. “He was recruited from other schools at other positions: DB, safety, wide receiver. So I wasn’t surprised. I think there were some depth issues with Auburn’s defensive backs when he made the move a while back. So we didn’t know if it was going to be permanent; it was just something to see, maybe help him get on the field. Looking at the situation, it made a little bit of sense when he moved. I wasn’t truly surprised because it’s college, and sometimes you have to move guys around and try to use their skill sets.”
This makes me want to drink Milo’s tea even more!
[mm-video type=video id=01f9j4pkaj0v0r2m65sj playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f9j4pkaj0v0r2m65sj/01f9j4pkaj0v0r2m65sj-58b3494522206663f6cc78eaba1a6791.jpg]
Alabama fans can be babies sometimes, can’t they?
On Thursday, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix announced his partnering with Milo’s as an endorsement as the name, like and image rule came into play for NCAA student-athletes.
Well, one Crimson Tide fan just couldn’t handle drinking the same drink that a Tiger endorsed so they filmed them taking the gallon of Milo’s tea out of the refrigerator and pouring it down a drain.
I’m certain that fan will regret his decision when he is thirsty again.
Auburn QB Bo Nix’s first sponsor: Milos Tea
💀 Alabama fans:
(via @NPerkins96)
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 1, 2021
Auburn or Gus Malzahn: Who will make the College Football Playoff first?
Since its inception in 2014, Auburn has yet to make the College Football Playoff. The Tigers’ closest call came in 2017 when a victory in the SEC Championship Game would have put them in the final four.
After eight seasons under Gus Malzahn, the Tigers are now led by Bryan Harsin while Malzahn landed a job at UCF, a perennial Group of Five power.
So, with that in mind, someone named Brian S. (and no, it wasn’t me) wrote into The Athletic’s ($) mailbag to ask who makes the playoff first between the Tigers and their old coach. Steward Mandel answered the question.
Fascinating question. Tough one to answer, though, given we don’t know when it’s going to start. Will Malzahn still be at UCF in 2026? Will Bryan Harsin still be at Auburn? Who the heck knows?
The safe bet, though, is Auburn, just because the Tigers are going to have more margin for error. For UCF to make the Playoff, it’s probably going to have to both win the AAC and, most years, be ranked higher than any of the other Group of 5 champions. Whereas Auburn could go 9-3, finish third in the SEC West and, depending on what that 9-3 looks like, make the CFP as an at-large team.
Over the past 40 years, Auburn has not gone more than four years without at least one nine-win season. The Tigers have been highly erratic and yet highly predictable. Whereas I can’t begin to predict what UCF’s trajectory will be under Malzahn.
Who knows, maybe a matchup between Auburn and a Malzahn-led UCF is in the future for the playoffs. That would be some storyline.
Can Moss earn some playing time in 2021?
Name: James Owen Moss
Number: 35
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Senior
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 191 lbs.
Hometown: Opelika, Alabama
High School: Opelika
2020 Statistics: N/A
Overview:
After seeing action in six games in 2019, the Opelika native didn’t see the field as a junior in 2020. With the lack of experienced depth at the wide receiver position, he might be able to work himself up to some playing time.
