Tag: brandon cox

Two Auburn commits are prime candidates to win Alabama’s Mr. Football in 2023

Auburn has locked in several of Alabama’s top recruits for the 2024 cycle, two of them are up for the state’s top award.

Auburn has found early success by locking in several of the state of Alabama’s top recruits for the 2024 cycle.

In the latest update from 247Sports, three of the state’s top 10 recruits, and nine of the top 25, are committed to Auburn. Two of those prized commits are considered to be candidates for the state of Alabama’s top award heading into the 2023 season.

Ben Thomas of AL.com recently revealed his top 20 candidates to win Mr. Football for the state of Alabama this season, and two of Auburn’s 2024 commits are in consideration for the postseason award.

The first Auburn commit mentioned is four-star running back [autotag]J’Marion Burnette[/autotag]. Burnette is the state’s No. 14 prospect and is poised to have another great season for Andalusia High School.

As a junior, he rushed for 1,473 yards and 17 TDs on 187 carries in just 11 games. He missed Andalusia’s state semifinal and state championship game after suffering a concussion in the quarterfinals. A healthy Burnette should pile up huge rushing statistics again.

Next up is the Tigers’ top commit for the cycle, five-star wide receiver [autotag]Perry Thompson[/autotag]. Thompson flipped his commitment from Alabama to Auburn during Big Cat Weekend in July and looks to finish his high school career in a big way as a two-way player for Clay-Chalkville.

A first-team Class 7A All-State receiver as a junior a year ago, Thompson caught 87 passes for 1,059 yards and 9 TDs for the Region 1 champions. He also had a pair of interceptions on defense and could play more on that side of the ball as a senior.

Although not committed, Auburn target [autotag]Alvin Henderson[/autotag] is also in the mix to win the award. Henderson is a four-star running back for the 2025 class and is the No. 10 player at his position. Last season at Elba, he rushed for over 200 yards per game.

Historically, ten winners of Alabama’s Mr. Football award have signed with Auburn. [autotag]Bo Nix[/autotag] was the last Auburn signee to with the award, doing so in 2019. [autotag]Kerryon Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Demarco McNeil[/autotag], and [autotag]Brandon Cox[/autotag] are other notable Auburn players to win the award.

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Former Auburn WR steps down as head coach of Pinson Valley High School

Lee Guess, who played for Auburn from 2002-06, led the Indians to a 6-4 record in his lone season as head coach.

When it comes to coaching, it is all about finding the right balance between work life, and family life. Former Auburn wide receiver [autotag]Lee Guess[/autotag] is hoping to find that in the next chapter of his life.

Guess announced Monday that he would be stepping down as the head football coach at Pinson Valley High School after one season. In a statement to AL.com, Guess says that he will take time away from coaching in order to spend more time with his wife and four children.

The responsibilities of a head coach on and off the field are weighty. What makes a successful coach, in my opinion, is one who can balance those responsibilities alongside the responsibilities of a spouse and parent. Achieving that balance has proved to be very difficult and frankly more than I want to put my family through. So with much prayer and consideration, I’ve decided to step away from coaching in order to focus on my roles as a husband and father.

In his lone season as head coach, he led the Indians to a 6-4 record and a first round appearance in the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs. Prior to his time as head coach, he was the offensive coordinator for Pinson Valley for a season and spent five seasons as the program’s wide receivers coach under another former Auburn player, [autotag]Patrick Nix[/autotag].

Guess was former Auburn quarterback [autotag]Brandon Cox[/autotag]’s top target at Hewitt-Trussville High School before the pair signed with Auburn. During his time on the Plains from 2002-06, Guess reeled in 14 catches for 262 yards as a wide receiver.

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Auburn football: Top 10 passing yards in a season by a Tiger

Auburn has had some productive quarterbacks including Jarrett Stidham, Patrick Nix and Dameyune Craig during program history.

Auburn has had an array of types of quarterbacks from straight drop-back passers such as Patrick Nix, multiple threats such as Nick Marshall and, of course, the super-beast that was Cam Newton in the 2010 national title season.

Yet all of those guys had arms — in the case of Brandon Cox, a left arm — that could find receivers and put up yards and points on the board. But who has had the best passing season in Auburn history?

We take a look at the top 10 passing performances in a season by a Tiger quarterback.

Auburn football: Top 10 career passing yards by a Tiger

From Pat Sullivan to Stan White to Bo Nix, a long list of talented quarterbacks have played in an Auburn uniform.

Auburn has had an illustrious list of quarterbacks play in the burnt orange and navy blue but only the best of the best appear on this list.

From Pat Sullivan winning the 1971 Heisman Trophy to Bo Nix currently slinging it down the field for the Tigers, Auburn fans have cheered on some amazing signal-callers.

Here are the top 10 players with the most career passing yards in Auburn program history.

Auburn vs South Carolina: History is short and one-sided

The Tigers have dominated the series against South Carolina.

Despite both teams meeting for the first time 90 years ago, the Auburn Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks have only faced off 12 times in series history.

The first time these two teams ever met was on November 27, 1930 in Columbus, Georgia. Auburn was coached by Chet Wynne in his first season while South Carolina head coach Billy Laval was finishing up his third season. The Gamecocks had a successful season under Laval having defeated LSU and Duke that year, but they ran into trouble in their 25-7 loss to the Auburn Tigers.

Oct 1, 2005; Auburn, AL, USA; Brad Lester (28) of the Auburn Tigers dives over South Carolina Gamecock defenders and into the endzone at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers beat the Gamecocks 48-7. Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Reed-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2005 John Reed

Fast forward to 2005 where the Tigers celebrated their largest victory over the Gamecocks. Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier was coaching his first season for the Gamecocks and had already lost to both Georgia and Alabama coming into this game (brutal start to conference play right there, even with Mike Shula as head coach for Alabama). This game gave the Head Ball Coach fits, he probably threw his headset too before it was all said and done.

Tommy Tuberville’s 2005 Auburn squad absolutely shut out the Gamecocks 48-7. The Gamecocks were only able to muster seven total first downs and the Tigers struck fast scoring on five of their first seven possessions. Quarterback Brandon Cox threw for 245 yards including one touchdown pass to Ben Obomanu. Brad Lester and Kenny Irons rushed for a combined 80 yards and four touchdowns while Carl Stewart rushed for 15 yards and a touchdown.

Perhaps the most important game between these two teams occurred in the 2010 SEC Championship Game. The two teams had already met once in the regular season during which Auburn had to crawl back from behind to win 35-27, but the SEC Championship Game was dominated by Cam Newton. Newton passed for a career-best 335 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Piling on to Newton’s success was Mario Fannin, Emory Blake, and Onterio McCalebb who each rushed for one touchdown each. Darvin Adams finished with 217 receiving yards and two touchdowns while defensive back T’Sharvan Bell picked off Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia for a 10-yard pick-six to put the Tigers up 42-14.

Auburn leads the series 10-1-1 with their current win streak of eight games. The Gamecocks have not defeated the Tigers since 1933. The stakes are high right now for head coach Will Muschamp whose coaching seat is the hottest in college football right now. Let’s face facts, this team is desperate for a win and Saturday they’ll host a hot mess of an Auburn team who they could very easily pull an upset over.

The Tigers aren’t walking in to Williams Bryce Stadium with the same personnel they had in 2005 or 2010, and they’ll need more than luck to win this one.