Tag: DJ Williams

D.J. Williams on choosing FSU: ‘Just having a relationship with people’

The former Auburn running back had a successful freshman season in 2019 but found himself battling injuries this past year.

D.J. Williams chose to get closer to his hometown when he decided to transfer to Florida State after two years at Auburn. He also made his decision on how connected he felt to the program.

“It was really a process of just having a relationship with people. So that made it really easy to make my selection,” Williams said, per 247Sports.

Williams did not see a lot of playing time for Auburn in 2020 as he battled injuries and was third on the depth chart behind Tank Bigsby and Shaun Shivers. On 38 attempts, the sophomore rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns. It was a letdown from what seemed to be a promising future following his freshman campaign in which he ran for 400 yards and two scores on 84 attempts.

He will join former Auburn assistant Kenny Dillingham in Tallahassee.

“I just trust in his process and what he does,” Williams said. “He runs the football, and I just trust in the process.”

Auburn RB D.J. Williams enters transfer portal

Auburn running back D.J. Williams has entered the transfer portal.

Auburn’s running back room just got a lot thinner.

On Friday, Auburn Undercover reported that D.J. Williams has entered the transfer portal.

From the report:

Williams fought injuries throughout the 2020 season, rushing 38 times for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He was Auburn’s leading returning rusher after carrying 84 times for 400 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman.

Williams, from Sebring, Fla., was a late-blooming prospect who became a hot target in December of 2019. He signed with Auburn, but his family was openly unhappy when running back Tim Horton was cut loose just days later.

Williams is the second running back to enter the portal following Mark Antony-Richards.

3 reasons Texas A&M beats Auburn

Texas A&M is riding a five-game winning streak coming into Saturday’s matchup against Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn is an unusual place. The Tigers lost the Iron Bowl but still have two regular season games to play.

The first of these games is against No. 5 Texas A&M and gives the Tigers a perfect chance to play spoiler. A win ends any hope of the Aggies making the College Football Playoff. 

That will be a tough task as the Aggies come in on a five-game winning streak and are nearly a touchdown favorite.

Here’s why the Tigers could be in for a long day Saturday.

Three reasons why Auburn could beat Alabama

Auburn will need to play nearly a perfect game on Saturday if the Tigers want to upset top-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

In the year of 2020 anything is possible. No. 19 Auburn travels to Tuscaloosa this weekend to take on Alabama. Currently, Alabama is favored to win by 25.

The major storyline that developed this past week was that Alabama head coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and will not be coaching during the Iron Bowl. That’s not really going to matter as Auburn still has to face Heisman front-runner quarterback Mac Jones and Heisman hopeful running back Najee Harris. The Tigers are outmanned in personnel on both sides of the ball, but there are a few things we can cling to in hopes of securing the win. Here they are.

1. Tank Bigsby returns

The Tigers’ phenomenal freshman running back left the Tennessee game with an undisclosed lower body injury. As of today, Bigsby is still listed as questionable and has not practiced this week. Through seven game,s Bigsby has rushed for 527 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s a huge catalyst for Auburn’s momentum offensively. Just look at his performances against Ole Miss and Arkansas. If Tank is unable to return, the Tigers will need players like DJ Williams, Shaun Shivers, and Mark Anthony Richards to step up. Don’t be surprised if we see a JJ Pegues wildcat package to shake things up a bit (I really hope we get to see that, PEGUES FOREVER)!

2. The Tigers negate Bama’s passing offense

The Tide ranks third overall in NCAA passing offense this season. Per play Alabama picks up an average of 11.81 yards and they amass 380 passing yards per game. There’s a reason Mac Jones is the Heisman front-runner and its because his passes are fast and accurate, and he’s improved dramatically since his mistakes in last year’s Iron Bowl. Mac Jones has only thrown two interceptions all season and is playing perfect football right now while wide receivers Devonta Smith and John Metchie have been unstoppable since Jaylen Waddle’s injury against Tennessee. Auburn’s secondary will have their hands full with this unit.

3. Auburn’s offense regains efficiency, become masters of the clock

I really thought after the two-week bye that Auburn would be able to regain some of that offensive finesse we saw them showcase against LSU, but I was wrong. The Tigers were just straight up sloppy coming out of the gate against the Volunteers and kept that game close up until the fourth quarter.

Out of Auburn’s 25 red zone trips this season they have left with 10 rushing touchdowns, 6 passing touchdowns, and 5 field goals. Not bad, but what’s killing Auburn on both sides of the ball is quick non-sustainable drives. Last week against Tennessee the Volunteers dominated time of possession leaving Auburn’s defense absolutely gassed. The Tigers are going to have to slow the game down against Bama and give their defense plenty of time to regroup, otherwise they’ll get whipped on both sides.

These three things sound much easier said than done, but they aren’t impossible. Tank will most likely not return against Bama, so Gus Malzahn and running backs coach Cadillac Williams will need to adjust accordingly. It will be most interesting to see how Kevin Steele schemes against that passing game. I’m not expecting Auburn to win by any means, but if they shock the country by doing these three things successfully I like their chances.

Keys to Auburn’s 30-17 victory over Tennessee

Auburn pulled out a 30-17 victory over Tennessee on Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium to improve to 5-2 on the season.

The wait was worth it for Auburn fans Saturday night. Auburn went 21 days without playing a football game but returned to Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night and picked up its fifth win of the season against Tennessee.

Auburn looked like a team coming off of a long break to start the game with Bo Nix throwing his first career interception inside Jordan-Hare and falling behind 10-0 early in the second quarter. 

But the Tigers came roaring back, scoring the next 27 points on the way to a 30-17 victory. 

While Auburn got the all-import win to improve to 5-2 on the season, it was far from perfect. In four trips to the redzone they scored one touchdown, kicked two field goals and threw an interception. Also, the Tigers saw four starters get shaken up.

Star running back Tank Bigsby, left tackle Alec Jackson, right tackle Brodarious Hamm and receiver Seth Williams were all clearly shaken up during the game. Of the four, Jackson was the only to visit the locker room.

Bigsby returned to the game after he appeared to sustain a hip injury in the first quarter, but he exited after just one carry. Jackson returned late in the fourth quarter. 

Here were the keys to Auburn’s win in Gus Malzahn’s 100th game as Auburn’s head coach.

3 things I, Shea Brennaman, want to see from Auburn in last 4 games

Shea Brennaman doesn’t ask for much but is requesting these three things out of Auburn in the Tigers last for games.

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What a week for a bye week am I right?

We’re more than halfway through this abbreviated college football season. As it stands right now, Auburn sits third in the SEC West behind Alabama and Texas A&M who the Tigers conveniently play back-to-back at the end of their schedule. The Tigers are 4-2 and seemingly turned a corner offensively this past weekend against LSU. Can they hold on to that momentum when this bye week concludes?

With only four games remaining on Auburn’s schedule there are a few things I would like to see to ensure the Tigers finish on a high note.

1. Continuous improvement in third-down and passing defense

Through the first six games of this season, Auburn has allowed opponents an average of 236 yards per game. Sure that’s doable, but three of the four teams remaining on Auburn’s schedule are averaging well over 236 yards per game. Here are Auburn’s future opponents and where they currently stand in passing offense:

  • Mississippi State – ranked 18th overall, averaging 318.6 ypg
  • Tennessee – averaging 188.2 ypg
  • Alabama – ranked 3rd overall, averaging 380 ypg
  • Texas A&M – ranked 40th overall, averaging 252.2 ypg

In the Tigers’ last two games the passing defense shut down two top 20 passing offenses in both LSU and Ole Miss. Auburn only allowed LSU (who averages 338 passing ypg) 315 yards and forced three turnovers. The Tigers allowed Ole Miss (who averages 325.3 ypg) only 161 yards and forced two turnovers.

It would appear that at this point in the season the Tigers are coming along nicely in passing defense, but goodness gracious they have to get off the field on third down against both Alabama and Texas A&M.

The Tigers are ranked 103rd overall in third-down defense and its opponents are 49/94 on third down. Both Alabama and Texas A&M are ranked in the top five on third-down conversions. This next topic may assist the Tigers on defense in a multitude of ways, however.

2. The return of KJ Britt

The All-SEC linebacker had thumb surgery following the Georgia game and has not played since, but is expected to return for both Alabama and Texas A&M. In his first two games this season he recorded 23 tackles. The defense has managed well in his absence, but Britt’s leadership and experience will be impactful when he returns.

3. KEEP RUNNING THE BALL

Auburn is outrushing opponents by an average of 15.6 yards per game. The Tigers have scored 10 rushing touchdowns and average 4.67 yards per rush. This is obviously in huge part to freshman stud Tank Bigsby. In six games Bigsby has rushed for 503 total yards and five touchdowns.

Is it doable for Tank to become Auburn’s next 1,000 yard rusher? Probably, but he’ll have to put in absolute work in Auburn’s remaining games. After Kerryon Johnson’s string of injuries in 2017 I live in fear of the Tigers running their star RB into the ground, so I really want to see other backs in the rotation here.

DJ Williams was limited after the Georgia game and did not play this past weekend against LSU. I would love to see him return soon. Another back who has been missing in action this season is Shaun Shivers. Shivers missed the Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas games due to an undisclosed injury but returned to action just in time to deliver a Shivers’ hit to LSU star defensive back Derek Stingley Jr.

I want to see more of both of them in the backfield rotation.

Auburn I know I don’t ask for much, but if you give us these three things the possibilities could be endless. Take the bye week to think about it if you must.

DJ Williams added to Doak Walker Award Watch List

Williams rushed for 400 yards as a freshman in 2019.

Auburn sophomore D.J. Williams has been named as one of the preseason candidates for the 2020 Doak Walker Award. The SMU PwC Athletic Forum released the list on Wednesday and Williams is one of 76 running backs eyeing the annual award presented to the nation’s top college running back.

As a freshman Williams recorded 400 rushing yards and two touchdowns within the span of eight games. He established himself as a valuable running back against No. 1 LSU when he rushed for a career-high 130 yards.

His freshman year performance ranks him 16th all-time among Auburn freshman running backs. This season he’ll return as Auburn’s top rusher and will lead a talented running back corps consisting of fellow sophomores Shaun Shivers and Harold Joiner, redshirt freshman Mark-Antony Richards,  and incoming 5-star freshman “Tank” Bigsby.

The Doak Walker Award was established in 1990, but in its 30 year history no Auburn player has won. In the last 16 years eight Auburn players have qualified as semifinalists including Kerryon Johnson, who is the most recent running back to be nominated (2017).

Per Greg Ostendorf of AuburnTigers.com the procedures behind selecting a winner are as follows:

For this year’s award, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced in November. The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The 2020 Doak Walker Award winner will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards.

Will D.J. Williams be the first running back in Auburn history to bring home the Doak Walker Award? More importantly, will Auburn finally have a 1,000 yard rusher again? Tell us your thoughts.