Kickoff times, networks announced for Auburn’s first three games

Auburn fans can finally plan tailgates and watch parties for Auburn’s first three games.

Great news, Auburn fans! You can now plan tailgates, watch parties, and even trips to the Plains for Auburn football’s first three games of the 2024 season.

All 16 SEC programs have learned the start times for their first three games of the season and the networks on which they will play. Auburn’s first three games will be played at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with two of those games earning the prime time treatment.

The Tigers’ season opener with in-state foe Alabama A&M will begin at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+, ESPN’s digital platform. The Tigers and Bulldogs have played twice in history, with Auburn owning a 2-0 record.

Auburn will host ACC newcomer California in week two, which is a return trip from last season’s 14-10 Auburn win over the Golden Bears in Berkeley. Auburn will face Cal at 2:30 p.m. CT, which should benefit Auburn due to the expected high humidity and temperature in Alabama at that time of year. ESPN 2 will provide live coverage of Auburn vs. Cal.

The final nonconference game before a six-game SEC stretch for Auburn will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT, and will be broadcasted on either ESPN 2 or ESPNU. Auburn’s contest with New Mexico on Sept. 14 will be its first against the Lobos in program history, and will serve as this season’s homecoming game.

Auburn will look to build on its 6-7 campaign in 2023. The 2024 season will be the second under head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], and will feature several talented roster additions including [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag], and [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag].

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Mike Farrell Sports lists Auburn’s top three transfer portal additions

Which transfer portal addition will make the greatest impact on the Plains this season?

Auburn football had several needs to fill this offseason and found several great additions through the transfer portal.

The Tigers took care of areas by adding transfers such as former Alabama safety [autotag]Spoodie Kite[/autotag], former Mississippi State tackle [autotag]Percy Lewis[/autotag], and former California quarterback turned wide receiver [autotag]Sam Jackson V[/autotag].

Which of Auburn’s nine transfer portal additions could make the biggest impact this season? Mike Farrell Sports has examined all nine of Auburn’s transfers and has picked three that could have the best chance.

The first player Tony Thomas of Mike Farrell Sports mentions is Georgia State transfer [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag]. Lewis was the secondary receiver to Jamari Thrash in Atlanta in 2022 and made his way to the top of the pack in 2023 following Thrash’s transfer to Louisville. He hauled in a team-leading 70 passes for 877 yards and seven scores last season for Georgia State.

Next up is [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag], a former safety for Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns. Thomas breaks down why Thompson is such a valuable addition to the Tigers’ secondary.

Tied for the team lead with three INTs, Jerrin Thompson returned one of those picks for a 27-yard touchdown in a 31-10 win over Wyoming. In addition, Thompson added 38 tackles and broke up seven passes and was named an Honorable Mention All-Big XII. Thompson will fill a position of need for Freeze and the Tigers. For his collegiate year, Thompson has 176 tackles, five INTs, and 18 pass break ups to his credit.

The final impact transfer this season according to Mike Farrell Sports is former Duke linebacker [autotag]Dorian Mausi[/autotag]. Mausi recorded 192 total tackles in four seasons at Duke, with the 2023 season being his best. In 10 games during the 2023 season in Durham, Mausi made 61 tackles, with 3.5 going for loss with an interception.

The Tigers’ 2024 transfer portal haul ranks No. 40 in the nation according to 247Sports, which ranks No. 15 in the SEC. Their high school recruiting class is top-notch. It wrapped up the cycle as the No. 7 class in the nation.

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Auburn dubbed a ‘transfer portal winner’ by The Athletic

Auburn has reeled in several notable additions from the transfer portal to fill key areas ahead of the 2024 season.

Auburn’s coaching staff is working hard to fill key areas with transfer portal additions, and are currently succeeding.

The Tigers will have added a talented wide receiver, a sturdy offensive lineman, and several solid defensive additions which should help boost its stock in the upcoming 2024 season. The haul has been impressive so far, and outlets such as The Athletic are taking notice.

Manny Navarro of The Athletic recently revealed his winners and losers from the SEC when it comes to their activity in the transfer portal. At the front of the “winners” list is Auburn. Navarro says the Tigers’ transfer additions have outweighed their departures.

Auburn’s recruiting has been on the uptick since Hugh Freeze took over. The 2024 class ranks No. 8 after the early signing period and the Tigers are also bringing in quality talent in the portal. Among the notable additions are former Georgia State standout receiver [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag] (70 catches, 877 yards in 2023), ex-Mississippi State left tackle [autotag]Percy Lewis[/autotag] (seven starts in 2023), former Texas and Minnesota defensive tackle [autotag]Trill Carter[/autotag] (31 career starts), ex-Duke linebacker [autotag]Dorian Mausi[/autotag] (27 starts) and former Texas safety [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag] (31 starts).

Those pickups outweigh the losses of 2022 starting quarterback [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] (South Carolina) and linebacker [autotag]Cam Riley[/autotag] and safety [autotag]Donovan Kaufman[/autotag], who both ranked in the top 11 on the team in tackles last season and haven’t found new landing spots yet.

[autotag]Antonio Kite[/autotag] (CB-Alabama), Jerrin Thompson (S-Texas), Percy Lewis (OT-Mississippi State), and [autotag]Rico Walker[/autotag] (TE-Maryland) are the most notable transfer additions for Auburn so far, as they all join the roster as four-star transfers according to 247Sports.

Joining Auburn as “winners” include Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Missouri. Arkansas and Florida were teams who “broke even”, while Alabama, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt joined the “losers” category.

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Former Alabama defensive back Antonio Kite transfers to Auburn

Former Alabama defensive back Antonio Kite transfers to Auburn

For just the second time in the modern football era, a former Alabama recruit has transferred to become an Auburn Tiger.

Former four-star cornerback Antonio Kite announced his intention to sign with Auburn on Wednesday, giving the Tigers immediate help in a depleted defensive secondary set to lose [autotag]D.J, James[/autotag], [autotag]Nehemiah Pritchett[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag] and others.

An Anniston, AL native, Kite joined more than 20 of his teammates when he entered the transfer portal after Nick Saban announced his retirement.

The defensive back played sparingly during his time in Tuscaloosa but still has three years of eligibility remaining. His playing time should increase immediately with [autotag]Kionte Scott[/autotag], [autotag]Kayin Lee,[/autotag] and Texas transfer [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag] listed as the only likely starters.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and 182 pounds, Kite could be a candidate to fill a nickel-back role if the Tigers decide to move the aforementioned Scott to the outside in 2024.

If anything, Auburn’s newest addition provides depth and youth in a secondary desperately needing a rejuvenation.

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Auburn defensive back Donovan Kaufman enters the transfer portal

Donovan Kaufman made 109 tackles and forced eight turnovers in his three seasons on the Plains.

Auburn has lost another member of its secondary with [autotag]Donovan Kaufman[/autotag] electing to enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer.

The veteran spent one season at Vanderbilt before following Derek Mason to Auburn ahead of the 2021 season. In his three seasons on the Plains, he spent time at both safety and nickel, appearing in 32 total games.

The New Orleans native totaled 109 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, six pass breakups, two interceptions and six forced fumbles.

He is the third Auburn defensive back to enter the portal this offseason, joining safeties Marquise Gilbert and Austin Ausberry. The Tigers are set to return just one starting member in the secondary after D.J. James, Nehemiah Pritchett, Zion Puckett, and Jaylin Simpson all declared for ther 2024 NFL draft.

Auburn landed veteran safety [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag] from the transfer portal on Monday.

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Auburn adds former Texas safety Jerrin Thompson from transfer portal

Thompson recorded 105 tackles and five interceptions in four seasons with the Longhorns.

Auburn head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] needs to replenish his defensive backfield, and is on the right track to doing so by adding an experienced safety from the transfer portal.

Former Texas safety [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag] paid a visit to Auburn over the weekend, and ended the trip by pledging his commitment to Freeze and the Tigers.

Thompson has been a vital part to the Longhorns’ secondary over the last four seasons, and he has played in 48 games since arriving to Austin in 2020. In four seasons, he has recorded 105 total tackles and has picked off five passes. He has recorded at least 14 tackles in every season that he has played, and made a career-high 83 stops in 2022. Last season, he made just 38 tackles, but pulled in a career-high three interceptions. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown.

In his most recent game, Thompson made three tackles in Texas’ 37-31 loss to Washington in the Sugar Bowl, which was a College Football Playoff semi-final game. In the Longhorns’ 34-24 win over Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 9, he made four stops and recorded and interception.

Thompson ranks No. 9 in Texas’ defensive grades from Pro Football Focus with a 73.1. His strong suit is pass coverage, which he graded out at 77.1, third-highest among Longhorn defenders. Opposing receivers hauled in 58.1% of passes when guarded by Thompson, or 18-of-31. He would also break up five passes.

The Tigers will lose plenty of experience from its defensive backfield in the likes of [autotag]D.J. James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag], and [autotag]Nehemiah Pritchett[/autotag]. The defense does however return [autotag]Keionte Scott[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Wooden[/autotag], and [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag]. Adding Thompson to complement Wooden at safety will be a great addition.

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Auburn lands veteran safety through transfer portal

Jerrin Thompson, a former All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2022, had close to 200 career tackles and five interceptions with the Longhorns.

After officially entering the transfer portal earlier this month, former Texas safety Jerrin Thompson now has a new home for the 2024 season, as he has committed to the Auburn Tigers.

Thompson is the eighth transfer portal commitment of the offseason so far for Auburn and the first in the secondary.

A former four-star prospect in the Class of 2020, Thompson was a multi-year starter in the Longhorns secondary, amassing a combined 176 tackles across the last four seasons. Thompson also had four tackles for loss and five interceptions from 2020-23, and he was named a 2022 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection with the Longhorns coming off a season in which he compiled 83 tackles, 0.5 TFL, and one interception.

Now entering his fifth season of college football in 2024, Thompson provides much-needed experience to an Auburn secondary set to lose a notable amount of production, including familiar faces such as Zion Puckett, Jaylin Simpson, Nehemiah Pritchett, and DJ James.

Thompson is now likely expected to be a day-one impact player in the Auburn secondary next fall.

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Texas DB Jerrin Thompson to visit Auburn

The former Longhorn recorded 38 total tackles and three interceptions during the 2023 season.

Following the departures of [autotag]D.J. James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag], and [autotag]Nehemiah Pritchett[/autotag], the Auburn secondary will be seriously depleted of experience ahead of the 2024 season.

The Auburn coaching staff is looking to solve that issue by hosting a defensive back with four seasons of experience this weekend.

According to a report by Jeffrey Lee of Auburn Live, former Texas defensive back [autotag]Jerrin Thompson[/autotag] is set to pay a visit to Auburn on Friday. Thompson was one of Texas’ most productive defensive backs over the last four seasons by totaling 175 tackles, four interceptions, and 18 pass deflections.

Thompson’s most productive season was in 2022 as a junior. The safety recorded 82 total tackles with seven pass deflections and and interception. However, he was a threat to opposing passing games in 2023. He picked off a career-high three passes last season, which included a pick-six in the Longhorns’ 31-10 win over Wyoming on Sept. 16.

In Texas’ College Football Playoff semi-final loss to Washington on New Year’s Day at the Sugar Bowl, Thompson made three stops.

Auburn has landed seven roster additions from the transfer portal since the first window opened on Dec. 2, 2023. Among those is Thompson’s teammate at Texas, defensive lineman [autotag]Trill Carter[/autotag].

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Texas S Jerrin Thompson enters transfer portal

Several Texas players entered the transfer portal on Friday.

Texas senior safety Jerrin Thompson entered the transfer portal on Friday, according to On3Continue reading “Texas S Jerrin Thompson enters transfer portal”

Studs and duds from Texas’ 31-10 victory over Wyoming

Looking at Texas’ best and worst performers from the Wyoming win in Week 3.

The Texas Longhorns beat the Wyoming Cowboys 31-10 after three sluggish quarters of football. Continue reading “Studs and duds from Texas’ 31-10 victory over Wyoming”