StatTiger 3,188 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Auburn’s quartet at wide receiver from 2003-2005 might be the best in school history. The Tigers 2002 recruiting class included Devin Aromashodu, Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor, and Anthony Mix. Many thought Tuberville’s staff had brought aboard a solid group of receivers at the time of their signings. Three out of the four would play as true freshman during 2002 as Courtney Taylor redshirted. From 2003-2005, this quartet at wide receiver was one of the best in the conference and was crucial in Tuberville’s best years at Auburn. When it was all said and done, the four receivers combined for 6911-yards of total offense and 45 touchdowns. They also combined for 125 impact plays or plays of 15+ yards. Their best season combined came during 2004 when the Tigers went 13-0 and won the Southeastern Conference Championship. Auburn’s wide receivers that season combined for 23 touchdown receptions, which remains a school record. Aromashodu, Obomanu, Taylor, and Mix accounted for 20 of those 23 touchdown receptions. There have been other great wide receiver corps during the history of Auburn football, but what made the 2004 group so special was that the primary quartet was all signed in the same recruiting class. From 2002-2005, Auburn recorded 39 victories, and the wide receivers were a significant part of the Tigers' success on offense. Courtney Taylor was the most productive of the four as an individual, and there have been other Auburn receivers more productive than Taylor. It was their combined production that gave Auburn one of the better receiving corps from 2002-2005. https://youtu.be/j0hvDs59gmA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilli13 600 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 The 2004 passing game I think was the best I've seen at AU in my lifetime, minus maybe 1997. I think the 2004 team could have broken all the 1997 team's passing records though if they needed to. 1997 had no running game and relied on the pass whereas 2004 had an excellent running game with 2 first round draft picks leading the way. We didnt need to pass as much in 2004. Jason Campbell, along with the receivers you highlight here, were phenominal. The great thing I felt like Borges did as an OC was spread the wealth to this collection of talented wideouts, reducing the overall numbers for any of the 4 but making them much more dangerous as a whole. Also, in certain games when the passing game needed to carry us/bail us out, it did. See early in the 2004 Bama game when they were shutting down our backs, in the LSU game when we needed the big drive to win, and the SEC Championship Game when our #1 defense inexplicably started giving up huge gains to UT. Thanks for the highlights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowebb11 9,309 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I remember the hype around that class when we signed them. Great haul indeed. I always considered Courtney Taylor an enigma in a good way. Nothing about his measurables really stood out but he consistently made great plays and often in the biggest moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle1982 447 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I have always said that the beginning of the end for Al Borges was after Aromashadu, Obamanu, and Mix graduated following the 2005 season. For whatever reason, they had recruited very poorly at WR during that time and Brandon Cox did not have the weapons he had in 05. Outside of the GT game in 05 he was pretty solid. 06 and 07 were rough in the passing game. Borges took the fall and then the Tony Franklin experiment happened. 🤢🤮 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aublaise 199 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Great video, Stat, thanks putting this together. Few things stuck out to me 1. The announcers could not pronounce Aromashadu and Obamanu their freshman year 2. Lots of great passes across the middle, hope that will be a bigger part of our offense next year with the TEs and new OC 3. Receivers were really exposed over the middle back then before the targeting rule was implemented; all 4 of those guys were tough! 4. Man those were some great teams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleCoTiger 1,957 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 39 minutes ago, aublaise said: Great video, Stat, thanks putting this together. Few things stuck out to me 1. The announcers could not pronounce Aromashadu and Obamanu their freshman year... Got that right! Personally, I could only pronounce Obomanu because he played his high school ball in Selma where I grew up, so I already knew who he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG 33,955 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Courtney Taylor is one of the most underrated and the BEST WR this school had cleat up. Don’t quote me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abw0004 10,108 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Where is Courtney Taylor now? I have never seen him return to Auburn games when the other three have. I know we would all love to see him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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