Jarquez Hunter

[toddc 13,194]

A timeline of Hugh Freeze’s responses to Jarquez Hunter’s status

The status of Auburn’s running back Jarquez Hunter has remained a subject of uncertainty since the university released a statement on May 18 announcing indefinite suspensions.

Hunter did not play in Auburn’s season opener against UMass, sitting on a medical table on the sidelines wearing his No. 27 jersey with no pads, and sweatpants.

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Then, Auburn running back Damari Alston posted a tweet Sunday night reading “What the wrist tape say.” In a photo attached to the tweet, his wrist tape had “Free 27″ written on it.

The tweet was quickly deleted.

The situation traces back to a sex tape leaked on Twitter that allegedly showed Hunter. Auburn’s statement about indefinite suspensions came soon after. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that an Auburn spokesperson said the suspensions related to “videos that were posted on social media.” Allegedly, other Auburn players were involved with the video.

But the Auburn statement did not state which players would face suspensions.

Head coach Hugh Freeze has faced the question of Hunter’s status repeatedly, including his press conference Monday to preview Auburn’s trip to play Cal in Berkeley in Week 2.

His answers have largely been dodging the question or a no comment.

The first time he was asked about Hunter came at the SEC Spring Meetings in May in Destin, Florida. It was fewer than two weeks after Auburn’s initial statement on suspensions.

“We don’t comment on individuals and their status with any disciplinary issues within our school,” Freeze said then. “I really don’t have a comment on that.”

The next time Freeze was asked came at SEC Media Days in July in Nashville. Freeze could not say if Hunter would be able to participate in fall camp. He also did not say if any players would face suspensions.

“I can’t comment on University policies or procedures,” Freeze said when asked about Hunter.

Hunter did not play at the start of fall camp practices on Aug. 3. The first time he was seen during periods of practice open to the media was on Aug. 8. He practiced in every Auburn practice from there, during periods open to reporters.

“I’ll say this again: I understand the question but matters related to team rules and procedures, they’re handled internally and they will not be discussed publicly,” Freeze said before Auburn’s first preseason practice.

In Auburn’s first depth chart, released on Aug. 28 before the first game against UMass on Saturday, Hunter was listed as Auburn’s starting running back.

Freeze was then asked Wednesday during his first SEC conference call of the season if Hunter would play in the opener. He didn’t directly address Hunter, and gave a general answer — essentially a no comment. 

“I don’t discuss who’s playing and who’s not,” Freeze said on the call. “We hope everybody is healthy enough to play.”

Hunter didn’t play against UMass. But that wasn’t known until Hunter walked out of the tunnel wearing sweatpants during pregame warm-ups alongside the other players known to have injuries who did not play.

Auburn had 289 rushing yards without Hunter. Seven players had rushing attempts. Robby Ashford had nine attempts and Damari Alston had eight. Sean Jackson had the most yards with 64. Ashford scored three rushing touchdowns, Alston scored once, as well as Jackson and Jeremiah Cobb.

On the ESPN broadcast of the game, Freeze said there would be an update on Hunter’s status, but Freeze was not asked about Hunter during his post-game press conference and did not bring up the subject.

There was a statement regarding Hunter sitting on the table where Freeze gave his press conference, with a comment resembling his previous responses.

Freeze was then asked Monday if Hunter would play against Cal this coming Saturday. He again gave a general answer without specifically discussing Hunter.

“The availability of a lot of players is up in the air, so like normally I’d rather not even comment on all of them,” Freeze said during his Monday press conference. “We’ve got a long list. From Nick Mardner to Austin Keys to Jalen (Mcleod) to (Nehemiah) Pritchett. All of those guys hopefully can have a good week. We can really, really use some of those guys.”

Auburn will open up a portion of practice to the media on Tuesday. During the open Tuesday practice session before the UMass, Hunter took part in drills.

It is unclear if he’ll play this weekend, as has been the case throughout the summer and beginning of the season.

[W.E.D 11,070]

22 hours ago, bigbird said:

He'll be back. 

At some point in the future?

[passthebiscuits 6,886]

Hearing back for game 2. 

[LPTiger 5,202]

2 minutes ago, passthebiscuits said:

Hearing back for game 2. 

Same.

[au701948 1,009]

1 minute ago, LPTiger said:

Same.

That would be good.

[AURex 2,054]

Ya know, he earned his PT as #2 last year. He really screwed up in the off season.

Other guys have stepped up, and even if he's cleared to play, I'm not convinced he will be #1. He has not earned it under CHF.

If he is never cleared to play, welp, it's not like the RB room is empty. Our other exceptional RBs will be just fine!

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

3 minutes ago, AURex said:

Ya know, he earned his PT as #2 last year. He really screwed up in the off season.

Other guys have stepped up, and even if he's cleared to play, I'm not convinced he will be #1. He has not earned it under CHF.

If he is never cleared to play, welp, it's not like the RB room is empty. Our other exceptional RBs will be just fine!

 

He will be the #1 RB as soon as he is cleared to play and will get 60%+ of the touches 

Edited September 5, 2023 by W.E.D

[AURex 2,054]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

He will be the #1 RB as soon as he is cleared to play and will get 60%+ of the touches 

Yes, I remember, you are CHF.

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

Just now, AURex said:

Yes, I remember, you are CHF.

 

Ty

[tbone4jc 2,241]

14 hours ago, AURex said:

Ya know, he earned his PT as #2 last year. He really screwed up in the off season.

Other guys have stepped up, and even if he's cleared to play, I'm not convinced he will be #1. He has not earned it under CHF.

If he is never cleared to play, welp, it's not like the RB room is empty. Our other exceptional RBs will be just fine!

 

I seem to remember CHF saying that Hunter was the best back he’s ever coached. There is ZERO doubt that he is the number one RB. The RB room is stacked but don’t fool yourself, Jarquez is the alpha of that room and he will be playing soon!

Edited September 5, 2023 by tbone4jc

[TexasTiger 13,134]

16 hours ago, W.E.D said:

He will be the #1 RB as soon as he is cleared to play and will get 60%+ of the touches 

What breakdown in carries are you anticipating?

[W.E.D 11,070]

51 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

What breakdown in carries are you anticipating?

Idk. Let's say there are 35 carries. I'd be shocked if Hunter isn't somewhere around 20 and the rest distributed between the other 3.

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

I think short yardage is going to be interesting.  Hunter hasn't excelled in short yardage in the past.  His lateral quickness is probably his weakness (seems to have worked on that with Lester over the offseason, interesting to see how it plays out).  That with an awful OL these past two years seemed to really make him ineffective in short yardage.  Tank was much better, and quite frankly looked a lot more powerful.

Feel like Alston has some good vision and hitting a hole hard and he might be a short yardage back, even though he's smaller.  Not sure he has the break away speed that Hunter does and I'm not sure he's shown much in terms of breaking tackles.

I don't know how Battie fits into the rotation.  He's tiny...seems like his body/quickness fits as a pass catcher but never really did that in the past.

Cobb...I think his role is going to grow rapidly as the year goes on.  I think he's easily the #2 back on our roster once he gets a few more reps.  He checks the boxes with vision, break away speed, and lateral/jump quickness. 

[abw0004 10,134]

1 minute ago, W.E.D said:

I think short yardage is going to be interesting.  Hunter hasn't excelled in short yardage in the past.  His lateral quickness is probably his weakness (seems to have worked on that with Lester over the offseason, interesting to see how it plays out).  That with an awful OL these past two years seemed to really make him ineffective in short yardage.  Tank was much better, and quite frankly looked a lot more powerful.

Feel like Alston has some good vision and hitting a hole hard and he might be a short yardage back, even though he's smaller.  Not sure he has the break away speed that Hunter does and I'm not sure he's shown much in terms of breaking tackles.

I don't know how Battie fits into the rotation.  He's tiny...seems like his body/quickness fits as a pass catcher but never really did that in the past.

Cobb...I think his role is going to grow rapidly as the year goes on.  I think he's easily the #2 back on our roster once he gets a few more reps.  He checks the boxes with vision, break away speed, and lateral/jump quickness. 

My concern is I think we have four really great RBs.  How do we get them all touches to keep them engaged?

[W.E.D 11,070]

5 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

My concern is I think we have four really great RBs.  How do we get them all touches to keep them engaged?

I honestly don't think it's a huge deal, tbqh.  Hunter is the lead dog.  Alston/Cobb are young and waiting their turn.  Battie is a hired gun and if he fits he fits.  If he's not happy after this year he's done anyways.  Next year there is a huge possibility of the RB room being led by Alston/Coob (and most likely a transfer RB).

[NewYrkTiger 68]

8 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

My concern is I think we have four really great RBs.  How do we get them all touches to keep them engaged?

This is the football equivalent of a first world problem. 😁 

[CCTAU 3,355]

27 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I honestly don't think it's a huge deal, tbqh.  Hunter is the lead dog.  Alston/Cobb are young and waiting their turn.  Battie is a hired gun and if he fits he fits.  If he's not happy after this year he's done anyways.  Next year there is a huge possibility of the RB room being led by Alston/Coob (and most likely a transfer RB).

The bowling ball has good feet for his size, but he’s not explosive enough for short yardage. The Jones kid could start at many smaller schools. He’s a big back who has 4-5 yds before you realize. 
 

We definitely have a roomful of talented backs.

Edited September 5, 2023 by CCTAU

[WillMunny 1,384]

34 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

My concern is I think we have four really great RBs.  How do we get them all touches to keep them engaged?

Yes, we're lucky that the absence of Jarquez Hunter, however long it may be, isn't crippling.  He's a great player, but those behind him are very good, and didn't get themselves suspended.

[TexasTiger 13,134]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

I think short yardage is going to be interesting.  Hunter hasn't excelled in short yardage in the past.  His lateral quickness is probably his weakness (seems to have worked on that with Lester over the offseason, interesting to see how it plays out).  That with an awful OL these past two years seemed to really make him ineffective in short yardage.  Tank was much better, and quite frankly looked a lot more powerful.

Feel like Alston has some good vision and hitting a hole hard and he might be a short yardage back, even though he's smaller.  Not sure he has the break away speed that Hunter does and I'm not sure he's shown much in terms of breaking tackles.

I don't know how Battie fits into the rotation.  He's tiny...seems like his body/quickness fits as a pass catcher but never really did that in the past.

Cobb...I think his role is going to grow rapidly as the year goes on.  I think he's easily the #2 back on our roster once he gets a few more reps.  He checks the boxes with vision, break away speed, and lateral/jump quickness. 

Battie strikes me as more situational than as an every down back. I feel really good about Cobb & Alston, and frankly, Sean Jackson intrigues me. Reminds me a bit of Pettway.

[Chaotic_zx 1,047]

2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

I don't know how Battie fits into the rotation.  He's tiny...seems like his body/quickness fits as a pass catcher but never really did that in the past.

Please don't sell this guy short. With all due respect, please go back and watch his play. That dude however his stature played physical. He not only didn't shy away from contact, he initiated it. Scat backs don't usually play like that. 

[toddc 13,194]

8 minutes ago, Chaotic_zx said:

Please don't sell this guy short. With all due respect, please go back and watch his play. That dude however his stature played physical. He not only didn't shy away from contact, he initiated it. Scat backs don't usually play like that. 

And did well against higher competition too.

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, toddc said:

And did well against higher competition too.

When?

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, Chaotic_zx said:

Please don't sell this guy short. With all due respect, please go back and watch his play. That dude however his stature played physical. He not only didn't shy away from contact, he initiated it. Scat backs don't usually play like that. 

We'll see.  He struggled vs UMAS  3.9 per carry is pretty meh.

[Dom1ni0n 51]

2 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Battie strikes me as more situational than as an every down back. I feel really good about Cobb & Alston, and frankly, Sean Jackson intrigues me. Reminds me a bit of Pettway.

This is exactly who I had in mind for some short yardage situations.

[toddc 13,194]

7 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

When?

150 yds against Florida for one.