11.10.23 Football Articles

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247sports.com

The Real Deal Arkansas week

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

Auburn's Luke Deal talks about getting ready for Arkansas.

AUBURN, Alabama—Coming off back-to-back wins over Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the Auburn Tigers (5-4, 2-4) look to keep the momentum going this Saturday when Hugh Freeze's team travels to Arkansas to face the Razorbacks in a 3 p.m. start on the SEC Network. A program and team that is focused on the task at hand this week and trying to become bowl eligible, Auburn continues to build momentum and confidence.

That's true on offense despite an outing against Vanderbilt that left plenty to work on for the Tigers. Tight end Luke Deal said the focus this week has been on cleaning things up and executing at a higher level, something it will take to win in Fayetteville.

"It's kind of the same thing I said last week," Deal tells Auburnundercover. "We've got some confidence and flow and everybody is feeling really good, but another thing we talked about last week is we had some things, especially offensively, we've got to work on. We did not play great by any means, offensively, at Vanderbilt. The defense played incredible. We had a few big runs that helped us out by Jarquez and that o-line. I want us to carry over those good things, but fix those bad things."

Check out the rest of this week's Real Deal as the senior tight end gets us ready for the Arkansas game.

After slow start, Auburn women take down

Edited November 10, 2023 by aubiefifty

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs Arkansas

Brian Hauch

4–5 minutes

The 5-4 Auburn Tigers have a chance to win three games in a row for the second time this season when they travel to 3-6 Arkansas on Saturday.

Auburn is coming off one of its better wins of the season, flashing offensive firepower on the road against Vanderbilt.

Arkansas is also coming off a solid road win, taking down Florida in overtime 36-33 for the Razorbacks’ first win in the SEC.

The big win in the swamp has oddsmakers confident Arkansas can keep it rolling at home, as BetMGM has the Hogs favored by 2.5 points on Saturday.

ESPN FPI lines up almost exactly with the books, giving the home team a 54% chance to send Auburn back to the Plains with a 5-5 record.

Will the tale of the tape show us the wrong team is favored in this SEC matchup, or will it prove Arkansas has the upper hand?

As always, we’ll start by looking at the quarterbacks.

Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne is playing his best football of the season at the right time.

Thorne has averaged 212 passing yards over the past 2 weeks, throwing for 5 touchdowns in that span. Most importantly, Thorne has only turned the ball over once, although that one turnover did turn into 6-points.

The two wins have significantly helped Thorne’s season stats. The junior has now passed for 1,269 yards this season in 9 games. He’s thrown 10 touchdowns, rushed for 2, and thrown 6 interceptions.

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson has been solid this year for the Razorbacks, throwing 16 touchdowns on his way to 1,802 passing yards.

The senior has been careless with the ball, turning it over at least once in every SEC game so far.

The long-time Razorback gets the edge in the quarterback battle because of his experience and leadership of the offense. He’s been the guy for Arkansas for three years now, while Thorne has only been “the guy” for Auburn in the last two weeks.

Arkansas may have the quarterback edge, but it’s Auburn that gets the edge on the rest of the offensive side of the ball.

Jefferson is the Razorbacks leading rusher this season. That would be fine if he were lighting it up on the ground like LSU quarterback Jalen Daniels, but Jefferson actually has fewer rushing yards (292) than Payton Thorne (337) does this year.

Arkansas employs a three running back committee featuring AJ Green, Rashod Dubinion, and Raheim Sanders. The trio have combined for 740 yards on 183 carries this season. If those numbers don’t look great, that’s because they are.

Auburn’s top running back Jarquez Hunter missed the first game of the season but has ran for almost as many yards (636) on 75 less carries.

The Tigers have also been better in pass protection, as Payton Thorne has been sacked a total of 19 times this year. KJ Jefferson on the other hand has hit the turf 36 times.

Hugh Freeze’s team gets the edge in offensive line play and skill position play.

On the defensive side of things, Auburn’s 13th-ranked defensive efficiency gives them a slight edge over a solid Razorbacks unit.

The Tigers are giving up 22.8 points per game to opponents this season, which ranks, 41st in the FBS.

The Arkansas defense isn’t too far behind, giving up an average of 25.8 points per game, which ranks 55th.

Auburn gets the slight edge, but things become even considering the game is being played in Fayetteville.

After looking at the tale of the tape, it’s hard to argue with the experts this week. This game is going to be a toss-up. The home team gets the ever-so-slight edge in this one.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

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si.com

Taking an updated look at Jarquez Hunter's path to 1,000 rushing yards

Andrew Stefaniak

~2 minutes

Jarquez Hunter has a real shot of getting to the 1,000 rushing-yard mark.

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter had one of his best games in an Auburn uniform against the Vanderbilt Commodores. 

Hunter rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, giving Hunter 9.6 yards per carry on the day. 

He actually would have had many more yards in this ball game if a few big plays weren't called back for penalties. 

After his performance against the Commodores, Hunter is now sixth in the SEC in rushing yards, with 636 on the season. 

This means Hunter is 364 yards away from hitting the 1,000-yard mark on the season.

 So, Auburn's star running back will need to average 121.3 yards on the ground over the next three football games to hit this mark. 

 Auburn's next opponent is the Arkansas Razorbacks, who have the 43rd-best rush defense in college football, but they still allow 129 yards per game on the ground. 

With the Tigers being a team that wants to establish the run, the team will likely rush for more than 129 yards in this game. 

Hunter will likely be over the century mark, but if he could get to the 125-140 range, he has a real shot to get to 1,000. 

Missing the first game of the season hurt Hunter's chances of getting 1,000 rushing yards, but he can still get it done if he continues to play well down the stretch. 

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auburntigers.com

 

Auburn's Alex McPherson named Groza Award semifinalist

Auburn University Athletics

3–4 minutes

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AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's Alex McPherson is one of 20 semifinalists for the 2023 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Thursday.  

McPherson ranks No. 1 in the country with a 100 percent field goal accuracy, having converted on all nine attempts this season. The redshirt freshman from Fort Payne, Alabama, is also 29-for-29 on PATs for a total of 56 points scored.

McPherson is 1-for-1 from 50 yards or farther, 2-for-2 from 40-49 yards, 6-for-6 on kicks from 30-39 yards and 2-for-2 from 20-29-yard range.

Fellow Groza Award semifinalists Graham Nicholson from Miami of Ohio, who is 17-for-17, and Texas State's Mason Shipley, who's 11-for-11, have also connected on all their field goal opportunities this season.

Auburn's game at Arkansas Saturday at 3 p.m. CT will feature two Groza Award semifinalists. Razorbacks kicker Cam Little shares the national lead with four kicks from at least 50 yards out.

Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced Nov. 28 and honored at the 32^nd annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on Dec. 4 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot College Football Awards on Friday, Dec. 8.

The award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.

Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 28 finalists, including 16 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home seven Super Bowls. That list includes 2023 NFL kickers Randy Bullock, former Auburn standout Daniel Carlson and Jake Elliott.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer

Players Mentioned

#38 Alex McPherson

K 5' 9" Redshirt Freshman Liberal Arts

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saturdaydownsouth.com

Hayes: Hugh Freeze has a QB he can trust, and now Auburn is hunting a bowl bid

Matt Hayes | 13 hours ago

6–7 minutes

He took hold of this thing realistically, carefully avoiding the fanciful trap every 1st-year coach inevitably falls into.

Instead of the ridiculous dream of instantly flipping bad to good while playing in the best conference in college football, there was a more tangible, reachable goal for Hugh Freeze in his debut season at Auburn.

Play games that matter in November.

“We’re looking to become bowl eligible,” Freeze said this week. “I think that’s big in Year 1.”

Especially considering what he walked into.

Beyond the drama and infighting that has defined the Auburn program through good and bad for half a century, beyond the months of getting all of those fragmented parts off the field back on the same page, Freeze arrived on The Plains with a significant issue.

He didn’t have a quarterback who could win games in the SEC.

That, of course, leads to this important question moving forward: Is Michigan State transfer QB Payton Thorne’s recent success a product of finally playing comfortably and freely in a new system — or a result of Auburn getting a break from a brutal schedule?

Thorne has played his best the past 2 weeks in wins over Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, which are high in the running for the 2 worst teams in the SEC. That comes on the heels of an entire season of uncertainty, of playing well in spots and poorly in others — and getting pulled at times for backup Robby Ashford.

We’re more than 2 months into the season, and Freeze hasn’t so much figured out the right move at quarterback as he has found one who consistently knows what do to.

“I believe Payton’s skill-sets are the most prepared for what we are doing,” Freeze said.

For the first time this season, Freeze is speaking with clarity about the quarterback position. He’s not couching words, he’s not trying keep backups Ashford and Holden Geriner happy and engaged.

Thorne is most prepared for what Auburn wants and needs offensively — beyond the need to win 1 more game and become bowl eligible — because of what he can do beyond making a throw. He recognizes and understands coverages and fronts, he sets protections, he manages the huddle and plays with tempo.

All critical things — and all have looked much sharper in the past 2 weeks of the season. Where was all of this before, you ask?

It’s all in the transition. You can’t expect a quarterback to leave a program after spring practice and enroll at Auburn — missing those 15 critical practices — and roll into summer workouts and camp and it’s all easy-peasy.

It’s the most important position on the field for a reason. Beyond the crucial need to throw accurately and on time and with anticipation, Thorne didn’t know SEC defenses. Didn’t understand the complexities.

During his magical 2019 season, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said the most difficult transition from playing as a backup at Ohio State to starting at LSU was adjusting to defenses in the SEC. It’s a line of scrimmage league, and more than anything, Big Ten teams typically play Cover 4 base pass coverage.

In the SEC, it’s 2 safeties high and man coverage underneath, and more times than not, you’re making a tight window throw.

So is it as simple as Thorne is now 9 games into the season, and that’s why he completed 70% of his passes and had 5 TD and only 1 INT in the last 2 games? Is he seeing the field better, or is it that he’s no longer seeing Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss in consecutive weeks?

More than likely, it’s a little of both. That doesn’t mean it won’t be difficult Saturday at Arkansas, which has lost 5 games this season by 1 possession and is playing much better than a 3-win team.

The Tigers are growing offensively, there’s no denying that. They’ve had scoring plays in the passing game of 53, 46 and 27 yards in the past 2 weeks, and the overall operation is getting smoother — despite 7 drops against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

It’s most certainly not the dangerous and dynamic pass offense that Freeze has had in the past at Ole Miss and Liberty, but — and here’s the key — it may no longer be a liability.

“We played with confidence and swagger last week,” Freeze said. “We had some explosive plays, but it should have been more. The more we are successful doing that, the more confidence and swagger our kids play with.”

There’s no better time than November to make that happen.

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247sports.com

Travis Williams majorly motivated in first matchup against alma mater

Nathan King

14–18 minutes

Travis Williams will face his alma mater for the first time in his coaching career

For the first time in three years, one of Auburn’s most beloved figures of the past couple decades will share the field with his alma mater once again.

Arkansas fourth-year head coach Sam Pittman hired former Auburn player and assistant coach Travis Williams in December to replace Barry Odom, who left for the head job at UNLV. Williams spent the past two seasons in his first career defensive coordinator gig at UCF, where he continued to coach under Gus Malzahn. This fall marked the first season in a decade where Williams won’t be working with Malzahn.

“You can tell he’s majorly motivated to do well,” Pittman said this week ahead of Williams’ first career matchup against Auburn.

Some pointed to Williams as a candidate for a job on Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn staff. It’s unclear how much interest the parties may have had in a reunion, but Freeze landed on Ron Roberts, whom Arkansas was also after for its defensive coordinator vacancy.

Freeze said he heard Williams’ praises sung over the years by Malzahn, one of Freeze’s close friends in the coaching world.

“I know of Travis and his reputation,” Freeze said Wednesday. “I think he’s an outstanding recruiter, number one.”

Following a successful, four-year playing career at Auburn in the mid-2000s, Williams played a couple seasons in the NFL before he started his coaching career at Spring Valley High School (South Carolina) in 2008. He returned to his alma mater in 2009 as a grad assistant, working for his former defensive coordinator, Gene Chizik.

Williams was offered an Auburn defensive analyst position in 2014 by Malzahn. After two seasons working behind the scenes, Williams was promoted to an on-field role as linebackers coach, and later added co-defensive coordinator responsibilities.

Under Williams' guidance, Auburn's linebacking corps was one of the most consistent units in the SEC. From 2016-20, the position group produced three All-SEC selections, and in 2019, K.J. Britt became the school's first linebacker to be named first team All-SEC since Williams himself was recognized during his standout 2004 season.

“A lot — it had a lot to do with that because he understood recruiting,” Pittman said at SEC Media Days when asked how much Williams’ Auburn experience played into his hiring at Arkansas. “It’s just different — the urgency of coaching in the SEC, the urgency of recruiting in the SEC. It’s just different, man. If someone says it ain’t, they’re lying. I wanted someone who understood that.”

Bryan Harsin opted not to retain Williams on his inaugural staff in 2021, and he was originally set to coach at Miami as linebackers coach before Malzahn and UCF swooped in and offered him his first career defensive coordinator role.

At UCF, Williams had one of its most efficient seasons for UCF in years, finishing No. 23 nationally in yards per play allowed. The Knights dipped slightly on that side of the ball last season but were still top three in the American Conference in scoring defense.

But it was Williams’ gravitational personality and SEC recruiting chops that drew Pittman’s attention. Pittman said as soon as he finished the interview with Williams in December, he called Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek immediately: “This is our guy.”

“He was so positive,” Pittman said of the interview process with Williams. “He had a reputation before I even went in there as a recruiter. In the world of portal, you better have some guys that can recruit — because if you can’t, you’re going to gone. I felt so at ease that if I hired him, he could help me replace somebody if they did go in the portal. ... He might be a reason that somebody does not go in the portal, if that makes sense, just because of what kind of character and what kind of man he is.”

Former Auburn assistant Marcus Woodson is also on Arkansas’ staff as defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator.

It will be a nice pregame for someone like Cadillac Williams, who was teammates with Travis Williams at Auburn and coached with him at their alma mater for two years. But Auburn’s entire offensive staff has a challenge to solve an improved Arkansas defense under Williams, who has turned the Razorbacks around from being one of the SEC’s worst in 2022 to a group that’s in the top half of the league in a number of categories.

“You put on the tape and see how hard his kids are playing defensively, and that’s a great testament to his leadership,” Freeze said.

Kickoff in Fayetteville, where Auburn hasn’t lost since 2015, is set for 3 p.m. CST on SEC Network.

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wsfa.com

Auburn, Arkansas fight to avoid last place in competitive SEC West

The Associated Press

3–4 minutes

Auburn (5-4, 2-4 SEC) at Arkansas (3-6, 1-5), 3 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

Line: Arkansas by 2 1/2, according to  FanDuel Sportsbook.

Series record: Auburn leads 19-12-1.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Auburn and Arkansas are two of three teams fighting to stay out of the SEC West cellar. The Tigers have beaten the teams they were expected to beat this season, but fallen to all the ones against whom they were underdogs. Arkansas had fallen to just about everyone until beating Florida last week. Auburn needs just one more win to ensure a .500 season and bowl eligibility, while Arkansas can afford no more losses at all on either front.

KEY MATCHUP

Auburn's Peyton Thorne and Jarquez Hunter are the No. 2 quarterback-running back rushing duo in the SEC. The best, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Logan Diggs, led the Tigers to 509 yards and a win over Arkansas in September. Arkansas has only allowed a high of 414 yards since. Although the Razorbacks have lost four of five games since the LSU game, all four losses came by one possession. If Arkansas limits Thorne and Hunter, the Razorbacks likely keep their hopes for a bowl appearance alive.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Auburn: Thorne. When he has thrown for 105 yards or more, the Tigers haven’t lost. Sounds easy enough, but he’s failed to hit that mark five times. Auburn’s quarterback will gain yards on the ground, as he has every week, but if those aren’t opening up passing options, the Tigers are going to struggle to score.

Arkansas: Raheim Sanders. The man known as Rocket was a preseason All-American, but a knee injury had limited him to less than 100 yards over just three healthy games until the Gators visited Fayetteville. Sanders didn’t find the end zone, but his 103 yards on 18 carries offered a flashback to 2022, when he ran for more than 1,300 yards.

FACTS & FIGURES

Auburn had won six straight games in the series before Arkansas' 14-point victory last year ensured the Razorbacks a bowl appearance. The last time Arkansas beat Auburn in Fayetteville was in 2015. … Arkansas kicker Cam Little was named a Groza Award semifinalist on Tuesday. He is 16 of 18 on field-goal attempts with two makes longer than 50 yards. … Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, in his first season with the Razorbacks, played linebacker at Auburn from 2001-05 and was an assistant with the Tigers from 2009 to 2011 and 2014 to 2020. … Arkansas played against Auburn coach Hugh Freeze last year when he coached Liberty. The Flames won, 21-19.

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al.com

 

How Auburn’s Jalen McLeod rose from undersized to a vital pass rusher

Published: Nov. 09, 2023, 6:32 a.m.

6–7 minutes

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The Friendship Collegiate coach knows its cliche, but he remembers the very first practice for his then-junior pass rusher. Some players just have “it,” Michael Hunter said. To him, “it” means being a player who takes coaching but really just needs the opportunity to play, that they’re going find a way to their job done.

That player was Jalen McLeod. And to Hunter, having “it” doesn’t include a player’s height.

“I mean look, the game of football is all about low man wins,” Hunter said. “I know everyone wants these big 6-4, 6-5 guys who can bend to get low. But a guy like Jalen who’s 6-1, 6-2 that can also bend can now lower than those you know, 6-5 guys. Like I said, he’s relentless. He has excellent speed off the edge. All his attributes work out to where he’s successful on the field.”

McLeod was a 3-star recruit out of high school in Washington D.C. He was productive enough to earn All-Met honors from The Washington Post but not tall enough to receive an offer from any major conference team. Only two of the schools that offered McLeod a scholarship, per 247Sports, were FBS programs.

Hunter said he worked with McLeod to play other positions besides outside linebacker. Other bigger schools, like Rutgers, showed interest in McLeod but on the condition he moved inside.

“We tried to play him in a lot of different positions so that one school couldn’t say, ‘Well, he’s too small to play D-end, but he’s never played linebacker.’ So we played him at linebacker and D-end, sort of our jack position, just so he can get more exposure, get more opportunities.”

But McLeod just wanted to rush the quarterback, he said before the 2023 season with Auburn. So he picked the school that would let him do that. That was Appalachian State.

McLeod played for head coach Shawn Clark there and was an early impact player. By his junior year, McLeod totaled six sacks, two forced fumbles, 41 total tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss.

Actually, those two forced fumbles came on one play in what would be McLeod’s biggest moment of the year. He knocked the ball away twice while rushing then-Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King in what went on to be an Appalachian State upset over the top-10 ranked Aggies.

“Oh sh-t, really good play,” Clark told AL.com he remembered thinking on the sidelines. “But now we’re gonna lose him.”

In September, Clark told AL.com that part of his philosophy is to seek out players like McLeod who have clear talent, but may have been passed on by a higher-level school for whatever various reasons. In McLeod’s case, that reason was his size.

Part of that bargain, though, is knowing that if a player like McLeod can reach the potential their talent allows they will likely move on to the program’s Clarks believes should have been recruiting them in the first place.

So when McLeod had his breakout moment on a national stage against Texas A&M, Clark knew McLeod had played too well to remain a Mountaineer. He was right.

McLeod called that game a “money game,” meaning the type of game where if you play well, you have the chance to move up to the next level and make the type of money that comes with it. At the time of the Texas A&M game with Appalachian State, that meant moving from the Sun Belt to a Power 5 conference.

“But he had his opportunity to put his name in the portal and go to Auburn which was always a dream to play Power 5 football so he’s living a dream and not looking back,” Hunter said.

McLeod picked Auburn because the coaching staff here would let him play outside, too. At Appalachian State, he proved he could.

That means McLeod is now playing money games looking toward what he hopes is a career in the NFL — the next level up. And after an ankle injury meant a slow start for the transfer jack linebacker, McLeod is playing at the level Auburn hoped he could be. Head coach Hugh Freeze has called him Auburn’s best pass rusher.

“I’m very thankful he decided to come here,” cornerback Keionte Scott said. “He makes this defense very good. He’s a threat. I’m just thankful to be a part of him. During the recruiting process I told him ‘We’re going to make each other good.’ I’m glad he was able to come here. He’s going to continue to dominate.”

Over Auburn’s four games since the bye week, McLeod has 15 tackles — 4.5 of them for loss — and 2.5 sacks.

“It’s scary,” defensive tackle Justin Rogers said. “When he’s on that edge by himself, it’s something different. He brings a lot to the table and a lot to the team, for real.”

Before McLeod’s recent run began, Hunter got to come down and watch his former player in the Sept. 30 game against Georgia. Hunter has had players play Power 5 football before. The Washington D.C. coach has been to SEC football games before, too.

But there was something surreal to Hunter about seeing McLeod on the jumbotron. To see the player he’d had to put in different positions and find his versatility just to get college offers playing in front of 88,000 people cheering for him.

Moments like that, Hunter said, is why high school coaches do their jobs. It’s to see their players move on to live out their own dreams.

It’s just that McLeod living out his never surprised Hunter.

“When given the right opportunity, just look past some of the maybe measurable things that don’t stack up to the prototypes,” Hunter said. “But just give him an opportunity and I know he’s going to be successful.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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[AUpreacherman22 3,910]

11 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

 

auburntigers.com

 

Auburn's Alex McPherson named Groza Award semifinalist

Auburn University Athletics

3–4 minutes

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AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's Alex McPherson is one of 20 semifinalists for the 2023 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Thursday.  

McPherson ranks No. 1 in the country with a 100 percent field goal accuracy, having converted on all nine attempts this season. The redshirt freshman from Fort Payne, Alabama, is also 29-for-29 on PATs for a total of 56 points scored.

McPherson is 1-for-1 from 50 yards or farther, 2-for-2 from 40-49 yards, 6-for-6 on kicks from 30-39 yards and 2-for-2 from 20-29-yard range.

Fellow Groza Award semifinalists Graham Nicholson from Miami of Ohio, who is 17-for-17, and Texas State's Mason Shipley, who's 11-for-11, have also connected on all their field goal opportunities this season.

Auburn's game at Arkansas Saturday at 3 p.m. CT will feature two Groza Award semifinalists. Razorbacks kicker Cam Little shares the national lead with four kicks from at least 50 yards out.

Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced Nov. 28 and honored at the 32^nd annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on Dec. 4 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot College Football Awards on Friday, Dec. 8.

The award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.

Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 28 finalists, including 16 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home seven Super Bowls. That list includes 2023 NFL kickers Randy Bullock, former Auburn standout Daniel Carlson and Jake Elliott.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer

Players Mentioned

 

#38 Alex McPherson

K 5' 9" Redshirt Freshman Liberal Arts

My man crush!!!

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good morning Auburn Alabama! i hope all is well we finally have rain coming. not sure if it will rain during the arkie game but as tubs said"there is nothing smells worse than a wet hog". Saturday is Veterans Day so lets remember shall we? also as a selfish reminder you guys have about one and a half months to get me a good christmas present before all the good stuff is gone...................

Edited November 10, 2023 by aubiefifty

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no harm meant but i wonder if someone gagged zac if he would blow up from the pressure? the man loves to talk....................lol

[SaltyTiger 8,240]

Good morning andThanks Fiddy. In B’ham visiting family last night and this morning. Headed back down 280 shortly and hopefully with windshield wipers on. Come back to some of this later today. War Eagle

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