12.25.23 Football Articles

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247sports.com

 

Britton looks to end amazing year with a victory

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama—When Gunner Britton was looking for a new home after leaving Western Kentucky after last season, one of the things he wanted to find was a place that felt like home. As the offensive lineman heads into his final game with the Auburn Tigers, Britton said the season and his time at Auburn has been everything he hoped for and so much more.

But there’s still more work to be done. Facing Maryland in the Music City Bowl on December 30 in Nashville, Britton said this team is focused on winning to send the team into the 2024 season on a positive note.

“It has been special,” Britton said. “It has been everything I wanted it to be. It has been amazing. I thank God for giving me the ability to play this game. To see how the fans have welcomed me and welcomed coach Freeze.

“It’s awesome that we won 6 games and have a chance to win 7, but to see what it can be for this team and this program in the years to come is something special for me. I won’t be able to be on the field with these guys, but they’re going to build something special here. I know they are. I can see it. I can see who they’re bringing in. It’s going to be special. I can’t wait to be just a small part of that.”

Dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season that limited him in practices and forced coach Jake Thornton to rotate guys up front at both guard positions with Kam Stutts also dealing with his own injuries, Britton said the time off after the regular season was great for him and the rest of the group.

Now they’re ready to put their best foot forward after having a good week of work before breaking for Christmas.

“It’s nice getting to knock some of the rust off. It was really good for the team and myself, getting to have a couple of weeks off and getting to go home and see my family. Just being able to get my body back underneath me has been huge. I think we have done a really good job this first week of practice of learning the game plan and getting some guys some reps that haven’t been able to get reps all year.

“I think that’s really crucial because you almost get to have 15 extra practices that some teams don’t get. I think it’s huge that we use that to our advantage. I think it has been really good for us so far. I feel great getting back out there. That’s always nice.”

With one more game to put on the Auburn uniform, Britton said the goal is to play the best game of the season and celebrate one final time before he’s done on the Plains.

“I think a big statement for us is winning the bowl game,” he said. “It kind of gives you momentum going into the next year, especially if you can dominate it. For us to be able to win it would be huge. It’s always nice finishing above .500, 7-6 instead of 6-7. I think it’s kind of going to set the stage for these guys coming back next year. If we finish with a win they can kind of go from there. It’s going to be big for them. I’m excited about it.”

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

Connor Lew makes PFF's All-Freshman team

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

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It didn’t take long for Connor Lew to cement himself as one of Auburn’s best players and a building block for Hugh Freeze and Co.

The true freshman turned heads once he arrived on campus and became the backup center behind veteran Avery Jones. When Jones went down with an injury in Week 8, Lew was inserted into the starting lineup and the offense did not miss a beat.

According to Pro Football Focus, he did not allow a sack and surrendered just three quarterback pressures in nine games this season. His PFF pass-blocking grade of 75.5 was the highest on the team and they honored him by naming him to their 2023 All-Freshman Team.

Lew is expected to start in Auburn’s bowl game against Maryland and will enter his sophomore seasonas the clear starter and someone Auburn can build the offensive line around,

PFF’s 2023 All-Freshman Team: Offense🔥 pic.twitter.com/kx3hsCLbBH

— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 24, 2023

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 JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15

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si.com

 

'Must Watch': Perry Thompson Documentary

Brian Smith

1–2 minutes

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Many of the young men who battle for the Auburn Tigers and other college football programs come from humble beginnings. 2024 Auburn signee Perry Thompson fits that profile well. 

He's been through battles in life that many could not imagine before he was even on the recruiting map for Auburn, Alabama, or any other college football program.

Thompson is allowing people to see part of his life story through the following documentary which includes several Auburn coaches, including Hugh Freeze, coming to his house for an in-home visit. Truly inspirational. This is the kind of young man a person can happily root for.

Edit: Note that this is directly from Thompson's YouTube page.

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247sports.com

 

At 29 years old, Marcus Davis an elite recruiter at alma mater

Nathan King

6–8 minutes

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Just over a year ago, Auburn was still looking for a receivers coach for Hugh Freeze’s inaugural staff. And on Wednesday, the Tigers signed the best class in the country at the position.

It’s been a whirlwind first year for Marcus Davis back at his alma mater in 2023 as an assistant, from scrambling to get transfer pieces in place last offseason, to heading up an inexperienced and oft-criticized receiving corps during the season, and now signing the most talented crop of wideouts in program history.

Wednesday was arguably the biggest day of Davis’ young coaching career. Less than Seven years after hanging up his cleats on the Plains, he brought some unprecedented talent to his alma mater.

“All of our staff put in great effort, but Marcus Davis — he had to spend extra, extra time because of the number of kids we were trying to sign there, too, and the ranking of them,” Freeze said on signing day.

The Tigers signed two 5-stars — Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson — at the same position for the first time in program history. All four signees are blue-chippers, too, as Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons are both ranked as 4-stars and top-200 overall players in the 2024 class.

So what about Davis’ recruiting chops — doing so as a Power Five assistant for the first time in his career — allowed him to be so successful?

For starters, Coleman, who committed to Texas A&M in the summer, said Davis has made him feel like a part of the class at Auburn even when he was pledged to another SEC program.

“Even though I just joined the family, it feels like I’ve been a part of this since the beginning of my recruiting process,” Coleman said on this week’s Auburn Undercover Podcast. “Auburn never stopped showing me love.”

It was a staff-wide effort to eventually flip Coleman earlier this month — helped by the fact Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher, and Aggies receivers coach Dameyune Craig was not retained — but it was Davis who maintained the biggest relationship and kept that avenue open for Auburn to land him.

“When Cam made his commitment to another school, we immediately said, look, that's fine, but we're not going to waiver,” Freeze said. “We're not going away, and we're going to fight to the end. We'll prove to you that we want you more, that we obviously feel like you're a difference-maker here. We just were relentless with making sure he understood that. Obviously it helped that the other school had a coaching change. I'd like to think we were going to win it anyway, but I don't know if that's the case or not. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.”

Coleman and Thompson are the big, flashy gems of the class, but Davis also secured two other top receiving talents from the state in Simmons and Cain. Auburn signed four of the top five wide receivers in the state of Alabama, per 247Sports ratings, and could have all five if 5-star Ryan Williams flips in February.

“Going to see other receiver coaches, they weren’t talking how he was talking,” Simmons said on this week’s Auburn Undercover Podcast. “I felt like Coach Davis was a coach I could play for and is going to push me to be the best I can be.”

Davis’ history at Auburn is also attractive to a recruit, Simmons said, after Davis won an SEC championship in 2013 and played for a national title.

“Knowing that he played for Auburn and was on that championship team — it’s a dream come true to play for a coach like that,” Simmons said. “He’s given back to us so we can be successful at Auburn and make it to the next level.”

With the dust settled on the early signing period, Davis finishes ranked as the No. 3 recruiter in the country by 247Sports. The two coaches ahead of him — Syracuse head coach and former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown, and Alabama receivers coach Holmon Wiggins — have seven and nine commitments that they were primary recruiters for, respectively. Davis has only the four wide receiver commits. The next highest-ranked recruiter on the list with only four commitments is Georgia’s Tray Scott at No. 8.

(Austin Perryman / Auburn Athletics)

Following a few years in off-the-field roles at his alma mater and Florida State, Davis began his career as a full-time assistant just three seasons ago, when he landed a gig as Hawaii’s receivers coach in 2021. He then spent one season at Georgia Southern.

Helping to close the deal on the flips of Coleman and Thompson was Auburn quarterback signee Walker White, rated as the No. 7 passer in the country and the unquestioned leader of the class. Since committing in February, White was instrumental in recruiting other players to Auburn’s 2024 class, and he took multiple visits to campus just to develop relationships with targets and other commitments.

“It was very important,” Coleman said of his continued relationship with White and Auburn’s fellow receiver commits, even while he was pledged to Texas A&M. “At the end of the day, those are my teammates and my brothers for life. It shows they want a relationship and want to build a relationship with each other.”

With a ratings bump, Coleman is now the No. 2 overall recruit in Auburn history, now ahead of Derrick Brown and behind only Byron Cowart. Thompson alone would have already been the team’s highest-rated receiver signee since Ben Obomanu in 2022.

Freeze is no stranger to high-level receiving talent in the SEC, and he hopes Davis’ infusion of playmakers in the passing game is what Auburn needs to take the next step as an offense.

“It’s no secret we needed to get some difference-makers at the receiver position,” Freeze said. “To land two of the top 10 in the nation in Perry and Cam and then two others that I think are sleepers. But they are ranked in, what, the top 150 in the country? Bryce and Malcolm. Now, they’re going to have to get thrown into the deep end of the pool and swim pretty fast, but I think they have that ability. It changes our offense if we have guys like that on the outside and in the slot that can make plays. I’ve seen them do it.

“I’m reminded when we started rebuilding Ole Miss, that first full class just like this first full class, we talked a guy by the name of Laquon Treadwell in coming with us. It changed the way we called games. I feel the same about Cam and Perry and Malcolm and Bryce. You combined Walker (White) with those, I think we did pretty good at the skill positions.”

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al.com

 

Auburn NFL roundup: Anders Carlson kicks game-winner

Updated: Dec. 24, 2023, 11:53 p.m.|Published: Dec. 24, 2023, 11:42 p.m.

6–7 minutes

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When sixth-round rookie Anders Carlson lined up for his first attempt at game-winning field goal for the Green Bay Packers with 22 seconds left on Sunday, the former Auburn standout was taking aim from only 32 yards out – a piece of cake compared to the 53-yard field goal he had made in the first half.

But the game-winner was coming from just about extra-point distance, and Carlson has missed four of those this season, including one that went wide left in the second quarter after the Packers’ second touchdown on Sunday.

• State NFL roundup: Quincy Williams continues to make case for Pro Bowl
• Alabama NFL roundup: Amari Cooper turns in rare game for Browns
• Tua Tagovailoa guides Miami to last-snap win over Dallas

Carlson didn’t miss with the game on the line, though, and his field goal with 19 seconds remaining lifted Green Bay to a 33-30 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

After the Panthers tied the score with 4:05 to play, the Packers got a 36-yard completion on a third-and-4 throw from quarterback Jordan Love to wide receiver Romeo Doubs and a 20-yard connection between Love and tight end Tucker Kraft to reach the Carolina 13-yard line with 1:54 remaining. From there, Green Bay played for the field goal, and Carlson made the strategy pay off as the Packers kept their playoff hopes alive by improving to 7-8 with two games left on their regular-season schedule.

Carlson has made 24-of-29 field-goal attempts and 29-of-33 extra-point kicks in his first NFL season. The 53-yarder on Sunday is the longest field goal of his NFL career. He’s 3-of-5 from 50-or-more yards.

Carlson was among the 16 former Auburn players who got on the field on the 16th Sunday of the NFL’s 104th season.

Five other former Auburn players were involved in the Green Bay-Carolina game:

· Derrick Brown started at defensive end for the Panthers. Brown made nine tackles. Brown recorded his fourth game with at least nine tackles, and three have come in his past seven outings.

· Packers safety Rudy Ford (New Hope) made two tackles on special teams.

· Panthers outside linebacker Eku Leota was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Packers defensive lineman Colby Wooden made one tackle.

· Panthers linebacker Chandler Wooten is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

In the other Sunday games:

Atlanta Falcons 29, Indianapolis Colts 10

· Colts offensive tackle Braden Smith was designated as a game-day inactive. A knee injury kept Smith out of the lineup for the third game in a row.

Cleveland Browns 36, Houston Texans 22

· Texans offensive tackle Kilian Zierer is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

New York Jets 30, Washington Commanders 28

· Jets defensive end Carl Lawson made one tackle in his first appearance since Nov. 12.

· Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood did not record any stats.

· Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Seattle Seahawks 20, Tennessee Titans 17

· Marlon Davidson (Greenville) started at defensive tackle for the Titans. Davidson made two tackles and recorded one tackle for loss in his second NFL start. His first came on Nov. 7, 2021, with the Atlanta Falcons.

· Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall made two tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

· Roger McCreary (Williamson) started at cornerback for the Titans. McCreary made seven tackles.

· Titans quarterback Malik Willis dressed for the game but did not play.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 12

· Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby did not record any stats.

· Jaguars defensive tackle Angelo Blackson was designated as a game-day inactive.

· K.J. Britt (Oxford) started at inside linebacker for the Buccaneers. Britt made one tackle.

· Carlton Davis started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Davis made two tackles before leaving the game to be evaluated for a head injury.

· Jamel Dean started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Dean made four tackles.

· Jaguars safety Daniel Thomas (Lee-Montgomery) did not record any stats before leaving because of an arm injury.

· Jaguars wide receiver Seth Williams (Paul Bryant) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Chicago Bears 27, Arizona Cardinals 16

· Owen Pappoe started at inside linebacker for the Cardinals. Pappoe made two tackles in his first NFL start.

· Cardinals tight end John Samuel Shenker is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Miami Dolphins 22, Dallas Cowboys 20

· Dolphins defensive tackle Byron Cowart is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Cowboys cornerback Noah Igbinoghene (Hewitt-Trussville) was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Dolphins wide receiver Anthony Schwartz is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

New England Patriots 26, Denver Broncos 23

· Jonathan Jones started at left cornerback for the Patriots. Jones made one tackle and broke up one pass.

· Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham dressed for the game but did not play.

Week 16 started on Thursday night, when the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the New Orleans Saints 30-22, and continued on Saturday, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 34-11 and the Buffalo Bills defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24-22.

Week 16 concludes on Monday, with three games – Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs at noon CST on CBS and Nickelodeon, New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on FOX and Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers on ABC.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AmarkG1.

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Merry Chsistmas Fam!  slim pickings today. included is one of my favorite christmas with Greg Lake RIP>

 

 

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starts at seven central time

[SaltyTiger 7,808]

Thanks Fiddy. Have a great Christmas Day. Damp gray one here on the Plains but promises to be a good one.

[gr82be 14,425]

9 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

slim pickings today.

Loved Slim Pickens