When Auburn lined up for its first snap of the game against Louisville a few weeks ago, half of the secondary wasn’t even on the team a year ago—and they aren’t freshmen.
Safety Tray Matthews and cornerback Blake Countess both decided to transfer to Auburn over the offseason: Matthews from Georgia and Countess from Michigan. Now, they’re going to be leaned on as two of the veterans in a talent-laden team.
Matthews made his way to Auburn in one of the most roundabout ways possible. A five-star recruit out of Newnan, Georgia, Matthews signed with the University of Georgia and saw a large chunk of playing time as a true freshman. He played fairly well for the Bulldogs, but his most notable play came against the same Tigers of which he’s now a part.
Matthews was one half of the now-famous ‘Prayer in Jordan-Hare’ along with now-Louisville safety Josh-Harvey Clemons, where they deflected a Nick Marshall throw into the hands of Ricardo Louis to beat Georgia in 2013.
Following the season, Matthews decided to transfer to the Tigers following his dismissal from Georgia, which stemmed from misdemeanor charges he faced.
Now settled in to his role as a starting safety, Matthews is able to relax, focus and be a focal point for the new and improved Auburn defense.
“I’m looking forward to getting a lot of interceptions this year, but I definitely bring (hard hits) to the table,” Matthews said. “(The hits) set the tone for the defense, it’s what starts everything, gets everyone going. If I do that, other players start doing it, and when they do it, I’m going to start doing it more.”
Countess, on the other hand, had a much more straightforward transfer process. The graduate transfer had been a starter for the University of Michigan for three years, and was named to the first-team All-Big Ten in 2013 by the media. After graduating from Michigan, he elected to spend his final season of eligibility—which he was granted after tearing his ACL against Alabama in 2012—at Auburn.
In the short time Countess has been on the Plains, he has already learned his versatility in the secondary which will pay dividends in 2015.
“That’s something we talked about before I made my decision, that’s something I wanted to do,” Countess said. “I’m not a coach, I don’t know how exactly things are going to go, but I’m ready to play wherever I’m needed.”
The veteran presence of both players has been valuable so far, but they'll need to do more to revitalize an Auburn secondary that has been gashed in three games so far.
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