Auburn is limping to the finish line, but it’ll have somewhat of a reprieve this week against FCS opponent Alabama A&M.
Kamryn Pettway, Stanton Truitt and Chandler Cox will all miss this Saturday’s game against the Bulldogs. Pettway still isn’t healed properly from his injury against Vanderbilt, while Truitt and Cox got banged up in the loss to Georgia.
And a call about Sean White, who re-injured his shoulder in the loss as well, still hasn’t been made. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he’d reevaluate White’s status later in the week and decide then after a few practices. On top of that, senior receiver Marcus Davis is out for the remainder of the regular season with a shoulder injury.
Without Pettway, Truitt and Cox in the backfield, Auburn’s running back depth has run dangerously thin. Behind Kerryon Johnson, the only bonafide running back available to spell him is freshman Kam Martin, who has all the confidence in the world from his coaches to do what’s required of this new role, should it come down to it.
“He’s a great competitor,” Malzahn said. “He’s a freshman and still learning. He hasn’t played a whole lot, and he was put in a tough situation. Kam’s going to be a great player for us. There is no doubt in my mind, and we have confidence in him, and he’s going to make a whole lot of plays to help us win games in the future.”
After that, it gets spotty. Another freshman, Malik Miller, is rehabbing his knee after he had surgery on it, but he’s practicing. Nickel safety Rudy Ford, who played running back in high school and was originally recruited to play the same position at Auburn, could even potentially see some game reps there.
“Obviously we got Kerryon, we got Kam Martin, Malik Miller is going to practice this week,” Malzahn said. “Rudy Ford has gotten reps during the season so we’ll see how that all goes. Like I said, I’ll probably have a better idea running back-wise what our plan will be towards the end of the week too.”
With so many injuries mounting, it would make a lot of sense to sit guys like White and Johnson, who Auburn will definitely need the following week when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa. Even though that may be the case, they’re not treating this game against Alabama A&M as an extra bye week.
“In college football nowadays you can’t really just move on to the next opponent so well,” said safety Tray Matthews. “We’ve got to game plan for these guys and we can’t really look forward because nowadays anything can happen in college football. It’s still the same, we’re still preparing the right way.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
