TAMPA, Fla. — Even with a stacked senior class with the likes of Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson leaving, the players aren’t concerned about a potential drop-off. In fact, Auburn wouldn’t be surprised if the team gets better after a 9-4 season.
“They got enormous potential,” senior Sal Cannella said of next season. “It’s crazy. I was just telling Seth, telling Anthony that if you just keep working man, like I said, if you just put your mind to something man, I told them too, like, they could be great. Everyone in that room could be great. All it is man is you just gotta separate yourself by work ethic. Because if you do extra work and consistently do it over and over and over, its gonna pay off, it’s inevitable.”
Cannella ended his Auburn career with one catch for 37 yards and a touchdown. This was Cannella’s second straight game with a touchdown after not having one in 13 consecutive games. Cannella believes that the new players could begin to make an impact as well.
“Their ceiling is super high,” Cannella said. “Everyone in that rooms ceiling is super high. They’ll be great man, I’m telling you they’ll be great.”
Defensively, the seniors are expecting the team to be perfectly fine next season even with their two All-American defensive lineman leaving.
“We got All-Americans coming up,” Davidson said after the game. “Big Kat (Bryant) is gonna be an All-American. Tyrone Truesdell’s gonna be an All-American. Derrick Hall is gonna be an All-American. I watched these guys play and I watched these guys grow from the first day they got in. And now look at them it’s paying off. Next year they’re gonna take the step forward to be the best.”
Brown echoed a similar sentiment to his roommate, expecting a big year for the Auburn defense next year.
The team also expects freshman Bo Nix to continue to progress and improve going into the next season.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player,” Nix said. “Obviously there’s a lot of difference between high school and college. I feel like as the season progressed I got a lot better and I saw a lot more by the end of the season than I was at the beginning.”
Nix says he plans to get bigger and stronger during the offseason while also continuing to grow as a quarterback.
Head coach Gus Malzahn continues to believe in the freshman.
“Bo, I’ve said this before, he’s gonna win a championship for us before he gets out of here,” Malzahn said. “Bo went against the toughest schedule in college football as a true freshman and he learned. He’s gonna be a really good quarterback for us and more than that, I think he’s gonna be a great leader for us, that’s my expectations. I’m glad he’s our quarterback.”
Even with a loss to end their careers, the seniors don’t have any regrets.
“It was an exciting feeling but also a sad feeling,” Davidson said. “You wanted to finish your senior year off the right way, with a dub. We didn’t get that but just knowing that I did it for Auburn. If I had another four years, I’d come back. Auburn is a special place and it’s special to me and it will always be special.”
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.
