Following the 38-point victory over quad-one opponent Ohio State in Atlanta, the program’s fifth quad-one win in its first ten games, the No. 2 Tigers are set to return home for a matchup with Georgia State on Tuesday night before heading back on the road to face No. 11 Purdue in Birmingham, AL.
Below is a collection of the quotes from head coach Bruce Pearl prior to Auburn’s upcoming matchup with the Panthers.
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, the league is off to a historic start, with five teams in the top-10, and then, interestingly enough, that the three other teams that happen to not be an SEC team; Duke, Iowa State and Houston, we beat two out of three. So we got a lot of tough games ahead of us but very proud of our league to be enough to touch a great start.
“Georgia State is a talented team, very well coached team. They play really, really hard. They've got sort of an SEC athlete caliber group of starters. They got great size, and they got a really good inside game. They got two posts, their power forward is averaging a double double, and their center is probably an even better scorer. So our front line will be challenged along the lines of, say, a Memphis or a Iowa State. It's, again, a very, very experienced roster with great speed, quickness and athleticism.
“They beat a Memphis team that, you know, beat some pretty good teams out in Hawaii, including UConn. So it'll be a pretty fast paced game.”
Thoughts on Auburn’s historic start:
“We just honestly take it one game at a time. We're still going to take them one at a time. We're not reflecting on where we are right now we are working on areas that we think we have to get better. To play the caliber of schedule that we played, and be in a position we're in right now is certain, everything I could have hoped for, but we got this one Tuesday, and then we got Purdue on Saturday.”
Thoughts on Dylan Cardwell:
“I can tell you that that Edwards and McMillan, they're two front line kids for Georgia State. This is an opportunity to play against Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome, and that's something that those two big guys are talking about.
“So our big guys know that this front line will be a challenge. I think Dylan's decision to come back this year, knowing Johni Broome was coming back – Jonhi made the decision pretty early on that he was going to come back – and then Dylan had a decision to make. And that was, do we think we can play together some which we hadn't prior?
“I told Dylan and Johni and Chaney last year, ‘I feel good about where we are. I do feel like Johni can play the four and I'm committed to playing you guys together.’
“Dylan, he could be the defensive player of the year if this team keeps winning because he blocks shots, plays one on one, on the post, can guard one through five, just like Johni, and gives us great, great flexibility and physicality at his position.”
Thoughts on the Tigers’ improvement of defending without fouling:
“I think that what we've really focused on is we really focused on trying to play as aggressively before shots are taken, but then once shots are taken, working really hard to not foul and to not come down, even blocking shots, just make them tough shots, but don't bail them out with a foul. And we've worked really hard at trying to do that. For the most part, we've done pretty well. I'd say the other thing too about this, I mean, it's one of the most physical, one of the more physical games we play.”
Update on Miles Kelly’s hand:
“He’s just got a little bang on his hand and got a little tape on it for some support. He’ll be fine.”
Thoughts on the passing of Chette Williams:
“I would be remiss if I didn't start off talking about brother Chette Williams, just a tragic loss for the Auburn Family. Chette impacted hundreds of student athletes, coaches, fans, staff members. He was the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. People came from all over the country to learn from Brother Chette Williams how to do FCA the right way. He was an icon. I know that Coach Freeze really, really embraced Chette’s ministry, and my heart goes out to his family and our football program.
“I know the loss affects coach Tuberville, coach Malzahn and the entire Auburn football family and the athletic program, because he was a good friend.”
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
