Artis-Payne named semifinalist for Doak Walker Award
Cameron Artis-Payne has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to college football's top running back.
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Cameron Artis-Payne has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to college football's top running back.
Auburn showed up for one drive Saturday night in Sanford Stadium. The Tigers took the opening kickoff right down the field for a touchdown, taking in early lead against No. 15 Georgia. After that, it was all Bulldogs. When it finally came to merciful end, Auburn found itself on the wrong end of a 34-7 loss. It was a bad nice for the Tigers in every facet of the game. Gus Malzahn's offense managed just 292 total yards against a Georgia team that allowed more than 400 yards rushing to Florida earlier this year. Nick Marshall was 11 of 23 passing for 112 yards and Cameron Artis-Payne led the Tigers in rushing with 86 yards on 20 carries. Defensively, it was even worse. Georgia running backs Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb both amassed more than 130 yards rushing, running through arm tackles from a battered Auburn defense all night. All told, Georgia racked up 412 yards of total offense, 289 of those coming on the ground. Special teams weren't any better. On two occasions, the Tigers punt return team handed the ball right back to Chubb and the Bullldogs following defensive stops. The first was a Quan Bray drop on the return, and the second was a failed attempt at blocking a Georgia punt that resulted in a 15-yard penalty and a first down for the Bulldogs. Georgia took advantage of the miscues, converting them in to 10 points. The loss not only drops Auburn to a 7-3 mark on the season, but also erases any hope they had left of making to the SEC Championship game or the inaugural College Football Playoff. Auburn returns to Jordan Hare Stadium next week to take on Samford, then will travel to Tuscaloosa a week later for the Iron Bowl.
After a first drive that resulted in a touchdown, Auburn's offense stalled for the rest of the half. On the opposite side of the ball, the Tigers' defense struggled to stop Georgia running back Nick Chubb, and find themselves down 17-7 at halftime in Sanford Stadium. Special teams were Auburn's biggest Achilles heel in the first half however. On two occasions, the Tigers punt return team handed the ball right back to Chubb and the Bullldogs following defensive stops. The first was a Quan Bray drop on the return, and the second was a failed attempt at blocking a Georgia punt that resulted in a 15-yard penalty and a first down for the Bulldogs. Georgia took advantage of the miscues, converting them in to 10 points. Quarterback Nick Marshall threw the ball 13 times, completing eight for 62 yards. Cameron Artis-Payne was the Tigers' leading rusher in the first half, racking up 75 yards on 14 carries. Marshall added 21 yards of his own on the ground. Georgia will receive the kickoff to start the second half.
Most of the time, when I write these keys to the game articles, I try to get somewhat technical and take an in-depth look at Auburn and whoever their opponent is that week. I try to be specific and unique and avoid making what I say sound too basic. However, if Auburn hopes to find any success against the Bulldogs, or at all for the rest of the season, they need to get back to basics. 1. Tackle It seems pretty simple. If you don't tackle the opposing player, you aren't going to win a football game. Against Texas A&M, Auburn's tackling was atrocious. The Aggies racked up 453 total yards with a true freshman starting quarterback. Against Louisiana-Monroe, TAMU only gained 243 total yards. That game was in College Station, Texas. In Jordan-Hare Stadium, Kyle Allen and the Aggies offense screened and slanted the Auburn defense to death, and there were very few times when an Aggie player went down after the first defensive contact. Somewhere in Athens, Georgia, a guy named Todd Gurley was watching this game, chomping at the bit to get back on the field against a defense that got gashed all night by an inferior offense. If the Tigers play to the same level defensively as they did against the Aggies, Gurley is going to have a field day between the hedges Saturday. 2. Get to the quarterback Part of the reason a true freshman was able to come into Jordan-Hare Stadium and embarrass this defense in the first half was because he had roughly an hour to throw every pass. Save for the Ole Miss game, when Bo Wallace went down four times, the Auburn pass rush has been essentially nonexistent in 2014. With a secondary that struggles to get the ball carrier down, the defensive line is going to have to step up and pressure Hutson Mason. Mason may not be the best quarterback in the league, but then again, neither is Kyle Allen. 3. Play a complete game The first half against Texas A&M couldn't have gone much worse for the Tigers. Kyle Allen and the Aggies shredded the Auburn defense for four touchdowns, and the offense, fast as it is, just couldn't keep up. In the second half, the defense held the Aggies to only six points, and the offense came within three points of tying the game. Then the offense fumbled twice inside its own 30-yard line in the last three minutes of the game. If Auburn wants to beat Georgia, the offense and the defense are going to have to play well at the same time, and, save for the LSU game and the second half of the Arkansas game, they haven't done that much this season in conference play. 4. Be smart Ninety-nine percent of the time, if you give your running back the ball on the 2-yard line twice in a row, he'll get the ball into the end zone. I know there have plenty of times near the goal line when Nick Marshall has kept the ball and ran around the corner to the pylon, but that close to the end zone, there isn't really much of a decision to be made. In my opinion, that just wasn't a smart play call. Georgia is a confusing team. One week, they go out and pound Arkansas, and a few weeks later they get embarrassed by Florida. Auburn doesn't yet know which Georgia is going to show up, but that doesn't matter. They have to clean up their own sloppy play first. 5. Get Over It "What just happened?" "No way that just happened!" Those were the most common things I heard said around me in the student section after Reese Dismukes fumbled the snap with less than a minute to go. The way the Tigers lost to A&M was absolutely heartbreaking, but they have to forget about it. They can't afford a hangover from a loss heading into Athens, Georgia. It happened, it's over, and the Tigers need to wipe it from their memories. There's one person Auburn needs to be focus on right now, and he wears a big No. 3 on his chest.
Bruce Pearl has done it again. For the second consecutive year, the No.1 junior college prospect has signed on to play basketball at Auburn. This year, it's guard T.J. Dunans of Columbia State Community College. Last season, Dunans averaged 22.5 points a game with 8.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Prior to last season, Dunans was named Sporting News' Preseason Player of the Year. Dunans will come into a team losing four guards, so the 6'5 transfer should be able to make an immediate impact.
Auburn basketball's leading returning scorer, senior guard KT Harrell has been voted on to the SEC coaches' preseason All-SEC second team. Harrell is the conference's leading returning scorer as well after averaging 18.3 points per game last year for the Tigers, scoring in double digits in 29 of 30 games. Harrell was the only Auburn player put on the team, and is the first Tiger to be named to the team since DeWayne Reed in 2009-2010. Harrell and the Tigers will tipoff the season Friday night against Milwaukee at 9:00 p.m. in Auburn Arena.
From the moment Bruce Pearl was hired last spring, speculation surrounding Auburn basketball has been at an all-time high. On Friday, Nov. 14, that speculation will finally come to a tipping point, as Auburn will begin regular season play against Milwaukee. However, the Tigers have already played an exhibition game, a 94-58 win against West Alabama in front of a sold-out Auburn Arena crowd. Here are five things we learned from seeing Pearl's first Tiger team in action for the first time.
Auburn has fallen to No. 9 in both the AP and Amway Coaches polls following a 41-38 loss to unranked Texas A&M Saturday. That's a six-spot fall for the Tigers, who were third in both polls last week, as well as the College Football Playoff poll. The newest version of that poll will be released Tuesday, and will likely a similar drop in position for Auburn. The Tiger's next game is against Georgia in Athens, which will be running back Todd Gurley's first game back from suspension. That game will kick off at 6:15 Saturday night, and will be televised on ESPN.
On the night before the final conference home game of 2014, Gus Malzahn wasn't just thinking about football. He was thinking about basketball too. First-year head coach Bruce Pearl and his team had their first exhibition game of the season, and the football coach wanted to make sure they knew he was supporting them. "It was kind of fun sharing the weekend with the football program," Pearl said, following his team's 94-58 win over West Alabama. "Coach Malzahn reached out to me earlier today, and it meant a lot that he's getting ready to play Texas A&M, and he takes the time after his practice to call me and let me know that he knows tonight's a big night for me. It was really, really special. It was a good night from that standpoint." Near the end of his post-game press conference, Pearl spoke again about what it was like to have Malzahn wish him good luck. "I can't tell you how much it meant that Gus reached out," Pearl said. "As a coach, he knew it didn't matter what kind of game we were playing, he knew it was my first game back in a few years, so I can't tell you how much that meant to me."
This one went the way it was supposed to.
Bruce Pearl has Auburn more excited about basketball than it has been in a long time.
Recent World Series champion Tim Hudson and American League All-Star Josh Donaldson, who both spent their college days on the Plains, will headline the 11th annual Hudson Family Foundation Home Run Derby on Friday, Nov. 21 at Plainsman Park.
There are plenty of newcomers on this Auburn basketball team. There's Antoine Mason, the nation's top returning scorer. There's Cinmeon Bowers, the imposing big man. Then of course, there's first-year head coach Bruce Pearl, who has brought a never-before-seen energy to the University's basketball program. There are several fresh faces on the court this year for the Tigers, but there is also a player who's been here all the while. Senior guard KT Harrell, who SB Nation ranked as their 99th best college basketball player heading into the season, returns to the hardwood for the Tigers after starting 30 games and averaging 18.3 points per game last year. Harrell led the Tigers in scoring in 11 games last year and is looking to continue that leadership under Pearl. "Me and (Pearl) have talked a lot, and I think he wants me to be the leader of this team," Harrell said. "He wants a lot of the seniors to lead. I take on that challenge. I've been working on it every day in practice, and it's a role I accept." Pearl said he has communicated to the team what this season means for the fifth-year senior. "Do it for KT," Pearl said. "I almost want to approach it from the standpoint of 'let's do it for him.' We like him, we all respect him and he's been a great teammate." But Pearl also said he sometimes has to step in and be verbal when Harrell isn't. "KT may not say some things as a leader that I would like him to step up and say, so I'll say it for him," Pearl said. "Nobody wants to let KT down. I think he's in a position to lead just based on how he lives, trains and how loyal he is." The senior guard said he appreciates the kind words from his new head coach. "It means a lot," Harrell said. "I've been through a lot as far as my college career. This is my last year and I want to make it my best year. Just hearing him say that, it feels good to know that somebody has your back and wants the best for you. I think that's what all coaches should want for their players." Harrell also said he chooses to let the way he plays do the talking. "I work as hard as I possibly can," Harrell said. "I let my actions really show how I play, but I'm trying to work on being a more vocal leader. That's something that's going to be needed out of me." As for the hype leading up to tipoff, Harrell, who grew up near Auburn, said he's never seen anything like it before. "People are always talking about how excited they are for basketball," Harrell said. "There's a lot of buzz going around. I was raised in Montgomery and never really heard a lot about Auburn basketball. But this year's been pretty exciting."
The term trap game is a cliche. I try to avoid using cliches, but I'm breaking my own rule in this case because that's exactly what Auburn has Saturday, Nov. 8, against Texas A&M. Auburn is in the middle of a national championship push and is running through one of the tougher schedules in the country, while the Aggies are having a down year after dominating South Carolina in the season opener and falling victim to a substantial amount of overhyping. It's the classic recipe for a trap game, but here are five things the Tigers can do to avoid an upset.
The second College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night and Auburn stayed put in the third spot following a road win against Ole Miss on Saturday. Filling out the rest of the top four are Mississippi State at one, Florida State at two and Oregon at four. So, if the season were to end today, Auburn would be participating in this year's inaugural playoff by way of a match up against last year's national championship opponent Florida State. Opponent wise, Auburn still has to face off against two top-20 teams in these rankings, both on the road. First between the hedges against No. 20 Georgia in two weeks then the Iron Bowl against No. 5 Alabama in the final game of the regular season.
Linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy are a force to be reckoned with this season in Auburn's defensive midfield. After moving Frost outside and McKinzy to middle linebacker, things have been going well for the duo the last few games. "I'd say it came around the second game," McKinzy said. "We felt like the Auburn linebackers weren't getting a lot of recognition." McKinzy added he and Frost are trying to play the way some great Auburn linebackers of the past have. "Me and Frost are trying to take it upon ourselves to make those linebacker plays that those great guys made when they came through Auburn," McKinzy said. "I feel like we're doing pretty well at that. We take us being on the field at the same time pretty serious. We feel like, when we're on the field at the same time, we have a great chemistry. When I'm wrong, he makes me right. When he's wrong, I make him right. I feel like that's how it has to be." McKinzy also said the transition to middle linebacker has gone smoothly, and he's enjoying being the quarterback of the defense. "I love being the man of the defense," McKinzy said. "Coming from that transition, it's not that much different than just being more vocal." On the outside, Frost has been seeing success since the switch as well. So far in 2014, Frost is third overall in tackles with 46. He's also become a big play threat, racking up six tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one recovery. One of those three forced fumbles iced the game against Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, as Frost pulled down Rebel wide receiver Laquon Treadwell inches from the goal line, punching the ball out in the process. His counterpart McKinzy recovered the ball in end zone with 1:30 left in the game. Frost's performance against Ole Miss earned him the title of SEC Defensive Player of the Week, the second Tiger to receive the award this season after Joshua Holsey. After the game, Frost said it was exciting for him to make a game-changing play. "Being able to be a part of that and being able to make that play was a real blessing," Frost said. "I'm really happy that Cas' (McKinzy) was there to get the fumble in the end zone. It was a great win for us." On the previous drive, the duo also worked together, as Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace had the ball stripped by Frost inside the Auburn 10 yard line. McKinzy picked it up for the Tigers. "It's good that we have each other's backs," Frost said. Not only did Treadwell fumble, but he suffered a devastating leg injury during the fateful play in the end zone. Frost said he feels for the injured Rebel. "I was just trying to really see if he was all right," Frost said. "I hope he's all right, and I know the whole Auburn Family hopes he's all right."
Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall has been named a semifinalist for college football's Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top player. In his second season as starter for the Tigers, Marshall has completed 99 of 155 passing attempts, racking up 1,357 yards with 13 touchdowns. Adding to that, Marshall has also run for 631 yards and nine more scores. In the Tigers hard-fought victory over Ole Miss in Oxford Saturday, Marshall completed 15 of 22 passing attempts for a season-high 254 yards. Marshall accounted for four of the Tigers five touchdowns against the Rebels; two through the air and two more on the ground.
Following a 35-31 over Ole Miss in Oxford Saturday, Auburn moved up to number 3 in this week's AP Poll and Coaches Poll. That's up one spot from last week. The Tigers move ahead of archival Alabama, who dropped to 4 after a bye. Currently, the Tigers also hold the number 3 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings as well as the Amway Coaches Poll. The CFP rankings for this week will be released Tuesday night.