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(10/30/14 4:30pm)
The nation's leading returning scorer knew he could put up big numbers again in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, but came to the SEC because he wanted to test his talents against the best.
Antoine Mason, a 6-foot-1 guard from Niagara University, said one reason he transferred to Auburn was to play against teams, such as Kentucky and Florida.
"It's going to be fun," Mason said. "I always like challenging myself."
Mason, who averaged 25.6 points last season does not believe his scoring ability will be any less effective this year in a more challenging league.
"I'm getting better with my outside range, so I'll be more dangerous," Mason said.
His plan is to take fewer shots, but be more efficient.
Mason is the third transfer head coach Bruce Pearl and his staff added since he took the job in March.
Pearl said he thinks Mason will be able to transfer a lot of his skills, but not all of the production, because the Tigers are going to have more balance than Niagara.
"My teams have always been fairly balanced, and he's an unselfish player, so he's not going to shoot a bad percentage," Pearl said. "I would expect him to be one of our leading scorers, but I don't anticipate he's going to put up those kind of numbers because not just the level, but the role that he'll play on our team. Offensively, everything he brings translates."
Mason said he enjoys Pearl's energy.
"It's going to be a great experience," Mason said. "I look to (Pearl) as a legend. Great offense at Tennessee, so hopefully we can bring that to Auburn."
The transition to Auburn and gelling with new teammates has been easy, Mason said.
"The connection hit off right away, especially on my visit," Mason said. "Everybody was down to earth. Everybody wants to win. We're finding out peoples' strengths, peoples' weaknesses, and we all just try to come together as one."
Mason said he also likes what he is seeing from the team on the court thus far.
"We get up and down the court really quick on offense and defense," Mason said. "As long as we get used to our pace, I don't think teams are really going to be used to how fast we really run."
The Tigers are excited about having a scoring threat like Mason on their side, according to junior power forward Cinmeon Bowers and point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen.
"Antoine is a great scorer," Shamsid-Deen said. "He led the country in scoring last year. I think him and KT (Harrell) are going to be a great duo."
Mason has dreams of playing in the NBA like his father, Anthony Mason. The added exposure that comes with playing in a better conference should help him reach his goal if he plays as well as he said he will.
Although he has graduated, Mason will be eligible immediately because of the NCAA's transfer rule, which allows players who have graduated and have eligibility remaining to play immediately. He is currently working on a master's degree in adult education.
(10/28/14 10:10pm)
Head coach Gus Malzahn talked about a stout Ole Miss defense on his 49th birthday at his weekly press conference Tuesday.
It will be the first ever meeting of top-10 teams in Oxford, Mississippi as Auburn (6-1, 3-1 SEC) takes on Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1 SEC) Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Rebels' defense has scored almost as many touchdowns as they have allowed this season.
"I would say it's the best defense that Ole Miss has had that I've went against, and they've had some good ones when I was a coordinator here before," Malzahn said. "They're extremely fast. They're very good up front, and they've got speed everywhere. I think they are good tacklers. This is one of the better defenses in the entire country. No doubt about that."
Ole Miss leads the nation in scoring defense and has given up a nation low eight touchdowns.
They lead the nation with 17 interceptions. Senior Senquez Golson is tied for the lead with eight.
The Rebels are the only school in the nation that hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 20 points. They limited the last Alabama offense in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to just 10 total points.
The defense ranks second nationally with 24 turnovers, and holds the longest streak of consecutive games forcing at least one turnover (31).
"Their defense does an excellent job of making offenses execute on a consistent basis, which is extremely hard to do," Malzahn said. "They don't give up a lot of big plays, and they do a good job of keeping things in front of them. The big thing to me is they get turnovers."
Ole Miss defensive end Marquis Haynes is only 1.5 sacks behind former South Carolina standout Jadeveon Clowney for the SEC freshman sacks record and leads the SEC with three forced fumbles this year, while junior cornerback Mike Hilton is tied for fourth in the SEC with three interceptions.
"That's got to be a focus of ours, protecting the football," Malzahn said. "It will be a big factor in the game."
Defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has started every game this year for the Rebels. The sophomore may not have intimidating stats, but he can draw consistent double-teams and be another way to hurt the Tigers' offense.
"Great player," senior center Reese Dismukes said. "I think he is up to his game this year. I think he is playing with more of an edge. We're going to have to be on our 'A game.'"
It will be an SEC West battle continued as Auburn's high-powered offense and a fierce Rebels' defense look to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.
"There are a lot of good defensive lines in this league and they're definitely up there with the best of them," Dismukes said. "They do a lot of good stuff. They play with an edge, and they have fun out there. I think that is one of the things they do well."
(10/28/14 2:31am)
Auburn University football players Ricardo Luis, Quan Bray, Cameron Artis-Payne, Reese Dismukes, and Nick Marshall speak on the team's performance against University of South Carolina, and their hopes for next weeks game.
(10/26/14 11:55pm)
A successful night from quarterback Nick Marshall usually means a win for Auburn.
The Tigers' (42-35) victory over South Carolina Saturday night at Jordan-Hare stadium confirmed that.
When a big play needed to be made, the senior shined.
"It felt like last year," Marshall said. "But that was last year, and I'm just going to focus on this year's team and getting better."
The signal caller's 228 yards of total offense against the Gamecocks moved him into seventh place on the school's career list with 4,728 yards of total offense.
Marshall was the definition of a dual-threat quarterback in an offensive shootout against opposing quarterback Dylan Thompson, who threw for five touchdowns against the Tigers.
The Tigers' signal caller ran for three touchdowns. His 89 rushing yards on the night put him second in Auburn career quarterback rushing with 1,649 yards.
Marshall, who has had some inconsistencies through the air, threw for 139 total passing yards and a touchdown. He completed 12 of his 14 passes and had no interceptions.
"He played extremely well tonight," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's got a pretty good record from the last two years, considering how many ranked opponents we've played. He's played as many if not more ranked opponents than any other quarterback out there right now."
A touchdown pass to senior Brandon Fulse to tie the Gamecocks in the first quarter was the beginning for the elusive quarterback. It was Fulse's first career touchdown.
"I was thinking, 'no one's ripping it out and I'm not dropping it,' Fulse said. "I wanted to catch it and no matter what I was going to do."
By Halftime, Marshall had a rushing and a passing touchdown. He also caught a 17-yard pass from junior backup Jonathan Wallace for a first down on a trick play in the second quarter.
"They were playing man to man," Malzahn said. "That's a play we've had up and running for the last month and we've repped it 50 times so we felt pretty confident. That was a big third down play."
Auburn down again in the second quarter, Marshall tied things up with a 37-yard rush up the middle to make it 21-21 heading into the locker room. It was the longest run by an Auburn player against South Carolina since Cam Newton had a 54-yard rush in the regular-season meeting in 2010.
"I just felt it naturally," Marshall said. "I just read the block the offensive line gave me, then I just let my legs do the rest."
Strong running from freshman Roc Thomas and senior Cameron Artis-Payne, and a 24-yard catch from Fulse in the third quarter put the Tigers in scoring position. Marshall called his own number once again, and dashed four-yards to the end zone to put Auburn up 28-21.
Marshall's third rushing touchdown that put the Tigers up 42-35 came early in the fourth quarter after completions for over 48 yards to seniors Quan Bray and Corey Grant.
"Going into the game, we knew it was going to be a shootout," Marshall said. "We knew we were going to get South Carolina's best effort on the offense and defense so we just prepared for the shootout."
Continued development from Marshall is what the Tigers need to overcome a tough second half of the season. More performances like Saturday nights can keep a team that is in the toughest division in the playoff race.
"It feels great because we got back to playing Auburn football," Marshall said. "Last week during the bye week we went back to the basics and focused on getting our edge back on offense."
(10/26/14 5:05pm)
A recap of the Auburn vs. South Carolina football game.
(10/23/14 3:46am)
The Auburn volleyball team (9-12, 1-7 SEC) was defeated 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-19) by in-state rival Alabama (17-5, 5-3 SEC) Wednesday night in their final home match of October.
The Crimson Tide took the lead early in the first set, and held on to it until the end.
The Tigers appeared to have a rhythm going when sophomore Stephanie Campbell set up a big kill for freshman Courtney Crable that put them within two, but Alabama won the first set 25-12.
"We just need to cut the runs," Campbell said. "When the other teams go on runs it really just kills the game so we need to just put an end to it in the beginning, get a first-ball kill, and get a serve, and get on our own runs."
Auburn was able to keep it close early in the second set and tied it 5-5, but Alabama used a 7-2 run to jump out to a 12-7 lead. They ran away with it to win 25-12 again.
The Tigers got a little fire started in the third set, battled with their foes and tied it 16-16 late in the third set, but the Crimson Tide completed the sweep with a 6-0 run.
"Bottom line, we've got to prepare better," head coach Rick Nold said. "We knew what to expect from them, and we didn't do the little things that we needed to. We caught a little fire game three, had some timely blocks I think, but the way we played and the effort we gave, that's something that is unacceptable for me and it needs to be for the team. We got to make sure that's changed.
Freshman Alexa Filley's 25 assists against Alabama means she is only 25 more away from moving into second place for Auburn's single-season record.
Campbell led the team in kills posting 10, while sophomore Emily Klitzke had eight and Crable had six.
Fan attendance was seventh best all-time at Auburn Arena with 1,101 fans.
Auburn will get a nine-day break before playing at Mississippi State on Friday, Oct. 31 live on the SEC Network.
(10/25/14 12:00pm)
Auburn coaches got more than they came for during a first round game of the 2008 state playoffs between North Gwinett and Lassiter high schools in Georgia.
They were there to watch Lassiter's Philip Lutzenkirchen, future Auburn football star.
They got to see Lutzenkirchen haul in nine catches for 112 yards and something extra on the other side of the ball.
A sophomore playing for North Gwinett stepped in at wide receiver that night because of injuries and scored three touchdowns to beat Lutzenkirchen and Lassiter 43-21.
That high school sophomore was C.J. Uzomah.
Lutzenkirchen, who died in a car crash in June, went on to do great things at Auburn after high school, and Uzomah was only a few steps behind him.
"I heard from (Auburn) after the season was over, when I was playing basketball," Uzomah said. "I was pretty excited about that. I have some family friends that went here, and they always talked about how great Auburn was."
Tigers' tight end Uzomah was one of 33 players named to the John Mackey Award midseason watch list last Monday, Oct. 20. The award is given annually to college football's top tight end.
The 6-foot-5, 264-pound senior has six catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns this season. He has 24 catches for 364 yards and six touchdowns in his career.
Uzomah attributed much of his football success to Lutzenkirchen at SEC Media Days.
"He really opened me up out of my shell," Uzomah said. "He really calmed me down when those bullets were flying. He has been a huge impact on my play, on my development as a football player; The ability to study film, to kind of understand coach Malzahn's lingo, which has helped tremendously. He had a huge impact on me."
After catching a nine-yard-touchdown pass from senior quarterback Nick Marshall in Auburn's win against LSU, Uzomah broke out Lutzenkirchen's old touchdown celebration in the end zone, the Lutzie.
"That was my attempt at it," Uzomah said. "In my head, it just clicked right when I caught the pass to do it. That was just my tribute to him. He's affected my life and the Auburn community tremendously."
The record-breaking tight end is not the only one who helped Uzomah get where he is today. Having strict parents helped him as well, Uzomah said.
"I had to do my chores," Uzomah said. "We have an alarm clock, and if it went off before I went home, they would cut back my curfew an hour for the whole week. If I was late from that point on, I just couldn't go out. That helped a lot. It made me accountable."
The emphasis on family helped Uzomah decide to come to Auburn.
"Auburn is like Suwanee to me," Uzomah said. "It's not too big and not too small. There's an unreal atmosphere with fans and friends. I knew I'd be around good people."
(10/22/14 9:05pm)
Three women of France's national soccer team posed nude in a German tabloid newspaper for a campaign to promote women's soccer in Europe in 2009.
The women who participated in the campaign thought if they exposed themselves, it would make more people come watch them.
Sex appeal is one of many techniques used in the mission to bring more attention to women's sports, but viewership has still remained significantly lower than men's sports.
Look at Auburn Athletics.
The men's basketball team averaged 5,823 fans through 18 home games last season, while women's basketball averaged 2,250 through 16 games at home.
The baseball team averaged 3,161 fans at home games last year, more than five times as many fans as softball averaged.
Ask the first person you see on campus who won the Auburn football game. Not only will they most likely know, but they can probably tell you the score. Chances are they went to the game or watched it on television.
Chances of receiving an answer are low if you ask that same person what the outcome was of any of Auburn's women's sports.
Why are women's sports less popular than men's?
Some people say it is because men are stronger and faster, which makes them more entertaining to watch. That is not what matters to all sports fans, though.
While there are fans stuck on the fact that female athletes are not as fast, strong or physical as their male counterparts, other viewers want to watch sports at the highest professional standard, whether it is men or women in competition.
Sponsors and media also want to be associated with the best athletes, male or female.
If there were more sponsorship and media coverage for women's sports, they would be more popular.
So the real question is: Do women's sports need more media coverage and sponsorship to be competitive with men's sports?
The answer is yes.
Women in sports work just as hard as men do. They deserve the same attention.
Basketball is the most-covered collegiate women's sport, according to a 2012 USA Today article. It is still difficult to find a game being broadcast in the regular season, though.
The University of Connecticut has an impressive basketball program, and it is the women's program that has excelled. Huskies women's basketball has produced five championships and a higher overall winning percentage than the men's team.
Regardless of the program's success, the men's program continues to draw more attention from media, sponsors and fans.
While sports fans are still building an appreciation for them, female athletes and sports organizations are suffering.
Without the same coverage and sponsorship as men's sports, women's sports do not have the same fan experience or popularity.
The media and sponsors argue if women's sports attracted more interest in the first place, they would invest more time and money into coverage and sponsorship.
A balance of consumers, media and sponsors is what women's sports need to be as successful as men's.
People are currently more fascinated by male-dominant sports. A big part of their popularity is the attention they receive from media and sponsors.
Women's sports need to receive the same attention before we can see a change in their popularity.
It is a vicious cycle. Sponsors and media want to be associated with the best athletes, while viewers want to watch sports at the highest professional standard.
We need more women on television, in the newspaper and in the news to encourage the next generation of great female athletes.
Derek Thompson is a sports writer for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at sports@theplainsman.com
(10/14/14 4:45am)
Auburn's junior Pleun Burgmans and senior Emily Flickinger defeated Alabama's No. 1-ranked pair 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) for their second-straight USTA/ITA Southern Regional title Monday afternoon at Alabama Tennis Stadium.
"Both Pleun and Emily played fantastic doubles at this tournament," head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner said. "Having to play the No. 1 team in the country on their home court is a tough task, but they were up to the challenge and I'm very proud of their effort to win this title for the second-straight year."
The Tigers lost the first set to the Tide's Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe, but came back and outplayed their opponents in the second and third sets to run away with the title.
Defeating the defending NCAA champions was the Tigers' highest ranked win over an opponent this season.
Burgmans dropped her singles match 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (4-7) for the USTA/ITA Southern Regional singles title that went to a third-set tiebreaker.
"Pleun played amazing tennis this weekend," Meisner said. "This was a tough draw and a great competition and she fought until the very end. All credit goes to Julia Jones of Ole Miss, who played outstanding tennis."
Burgmans and Flickinger's win automatically qualifies them for the USTA/ITA National Indoors at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, for the second straight season.
The Auburn tennis team will play their next match at the ESPN/Disney National Clay Courts in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 30-Nov. 2.
(10/11/14 5:00pm)
The Auburn volleyball team (9-9, 1-4 SEC) lost one of two SEC matches for the weekend 3-0 (23-25, 20-25, 14-25) to Missouri Friday night at the Hearnes Center.
The Tigers kept it close in the first two sets, but could not swing a win throughout the match.
Freshman Courtney Crable led the Tigers in kills with nine, while sophomore Emily Klitzke had eight.
Sophomores Stephanie Campbell and Breanna Barksdale had six kills apiece. Barksdale, team leader in blocks, tacked on three more tonight.
Freshman setter Alexa Filley continued to improve on her assist record after finishing the match with 31. Filley is ranked fifth at Auburn after recording 673 assists this season.
Junior Alyssa Ivey led the Tigers with 11 digs, while freshman Kelly Stewart added in six.
Auburn's final test for the road trip will be against No. 13 Kentucky on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum.
(10/11/14 12:00pm)
Auburn's legendary head football coach Ralph 'Shug' Jordan told a young manager not to let anybody in the closed team practice.
Buddy Davidson, the young manager, followed Jordan's request and accidentally kept the University's president at the time, Ralph Draughon, from entering practice, as was his right.
After discovering who Draughon was, Davidson said he was sure it was his last day on the job, but his loyalty impressed Jordan, who told him he wished every employee was as loyal as Davidson.
Davidson's loyalty has remained with Auburn for the next 56 years.
Graduating from the University with a degree in journalism in 1964 was not the end of Davidson's experience at Auburn.
Davidson worked as a football manager at Auburn for four years. He also worked as a student assistant in the sports information office for Norm Carlson, Auburn's former sports information director.
Davidson was sports editor and managing editor of The Plainsman, while serving as president and secretary of the A-Club during his years on the Plains.
Davidson completed press releases for the University on an IBM Selectric typewriter, copied them on a Xerox copier, stuffed them into envelopes and mailed them to newspapers, radio and television stations.
Davidson became sports information director Sept. 1, 1964, and served that role until he became an assistant athletic director in 1981.
He retired as an associate athletic director for football in 2007.
Davidson's loyalty to Auburn evolved from his love for the University, according to former athletic director David Housel.
"He loves Auburn like a child loves their parents," Housel said.
Aside from Pat Sullivan himself, nobody is more responsible for the former Auburn quarterback winning the 1971 Heisman Trophy than Davidson, according to John Pruett, Auburn's former sports information director.
Pruett said Davidson did it with a brilliantly orchestrated and understated regional and national press campaign, long before the days of the Internet and social media.
According to Pruett, no one ever loved Auburn more than Davidson, and few people - especially in athletics - ever did more for the school.
"If you want to work in the sports information industry, it's certainly not an 8-5 job, and (Davidson) personified that," said Mel Pulliam, Davidson's first full-time assistant.
Davidson has not missed an Auburn football game since Nov. 2, 1957, his birthday.
That total was 660 Saturday, Oct. 4, against LSU.
Davidson said he plans on keeping the streak alive with a trip to Starkville, Mississippi, Saturday, Oct. 11, to watch the Tigers face the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Making it to games has become difficult since Davidson suffered a stroke before Auburn's homecoming game against Louisiana Tech.
Davidson suffers from partial paralysis on his right side, as well as an inability to talk, but is now on the road to recovery.
He is doing rehabilitation and speech therapy at the Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Phenix City.
Auburn football games are his medicine, according to his wife Fran Davidson.
"If we took that away from him, he would give up," Fran said. "As long as he can go, and the doctors say he can go, we are going to take him."
Fran said if they showed the Auburn games in rehab, her husband would probably heal faster.
"When Auburn scored the first touchdown against LSU, Buddy stood straight up, and he's been in a wheelchair," Fran said.
Buddy still has an office at the athletic department and stops by to check on things.
"He's been an icon around here since '57," said Francis Sanda, who worked for Buddy's stat crew from 1964-70. "His love for Auburn is unquestioned. He thinks we are going unbeaten every year."
Every year in August, Housel and Buddy pick Auburn's football record for the upcoming season, usually over lunch.
"I think this year, for about the 130th straight year, (Buddy) said Auburn was going undefeated," Housel said. "Auburn never loses a game with old Buddy D."
(10/05/14 9:00pm)
This special addition of This Week in Sports at AU is pact full of highlights from the AU Tigers' defeat of the LSU Tigers.
(10/05/14 3:10pm)
Auburn wide receiver Sammie Coates' left knee appeared to be feeling a lot better in Saturday night's 41-7 win over LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium, or he was at least good at not showing the pain,.
"I think he is getting healthier each week," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "He made some good plays tonight."
Coates injured his left knee in the Tigers' 45-21 victory against Arkansas in the season opener, and is just taking it day by day.
It was an impressive overall performance from Auburn, but the junior stood out with a big play early.
Coates started working on his SEC West rivals early in the first quarter when he caught a 54-yard touchdown pass in tight coverage from senior quarterback Nick Marshall.
"He made an unbelievable catch," Malzahn said. "I mean that was really nice. Really used his body well, came down with it. That got us going right there."
Coates accredited the catch to the offensive line and Marshall throwing a good pass.
Marshall was not only quarterback for the Tigers that got to connect with the athletic reciever.
Sophomore quarterback Jeremy Johnson came in late in the first quarter and tossed a 38 yarder to him. A play that eventually turned into a touchdown after Marshall took it to the end zone to improve the Tigers lead to 17-0.
"Those two big ones really helped get us some momentum," Malzahn said.
Coates managed to rack up over 100 yards before the first half was over, contributing to an impressive half for the Tigers.
The 29-yard reception by Coates at the end of the half assured fans that the plays were not just glimpses of last season's player.
The junior had 144 yards receiving by the end of the third quarter after 21-yard completion with less than 10 minutes remaining in the quarter, a statistic that he finished the game with.
"I've been here going on four years and this is the first time we beat LSU," Coates said. "And it is great to be at home and beat them. It's just a big win for us all around."
(10/02/14 5:26am)
The Auburn volleyball team (9-7, 1-2 SEC) snapped its SEC losing streak with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-11) win over Georgia Wednesday night at Auburn Arena.
"We wanted to win our first SEC game, and I think we were ready to go," Breanna Barksdale said. "We wanted to get that first win of the conference."
Freshman Courtney Crable finished with a match-high 11 kills and tied her career-best with four service aces, freshman Macy Reese had 10 kills, sophomore Emily Klitzke had nine and sophomore Breanna Barksdale had eight with eight blocks. Sophomore Stephanie Campbell contributed seven kills and a service ace, while freshman Alexa Filley finished the match with her eighth double-double of the season. Kelly Stewart recorded a season-best 19 digs.
Head coach Rick Nold said the Tigers' strategy was a simplified the game plan that allowed the players to just play.
"I thought they did a good job with reacting to situations and going up and being aggressive with their block," Nold said.
It was back and forth in the first set, but a strong rally from the Tigers after three aces won it for Auburn.
The Tigers dominated the second set with 13 kills and hit .233. Campbell posted four kills, while Crable delivered four aces against the Bulldogs.
The Tigers energy levels were up and down, according to freshman Courtney Crable.
"I think it was definitely our talking to each other and our energy," Crable said.
The third set was another close one, but did not end like the first frame. Georgia took advantage of Auburn, who lost its rhythm, and won the set (25-23).
The Tigers did not stay down after dropping the third set. They got back up and hit a match-best .375 with 14 kills in the fourth set to close it out. Klitzke led the way with six of her nine kills in the frame.
Auburn will face the South Carolina Gamecocks Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Auburn Arena.
(10/03/14 1:30pm)
He may not play the most glamorous position on the football field, but senior center Reese Dismukes may be the most indispensable player on the team, according to Auburn coaches.
After a team-high 41 career starts, Dismukes has become crucial to the Tigers' success.
Dismukes is on the watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award and a returning finalist for the Rimington Trophy.
He is also a nominee for the Senior CLASS Award, an honor that recognizes achievements and leadership in the community, classroom, character and competition.
The Spanish Fort native knows his role as well as anybody: a leader.
Dismukes was a team captain as a junior and the only Tiger to head out to midfield for the coin toss in every game last season.
During spring practices, Dismukes was asked if his job is just as important as Marshall's. The Tigers' 6-foot-3, 295 pound offensive line anchor came back with a humble answer.
"Obviously, I don't have to make reads, and I don't have to make touchdown throws," Dismukes said. "All I've got to do is snap the ball and hope that he's going to score points for us. I've got a little more on my hands up front, getting everybody going the right way, and that kind of deal, but all my teammates are important. I don't think I'm more important than anybody else."
J.B. Grimes, Auburn's offensive line coach, has taught 11 NFL centers and said Dismukes' physical and mental toughness make him the best he has ever coached.
"I'm telling you, the kid has a photographic memory, nearly," Grimes said. "He knows exactly what we are supposed to be doing because he listens and he hears."
Dismukes was the first freshman to start at the center position since Ryan Pugh in 2007. A team's center is usually as an offensive leader, but head coach Gus Malzahn said he believes his leadership carries throughout.
"He demands that his teammates practice at the level that the coaches expect," Malzahn said.
Dismukes made the 2013 SEC academic honor roll and represented Auburn at SEC Media Days, something Malzahn has made clear is an honor and privilege after not allowing senior quarterback Nick Marshall to attend in 2014.
Dismukes' leadership in the locker room, on the sidelines and on the field is something his teammates react to and his coaches encourage.
(10/01/14 1:05am)
The Auburn Men's Golf team placed second at the Primland Collegiate Invitational after shooting 37-under 827, the second lowest tournament total in school history, Tuesday.
Michael Johnson contributed to the new team record with his own. The redshirt junior broke the school's individual record at 16-under 200, one stroke shy of the tournament lead held by North Carolina's William Register, who finished with a 199 total.
Johnson's 6-under 66 and seven birdies Tuesday was better than Register's, who had a final round of 68 for his 17-under 199 total.
Consistent play from the Tigers helped them finish 14-under 274 as a team in the concluding round.
Sophomore Matt Gilchrest tied for third place at 11-under, Will Long tied for 24th, and redshirt sophomore Ryan Benton and senior Dan Stringfellow both placed in the Top-35.
Penn State finished third, 11 shots behind Auburn with a 280-838 while Virginia Tech (278-839) was fourth followed by No. 24 Clemson (272-843), No. 10 Virginia (277-845), No. 17 North Carolina (283-849), Tennessee (287-852) and UNCW (284-877).
The Tigers tee it up next at the Sagamore Preview in Noblesville, Indiana on Oct. 13 and 14.
(09/27/14 2:30pm)
The Auburn volleyball team started SEC play with a tough 3-0 (14-25, 19-25, 19-25) loss to No. 10 Florida Friday night at Auburn Arena.
The Gators (7-3, 1-0 SEC) took the first set with ease, winning 25-14. The Tigers (8-6, 0-1 SEC) could not find their rhythm as they continued to be overpowered at the net.
Fairing statistically with Florida for the most part, Auburn's nine errors to their opponent's one and strong play at the net by the Gators kept the Tigers.
Freshman Courtney Crable led the Tigers with 3 kills, while sophomore Breanna Barksdale, sophomore Stephanie Campbell and freshman Macy Reese each had two a piece at the end of the first set.
"I thought Courtney did a good job of being aggressive, but we were putting her in a tough position to go against that block every time," said head coach Rick Nold.
The second set was not much different for the Tigers.
Florida's sophomore Alex Holston and freshman Rhamat Alhassan dominated the Tigers shot after shot.
Four kills from sophmore Emily Klitzke, and two apiece from Barskdale, Campbell and Reese were not enough to top the Gators' offense going into the locker room.
The Tigers came out after the half like a new team, but could not capitalize on defense to stop the Gators.
Auburn had the lead at the beginning of the concluding set, but after Holston, who had 15 kills in the match, tied it up 11-11 with a kill, Florida ran away with the match.
"We had a blocking plan, and we pretty much the whole game stuck to it," junior Alyssa Ivey said. "Defensively we weren't getting some balls that we should have. I mean they were hitting straight down, but that is something that we knew was going to come."
Crable posted a team-high nine kills along with a pair of service aces for Auburn for the night, while Barksdale collected seven kills and hit a .300 for the Tigers.
Freshman setter Alexa Filley finished with 29 assists and 11 digs for her third straight double-double.
Auburn is set for another SEC matchup on the road this weekend against No. 22 Texas A&M.
Nold and the team will apply their "next ball mentality" to their game Sunday against the Aggies.
"We got to learn from this match, Nold said. "I was disappointed with the way we fought. We did OK in some areas, but I didn't think we fought as hard as we needed to."
(09/23/14 10:05pm)
Auburn showed everyone that they have a defense as well as an offense in their Thursday night victory against Kansas State.
A defense that has allowed just 258 yards rushing in their first three games, has 19 interceptions in its last 17 games, and has not allowed a third quarter touchdown this season has definitely improved compared to last season's statistics. And head coach Gus Malzahn thinks so too.
"We're very good right now at stopping the run," Malzahn said. "We're just working on improving in all areas and putting a little more pressure on the quarterback in pass situations. I like the direction we're going, and I think we're improving."
The Tigers' defense has improved from the first half to the second half in its first three games significantly by allowing a total of 10 points, 54 rushing yards, 263 passing yards and 317 total yards.
Having a defense that is playing well will help the Tigers' in Saturday's matchup against Louisiana Tech.
The Bulldogs have an offense that likes to throw the ball a lot and does it well, Malzahn said. They also have junior running back Kenneth Dixon, who is ranked 21st in the country in rushing.
A lot of Auburn's defensive success last Thursday came from junior Josh Holsey.
Holsey took over the calls and checks at free safety last Thursday after senior Jermaine Whitehead was suspended for an altercation with an assistant coach.
"I was well prepared for the job," Holsey said. "I know the secondary pretty much like the back of my hand so it wasn't really hard."
Eleven tackles against Kansas State earned him SEC defensive player of the week honors.
"I didn't even know I had that many tackles at the end of the game until they told me, but as the game went on I was just really focused on doing my job, and make sure we came out with the 'W,'" Holsey said. "I wasn't even focusing on myself as an individual."
The Tigers' defense went into Manhattan ready to let people know that Auburn has a defense as well as an offense, Holsey said
Being in the same system for the second year has helped the defense perform better this season, Holsey said.
"There's really no excuses not to know your job," Holsey said. "Especially when we are doing our base defense. It gives us a big advantage. You know your base calls. That's when you can start adding the exotic blitzes, and start doing different things for different people."
Junior Jonathon Jones, who had an interception against the Wildcats last Thursday, said the Tigers' defense did a solid job to hold Kansas State's offense to 14 points.
"Obviously the offense is going to do what they do every week, but as a defense we want to kind of make a name for ourselves and show we can hold people, and the offense can score," Jones said.
The SEC Champions are seeking their 300th all-time win at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday in the Tigers' homecoming game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The defense will continue to be a major factor in Auburn's success.
"We talk every week about improving our defense," Jones said. We obviously made mistakes, but we definitely got better."
(09/20/14 12:00pm)
The Auburn volleyball team defeated Florida A&M 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-20) at Auburn Arena Friday night to tip off the 2014 War Eagle Invitational.
The Tigers' last three matches lasted until the fifth set, so a three-set victory was a huge relief and a morale booster for the Tigers, sophomore Stephanie Campbell said.
"I think we can play a little harder the whole time and be consistent, but I think it is a good one to step up from the last two games," Campbell said.
The Tigers outperformed the Rattlers in nearly every category: kills (45-30), digs (59-52), assists (40-25), service aces (8-2) and out-hit the Rattlers (.248-.147).
Freshman middle blocker Macy Reece, who led the Tigers last weekend with 48 kills at the Active Ankle Challenge, has been a threat at the net to opponents, but did not see much playing time against the Rattlers.
"I thought she was being a little bit tentative," head coach Rick Nold said. "She is a very good player, and playing a new position. Sometimes that is going to make somebody overthink things."
Sophomore Emily Klitzke led the team with 12 kills, while Campbell had 11. Both players tied for a team-high with three blocks in the victory.
Freshman Courtney Crable and sophomore Breanna Barksdale also contributed with nine and six kills for Auburn. Barksdale also recorded a pair of blocks.
Freshman Alexa Filley recorded her fifth double-double after 31 assists, 15 digs and a pair of aces in Friday's victory.
Junior Alyssa Ivey led the team with a match-high 17 digs.
Fifteen of the Tigers kills came in the first set, along with only two errors.
Strong play at the net from Klitzke and four team blocks set the Tigers up 2-0 heading into the locker room.
The Tigers made some adjustments defensively in the third set by taking care of shots that Florida A&M hurt them with in the first set, and kept the Rattlers off balance with the serve, Nold said.
After 10 ties and five lead changes, Auburn won it late in the third set with five kills in a row.
Tied at 17-17 late in the frame, Klitzke delivered four kills to put Auburn up 22-20.
Shortly after, Crable posted back-to-back kills before Campbell finished the match with her 12th kill of the night.
The Tigers needed the victory to set the standard for the rest of the weekend, according to Klitzke.
"When you start out with a win it keeps our energy up for the next two games on Saturday," Klitzke said.
Auburn will face off against Jacksonville State, Nold's former team, Saturday before concluding the tournament against Northwestern State later that night.
(09/14/14 3:23pm)
Auburn's volleyball team wrapped up the Active Ankle Challenge with a win and a loss against Winthrop and USF Saturday at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers defeated the Eagles in their first match Saturday 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 21-25, 17-25, 22-20).
"We've got a competitive group, and they have very high expectations," head coach Rick Nold said. "They want to keep getting better. Each tournament we've played, we have gotten better."
Like both matches, it went to the fifth set.
Auburn recorded a season-high 69 kills, 15 coming from the fourth frame to go to the final frame.
Sophomore Stephanie Campbell had a career high 18 kills, while freshman Courtney Crable added 14 kills to complete her second double-double of the last three matches.
Freshman Alexa Filley had a season-high 55 assists against Winthrop, and 24 digs.
Junior Alyssa Ivey recorded a career-high 24 digs on defense.
The Tigers had nine service aces in the victory.
The night match against USF that concluded the tournament snapped the Tigers' eight-game winning streak at Auburn Arena.
South Florida won the match 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 33-31, 25-15, 13-15).
"I think we learn something every week, and what we've talked a lot about is we've got to make sure how we start our match," Nold said. "We didn't come out the way we wanted to, and South Florida is a good team. They took advantage of that."
After the Tigers dropped the first two sets to USF, freshman Macy Reese and the Tigers battled to win the third.
"I definitely think the back row of defense played amazing, so that gave Alexa (Filley) more opportunities to make good sets, and we just started working really well as a team," Reese said.
The Tigers appeared to be revived after an intense 3rd frame, and outplayed the Bulls 25-15 in the fourth frame.
"Our defense stepped up and really started getting a hand on every single ball and Alexa (Filley) was making really good decisions on her sets and giving us opportunities to score," Campbell said.
Reese led the Tigers with a career-high 25 kills, including three blocks, two digs and a service ace in the Tigers' loss.
Filley had 55 assists for the second straight match, and tied Ivey for the team-high with 19 digs.
Campbell had 12 kills along with five blocks, while sophomore Emily Klitzke finished with 10 kills and five blocks. As a team, Auburn finished the match with a season-high 18 blocks.
"I think we could have started off a little faster," Campbell said. "We started a little slow. I think one thing we need to work on is starting off right away putting the ball down, being really aggressive and energetic from the get go."
Auburn will face No. 7 Florida State on the road in Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT.