AUBURN FOOTBALL
It's not like it's much of a question given how little we've seen of Jeremy Johnson lately, but Gus and the other coaches are quite happy with Nick Marshall at QB and the numbers and stats back up that happiness. I know saying this won't convince certain people who sit near me in the stadium to stop screaming for Johnson every five seconds (even when Marshall is playing lights out like he was against South Carolina), but I can dream, right? It takes everything in my will power to not turn around and scream at that guy about opening his eyes to just how clutch Marshall is.
In other news of "this is a guy who has caught some flack but is playing out of his mind," Cameron Artis-Payne is the leading rusher in the SEC. Did you know that? Well, he is. And he's still on track to beat Tre Mason's record for last season.
Kris Frost is playing some very good football. But he's not letting that make him too sure of himself. Frost has been excellent of late, and hopefully he carries that through the final games of the season.
Auburn's long-snapper is day-to-day with an injury and likely will not play. So a true freshman walk-on will likely fill in. At first glance this doesn't seem like it's all that important, but then you think for a second further and realize that it's a pretty big deal with how important special teams can be. An errant snap that's not pulled down properly was almost disaster for us against Kansas State.
Gus Malzahn answered a Carl Lawson question in his final meeting with the press prior to Saturday's game Wednesday night. It was pretty much the exact answer you would expect. Carl's long-term health is the #1 concern and he won't play until he's fully healthy. I'm not a betting man, but I'd put pretty good odds on Carl not seeing the field this season.
Cassanova McKinzy enjoys playing for Ellis Johnson much more than playing for the previous defensive coordinator. You should see my shocked face right now. It's... pretty much my "no surprise at all" face. Because I'm not surprised. Because Brian VanGorder. I've never held back my disdain for BVG, which stems from my other team fandom, and these are the types of statements I would expect from what I recall of BVG's tenure as Georgia Southern's "head coach."
This may be old news and confirmed by the time this posts, but that 5* #1 overall commit WR Auburn picked up over the summer? Yeah, he's probably going to open his recruitment back up. It's not that surprising, really. But there's still a lot of time between now and signing day 2016, so I'm not all that concerned. It's hard to get worked up over recruits who won't sign for a year and a half, and you're really way past "caring is creepy" if you're paying too much attention to those players.
In Texas A&M news, the Aggies may be without a few other key players this Saturday when they bring their true freshman quarterback on the road for his first SEC start.
AUBURN BASKETBALL
Bruce Pearl is trying to get a series with UAB going, which shows he's serious about playing pretty much anyone, including the in-state schools that many would say Auburn and Alabama would rather avoid so as not to be embarrassed.
AUBURN SPORTS
The soccer team fell 2-1 today to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers now await the NCAA Tournament selection committee to see if they make the tourney.