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Link sAUsage: Peach Bowl, Basketball, More Awards

December 14, 2017

NCAA Basketball: Auburn at Texas A&M Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

We’re 11 days from Christmas (hope you got your shopping done already, if not, there are some good shops in downtown Auburn that you should frequent), and we’re 18 days away from the Peach Bowl against UCF in Atlanta.

Auburn and the (Golden) Knights kick off at 11:30 am CST from Mercedes-Benz Stadium on New Year’s Day. It’ll be the second straight New Year’s Six bowl game for the Tigers, and now with a little experience in this situation, we hope that things will be better than they were last year against Oklahoma.

Up first is the effort to duplicate the game week like you were playing any old Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

For the Tigers, recreating the similar effort starts with the guys on the team and the coaching staff, it seems as if most of the staff (if not all of it) is staying intact from 2017 to 2018.

At least one thing that will be the same (sadly) is the absence of running back Kam Pettway, who’s still going to be out for the Peach Bowl with that shoulder injury he sustained against Arkansas.

However, we should have Kerryon Johnson at full strength for the game against UCF. After finishing 9th in the Heisman voting and winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year, Kerryon has joined the upper echelon of Tiger tailbacks and continues that solid tradition that’s endured over the years.

And the honors keep rolling in after a good season for Auburn. Gus Malzahn has been named one of the finalists for the Paul Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

Meanwhile, our guys keep getting All-American honors — Daniel Carlson and Braden Smith in particular.

In the professional ranks, every year around this time we see the Chosen One conduct charitable activities with his Thanksgiving efforts, but now Cam Newton’s got a new endeavor that he’s trying to grow.

And as Auburn gets set for a huge non-conference game against a really tough Middle Tennessee team this Saturday, the Tigers hope to be back at nearly full strength (Purifoy/Wiley notwithstanding) as Mustapha Heron has returned to practice.

Auburn and the Blue Raiders play in Birmingham at 5 pm CST this Saturday evening. More to come... War Eagle!