AUBURN, Ala. — Although there are still 13 days until the season opener against Washington, Auburn ended its fall camp with a scrimmage between second- and third-team units Sunday afternoon.
The end of camp means the start of game preparation. The start of game preparation means the end of position battles — most notably the ones at running back and along the offensive line.
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And while Gus Malzahn didn’t want to officially name any starters Sunday, the not-so-subtle hints have been floating through the Auburn athletic complex over the last few days.
Along the offensive line, the “Kaleb Kim at center, Mike Horton at right guard and Jack Driscoll at right tackle” combination was confirmed by position coach J.B. Grimes on Thursday as where the Tigers were leaning.
“We’ve not named starters yet, but I think we’re getting closer to that,” Malzahn said. “I’ll say this — we’ve got really good information about our guys. We’re always looking for three tackles, three guards and two centers. That’s the comfort zone for me going into each season, and think we’re close to getting that figured out.”
Prince Tega Wanogho, Driscoll and Austin Troxell have separated themselves as the three tackles. Calvin Ashley is the next man up at guard behind Marquel Harrell and Horton. Kim has been the first-team center for the majority of the offseason, as Nick Brahms continues to recover from a leg injury he suffered in the spring.
Driscoll came on strong late in fall camp, and he’s all but secured the starting job. The fact that Auburn put him in front of the media for the first time Sunday spoke volumes about how much the UMass graduate transfer has impressed in his move to the SEC.
“I’m confident,” Driscoll said. “I think the coaches are going to put me in a good position to succeed. … When you’re going against a front seven like we have, there’s not going to be many fronts better than them in the country, so kind of getting to work with them day in and day out is something that has made me more confident kind of going to that week-to-week grind.”
While Grimes shared the news about Driscoll and the rest of the projected starting offensive line Thursday, running backs coach Tim Horton revealed that redshirt freshman JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow had joined junior Kam Martin as the leaders at the position.
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The experienced Martin is reliable in terms of ball security and is now playing at nearly 200 pounds. Whitlow has the advantage of spending a redshirt year with the program, is the team’s best pass protector at running back, and has made a name for himself as a player who can pull off “Madden-like runs” in practices.
Horton, who has coached a long list of star rushers from his time at Auburn and Arkansas, sounded like someone who wanted to use a dynamic duo at running back in 2018. The Tigers seem to have learned their lesson from the end of the past two seasons; relying on just one back to shoulder the load can be disastrous if he goes down with injury.
“I feel like we’re going to do real great,” Martin said Sunday. “I motivate him; he motivates me. When he’s in there, when I’m in there, he motivates me. I feel like we’re going to be a great 1-2 punch. I just can’t wait for the season to start.”
Martin and Whitlow will occupy the first two spots on the depth chart when Auburn releases an official one next week. But don’t count out the two newcomers at the position, Asa Martin and Shaun Shivers. Malzahn mentioned both of them specifically Sunday as players who could have roles this fall.
“My big deal is protecting the football,” Malzahn said. “And for the most part, the young guys have. There’s been a couple of things, but with the schedule we have early, with the opponents we have early, a lot of those freshmen will be on the field.”
Malzahn and his staff will most likely make the final decisions on personnel for Washington over the next day and a half. The Tigers are off Monday — the first day of the fall semester — and will return to the practice field in game week mode Tuesday.
“We already have a good idea of what we’re going to do, but it’ll give us a day to catch our breath during the off day and just strictly focus on them and get that back in your mind fully,” Malzahn said, “and then have two weeks to try to prepare in all the phases.”
Before the Tigers fully transition to Washington prep, let’s take a look back at the rest of the major takeaways from Auburn’s final day of fall camp:
- Auburn had a full, 15-period practice Sunday morning that focused on “special situations” — two-minute work, end-of-game situations and a lot of special-teams work. Then the Tigers let the second- and third-team units scrimmage against one another.
- Malzahn mentioned Shivers, who broke several big runs, and reserve receiver Griffin King as standouts during the scrimmage. Look for Shivers to get touches early this season, perhaps in a motion-heavy role similar to what Devan Barrett ran in 2017.
- Malzahn still contends that the punter job has not been decided just yet. Australian import Arryn Siposs and walk-on Aidan Marshall have been battling it out in camp. Siposs is still the heavy favorite to start, but Marshall has shown enough big-time improvement in practice to warrant a closer look.
- On Thursday, wide receivers coach Kodi Burns said he would be “shocked” if all four of his freshmen weren’t playing roles on offense this season. Malzahn echoed that Sunday, saying “you’ll see the majority of those guys on the field in some capacity the first game.” It sounds like some of the biggest breakout stars of fall camp — Matthew Hill, Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Shedrick Jackson — earned some serious playing time this fall.
- Injured wide receivers Eli Stove and Will Hastings haven’t been cleared for contact yet, but Auburn is still hopeful that they will play at some point this season.
- Sophomore running back Malik Miller, who hasn’t been mentioned much this fall, has been dealing with a “soft tissue” injury. He’s expected to be available for the start of the season.
- Sophomore Malik Willis, as expected, is the No. 2 quarterback behind Jarrett Stidham heading into the season. Malzahn on Willis: “It’s a totally different feel from him, and I think he understands what we’re trying to do, and he has improved.”
- Malzahn has spoken confidently about his team all offseason, and his final remarks Sunday followed the same theme: “We still have some question marks, but I will say this: I feel very good about our team. I think the first three or four games will tell us a lot, but I really like where we’re at. We have a hungry team. Last year, they weren’t happy with the way it ended, that’s a good thing for us with our leadership. We’ve not had, what I would say, one bad day of fall camp. When I say bad day, I mean attitude-wise, effort-wise, and that’s pretty rare.”
Quote of the day
“The biggest difference is definitely the food, I would say, is kind of a little different. A lot more fried food than up north, which I’m not complaining. The people are also — I’ve been shocked — are really friendly. I’m from an area outside New York City a little bit, and if any of you guys have ever been there, it’s straight down, head down, Point A to Point B. And here, people will stop you and strike up a conversation if you’re even wearing an Auburn shirt. The hospitality has been awesome down here.”
— Auburn right tackle Jack Driscoll on the biggest difference about living in the South
(Top photo: Todd Van Emst / Auburn Athletics)