The Auburn players were not interested in any moral victories following Saturday’s 27-21 loss to Oklahoma by the Tigers.
You can’t really blame them. For the third time this season, Auburn lost a game that it had a great chance to win on Saturday.
Caleb Williams on The Offense’s Advancements.mp4
Positives did exist, though, one of which being the performance of several Auburn freshman. With their strong performances, Demarcus Riddick, Malcolm Simmons, Cam Coleman, and Kaleb Harris gave Auburn supporters some optimism for the future.
Arguably Auburn’s defensive MVP, Riddick led the team in tackling and recorded one of the team’s two sacks throughout the game.
“Man, he’s a dog.” Riddick was prepared for this particular scenario, according to senior BUCK linebacker Jalen McLeod.
Riddick was used in the pass rush, but his primary role was spying on quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. He was mostly deployed on third downs, as he chased Hawkins down in close proximity to the sideline to get his sack.
Another key component of Auburn’s outstanding defensive effort was Harris. The Thompson High School freshman safety recorded four tackles, but he also had two big plays.
The first came from a pass breakup on a third-down play in the first half, and the second came from a strong hit on Hawkins close to the goal line that assisted Auburn’s defense in making a goal line stand.
Two players from the “Freeze four” had standout performances offensively.
Alexander City’s lightning-fast rookie Malcolm Simmons finished with four catches for 61 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown reception.
After the game, Simmons described the play as “surreal.” “Just me playing outside knowing that I can’t be covered one-on-one. The defense always says, “Oh, we’ve got to find a way to stop them,” as I walk in.
With three receptions for 82 yards, Coleman had his best game of the season even though he was unable to find the end zone. After the first drive of the game, Coleman recovered from a third-down drop with three powerful grabs.
Coleman not only recovered from the early setback against Oklahoma, but he also put costly errors against Arkansas and Cal in the past.
It seems like less and less can be learned from Auburn’s current 2-3 record. The young guys who generated so much excitement throughout the winter are beginning to showcase their promise, if nothing else.
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