GAME DAY Sept. 10 vs. Arkansas State 6:30 p.m., SEC Network
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The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
Thursday, September 8, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 4
PAGE 6
PAGE 5 Will Hastings goes from walk-on kicker to receiver
PAGE 7
Plainsman Picks
Depth charts for Auburn and Arkansas State
Tray Matthews, Auburn defense look to continue strong start
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
The Auburn University Marching Band plays the fight song while walking around Jordan-Hare Stadium before Auburn’s game against Clemson.
Thursday, September 8 , 2016
The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
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LINEBACKERS
Tre’ Williams leads Auburn’s new-look linebacker corps Nathan Deal SPORTS REPORTER
Entering last week’s season opener against Clemson, one of the biggest question marks on Auburn's roster was at linebacker. All of the starting linebackers from 2015 — Justin Garrett, Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost — were gone, leaving the middle of the Tigers’ defense with three new starters. Despite the lack of experience, however, new starters Tre Williams, Deshaun Davis and Darrell Williams performed well as a unit in Auburn's 19-13 loss. Tre’, who had 4 tackles and anchored a defense that contained one of the nation's best offenses, was pleased with his inexperienced unit’s play. “People weren't really looking forward to those guys because they didn't really know what they were about, but they believed in themselves and we believed in them as well, and they came out to play ball,” Tre’ said. Davis had a breakout performance, tallying five tackles
and knocking down a fourth-down pass in the first quarter. “I always knew he had it in him,” Tre’ said. “He never really got that opportunity, and it’s really great to see that when he got that opportunity, he really took advantage of it and he really played well.” He believes the improvement of Auburn's linebacker corps boils down to several factors. The first factor is linebacker coach Travis Williams, who played at Auburn from 2001-2005, served as a graduate assistant on the Tigers' 2010 national championship team and has been with the program's staff since 2014. “It all starts with coaching,” Tre’ said. “You know, T-Will’s a great coach, and ever since the spring started, he’s really forced us to be physical, mentally and physically, and that's what we came out to do Saturday night.” Another factor in the unit’s improvement is how much time they've spent together. “Our linebacker group this year is much closer,” Tre’ said. “We did a lot in the offseason together that really brought us together, so when we got out there on the
QUARTERBACKS
Malzahn ditches three-QB system, names Franklin permanent backup Sam Butler
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
By all accounts, the three-quarterback experiment against Clemson failed. It seemed to do more harm than good, but Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn recognized that and has adjusted his approach going forward, starting with the game against Arkansas State. “Our plan going in was to play all three quarterbacks,” Malzahn said. “We thought it would be successful and obviously it wasn’t. Moving forward, Sean White will be our starting quarterback and John Franklin will get the second-team reps this week in practice.” The Tigers will roll with White and Franklin from here on out, which
leaves senior Jeremy Johnson the odd man out. Johnson’s stats weren't glaringly negative, as he went 4-for6 for 38 yards and an interception. But in his designed packages in the red zone, Johnson couldn't generate the needed push in close-yardage situations like he had later in the 2015 season. With Johnson out of the picture, Franklin will get more opportunities than he did in the opener, which were largely limited to designed options and handoffs. He’ll get the second-team reps behind White and won’t be limited to solely taking snaps out of the Wildcat. “I thought we moved the ball pretty well when [Franklin] was in there,” Malzahn said. “That was his first time to be out there. We thought
he handled himself pretty well. From an offensive standpoint, there were some new faces out there. From a coach’s standpoint, you learn about your guys. We were curious about some of the guys, and we felt like he responded pretty well.” Malzahn acknowledged the tempo, which had suffered in 2015, again wasn't where it needed to be, against Clemson, largely because of the constant switching and substituting at the quarterback spot. With only two guys to work with now, Malzahn’s plan is to up the pace by a considerable margin. They’ll have a decent chance to work out the wrinkles in the revised approach against Arkansas State, a team that allowed 556 yards to Toledo in week 1.
field, much didn't change. We all knew our stuff. We all just played together.” Despite the Tigers' strong defensive effort against Clemson, Tre’ knows there's still plenty of room for improvement. “We cannot be complacent,” Tre’ said. “We cannot be happy with anything. Even though we did play pretty well, we've still got a lot of stuff to build on. “Every day at practice, we're going to work harder and harder to get to that goal.” Still, it was hard for Tre’ not to be somewhat pleased with the defense's performance against an offense, led by Heisman contender Deshaun Watson, that was held to 399 total yards, well below its 2015 average of 514.5 yards per game. While the defense made some mistakes, he believes that the future is bright. “We still have a lot of corrections (to make),” Tre’said. “But it's just good to see that we've really built our foundation and we're starting to bring Auburn back again.”
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The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
PLAINSMAN PICKS Emily Shoffit
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Arkansas vs. TCU (6 p.m., ESPN)
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee (7 p.m., ABC)
BYU vs. Utah (6:30 p.m., FOX)
Mississippi State
TCU
Virginia Tech
BYU
Florida
South Carolina
TCU
Tennessee
BYU
Auburn
Florida
Mississippi State
TCU
Tennessee
Utah
Auburn
Florida
South Carolina
Arkansas
Virginia Tech
Utah
Auburn
Florida
Mississippi State
TCU
Tennessee
Utah
Auburn
Florida
South Carolina
TCU
Tennessee
Utah
Mississippi State
TCU
Tennessee
BYU
Auburn vs. Arkansas State (6:30 p.m., SECN)
Kentucky vs. Florida (2:30 p.m., CBS)
Auburn
Florida
Auburn
South Carolina vs. Mississippi State (6 p.m., ESPN2)
Sports Editor (3-3)
Sam Butler Asst. Sports Editor (2-4)
Nathan Deal Sports Reporter (4-2)
Jack Winchester Sports Writer (4-2)
Bailey Rogers Sports Writer (4-2)
Pearce Miller Sports Writer (2-4)
Will Sahlie Sports Writer (2-4)
Auburn
Florida
Thursday, September 8, 2016
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The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
LINEBACKERS
Walk-on-kicker-turned-receiver Will Hastings enjoying moment Sam Butler
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
ADAM SPARKS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Will Hastings cuts upfield in his first game as a receiver in Auburn’s 1913 loss to No. 2 Clemson on Saturday.
Last year, while Ricardo Louis, Melvin Ray and the rest of the Auburn receivers played right in front of him as he watched on the sideline, Will Hastings wondered if he would ever get an opportunity to prove himself. The 5-foot-9 receiver from Arkansas wasn’t even supposed to be there, but one domino knocked down another, and he found himself lining up against the No. 2 team in the country last week. Hastings was a prolific high school receiver at Pulaski Academy, where he also kicked. But because Pulaski rarely kicks anything other than onside kicks, he didn’t have many opportunities there. A few Division II colleges offered him: Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State and Northern Arkansas all wanted Hastings on scholarship. Any of those would’ve been reasonable choices, seeing as none of them are too far from his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. But the year before graduating, he decided it wasn’t enough.
“I had a couple of D-II schools offer me and no one else gave me an opportunity,” Hastings said. “My family, friends and my whole high school believed in me and I called Auburn a couple days before signing day. I did a kicking camp here before the summer going into my senior year and I called a couple days before (signing day) and said, ‘What’s going on?’ I kept coming to the games and they kept recruiting me. They said, ‘We want you to be a preferred walk-on.’” He joined Auburn as a kicker in 2015, but before fall camp this season, the coaches made the decision to switch his position, and it was only really by necessity. “When I first came here, I didn’t make fall camp my freshman year and then they called me when Duke got in trouble and said, ‘Hey, we need you to be another body for fall camp,’” Hastings said. “I came in and didn’t really do too well and then the rest of my freshman year I was a kicker. “Then the winter came, and I did all of the agility drills. I think that’s when it all
took off. In the spring I did some good things at receiver, they moved me there, and from there on it’s been [receiver].” The second time around, Hastings stuck. A few weeks later, when fall camp wrapped up, his name was there on the two-deep depth chart, and he suited up at receiver for Auburn’s opener against Clemson. In his first game, Hastings reeled in three catches for 29 yards, all of which went for first downs — including an 11yard catch on 4th and 4 in the final quarter. “He’s got some natural things to him,” said Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. “For a new guy, you worry if the moment is too big, but obviously it wasn’t for him. He did well in pressure moments, and I thought that was encouraging.” There hasn’t been much time for Hastings to absorb the sudden and drastic change in his role, but he’s getting there. “It’s starting to set in,” Hastings said. “I never really thought it’d come true but it definitely has come true.”
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Auburn players circle up after the 19-13 loss to No. 2 Clemson on Saturday.
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The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
Quarterback: Sean White - 13 John Franklin III - 5 Jeremy Johnson - 6
Left Tackle: Austin Golson - 73 Darius James - 78
Running Back: Kerryon Johnson - 21 Kamryn Pettway - 36
Left Guard: Alex Kozan - 63 Deon Mix - 75 OR Marquel Harrell - 77
H-Back: Chandler Cox - 27 Landon Rice - 44
Center: Xavier Dampeer - 52 Kaleb Kim - 54
Tight End: Jalen Harris - 85 OR Landon Rice - 44
Right Guard: Braden Smith - 71 Mike Horton - 64
Wide Receiver: Marcus Davis - 80 Ryan Davis - 83 Stanton Truitt - 10 OR Will Hastings - 33 Darius Slayton - 81
Right Tackle: Robert Leff - 70 Prince Tega Wanogho - 76
Defensive End: Marlon Davidson - 3 Byron Cowart - 9 OR Paul James III - 10 Defensive Tackle: Montravius Adams - 1 Derrick Brown - 5 OR Devaroe Lawrence - 94 Defensive Tackle: Dontavius Russell - 95 Maurice Swain - 90 OR Andrew Williams - 79
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Will Linebacker: Montavious Atkinson - 48 OR T.J. Neal - 17
Kicker: Daniel Carlson - 38 Ian Shannon - 43
Sam Linebacker: Darrell Williams - 49 Richard McBryde - 51
Punter: Kevin Phillips - 91 Ian Shannon - 43
Field Corner Carlton Davis - 6 John Broussard - 22 Field Safety: Johnathan Ford - 23 Nick Ruffin - 19
Buck: Carl Lawson - 55 Jeff Holland - 4
Boundary Safety: Tray Matthews - 28 Markell Boston - 11
Middle Linebacker: Deshaun Davis - 57 OR Tre’ Williams - 30
Boundary Corner: Javaris Davis - 31 Josh Holsey - 15 Nickel: Jonathan Ford - 23 Josh Holsey - 15
Long Snapper: Ike Powell - 69 Zach Wade - 68 OR Clarke Smith - 53 Holder: Tyler Stovall - 29 John Franklin III - 5 Punt Returner: Marcus Davis - 80 Ryan Davis - 83 Kick Returner: Johnathan Ford - 23 AND Kerryon Johnson - 21
ARKANSAS STATE DEPTH CHART Quarterback: Chad Voytik - 9 Justice Hansen - 15
Left Tackle: Jemar Clark - 79 Jamal Fontenot - 78
Running Back: Johnston White - 9 Warren Wand - 6
Left Guard: Colton Jackson - 61 Cameron Davis - 73
Tight End: Blake Mack - 16 Avery Johnson - 37
Center: Devin Mondie - 74 Brandon Berg - 58
Right Guard: Wide Receiver: Cameron Echols-Luper - 11 Austin Moreton - 76 Dalton Ford - 75 Christian Booker - 13 Wide Receiver: Kendall Sanders - 4 Chris Murray - 14 Justin McInnis - 18 Wide Receiver: Dijon Paschal - 84 Omar Bayless - 7
Right Tackle: Joseph Baccus - 72 Robert Maxwell - 69
Defensive End: Caleb Coston - 54 Ja’Von Rolland-Jones - 11 Jarrod Chandler - 31 Defensive Tackle: Robert Mondie - 47 Dee Liner - 25 Jake Swalley - 57 Nose Tackle: Waylon Robinson - 94 Donovan Ransom - 91
Linebacker: Quanterio Heath - 52 Kyle Wilson - 15
Kicker: J.D. Houston - 41 Sawyer Williams - 38
Nickel: Justin Clifton - 10 Trent Ellis - 26
Punter: Damon Foncham - 31 Cameron Echols-Luper - 11
Cornerback: Blaise Taylor - 1 Brandon Byner - 28 Strong Safety: Cody Brown - 21 Money Hunter - 27
Bandit: Chris Odom - 93 Griffin Riggs - 33
Free Safety: Bo Sentimore - 20 B.J. Edmonds - 3
Linebacker: Xavier Woodson-Luster - 55 Khari Lain - 9
Cornerback: Chris Humes - 29 Nehemiah Wagner - 2
Long Snapper: Ryan Eustace - 45 Ty Mimbs - 47 Holder: Damon Foncham - 31 Sterling Stowers - 19 Punt Returner: Cameron Echols-Luper - 11 Blaise Taylor - 1 Kick Returner: Cameron Echols-Luper - 11 Blaise Taylor - 1
Thursday, September 8, 2016
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The Auburn Plainsman: Game Day
DEFENSE
Matthews, defense look to continue strong start against Arkansas State Sam Butler
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Auburn might’ve lost to Clemson, but it wasn’t because Deshaun Watson lit up the Tigers, like many expected. The Auburn defense managed to keep Watson, Wayne Gallman and the rest of the Clemson offense in check for most of the game, and allowed 399 total yards, well under the 514.5 total yards Clemson averaged in 2015. Safety Tray Matthews, now a redshirt junior, is one of the more experienced members of Auburn’s secondary along with Rudy Ford, and he emphasized the importance of containing such a high-powered offense. “I felt like we played a pretty solid game,” Matthews said. “[Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele] emphasized the whole week to keep the top on the coverage, and we just tried to answer and do what he said.” “We didn’t get the top knocked off of the coverage, there were not explosive, long plays of easy touchdowns over the top of people,” Steele said, echoing Matthews’ sentiments. “Every catch was contested, and we tackled it relatively quick.” The longest play Clemson had went for 34 yards, and the longest rush went for 20. And even though Auburn allowed well over the yardage the defense would’ve liked to, they held Clemson to just 19 points. “Nineteen points, against that offense, that’s a good number ... we’re going to work very hard to build on the positives of the game,” Steele said. “There are some very, very good, pos-
itive things on there.” Despite the positives, there were a few bumps in the road. Matthews started jawing with a Clemson player after a snap early in the fourth quarter, which led to a Clemson touchdown three plays later. “Yeah, I regret it. It was selfish, but I just let my emotions get the best of me,” Matthews said. “It’s just something I got to move on from, and it won’t happen again, it’s that simple.” As one of the leaders of the Auburn defense, Matthews knows he can’t be committing unnecessary gaffes like that, especially when there are inexperienced members of the secondary looking at him as an example. “[Steele] was like, ‘You can’t do that, man.’ He talked to me several times about the situation,” Matthews said. “Just, ‘I like you, kid, but you can’t do those kind of things.’ I know I can’t. I’m a vet, so that’ll never happen again. I told the team.” With Arkansas State up next on the schedule, Matthews and the rest of the Auburn defense have a golden opportunity to prove the performance against Clemson wasn’t a fluke and to keep the momentum going as the Tigers hope to notch their first win of the season. “We know we’re capable of [keeping the defense strong], because Coach Steele and Coach McGriff, and coach [Rodney Garner] and [Coach Travis Williams], they have game plans and they know all about strengths and weaknesses, and they’ll put them together, and we feel like we’ll come back and have another great game,” Matthews said.
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