Gameday Special Issue 11.21.2019

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MARIE LIPSKI / PHOTO EDITOR

Auburn Plainsman

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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Left Tackle: Prince T. Wanogho - 76 Bailey Sharp - 66 Alec Jackson - 65

Running Back: JaTarvious Whitlow - 28 D.J. Williams - 3 Kam Martin - 9 Shaun Shivers - 8

Left Guard: Marquel Harrell - 77 Tashawn Manning - 56

H-Back: Spencer Nigh - 99 Jay Jay Wilson - 42

Center: Nick Brahms - 52 Kaleb Kim - 54 Right Guard: Mike Horton - 64 Jalil Irvin - 50

Tight End: John S. Shenker - 47 Wide Receiver: Seth Williams - 18 Anthony Schwartz - 5 Sal Cannella - 80 Will Hastings - 33 Eli Stove - 12

Right Tackle: Jack Driscoll - 71 Brodarious Hamm - 59

Defensive End: Marlon Davidson - 3 Nick Coe - 91 OR Derrick Hall - 29 Defensive Tackle: Tyrone Truesdell - 94 Nick Coe - 91 Coynis Miller - 8

Linebacker: Nick Coe - 91 Chandler Wooten - 31 Linebacker: Owen Pappoe - 10 Zakoby McClain - 35 Cornerback: Noah Igbinoghene - 4 Roger McCreary - 23

Defensive Tackle: Derrick Brown - 5 Gary Walker - 97

Free Safety: Jeremiah Dinson - 20 Smoke Monday - 21

Buck: Big Kat Bryant - 1 OR T.D. Moultry - 55

Strong Safety: Daniel Thomas - 24 Jamien Sherwood - 9

Linebacker: K.J. Britt - 33 OR Chandler Wooten - 31

Cornerback: Javaris Davis - 13 Nehemiah Pritchett - 18

SPECIAL TEAMS

Quarterback: Bo Nix - 10 Cord Sandberg - 24 Wil Appleton - 15

DEFENSE

OFFENSE

AUBURN DEPTH CHART

Nickel: Christian Tutt - 6 Javaris Davis - 13

Kicker: Anders Carlson - 26 Sage Ledbetter - 25 Punter: Arryn Siposs - 90 Long Snapper: Bill Taylor - 60 Holder: Sage Ledbetter - 25 Punt Returner: Christian Tutt - 6 Javaris Davis - 13 Kick Returner: Noah Igbinoghene - 4 D. J. Williams - 3 Shaun Shivers - 8 JaTarvious Whitlow - 28

Left Tackle: Alex Leatherwood - 70 Scott Lashley - 76

Running Back: Najee Harris - 22 Brian Robinson Jr. - 24

Left Guard: Evan Neal - 73 Deonte Brown - 65

Tight End: Major Tennison - 88 Giles Amos - 40 Wide Receiver: Jerry Jeudy - 4 Jaylen Waddle - 17 Henry Ruggs III - 11 DeVonta Smith - 6

Center: Landon Dickerson - 69 Chris Owens - 79 Right Guard: Deonte Brown - 65 Landon Dickerson - 69 Right Tackle: Jedrick Wills Jr. - 74 Matt Womack - 77

Defensive End: Justin Eboigbe - 92 Byron Young - 47 Defensive Tackle: D.J. Dale - 94 Christian Barmore - 58 Defensive End: Raekwon Davis - 99 Phidarian Mathis - 48 Linebacker: Anfernee Jennings - 33 Ben Davis - 1 Linebacker: Shane Lee - 35 Markail Benton - 36

Linebacker: Terrell Lewis - 24 Christpher Allen - 4 Christian Harris - 8 Jaylen Moody - 42 Cornerback: Trevon Diggs - 7 Jalyn Armour-Davis - 22 Strong Safety: Jared Mayden - 21 Shyheim Carter - 5 Free Safety: Xavier McKinney - 15 Daniel Wright - 3 Cornerback: Patrick Surtain II - 2 Josh Jobe - 28

SPECIAL TEAMS

Quarterback: Mac Jones - 10 Taulia Tagovailoa - 5

DEFENSE

OFFENSE

ALABAMA DEPTH CHART Kicker: Will Reichard - 16 Joseph Bulovas - 97 Punter: Skyler DeLong - 12 Will Reichard - 16 Long Snapper: Thomas Fletcher - 45 Holder: Mac Jones - 10 Punt Returner: Jaylen Waddle -17 Trevon Diggs - 7 Kick Returner: Henry Ruggs III - 11 Trevon Diggs - 7

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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CONTRIBUTED BY JOE WILL SMITH / THE CRIMSON WHITE

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (13) is carted off the field after dislocating his hip during Alabama vs. Mississippi State on Nov. 16 in Starkville, Miss.

Tua out for season, undergoes successful surgery

By JONATHAN HART and SUMNER MARTIN Sports Writer and Assistant Sports Editor

Alabama starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, dislocated his hip on Saturday in its 38-7 blowout win over Mississippi State and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Tagovailoa’s injury came with three minutes left to play in the second quarter, when he was brought down by two Bulldog defensive linemen.

Sustaining a bloody nose and being unable to bear weight on his right leg, he was carted off the field by athletic trainers, where the injury was “immediately reduced,” according to a statement from Dr. Lyle Cain, Alabama’s team orthopedic surgeon.

He was then airlifted back to Birmingham, Alabama for further tests. After determining surgery was essential, Tagovailoa was airlifted to Houston, Texas, where he underwent a successful surgical procedure Monday morning.

“The procedure went as planned, and he is resting comfortably,” Cain said. “Tua’s prognosis is excellent, and we expect him to make a full recovery.”

According to a rough timetable of his re-

habilitation program presented by USA Today, Tagovailoa will spend at least the next six weeks on crutches before moving to weight-bearing rehab, and then moving on to an exercise program after about three months.

He will not resume regular football activities for six to nine months but is expected to make a full recovery, in preparation for, what many think, will be an offseason of training for the upcoming NFL Draft in April of next year.

Tagovailoa was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the country before his injury, with 2,840 total yards of offense, 33 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

Tagavailoa’s parents said that the support their son and family has received in the days following the injury “is nothing short of amazing.” Galu and Diane Tagovailoa issued a statement Tuesday through the Alabama athletic department after Monday’s successful surgery. The statement thanks “all of the Alabama family and everyone across the world for the prayers and outpouring of love and support for our son and our family.”

It also says the family has “felt the unceasing prayer, and words can’t express how overwhelming and uplifting that has been

for us.”

Tagavailoa has been projected as a potential No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and had No. 5 Alabama in playoff conention again, with just one loss on the year coming at the hands of the SEC’s leader in passing yards Joe Burrow and LSU in Tuscaloosa. The junior has already set the school record for total touchdowns, with 87 passing and nine rushing.

With Tagovailoa out for the season, sophomore Mac Jones is expected to start for the Crimson Tide the remainder of the season.

Jones entered the game against Tennessee for Tagovailoa when the junior left the game with a high ankle sprain, and started the next week against Arkansas while Tagovailoa recovered from his injury.

Jones currently has 566 total yards of offense, four touchdowns and one interception.

Tagovailoa was projected to be one of the first quarterbacks drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft before sustaining the hip injury Saturday. Last season, the junior finished with 43 touchdowns and 3,966 passing yards at a 69% clip. In last year’s Iron Bowl, Tagovailoa threw for 324 yards and five touchdowns in Alabama’s 52-21 victory inside Bryant-Den-

ny Stadium.

To this point in the season, Tagovailoa is second the in conference, behind only Burrow, in passing yards this season.

The star junior has thrown for 2,840 yards and 33 touchdowns, completing his passes at just over 70%, with only three interceptions.

ESPN College Fotball analyst Paul Finebaum said on “Outside the Lines” Tuesday that Tagavailoa’s injury would have a “chilling effect” it might have on current anf future athletes who want to play at the next level professionally and want to maintain their health, even if that means sitting out smaller bowl games after the regular season.

“There isn’t a college player in America who watched what we all saw Saturday and didn’t start thinking about their own mortality,” Finebaum said. “I think you’ll start seeing it very soon here, especially when we get to the bowl games...when players say, ‘You know what, I’m not playing in some (minor) bowl. It’s just not worth it. Maybe for the national championship or the Rose Bowl, but of these meaningless bowls, players are not going to participate. especially the elite athletes.”

The Iron Bowl will kick off at 2:30 p.m.

CST on CBS inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

November 21, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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Who is Mac Jones, Bama’s new starting quarterback?

By HENRY ZIMMER Sports Writer

Losing one of the most tantalizing quarterbacks in college football, Tua Tagovailoa, leaves the rest of Alabama’s season in the largely unknown hands of Mac Jones. So, who is Mac Jones and what does he give the Tide?

Originally committed to Kentucky, the No. 9 pro-style quarterback, and fourth overall quarterback in Florida, flipped to Alabama and hasn’t wavered since. Jones made the move, knowing he would play behind a friend he made in his high school combines, Tagovailao.

Facing Louisiana in the fifth week of the 2018 season, Jones connected with Jaylen Waddle on a 94-yard scoring strike for his first collegiate touchdown pass. Not only was this Jones’s first college touchdown, but the play still ranks as the second longest passing touchdown in Alabama football history.

Redshirting in 2017, Jones never entered a game. It was not until the 2018 season that he began to be inserted into Alabama’s offensive scheme. Jones threw one pass in contests between Louisville and Arkansas State, both incomplete. He completed his first collegiate pass, a 30-yard gain, against Ole Miss in the fourth week of the season.

This season, Jones made his first college start against Arkansas in week eight after Tagovailoa injured his ankle during the Tennessee game the week before. Jones finished the night 18-for-22 passing, totaling 235 yards and three passing touch-

downs. He was later pulled in the third quarter, with the Tide up 48-0, but was named the Offensive Player of the Week by the Alabama coaching staff following the win.

Against LSU, Jones resumed backup duties but will now be called on in the Iron Bowl, after Tagovailoa’s hip injury during the Mississippi State game cut his season short.

So what does Alabama have in the one-time starter?

The pro-style quarterback lives up to his label. He will sit in the pocket and pass and won’t be as much of a factor on the run or extending plays with his feet, something Tagovailoa gave the Alabama offense.

In his two year career, Jones has rushed the ball just nine times for minus-8 total yards.

His longest rush was for four yards against Tennessee in 2019.

Jones’ bigger frame gives him the ability to see downfield well, over the line, so that will be where he makes his money. With arguably the best college receiver trio at his disposal in Jerry Jeudy , DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs, Jones will be looking to get rid of the ball quick and into the hands of his playmakers, to create explosive plays. If Alabama can establish the run, look for the redshirt sophomore to be a factor in the play-action passing attack.

The young quarterback has yet to be truly tested by a top-tier defense so, for Auburn, who boasts one of the best defensive lines in the country, making Jones uncomfortable and forcing him out of the pocket will the key to victory.

CONTRIBUTED BY HANNAH SAAD / THE CRIMSON WHITE

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

November 21, 2019

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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November 21, 2019

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CONTRIBUTED BY HANNAH SAAD / THE CRIMSON WHITE

Mac Jones (10) looks downfield for a throw during Alabama vs. Arkansas on Oct. 26 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

BEHIND ENEMY BYLINES

By JAKE WEESE Sports Reporter

ence and mechanics under pressure are the biggest things Kevin Steele can try to exploit. With a clean pocket, the offense can still perform at a high level under Jones. But he doesn’t have the same elusiveness and playmaking ability as Tagavailoa .

Ahead of the 83rd Iron Bowl, The Auburn Plainsman reached out to The Crimson White’s sports editor James Ogletree for a Q&A previewing this year’s Alabama team.

Q: What is Alabama’s goal this season after the loss of Tua and the one loss to No. 15 Auburn (7-3) dropped three spots in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and is LSU? Does it still think it can make the playoff? coming off a 21-14 loss at home to No. 4 Georgia. No. 5 Alabama (9-1) is coming off a 38-7 win over A: They still firmly believe they are one of the four best teams in the country. I’m sure they’ll be Mississippi State in which its star quarterback was carted off the field, and will be out for the remain- highly motivated to prove it on Saturday and to keep their playoff hopes alive in a hostile road envider of the season. ronment. Saban can say he doesn’t watch the rankings or care, but the players do. The goal is still to Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn has been under heavy scrutiny since Saturday’s loss, a loss in make the playoff and win the national championship. which Malzahn’s offense failed to score for three quarters.

Here’s what he had to say about the Tide this season: Q: Alabama’s defense was porous against LSU. How do you expect it to match up

Q: How different do you expect the offense to be with the injury to Tua?

A: Nick Saban and various players maintain that the offense won’t change and that it’ll be business as usual. One offensive lineman said he didn’t even realize Mac Jones had entered the game after Tua sprained his ankle against Tennessee. Another player said if we couldn’t see which quarterback threw the passes during games, we wouldn’t be able to tell Tua and Mac’s passes apart. I think that’s a bit of a stretch, but the offense didn’t look drastically different when Mac started against Arkansas. The offense was more about short passes and distributing the ball to Alabama’s elite crop of playmakers.

with Auburn?

A: That wasn’t restricted to the LSU game. South Carolina burned Alabama for some big gains in the passing game, Texas A&M scored 28, Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee killed them in the running game and they couldn’t find a way to get Joe Burrow to the ground. The win over Mississippi State was one of the defense’s best performances of the season. I think they came out motivated after allowing 46 points -- the most given up in the Saban era -- to LSU, but I also think Alabama’s inexperienced defenders could be thrown off if Gus Malzahn digs deep into his bag of tricks.

Q: Score Prediction? Who wins the 83rd Iron Bowl and why?

Q: What can fans expect to see from Mac Jones? How good is he? Will he be able to A: Alabama 24, Auburn 21. I can see Auburn’s defensive line being able to pressure Mac Jones handle Auburn’s defense? into a few mistakes, but I think Alabama’s skill positions can help make up for that with their skill in A: He’s better than people give him credit for. He was selected to attend the Elite 11 quarterback the open field. Although Alabama has struggled on defense, particularly with mobile quarterbacks, camp the same year as Tagovailoa, so he certainly has the talent. It’ll take a great game plan by offen- I’m not sure Auburn has the offensive firepower to keep up with a Crimson Tide offense fighting to sive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to keep Jones protected, though. I’d probably say his pocket pres- keep its playoff hopes alive.

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The Auburn Plainsman: Iron Bowl

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I T TA K E S A V I L L A G E T O M A K E A H O M E

What makes a home in National Village so special is the sum of the parts of National Village. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National, the pool and spa, the lake, the hiking trails, the dining, the friendship, and of course Auburn Football.

Perhaps the saying is true, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts.

NV_AUPlainsman_Sept2019_.indd 1

10/28/19 11:27 AM

November 21, 2019

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Is Alabama’s defense a strength or a weakness?

By ALEX HUSTING Sports Writer

During the Nick Saban era, the identity of Alabama football has been its overpowering defense.They have consistently been one of the best units in the country every year since Saban arrived in 2007. This year, however, has been a different story.

Heading into the 83rd meeting of the Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide are a team led by a high-powered offense, with the defense being the weakness.

Although the notion is that Alabama’s defense has taken a step back, the unit is still ranked 12th in points allowed and 19th in passing defense, as well as 40th in rush defense and 58th in red zone defense. And overall, they are still a top-30 total defense.

But the question remains, especially in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee, who have they beaten that warrants respect?

The Crimson Tide have only faced three teams with a winning record all season, and a fourth in Tennessee that is currently 5-5 but was 2-4 when they played Alabama.

They have faced four top-50 offenses in terms of total yards this season, most notably LSU and its number two ranked offense led by Heisman frontrunner Joe Burrow.

The other three, however, are outside of the top 25. Alabama has also faced the same amount of offenses that are outside of the top 100 in the country, including two SEC opponents in Tennessee and Arkansas.

The stat to look at when evaluating the Alabama defense is points allowed per game.

While they do rank 12th in the country with 17.5 points given up per game, it’s misleading.

The Tide have had six games this year where they held opponents to under 14 points. Four of those oppo-

nents, however, are outside of the top 100 in terms of total offense, and another was a Group of 5 team.

Mississippi State, who scored just one touchdown last week, is ranked 72nd in the country.

Against some of the better offenses on their schedule, the Crimson Tide have struggled, most notably allowing 31 points against Ole Miss and 46 against LSU, which is the most Alabama has allowed under Saban.

The struggles of the Alabama defense have been caused by a variety of factors.

The Tide, once again, have a new defensive coordinator in Pete Goulding and have been riddled with injury woes all season. Starting linebackers Dylan Moses and Joshua McMillon were both lost for the year with season-ending injuries.

With Tua out and Mac Jones in, Saban will have to rely on his defense this time around.

CONTRIBUTED BY HANNAH SAAD / THE CRIMSON WHITE

Anfernee Jennings (33) in the Alabama vs. Southern Miss on Sept. 21.

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