{"id":17801,"date":"2023-09-26T13:21:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=17801"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:21:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:21:33","slug":"five-tigers-who-raised-their-stock-in-the-texas-am-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/five-tigers-who-raised-their-stock-in-the-texas-am-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Tigers who raised their stock in the Texas A&M loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUBURN \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>Every week, win or lose,\u00a0Auburn Live<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0will look at five\u00a0Auburn football<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0players who raised their stock based on their performances in the previous game.<\/p>\n

This week, we\u2019re featuring three defenders, one offensive player, and a member of the special teams. The list includes a transfer playmaker on offense breaking through, an energetic defender who found the end zone, a pair of defensive linemen, plus a kicker showing off some serious leg strength.<\/p>\n

Honorable mention this week would include Zion Puckett<\/a><\/strong> (three tackles, fought through some pain), Larry Nixon III<\/a><\/strong> (five tackles, including chasing down a Texas A&M running back 79 yards downfield), Mosiah Nasili-Kite<\/a><\/strong> (four tackles), and Shane Hooks<\/a><\/strong> (three catches for 18 yards).<\/p>\n

Who would your five choices be? Voice your opinion on\u00a0The Corner message board<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

RELATED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three big storylines: Auburn\u2019s QB conundrum, Hugh Freeze\u2019s playcalling indecision, and a defense trying to survive one more week<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Takeaways from Hugh Freeze\u2019s Monday press conference leading into the Georgia game<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Eugene Asante<\/a><\/strong>, LB<\/h2>\n

Once again, Asante makes the list of players who raised their stock after a nine-tackle performance against the Aggies, including a scoop-and-score that brought Auburn within 20-10 in the fourth quarter of Saturday\u2019s game. Asante is in pace for 100+ tackles on the season. Hugh Freeze said postgame you never have to question or wonder about Asante\u2019s effort level, and on Monday, Freeze was even asked who is the \u201cEugene Asante of the offense,\u201d referring to someone that can motivate and inspire on that side of the football. Freeze\u2019s answer to that question was Luke Deal<\/a><\/strong>, by the way. The only drawback here is Freeze did mention Asante needs to continue to work on some alignment issues.<\/p>\n

Sep 23, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Auburn Tigers linebacker Eugene Asante (9) returns a fumble for a touch down during the third quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Brian Battie<\/a><\/strong>, RB<\/h2>\n

The South Florida transfer received the most playing time he\u2019s received all season after Damari Alston left the game with a shoulder injury.<\/a><\/strong> Battie made the most of it, accounting for 84 total yards on 10 touches. That total would have been 93 total yards, but an 11-yard Battie run in the second quarter was called back on a bogus holding on Gunner Britton<\/a><\/strong> (even ESPN\u2019s Robert Griffin III said on the broadcast, \u201csorry, that isn\u2019t holding\u201d) so Battie was only credited for a two-yard gain. Battie had two receptions and eight carries, and nearly every time he touched the ball, he made a defender miss, including an impressive 10-yard catch and run in the second quarter where he made multiple defenders miss in a tight space, giving the Tigers a first down in the process.<\/p>\n

Sep 23, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Auburn Tigers running back Brian Battie (21) runs the ball during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Keldric Faulk<\/a><\/strong>, DE<\/h2>\n

In just 23 snaps on defense, Faulk tallied two tackles, one quarterback pressure and a hit on the quarterback in the loss at Texas A&M. Faulk\u2019s pass-rush grade of 87.1 by Pro Football Focus was the fifth-highest pass-rush grade of any defender in college football this week. PFF gave Faulk the second-highest defensive grade of anyone on Auburn\u2019s defense against the Aggies. It\u2019s the second time in four weeks that PFF has graded Faulk inside the top three among Auburn defenders after a game. The other time came after Faulk tallied two tackles, a quarterback pressure and quarterback hit against UMass in the opener.<\/p>\n

Alex McPherson<\/a><\/strong>, K<\/h2>\n

The true sophomore kicker connected on a 53-yard field goal with five seconds remaining in the second quarter. The make gave Auburn their only offensive points of the day. McPherson improved to 3-of-3 on the season and has made nine straight field goals dating back to last season. In seven career games so far, McPherson is 9-of-10 kicking field goals and 25-of-25 kicking extra points.<\/p>\n

COLLEGE STATION, TX \u2013 SEPTEMBER 23 \u2013 Auburn Kicker Alex McPherson (38) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field in College Station, TX on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.<\/p>\n

Photo by Zach Bland\/Auburn Tigers<\/p>\n

Marcus Harris<\/a><\/strong>, DL<\/h2>\n

The senior defensive lineman finished with five tackles in the game, two \u201cstops\u201d according to PFF (a \u201cstop\u201d is a PFF stat that constitutes a failure for the defense), and was the Tigers\u2019 fourth-highest-graded defender in the road loss on Saturday. It\u2019s the second straight week that Harris has ranked in the top four among Auburn defenders by PFF following a game. Harris led an Auburn front that for the most part, did a good job against the run against Texas A&M. Of the Aggies\u2019 217 rushing yards (removing sacks), 115 of those yards came on two runs \u2013 a 36-yarder by Le\u2019Veon Moss and a 79-yarder by Amari Daniels. Moss only tallied 61 yards on his other 14 carries, while Daniels only tallied six yards on his other four carries.<\/p>\n

The post Five Tigers who raised their stock in the Texas A&M loss<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUBURN \u2014\u00a0Every week, win or lose,\u00a0Auburn Live\u00a0will look at five\u00a0Auburn football\u00a0players who raised their stock…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}