Auburn Tigers vs. ULM Warhawks Football History
Auburn and ULM have played 11 times, with the Tigers winning every matchup since the 1994 season. Auburn’s head coach Hugh Freeze had multiple interesting quotes in his press conference. The first was in reference to Payton Thorne’s injury and play “Payton’s played pretty solid, but at the same time, you start thinking big picture.” Two others in regards to the season were “you kind of lose words” at how the season has played out and “we must compete” for the final three weeks. “We should have learned enough lessons about that over time here.” “We can’t overlook them for sure.” Both of these were about ULM and Coach Bryant Vincent and how they will still be a challenge. Auburn has a different outlook on key players for this game, and ULM’s offense is interesting, while their defense is solid. The keys to the game will depend on these players and which coach can get the most out of them. Finally, we will wrap up with a football recruiting roundup!
Auburn Key Players
As mentioned above, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has mentioned that a quarterback change may be coming with a look to the future. Payton Thorne has been average at best and horrendous at worst which could be magnified by a shoulder injury. Hank Brown, Holden Geriner, and Walker White split reps during the bye week with Thorne being injured. We have seen Hank Brown and what he can bring. His leash was a little too short and his interceptions against Arkansas seemed as if he had pre-determined where he was throwing and that can be corrected. Geriner has had little playing time, so is extremely unknown. Walker White has the most potential and seeing the true freshman would help the Auburn faithful feel better about the future, especially with the way this season has gone. Whoever is in at quarterback will be key because their decision-making will be key in how the offense runs.
With the future in mind, Auburn could do more to see what they have in the wide receiver room. Malcolm Simmons and Cam Coleman are second and third respectively on the team in receiving yards as true freshmen. This is great and they need to be featured as the top two receivers in this game to help lock in the future. Two other true freshmen receivers could use more runs and this is the game to do it and they are Perry Thompson and Bryce Cain. If these four freshmen receivers can be featured against ULM, then Auburn can utilize their young talent to win the game. The Tigers do not need to ignore veteran talent, but this game is the one to truly see what they have with the recruiting class that Hugh Freeze brought in.
Finally, on offense, the Tigers have leaned on Jarquez Hunter all season and they should continue to do so as he is the best player on the team. However, with Jarquez being a senior and Damari Alston being a junior, Jeremiah Cobb should get extra looks in this game. He will likely be competing next year with Alston and incoming freshman Alvin Henderson(who has broken multiple Alabama state high school records) and the Tigers have seen his explosiveness so far this season. It would benefit the team to utilize that explosiveness against the Warhawks who likely prepared for Jarquez Hunter.
Defensively the key young players for Auburn are Demarcus Riddick, Malik Blocton, Amaris Williams, and Jay Crawford. Riddick has already started to make a name for himself with 19 tackles and 1 sack in his freshman season. With the production of veterans Dorian Mausi and Eugene Asante, Riddick will look to fill the role of standout linebacker in the future for the Tigers. Malik Blocton and Amaris Williams have received a little playing time and Blocton’s increased after Auburn’s first bye week. He has 1.5 sacks so far and the duo has combined for 15 tackles. We could see an increase in these numbers for both considering the Tigers are post-bye week again. Jay Crawford has been one of the best freshmen in the country and will continue to lock down the Warhawks best wide receiver.
ULM Key Players
ULM is lead by its freshman running back Ahmad Hardy. Hardy has amassed 164 carries, 915 rushing yards, and 9 touchdowns on the ground so far. It is clear that the Warhawk offense relies on Hardy. Jake Godfrey, sophomore wide receiver from Spanish Fort, AL, is having a little bit of a homecoming this game. This season he has 16 receptions, 199 yards, and one touchdown. He will be the key because he currently has the longest reception on the team. It is clear he has explosiveness. Senior wide receiver Davon Wells leads the team with 24 receptions, 232 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. He has had a handful of carries in the run game, so they like to use him when they can. The Warhawk offense could be potentially limited if Hardy is stopped.
Defensively ULM has three guys to keep our eye on. They are Wynette Williams Jr., Carl Glass Jr., and Billy Pullen. Wynette Williams has 74 total tackles, one sack, four pass deflections, and three interceptions so far this season. He is versatile and a clear leader on this defense. Second on the team in tackles is Glass Jr. He is clearly the thumper at linebacker that every coach loves to have and he has managed one forced fumble on the season. Finally Billy Pullen has 39 tackles and leads the team with five sacks. He will be who the Auburn offensive line will need to key in on. He also has one forced fumble this season.
Keys for an Auburn victory
The biggest key for the Auburn Tigers is to not overlook the Warhawks. Coach Vincent Bryant has turned around the Warhawks. If Auburn can run the ball and get the ball to it’s playmakers, they will not have to rely on the quarterback to make a big plays and can win. Defensively Auburn will have to shut down Ahmad Hardy because a one dimensional ULM offense is a beatable one. Their passing game is not elite, so Auburn should have the horses to shut them down.
Recruiting Roundup
Early Signing Day is December 4th and their could be lots of movement for the Tigers. Since the last article Auburn has picked up two recruits. Shamar Arnoux flipped his commitment from USC to the Auburn Tigers and it propelled the 2025 class to third. Prior to that, twin brother of Auburn commit Derick Smith, Erick Smith committed to the Tigers. The three star wide receiver is the third wide receiver in the class.
