Fall Camp Discussion- Bo Nix Named Starting QB

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AUBURN, Alabama--One of the key areas for any football team is in the kicking game. That’s where hidden yards come in to play and can be the difference between winning and losing games.

Going into the 2019 season special teams should be a strength for the Auburn Tigers with the return of junior punter Arryn Siposs, sophomore kicker Anders Carlson and junior kickoff return man Noah Igbinoghene. With a big group of players who could also help out in the return game, the Tigers are hoping to take another step forward in that area under the guidance of coordinator Larry Porter.

A preseason candidate for the Ray Guy Award that is presented to the nation’s top punter, Siposs is back after he averaged 44.2 yards on 56 attempts a season ago. With just four punts ending in a touchback, the Australian placed 17 inside the 20-yard line and had 10 punts of over 50 yards. Now with a better grasp of the game, Siposs has worked on punting spirals since last season to add to his end-over-end style he employed last year. That should increase his chances of pinning opponents deep. “He's got a chance to be elite,” Coach Gus Malzahn said. “He didn't even know the rules until halfway through the season.”

The Tigers also have a proven kicker with Carlson returning. Winning the job as a redshirt freshman, he connected on 15-25 field goals with seven of his misses coming from 50 yards or more. On attempts from inside 40 yards Carlson was almost automatic, going 10-11. With 51 touchbacks on 70 kickoffs, he was also a weapon for the Tigers in that area as well.

“Anders, first of all, he has got a year under his belt,” Malzahn said. “He is very talented. He is going to improve. He is going be a better player, I have no doubt.” In addition to his duties as the placekicker, Carlson could also serve as Auburn’s backup punter. Walk-on Sage Ledbetter is capable of getting the job done in both areas as well, giving the Tigers depth.

In the return game Auburn brings back one of the best in school history. In two seasons Noah Igbinoghene has become a weapon for the Tigers returning kickoffs. Bringing back 35 for 882 yards with one touchdown. His average of 25.2 yards per attempt is good enough for seventh in school history while his yardage total is just 62 yards shy of 10th place. “Noah's a dynamic player,” Malzahn said. “Real excited about him coming back.”

Auburn has plenty of other options to join Igbinoghene returning kickoffs with senior running back Kam Martin having experience in the role. Throw in three of the fastest players in college football, Anthony Schwartz, Javaris Davis and Shaun Shivers, and the Tigers have the ability to do some damage in that area of the game.

In addition to his work on kickoffs, Igbinoghene has also worked on catching punts this summer with the Tigers having to replace the dependable Ryan Davis in one of the toughest jobs on the field. “I know he's been catching punts, Javaris Davis has been catching punts, Eli Stove has been catching punts,” Malzahn said. “(Matthew) Hill's been catching punts. We'll see."

Christian Tutt, who averaged 13 yards on five punt returns, is back as a sophomore. “We're not ready to say who our (punt) returner is, but all those guys, as I've said, they are capable of making big plays,” Malzahn said.

Big picture on special teams–Auburn should have one of the strongest combinations of punter and kicker in the country and that could be a big deal when you pair it with what should be a good defense. Winning the field position battle and keeping opponents backed up would also be a big deal for an offense that will be playing a freshman at quarterback. In the return game Auburn has a group of players with speed that rivals any team in the country and any team in school history. Being able to turn that speed into big plays is another part of the game that could help the inexperienced quarterbacks by giving them shorter fields to work with and putting them in advantageous situations.

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Going into the 2019 football season Coach Rodney Garner is looking for more stops behind the line of scrimmage out of his front four. One of the positions that will be called on to deliver that is at the buck where both Big Kat Bryant and T.D. Moultry will be expected to handle more of the load with Nick Coe potentially moving inside at times to play tackle alongside Derrick Brown.

Last season Bryant and Moultry combined for five sacks and six and a half tackles for a loss while playing behind Coe. With the potential for more opportunities in 2019, Garner says he likes what he has seen from Moultry since last season. “Big Kat was somewhat limited coming off the shoulder injury,” Garner says of the junior. “T.D., I thought had a really good spring.

"The challenge for T.D. is a year ago he had a really good spring and sort of hit a little rough spot in fall camp and in the fall. We just have to avoid that. We have to guard ourselves against that and not let that happen. We are just looking for the consistency of what it’s going to take to perform at this level.” Showing a burst off the edge and the ability to create pressure when he got on the field as a true freshman, Moultry went into his sophomore year with plenty of promise, but a poor performance in the opener at Atlanta was a sign of things to come for him.

Garner said that’s a cautionary tale the coaches will remember going into preseason camp this time around. “We have had some real honest and frank conversations about it because really that first game last year against Washington was a fiasco for him,” Garner notes.

“It was really indicative of the type of camp he had last year. He was dealing with some stuff personally and there are just some things he’s got to learn. “That’s a sign of maturity, just learning how to put things in the back of his mind and not let one bad play turn into two, turn into three, turn into four," the coach says. "Now you have had a bad ball game whereas if you made a mistake let’s put that behind us and move forward and learn from it and see what we can do better. I think he will. I really think he will.”

With Brown, Coe and Marlon Davidson returning after bypassing the chance to go early to the NFL, Auburn has a strong core of leadership returning on the defensive line. Even with those voices to take charge Garner points out that he has seen some of that from Moultry as well.

“He’s trying to be a leader,” Garner says. “He’s trying to take ownership. I’m pleased with the want-to. We just have to put it together. It just can’t be that (up and down). That’s the thing we have to guard against. We all have to be climbing (up).”

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Position preview: Special teams should be a strength for Tigers

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"You know, Harold is a very talented runner. I know in spring ball, we had him doing some 3, which is kind of the H position. We had him playing receiver, we had him playing running back. He's a guy who can do multiple things, but I think he has found a home at the RB position. So I'm excited to get that opportunity, to get going with him and just let his talent shine. That guy is unbelievably talented. I just feel like it's our job now as coaches to get Harold going."

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Gus snuck in so many bedrooms and touched you guys

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it appears HJ will be a RB

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