< Previous20 STATS COMPARISONS AUBURNTIGERS.COM AUBURN STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jarquez Hunter 65 437 6.7 2 34 87.4 Damari Alston 25 164 6.6 2 36 32.8 Payton Thorne 41 125 3.0 2 31 31.3 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Payton Thorne 61-102-6 59.8 1,038 10 259.5 Hank Brown 27-43-3 62.8 403 6 134.3 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G KeAndre Lambert-Smith 17 415 24.4 6 67 83.0 Malcolm Simmons 14 214 15.3 2 57 42.8 Cam Coleman 9 212 23.6 1 44 53.0 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Jalen McLeod 18 6 24 7.5-38 3.0-19 Jerrin Thompson 19 5 24 1.0-14 1.0-14 Dorian Mausi 16 7 23 3.0-10 1.0-7 GEORGIA STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Trevor Etienne 36 212 5.9 1 45 70.7 Nate Frazier 20 113 5.7 1 40 37.7 Carson Beck 19 64 3.4 0 13 16.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Carson Beck 83-132-3 62.9 1,119 10 279.8 Gunner Stockton 10-12-0 83.3 90 0 45.0 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Arian Smith 17 274 16.1 2 50 68.5 Dominic Lovett 18 214 11.9 1 33 53.5 Dillon Bell 14 198 14.1 2 67 49.5 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS CJ Allen 13 8 21 1.0-3 0.0-0 Dan Jackson 13 6 19 1.5-1 0.0-0 Malaki Starks 11 8 19 2.0-10 0.0-0 Here is a quick look at the top team statistics for the Tigers and Bulldogs. . Quick Look n Total Touchdowns 2316 n Rushing Yards 856517 n Passing Yards 1,4741,209Tickets available now! featuring Herbie Hancock • Borromeo String Quartet • The Piano Guys The Magic School Bus • Dear Evan Hansen • Straight No Chaser • Black Violin Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations • and many more 2024–25 season22 COVER FEATURE AUBURNTIGERS.COM Productivity made Eugene Asante a starter. Leadership made him a captain. Auburn’s leading tackler in 2023, As- ante strives to help the Tigers navigate a challenging start to the 2024 season. “Who you are is developed through the adversity that you go through,” As- ante said. “As a leader, I’m being tested every single day in terms of trying to get this team to a better position.” After five consecutive home games, Auburn makes its first road trip this weekend, renewing the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with a visit to No. 4 Geor- gia at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC and the Au- burn Sports Network. “It’s the SEC,” the 6-1, 219-pound line- backer said. “You have to prepare every single weekend to execute to get the re- sults. Anybody can win any given Saturday. The biggest thing for us is to learn from the mistakes on film and play clean football. “We need to put ourselves in a position to win games. That’s the biggest thing the leaders and I are trying to convey. We’re in these games. We’re trying to emphasize cutting down those mistakes.” Prior to Auburn’s game against Okla- homa, Asante told reporters the Tigers needed to bring a sense of urgency to each practice. “In terms of our preparation, we have to up the ante,” he said. “We have to go harder than we went before. We’ve got to play complete football games. It’s de- manded out of us.” Against the Sooners, Asante record- ed his 100th career tackle as an Auburn Tiger. Last season, he tallied three games with at least 10 tackles. “We have all the resources to be a great football team. As players, we have to evaluate ourselves,” he said. “I try to convey to guys, if you think you’re doing enough, you’re not.” Before the Tigers played the Sooners, Asante sent his teammates an encourag- ing text message. “I was telling the guys we’re so close,” Asante said. “People may not see that but we’re so close to being the team we want to be.” To become that team, says Asante, Auburn needs to produce in pivotal mo- ments. Against the Sooners, the Tigers’ defense held Oklahoma to 2-of-11 on third down, a marked improvement. “Executing the assignments, making the plays in the key moments,” Asante said. “Be the one to make the play.” Asante and his fellow captains called COVER FEATURE BY: JEFF SHEARER EUGENE ASANTE ‘LAYS IT ALL ON THE LINE’ FOR AUBURNCommitted to playing with purpose. At Alabama Power, we share your passion for gameday and your pride in our community. We celebrate victories on and off the field that move the state forward. For over 100 years, we’ve shown that our collective achievements make us stronger. It’s Power for a Better Alabama. We proudly support the Auburn Tigers. alabamapower.com © 2024 Alabama Power Company24 COVER FEATURE AUBURNTIGERS.COM a team meeting after Auburn played Arkansas, stressing the importance of positive body language on the sideline, especially after a mistake. “Continuing to try to build our iden- tity,” said Asante, reinforcing his point about the need to deliver in key situa- tions, regardless of youth or experience level. “As a kid, you dreamed of coming to Auburn and making a play in that sta- dium. Don’t shy away from it. The mo- ment’s not too big for you.” That message resonated with true freshman linebacker Demarcus Rid- dick, who led the Tigers with six tackles against Oklahoma while Asante added a season-high four tackles and his first tackle for loss this season. With NFL aspirations, Asante views each Saturday as a job interview, an oppor- tunity to show potential employers what he would bring to their organizations. “I want them to see a player who gives it everything he has every single game,” Asante said. “Somebody who is depend- able in terms of my communication, my approach and my physicality. I want that to be something that stands out. My sideline-to-sideline ability, getting to the football, flowing and relentless effort.” Asante looks back fondly at Auburn’s 14-10 win at California last season, in which he made a career-high 12 tackles and a sack, as his finest performance to date as a Tiger. “Defensively, we were on the mon- ey,” Asante said. “Everybody was making plays. One of our greater moments as a defense.” Last season against Georgia, Asante made seven tackles in Auburn’s 27-20 loss. Eugene came close to recording his eighth tackle, narrowly missing a third-down sack of quarterback Carson Beck. “He really gained my respect with that play because I was coming full speed,” said Asante, who has formed a friendship with the Georgia quarterback. “He’s a great guy, a brother in Christ, and I’m ex- cited to go over there and play Georgia and go against elite competition. “As a player, you dream of those mo- ments to go against great players. I’m excited for that opportunity and that challenge.” An avid reader and offseason painter, Asante hopes to leave a legacy at Au- burn that teammates, coaches and fans will appreciate. “I want to be remembered as some- body who laid it all on the line,” he said, “who cared for others and tried to be selfless in everything I’ve done. Some- one who tried to help develop this team to the way it needs to be. “Someone who truly cares about football, truly cares about others and truly cares about my relationship with God. Those are the biggest things who make me who I am.” Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @ jeff_shearer COVER FEATUREPARTOFTHEFAMILY Y O U R T E A M S . Y O U R T E A M S .Y O U R S T A T I O N S . Y O U R S T A T I O N S . WINGSFM.COM CATCHAUBURNFOOTBALL,MEN’SBASKETBALLANDTIGERTALKONWINGS94.3 ANDAUBURNWOMEN’SBASKETBALLANDBASEBALLONAU100. Auburn-Opelika’sOfficialFlagshipStationsoftheAuburnTigers AU100FM.COM28 HEAD COACH HUGH FREEZE AUBURNTIGERS.COM Hugh Freeze became the 31st head football coach in Auburn history in No- vember, 2022. Freeze has nearly three decades of continued coaching success, including head coaching experience that has led to conference titles, nation- ally ranked recruiting classes and bowl appearances at multiple stops during his highly decorated career. In Freeze’s first season at Auburn, despite a shorthanded roster, the 2023 Tigers posted a 6-7 record and earned a Music City Bowl berth. Every home game was sold out as fans embraced Freeze’s brand of football and Auburn garnered a top 10 recruiting class for the 2024 campaign. Freeze came to Auburn from Liber- ty University, where he was head coach from 2019-22. Freeze led the Flames to four bowl games and a 34-15 record. Freeze experienced similar success at each of his head coaching stops prior to Liberty that include Lambuth Univer- sity (2008-09), Arkansas State (2011) and Ole Miss (2012-16). Freeze led each school to double-digit win seasons, while helping Ole Miss to a top 10 national fin- ish in 2015. His on-field coaching record in 13 seasons is 109-54. Liberty was just one of five FBS teams in the country to win a bowl game each season from 2019-21, joining Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana. It was the second team in NCAA history to win a bowl game during its first three full sea- sons at the FBS level, all coming under Freeze’s leadership. Freeze guided Liberty to a 10-1 overall record in 2020 and the team’s first-ever national ranking as it finished No. 17 in the country. That season, Liberty had the best start in program history (8-0), tied the program record for wins (10) and de- feated two Power 5 programs in Syracuse and Virginia Tech. For his efforts, Freeze was a finalist for the George Munger Col- legiate Coach of the Year Award. Known for his fast-paced offensive style, Freeze’s 2020 Liberty team set a school record for rushing yards in a sea- son in 2020 (2,776) and ranked No. 9 in the country in rushing offense. Liberty also ranked No. 15 nationally in total of- fense (482.7 yards per game) and No. 11 in total defense (317.7 yards per game). The Flames were one of three teams in the country to rank in the top 20 in both total offense and total defense in 2020, joining Clemson and BYU. Spearheading Liberty’s outstand- ing offense in 2020 was former Auburn quarterback Malik Willis, who burst into the spotlight leading the nation in rushing yards (944) and touchdowns (14) by a FBS quarterback. Willis earned All-America honors, was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Quarterback Class of 2020 and was on the 2020 Maxwell Award watch list. The Flames posted an eight-win sea- son in 2021 after facing eight bowl-eli- gible teams during that campaign. Lib- erty’s defense finished the 2021 season ranked No. 7 nationally in passing yards allowed, No. 11 in total defense and No. 24 in scoring defense. Offensively, Lib- erty finished 2021 ranked No. 25 in the country in scoring offense and No. 8 in passing yards per completion. Leading the charge for the Flames in 2021 once again was Willis, who was a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Na- tional Quarterback Award and the Max- well Award and a top 10 candidate for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Willis was a third-round draft pick of the Ten- nessee Titans in the 2022 NFL Draft. In 2022, Liberty finished the regu- lar season 8-4 with wins over Arkansas and BYU; three of the four losses came by a combined five points. The Flames earned a berth in the Boca Raton Bowl. While head coach at Ole Miss, Freeze took the Rebels to bowl games in three of his five seasons, including wins in the 2013 Music City and the 2016 Sugar bowls. Freeze’s time in Oxford was highlight- ed by a 10-3 campaign in 2015, the pro- gram’s first 10-win season since 2003. The Rebels won their first four games of the 2015 season, including a 43-37 road victory over No. 2 Alabama, Ole Miss’ first win in Tuscaloosa since 1988. The Rebels were ranked as high as No. 3 in the national polls in both 2014 and 2015 and finished in the national Top 10 for the first time since 1969 after the Sugar Bowl win. Ole Miss was ranked in the top 25 for 45 weeks over Freeze’s five-year tenure, including a string of 27 straight weeks in the polls for the first time since 1957-62. Freeze collected four nationally ranked recruiting classes at Ole Miss. In 2013 and 2016, his recruiting classes ranked in the top five nationally, the best in program history. Freeze and his staff developed 20 players who earned all-SEC honors, in- cluding All-Americans Cody Prewitt, Senquez Golson, Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Evan Engram, Laquon Treadwell and Trae Elston. Treadwell was Ole Miss’ first ever SEC Freshman of the Year in 2013 and became HUGH FREEZE HEAD COACHNext >