Healthier People are Happier People Staying active keeps us healthier and socializing makes us happier. That’s why Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is proud to sponsor athletics across the state. Learn more about getting healthier and happier at AlabamaBlue.com/Happy.Make escape part of your winning game plan. Escape every day at Wind Creek Casino and on the Casinoverse app. Aruba • Atmore • Bethlehem Chicago Southland • Curaçao Montgomery • Wetumpka (866) 946-3360 | WindCreek.com ©2023 Wind Creek Hospitality.4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 .................................................................... 2023 Schedule 6 .................................................................Scouting Auburn 8 ............................................................Scouting Vanderbilt 10 ....................................................................Auburn Roster 12 ...............................................................Vanderbilt Roster 14 ........................................... Opponent Outlook: Vanderbilt 16 .............................................................. Auburn Traditions 18 ..................................................................... Depth Charts 20 .............................................................. Stat Comparisons 22-24 ..................................................... Music City Reunion 28-30 ........................................... Head Coach Hugh Freeze 32-36 ........................................................ Assistant Coaches 38 .................................... University News: Facilities Updates 40 .............................................................Auburn University 42 ..................................................Auburn Board of Trustees 44 ..........................................................University President 46 .......................................................... Director of Athletics 48 .................................... Through the Lens: Mississippi State 50 .......................... University News: CADC 30th Anniversary 52 ............................................... On the Plains: Zion Puckett 54 .......................................... Jordan-Hare Stadium Diagram 56-57 .............................. Jordan-Hare Stadium Parking Map 60 .................................................. Heisman Trophy Winners 62 ................................................................... All-Americans 64 ...............................................On the Plains: Shane Hooks 66 ..............................................Postseason Trophy Winners 68-69 .........................................................Tigers in the NFL 73 .................................................Auburn Tigers Superlatives 75 ...................................... University News: Auburn at Work 77 .................... Cheerleaders, Tiger Paws and Marching Band 79-90 ........................................................... Auburn Players 91 ............................ University News: Everybody Loves Aubie 93 .........................................................Undefeated Seasons 95 .................................University News: Alabama Extension 97 .................................................Southeastern Conference 99 .......................... Olympic Sports Update: Men’s Basketball 103-104 ......................................... Auburn Sports Properties Cover: Donovan Kaufman and Elijah McAllister TABLE OF CONTENTS AUBURNTIGERS.COM2023 AUBURN SCHEDULE 5 AUBURNTIGERS.COM THE RIVER REGION'S OFFICIAL BROADCAST PARTNER OF AUBURN ATHLETICS IF YOU'RE NOT THERE, LISTEN HERE 9.2 UMass Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 9.16 Samford Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.28 Mississippi State Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 9.9 Cal Berkeley, Calif. California Memorial Stadium 10.21 Ole Miss Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.14 LSU Baton Rouge, La. Tiger Stadium 9.23 Texas A&M College Station, Texas Kyle Field 11.4 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. FirstBank Stadium 9.30 Georgia Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 11.11 Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium 11.18 New Mexico State Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium 11.25 Alabama Auburn, Ala. Jordan-Hare Stadium Blue - Home Orange - Away 2023 AUBURN SCHEDULE6 SCOUTING AUBURN HEAD COACH Hugh Freeze (Southern Miss, 1992) Auburn Record .........................................................................4-4 (1st Season) Career Record ..................................................................79-52 (13th Season) vs. Mississippi State .............................................................................................3-2 AUBURN (4-4, 1-4 SEC) Sept. 2 ................................UMASS ........................................................W, 59-14 Sept. 9 ................................at Cal ..............................................................W, 14-10 Sept. 16 ..............................SAMFORD .................................................W, 45-13 Sept. 23..............................at Texas A&M ...............................................L, 10-27 Sept. 30 .............................#1 GEORGIA..............................................L, 20-27 Oct. 14 ................................at #22 LSU ....................................................L, 18-48 Oct. 21 ................................#13 OLE MISS .............................................L, 21-28 Oct. 28 ...............................MISSISSIPPI STATE ................................W, 27-13 Nov. 4 ..................................at Vanderbilt ....................................................3 p.m. Nov. 11 .................................at Arkansas .......................................................3 p.m. Nov. 18 ................................NEW MEXICO STATE ...................................TBA Nov. 25 ...............................#8 ALABAMA ....................................................TBA ON THE ROAD TO MUSIC CITY n Auburn visits the Vanderbilt Commodores for an SEC match- up on Saturday, Nov. 4, in a 3 p.m. CT game played at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The SEC Network will televise the contest. n In all-time SEC play, Auburn holds a 336-272-18 mark (.551) back through 1933. In SEC games played in Auburn, the Tigers are 145-68-6 (.676) all-time; away from Auburn, the Tigers are 191-203-12 (.486) overall in SEC play. SERIES HISTORY n The all-time series between Auburn and Vanderbilt is tied at 21-21-1 advantage. The two teams first met in 1893, a 30-10 Auburn victory at Montgomery, Alabama. Auburn leads 9-0 in all games played in Auburn, while Vanderbilt leads 12-7 in all games played in Nashville. Other games in the series have been con- tested in Montgomery (Vanderbilt leads 4-1); Birmingham (tied 4-4-1); and in Jacksonville, Flordia where Vanderbilt was a 25-13 winner in the 1955 Gator Bowl. n The teams’ last matchup was in 2016 with Auburn posting a 23-16 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Before that, Vanderbilt had won the previous two meetings - both played in Nashville (2008 and 2012). Prior to 2008, Auburn had won 13 straight contests, averaging 36.4 points scored per game during that string. KICKOFF COVERAGE n All Auburn home games have been sold out in advance, the first full-season sellout of Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Tigers since 2015. n Auburn leads the SEC in red zone defense (.778). The Tigers are third in the SEC in turnover margin (0.50 per game). n Auburn is one of 19 FBS teams that have returned a fumble and an interception for a touchdown and is one of 43 teams with multiple defensive scores this season. n Auburn has forced a turnover in 17 straight games dating through last season, the Tigers’ longest streak since 18 straight games in 2007-08. n Auburn is fourth in the SEC in rushing offense, averaging 186.0 yards per game. n The Tigers lead the SEC in turnovers forced with 14 through the first eight games (10 intercep- tions, 4 fumbles recovered). Those 10 intercep- tions are tied with Vanderbilt for the most by an SEC team this season. n With four interceptions, Jaylin Simpson is among the national FBS leaders in interceptions per game (0.50 per game) this season. Simpson was named a midseason All-American by the Associated Press, ESPN, CBS, Fox, 247, The Ath- letic, USA Today, PFF, Sporting News and Reese’s Senior Bowl. SCOUTING AUBURN AUBURNTIGERS.COM Payton Thorne Committed to playing with a purpose. We’re all about that gameday energy. At Alabama Power, we share your passion for the team— and your pride for where we live. We love big wins, but celebrate all victories that push our state forward. For over 100 years, we’ve been committed to proving what we accomplish together, on and off the field, makes us stronger. It’s Power for a Better Alabama. We proudly support the Auburn Tigers. alabamapower.com © 2023 Alabama Power Company8 SCOUTING VANDERBILT HEAD COACH Clark Lea (Vanderbilt, 2004) Vanderbilt Record .......................................................9-24 (3rd Season) Career Record ...............................................................9-24 (3rd Season) vs. Auburn .....................................................................................................0-0 VANDERBILT (2-7, 0-5) Aug. 26 ..........................HAWAI’I ...............................................W, 35-28 Sept. 2 ............................ALABAMA A&M .................................W, 47-13 Sept. 9 ............................at Wake Forest ....................................L, 36-20 Sept. 16 ..........................at UNLV ..................................................L, 37-40 Sept. 23 .........................KENTUCKY ..........................................L, 28-45 Sept. 30 .........................#23 MISSOURI ....................................L, 21-38 Oct. 7 ..............................at Florida .................................................L, 14-38 Oct. 14 ............................#1 GEORGIA .......................................L, 20-37 Oct. 28 ...........................at #12 Ole Miss ........................................L, 7-33 Nov. 4 .............................AUBURN ....................................................3 p.m. Nov. 11 .............................at South Carolina ....................................11 a.m. Nov. 25 ...........................at #19 Tennessee ........................................TBA QUICK NOTES n Vanderbilt takes the field at FirstBank Stadium for the final time this season at 3 p.m. Saturday against Auburn on SEC Network. The Commodores and Tigers will be meeting for the 44th time since 1893. Vanderbilt has won two of the last three games vs. Auburn since 2008. n Vanderbilt fell 33-7 at Ole Miss last Saturday. The Commodore defense tallied three sacks and 8.0 tackles for a loss, most against an SEC opponent this season. Vandy totaled 169 rushing yards, also most against an SEC opponent. n Langston Patterson recorded a sack, forced fumble and an interception at Ole Miss. Patterson posted a defensive grade of 93.4 according to Pro Football Focus, which was the second-highest grade by an FBS linebacker in Week 9 and the second-highest grade by a Dore defender since 2014. n Will Sheppard caught an 85-yard touchdown from Ken Seals against Florida (10.7), matching the fourth-longest completion in program history. Sheppard is one of six Commodores all-time to rank in the top 10 for career receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns receptions. He currently is tied for seventh for catches (145), is tied for third with 21 receiving touchdowns and is ninth in receiving yards (1,974). n Jayden McGowan is averaging 25.2 yards per kick return for a total of 336 yards and a touchdown. He is one of two SEC players to return a kickoff for a score this season (Barion Brown, Kentucky). His average return is second-best in the league and 13th in FBS. n Will Sheppard caught multiple touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s first three games of the season. He is the first Vanderbilt player since at least 1996 to record three consecutive games with two or more touchdown receptions. He is the fifth player in the SEC to record three straight games with multiple touchdown receptions in the same season since 2019, joining Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee), DeVonta Smith (Alabama), Terrace Marshall Jr. (LSU) and Ja’Marr Chase (LSU). Across all of FBS, Sheppard is the ninth player to record three straight games with multiple touchdown receptions in the same season. BY THE NUMBERS n Head coach Clark Lea is in his third season at his alma mater. The Commodores doubled their win total in Lea’s second season in 2022 and won consecutive SEC games for the first time since 2018, defeating Kentucky and Florida, respectively. n Will Sheppard became the sixth Commodore all-time to reach 20 career receiving touchdowns with his touchdown reception against Missouri. He is tied for third, three touchdowns from matching Jordan Matthews’ program record. n Jayden McGowan’s 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Hawai’i was the school’s first since 2014 (Darrius Sims vs. South Carolina) and was tied for the fourth-longest kick return for a touchdown in program history. n John Howse IV and Jeffery Ugochukwu each had an interception Sept. 23 against Kentucky. Vanderbilt’s defense has multiple picks in a game twice this season and 10 total interceptions on the year. That mark is tied for most in the SEC and is 13th in FBS. n Will Sheppard’s eight receiving touchdowns is 10th in FBS and third in the SEC. Sheppard is one touchdown away from matching his 2022 season total. No Commodore in program history has caught nine or more receiving touchdowns in a single season twice in a career. n Matthew Hayball leads all active punters across all divisions of NCAA football (FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III) with 12,090 career punting yards. He is the only active punter across all four divisions to have eclipsed 12,000 career yards. SCOUTING VANDERBILT AUBURNTIGERS.COM Will SheppardPlease visit our website at www.vcom.edu/outcomes for a copy of our Outcomes Report. ©2023 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. All rights reserved. www.vcom.edu to become a physician? The Auburn campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine was created with a clear purpose to alleviate the physician shortage in Alabama. VCOM-Auburn constantly works to recruit students from rural and underserved areas. It is our hope that they will return home to serve their community and improve health outcomes across the state. Visit us online to find out how we are inspired to make a difference in our communities and beyond.Next >