< Previous20 STATS COMPARISONS AUBURNTIGERS.COM AUBURN STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jeremiah Cobb 165 936 5.7 4 46 85.1 Jackson Arnold 112 311 2.8 8 56 31.1 Deuce Knight 13 178 13.7 4 75 89.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Jackson Arnold 136-215-2 63.3 1,309 6 130.9 Ashton Daniels 50-80-1 62.5 538 2 179.3 Deuce Knight 17-25-0 68.0 259 2 129.5 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Cam Coleman 52 682 13.1 5 46 62.0 Eric Singleton Jr. 55 508 9.2 3 48 46.2 Malcolm Simmons 22 314 14.3 1 91 28.5 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Xavier Atkins 58 23 81 15.5-60 7.5-36 Robert Woodyard Jr. 45 19 64 7.0-15 2.0-8 Kaleb Harris 33 12 45 1.0-2 0.0-0 ALABAMA STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jam Miller 108 410 3.8 3 24 51.3 Kevin Riley 56 222 4.0 2 22 22.2 Daniel Hill 46 178 3.9 5 28 17.8 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Ty Simpson 237-354-4 67.0 2,934 22 266.7 Keelon Russel 11-15-0 73.3 143 2 71.5 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Germie Bernard 48 676 14.1 6 43 67.6 Ryan Williams 40 598 15.0 4 75 59.8 Isaiah Horton 29 383 13.2 5 35 34.8 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Justin Jefferson 35 29 64 3.5-25 2.0-20 Deontae Lawson 31 31 62 2.0-4 0.0-0 Bray Hubbard 36 22 58 3.0-12 1.0-9 Here is a quick look at the top team statistics for the Tigers and the Crimson Tide: Quick Look n Total Touchdowns 3548 n Rushing Yards 1,9701,548 n Passing Yards 2,106 3,217 STATS COMPARISONS22 COVER FEATURE AUBURNTIGERS.COM COVER FEATURE BY: JEFF SHEARER After missing half of his junior season with a shoulder injury, Bo Jackson began his senior year with a vengeance, rush- ing for a career-high 290 yards and four touchdowns to launch his campaign for the 1985 Heisman Trophy. Jackson topped the 200-yard mark again the following week against South- ern Miss, then did it twice more against Ole Miss and Georgia Tech. He finished the 11-game regular sea- son with 1,786 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry despite playing part of the season with broken ribs. Bo was at his best when it mattered most. In four Iron Bowls from 1982-85, he carried 90 times for 630 yards and six touchdowns, an average of seven yards per rush. Ray Perkins, who coached against Jackson in three Iron Bowls and who played and coached in the NFL, had seen enough. “Bo Jackson is the best running back in the world: college or pro,” said Perkins, whose assessment would prove accurate two years later. In his closing argument for the Heisman, Jackson gained 142 yards on 31 rushes in the 1985 Iron Bowl. “Bo Jackson is, without a doubt, the most talented athlete I have ever been associated with,” Auburn coach Pat Dye said at the time. “There’s no doubt he ranks right up there with the all-time greats. But as anyone who knows him can tell you, he’s just as impressive as a per- son as he is as an athlete.” In the closest Heisman voting in his- tory until 2009, Jackson edged Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points to join 1971 winner Pat Sullivan in Auburn’s Heisman fraternity. Bo finished his career with 4,303 rushing yards, a program record that still stands. Had the NCAA included bowl statistics – a change that did not go into HEISMAN AT 40: AUBURN HONORS BO JACKSON’S 1985 SEASON24 COVER FEATURE AUBURNTIGERS.COM effect until 2002 – Jackson’s total would increase by the 411 yards he gained in the Tangerine, Sugar, Liberty and Cotton bowls. Six months after Bo won the Heisman, the Kansas City Royals drafted Jackson in the fourth round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. To the astonishment of many, Jack- son spurned the NFL’s Tampa Bay Bucs, which had drafted him No. 1 overall six weeks earlier, and signed instead with the Royals, debuting in the majors on Sept. 2, 1986, after only 53 minor league games. Kansas City drafted Jackson, he says, in part because of Bo’s baseball coach at Auburn, Hal Baird, who had pitched six seasons in the Royals’ organization in the 1970s. “Coach Baird and (former Royals scouting director) Art Stewart are the reason I became a Royal,” Jackson re- called when he was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 2024. “Every other ballclub within the league was afraid to come after me because of that football thing. Art Stewart called Coach Baird and asked if I was serious about baseball. “Coach Baird said yes, and whoever gets him is going to be lucky to have him, so he is serious. Art Stewart convinced the ownership and everybody to take a chance on me, and I’m glad they did.” That football thing, Bo’s “hobby” as he famously referred to it at the time. Be- ginning in 1987, when the Royals season ended, Jackson joined the Los Angeles Raiders, averaging 5.4 yards per carry over four seasons until a hip injury ended his NFL career. “It was easy for me,” Jackson said of juggling professional sports simultane- ously. “The two sports are drastically dif- ferent. Whenever the baseball season was over, I would take a week off with my family then on the seventh day I would report to Los Angeles and play the next weekend. Just something I did, a normal day in my life.” Forty years later, former Auburn quar- terback Randy Campbell, Jackson’s teammate his first two seasons on the Plains, still has not seen anyone better. “I think Bo Jackson is the greatest running back who ever played football, college, pros, whatever,” Campbell said. “He’s an unbelievable athlete.” Four decades after Jackson became the Tigers’ second Heisman Trophy win- ner, No. 34 will hear the roars once more at Jordan-Hare Stadium when Auburn honors Bo during Saturday’s Iron Bowl. “It’s great that he’s coming back to campus, and all our fans in the biggest game of the year are going to get to cel- ebrate him for that accomplishment,” Campbell said. “He’s a wonderful person and a phenomenal athlete.” COVER FEATUREOFFICIAL INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS MEDICINE PROVIDER OF AUBURN TIGERS ATHLETICS WE ARE HERE FOR L TO R: Michael Goodlett, MD, FAAFP- Team Physician Benton A. Emblom, MD - Team Orthopaedic Surgeon Jos Edison, DO - Associate Team Physician At Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center, we’re here for the competitor in all of us — from rookies chasing their dreams to legends who never quit. We’re here for the believers, the driven, the passionate. We’re here for the ones who rise, again and again. We’re here for the Auburn Tigers. To schedule an appointment, call us at 205-939-3699 Locations: Birmingham | Cullman | Gardendale | Hoover | Pelham | Trussville ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS James R. Andrews, MD, Emeritus Christopher M. Beaumont, MD E. Lyle Cain, Jr., MD Andrew M. Cordover, MD Jeff rey C. Davis, MD Jeff rey R. Dugas, MD Benton A. Emblom, MD Christopher H. Garrett, MD Daniel C. Kim, MD Wayne McGough, Jr., MD Kathleen E. McKeon, MD K. David Moore, MD Charles C. Pitts, Jr., MD Marcus A. Rothermich, MD Norman E. Waldrop, III, MD NON-SURGICAL SPORTS MEDICINE PHYSICIANS Matthew B. Beidleman, MD Christopher S. Carter, MD Emily Bell Casey, MD Ricardo E. Colberg, MD Rachel G. Henderson, MD Monte M. Ketchum, DO JoséO.Ortega,MD T. Daniel Smith, MD Jay S. Umarvadia, MD PHYSICIAL MEDICINE & REHABILITATION Charles T. Carnel, MDY O U R T E A M S . Y O U R S T A T I O N S . WINGSFM.COMESPNAU.COM FOOTBALL/MEN’SBASKETBALL/WOMEN’SBASKETBALL/BASEBALL/TIGERTALK ALLPLAYHERE. Auburn-Opelika’sOfficialFlagshipStationsoftheAuburnTigersCOMPETITIVE COMPETITIVE THE COMPETITIVE EDGE EDGE EDGE HARBERT COLLEGE OF BUSINESS HARBERT.AUBURN.EDU At the hArbert college of business excellence goes beyond the classroom. From boardrooms to stadiums, our students lead with grit, purpose, and the Auburn spirit. WE’RE NOT JUST PREPARING BUSINESS LEADERS —WE’RE INSPIRING EXCELLENCE ON AND OFF THE FIELD. X Sophie is a senior Business Analytics major with a minor in Business Engineering Technology. She’s active in Women in Technology and Sports Analytics student organizations.28 INTERIM HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DJ DURKIN AUBURNTIGERS.COM DJ Durkin was named Auburn’s interim head coach on Nov. 2, 2025. He was previously hired as defensive coordinator on Jan. 31, 2024. In his first season on the Plains, Durkin guided Auburn to its best defensive marks in over a decade, including the program’s top rushing defense since 2010 (117.8 ypg), best total defense since 2017 (330.8 ypg), and best scoring defense since 2019 (19.5 ppg). Durkin joined Auburn following four seasons in the SEC, including two as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. His 2023 Aggies defense ranked No. 3 in the SEC and No. 19 nationally in total defense (316.0 ypg), leading the league in rushing defense (108.8),sacks (3.6 per game), and first-down defense. In his first year at A&M, the Aggies led the nation in passing yards allowed (156.2 ypg) and ranked among the top 25 nationally in both scoring and defensive efficiency. Before his time in College Station, Durkin spent two seasons at Ole Miss (2020–21) directing the defense and coaching linebackers. He previously served as head coach at Maryland (2016– 17), doubling the Terrapins’ win total in his first season and securing back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes—the program’s best stretch in modern history. Durkin’s defensive acumen was also on display as Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2015, when the Wolverines ranked fourth nationally in total defense and posted three consecutive shutouts— their longest streak in 35 years. His unit produced nine All-Big Ten selections, including All-Americans Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis. At Florida (2010–14), Durkin rose from special teams coordinator and linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, leading the Gators to consecutive top-15 finishes in total defense. His 2014 defense ranked top-10 nationally in yards per play, rush defense, and pass efficiency, while producing first-round NFL Draft pick Dante Fowler Jr. and All-SEC standout Vernon Hargreaves III. During his tenure, Florida also developed elite specialists Chas Henry (Ray Guy Award winner) and Caleb Sturgis (two-time Lou Groza finalist). Earlier in his career, Durkin coached defensive ends and special teams at Stanford (2007–09), helping the Cardinal finish top-15 nationally in sacks twice and DJ DURKIN INTERIM HEAD COACH/ DEFENSIVE COORDINATORNext >