< PreviousOfficial Smoked Sausage and Hot Dog of the Auburn Tigers ® True southern flavor since 1947. Made in Evergreen Alabama. - 1 lb. Conecuh Smoked Sausage - Hot dog buns - BBQ sauce, warmed - Grilled Peppers and Onions - Sauerkraut - Sweet Dill Relish - Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Mustard Conecuh Sausage dogs are perfect for tailgating with your favorite team when the game is on, or anytime! Grill sausage on all sides until done, pop it in a warm bun and add your favorite toppings. Make sure you have plenty of sausage - and napkins - on hand for seconds (and thirds)! CONECUH SAUSAGE DOG 800-726-0507 ConecuhSausage.comAUBURN LINEBACKER OWEN PAPPOE ‘LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE’: ‘LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE’: AUBURN LINEBACKER OWEN PAPPOE 21 When adversity hits, Auburn line- backer Owen Pappoe has a permanent reminder on his arm to keep pushing through. Just because you’re going through a dark chapter, it doesn’t mean it’s your whole book. Everyone gets their share of the rain, but the sun will shine on you again. It’s a tattoo he got in the summer of 2020. Little did Pappoe know at the time that it would carry even more signif- icance the following year when a leg injury forced him to miss the majority of the 2021 season. It was the first legiti- mate injury of Pappoe’s career, and in a season in which he was voted captain by his teammates and was draft-eligible for the first time, he was stuck watching from the sideline. “That’s probably the biggest bit of ad- versity I’ve faced in my life so far,” Pappoe said. “But just talking to my family, my teammates, all the people closest to me – it kept me in good spirits. You can get in your head a lot when you’re down, but I learned from it.” Pappoe had always heard former players or coaches come in and say things like, “Take advantage of the game because you never know when it can get taken away from you.” But it took on a whole new meaning during that 2021 season. “It makes you want to play every game like it’s your last,” he said. Healthy again, Pappoe returned with a new fire this season. He’s coming off a career-high 16 tackles against Ole Miss, and his 58 tackles through seven games ranks ninth in the SEC. He’s also forced two fumbles, broken up a pass and made the hit of the year to this point when he laid out Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford last month. The senior linebacker has more than lived up to his nickname, the Freak. The nickname itself originated when Pappoe began playing football in the seventh grade. He didn’t know what he was doing, had no technique and yet was racking up sacks. His coach at the time said Pappoe reminded him of Pro Bowl defensive end Jevon Kearse, better known as the Freak. So, Pappoe started going by the same name and has embraced it ever since. “I feel like it’s just always been in me,” he said. “Because I’m a competitor when it comes to everything. It especially start- ed blowing up when I used to go to The Opening and do all the combine stuff. Just putting up freakish numbers, the name started amplifying. And then of course my play on the field matched that as well.” “I’ve always seen the kind of person that he is and just the freak of nature that he is,” added teammate Derick Hall, who came to Auburn with Pappoe. “Coming in from day one, he was a start- er. He was that guy.” Continued on Page 23 AUBURNTIGERS.COM BY: GREG OSTENDORF PROUD PARTNER Get the right defense for the right price. Switch and save with Allstate. Based on average annual savings of new customers surveyed in 2021 who reported auto savings when switching to Allstate. In most states, prices vary based on how you buy. © 2022 Allstate Insurance Company, 3100 Sanders Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. Marks are registered trademarks of their respective owners.‘LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE’: AUBURN LINEBACKER OWEN PAPPOE 23 Continued from Page 21 As athletic and as talented as Pappoe was when he first got to Auburn, it was his leadership that stood out to Hall from the jump. There was a presence about him. He was more than just a freak athlete who could make plays on the football field. “Owen is an amazing player, but he’s a better person,” Hall said. “He treats ev- erybody the same, treats everybody with respect. He’ll talk to the janitor just like he does the head coach. He’s a guy when he walks through this building, you feel his respect and you feel his presence. He’s a great football player but a better person.” After serving as a team captain last year, Pappoe was selected as a captain again this year along with Hall and John Samuel Shenker. The senior from Law- renceville, Georgia is just the fourth play- er in Auburn history to be named team captain twice, joining Curtis Kuykendall (1944-45), Gusty Yearout (1966-67) and Reese Dismukes (2013-14). “It’s a huge honor,” Pappoe said. “I just try to show up every day and be myself. Be as consistent as I can in the way that I work, in the way that I treat other people, impacting others in a positive way.” The clock is ticking on Pappoe’s time at Auburn. There are only five games re- maining in the regular season, and grad- uation is right around the corner. He’s on track to earn his degree in December, becoming the second sibling in his family to graduate college. The plan after that is the NFL, a dream Pappoe has been chasing since he started playing football. It’s what drives him, what makes him do the extra rep in practice. “I want to make both my parents proud,” he said. “I want them to see me make it to the highest level and not just make it there but have a successful career in NFL. I want to be able to help bless them and the rest of my family and be able to reach back to the community and inspire other people to chase their dreams. “Also, I plan on having a family myself, and I want to give my wife and kids the world. I want to make them feel special. I know football will help open the door.” Pappoe credits his parents, Lorenzo and Rhoda, for instilling a work ethic in him and showing him how to chase success. They came to the United States from Liberia in the middle of a civil war. They essentially had nothing when they arrived and worked to get to a point to where they could provide for Owen and their other children. His father, Lorenzo, currently works for ADP as a lead application analyst while his mother, Rhoda, is a business owner who runs her own healthcare agency. “Just seeing how hard they work every day, it inspired me to be like them,” Pappoe said. Now it’s Pappoe’s turn. He’s so close to achieving his dream, he can taste it. But the journey hasn’t come without adversity. Like his tattoo reads, he’s had his share of rain. He’s pushed through it, though, and will leave Auburn a different person than when he first arrived. He will leave an Auburn man, and that’s how he wants to be remembered. “I want to be known as the person- ification of what the Auburn Man is supposed to be,” Pappoe said. “Showing up every day, giving everything 100 percent, impacting everybody around me in a positive way, and being a dog on football field, laying it all on the line for this program. Someone who truly loves Auburn and gave my all for them.” AUBURNTIGERS.COM AUBURN LINEBACKER OWEN PAPPOE ‘LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE’:HEAD COACH BRYAN HARSIN 27 Bryan Harsin is in his second year as Auburn’s head football coach after spending the previous seven seasons as head coach at Boise State where he compiled a 69-19 record while winning three Mountain West Conference titles. Harsin was named Auburn’s 28th head football coach on December 22, 2020. A former Boise State quarterback, as- sistant coach and offensive coordinator, Harsin is 82-31 overall as a head coach – including one season at Arkansas State – and has directed his programs to bowl games each season. His impressive re- sume at Boise saw him lead the Broncos to five 10-win seasons, seven consec- utive bowl appearances and six MWC West Division Championships. He led the program to a 5-2 mark and a trip to the MWC championship game in 2020. Harsin’s first Auburn program reg- istered a pair of ranked wins, including against No. 10 Ole Miss and at No. 17 Arkansas. He also became the first Auburn coach in 22 years to defeat LSU in Baton Rouge, as the Tigers registered a thrilling come-from-behind victory. Four players earned All-SEC honors and cornerback Roger McCreary received first team All-America accolades. For just the second time in Auburn football history, two players earned CoSIDA Ac- ademic All-America honors in the same season as Nick Brahms and Anders Carlson were honored for their academ- ic and athletic excellence. In his debut season Harsin led his alma mater back to where it rose to national prominence. Boise State went 12-2 in 2014, winning its first outright Mountain West Championship and capping the campaign with a 38-30 victory over Arizona in the 2014 VIZIO Fiesta Bowl. The victory in the Fiesta Bowl was the third such win for the Broncos in the previous nine seasons. Harsin, serving as offensive coordinator in the first two Fiesta Bowl victories, has been a part of each of the school’s three appearances in the game. The team’s victory in the 2014 Mountain West Football Champion- ship marked Boise State’s first outright league title since joining the conference in 2011, and the first overall since 2009. The only alumnus to lead the Broncos as head coach in the history of Boise State, Harsin has won conference champi- onships as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach. Boise State also captured MW titles in 2017 and 2019, giving Harsin three in six seasons. In 2017, the Broncos capped the championship campaign with a 38- 28 victory over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Broncos concluded the year at 11-3 overall and ranked No. 22 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. The Broncos went 12-2 in 2019, recording the team’s first perfect 8-0 conference record since joining the MW and earning the school’s fifth all-time appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl. Boi- se State concluded the season ranked in both the AP (No. 23) and Coaches Polls (No. 22) and were No. 19 in the final rankings of the College Football Playoff Poll, the third-straight season finishing in the top 25 of the CFP. AUBURNTIGERS.COM BRYAN HARSIN HEAD COACH® FAVORITE CHIP OF THE @GOLDENFLAKE @GOLDEN_FLAKE @GOLDEN_FLAKE WWW.GOLDENFLAKE.COM | WWW.UTZSNACKS.COMHEAD COACH BRYAN HARSIN 29 In 2015, the Broncos went 9-4, climbing as high as No. 20 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Boise State capped the 2015 campaign with a 55-7 victory over Northern Illinois in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, the fifth-largest margin of victory in the history of bowl games. In 2016, Harsin guided the Broncos to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl. In 2018, the Broncos concluded the season ranked in all three major polls - No. 23 in the AP Poll, No. 24 in the Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the CFP Rankings. The Broncos have been ranked in the top 25 in each of Harsin’s six seasons, climbing as high as No. 13 in both the AP and Coaches Polls in 2016, and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll in 2019, Boise State’s highest rankings since finishing eighth and sixth in each, respectively, in 2011. Boise State went 10-3 in 2018, boasting the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Brett Rypien – one of 11 All-Mountain West honorees. Rypien concluded his career as the Mountain West’s all-time leader in career 300-yard passing games (21), completions (1,036) and passing yards (13,581). He also ranked second in league history in both wins by a starting quarterback (37) and career attempts (1,619) and tied for second in career touchdown passes (90). Curtis Weaver made it three- straight MW Player of the Year honors for the Broncos in 2019, following Ryp- ien’s nod in 2018 and Leighton Vander Esch’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (2014) started the streak, followed by running back Jay Ajayi (2015), lineback- er Kamalei Correa (2016), running back Jeremy McNichols (2017), linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (2018), running back Alexander Mattison (2019) and Weaver. Vander Esch was a first-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys after foregoing his final season of eligibility. In his rookie season, Vander Esch was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. The Broncos won at least 10 games in five of Harsin’s seven seasons, giving Boise State 17 since joining what is now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1996. The total ranked second behind only Ohio State during that time. For his efforts in 2014, Harsin was named a finalist for the Paul “Bear Bry- ant” National Coach of the Year Award, the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award and the Dodd Trophy, given annually by the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Foundation. He was also named the nation’s top first- year head coach by the Football Writers Association of America. A graduate of Capital High School in Boise, he played quarterback for the Broncos from 1995-99. Following his graduation from Boise State with a degree in business management, Harsin coached running backs and receivers at Eastern Oregon in 2000. The former Bronco letterwinner be- gan his coaching career at Boise State as a graduate assistant in 2001, before taking over the tight ends as a full-time assistant coach from 2002-05. When Chris Petersen was hired as head coach in 2006, Harsin assumed the role of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Harsin was Petersen’s offensive co- ordinator for five of his eight seasons as head coach (2006-10) and was named a finalist for the 2009 Broyles Award, awarded annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. Boise State went 61-5 during his tenure as offensive coordi- nator. With Harsin on staff, Boise State won 11 conference championships in 17 seasons. Following the 2010 season, Harsin went to Texas, where he served as co-of- fensive coordinator from 2011-12. While with the Longhorns, Harsin helped guide the ascension of an offense that ranked 88th in scoring prior to his arrival, to No. 24 nationally in 2012 (36.1). Harsin then earned his first head coaching opportunity at Arkansas State in 2013, which claimed a share of the Sun Belt Conference championship and a berth in the GoDaddy.com Bowl that season. Harsin and his wife, Kes, have two daughters, Devyn Lynn and Dayn Mcke- na, and a son, Davis. AUBURNTIGERS.COM HARSIN AT A GLANCE Personal Hometown: Boise, Idaho Wife: Kes Children: daughters: Devyn Lynn, Dayn Mykena son: Davis College: Boise State (2000) Playing Experience: Boise State (1995-99) Coaching Experience 2021-current: Auburn Head Coach 2014-20: Boise State Head Coach 2013: Arkansas State Head Coach 2011-12 Texas Co-Offensive Coordinator/QBs 2006-10: Boise State Offensive Coordinator/WRs 2002-05: Boise State Tight Ends 2001: Boise State Graduate Assistant 2000: Eastern Oregon Running Backs/WRs Bowl Experience Coach: 2021 Birmingham Bowl 2019 Las Vegas Bowl 2018 First Responder Bowl 2017 Las Vegas Bowl 2016 Cactus Bowl 2016 Poinsettia Bowl 2014 Fiesta Bowl 2012 Alamo Bowl 2011 Holiday Bowl 2010 Las Vegas Bowl 2010 Fiesta Bowl 2008 Poinsettia Bowl 2007 Hawai’i Bowl 2007 Fiesta Bowl 2005 MPC Computers Bowl 2004 Liberty Bowl 2003 Forth Worth Bowl 2002 Humanitarian Bowl Player: 1999 Humanitarian Bowl Next >