< Previous20 STATS COMPARISONS AUBURNTIGERS.COM AUBURN STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jarquez Hunter 4 53 13.3 1 34 53.0 Payton Thorne 4 49 12.3 1 31 49.0 Jeremiah Cobb 3 26 8.7 0 14 26.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Payton Thorne 13-21-0 61.9 322 4 322.0 Hank Brown 3-5-0 60.0 96 2 96.0 Holden Geriner 2-2-0 1.000 33 0 33.0 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Malcolm Simmons 3 91 30.3 1 57 91.0 Perry Thompson 2 82 41.0 1 70 82.0 KeAndre Lambert-Smith 3 80 26.7 2 67 80.0 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Jalen McLeod 5 0 5 2.0-11 1.0-8 Sylvester Smith 4 0 4 0.0-0 0.0-0 Robert Woodyard Jr. 3 1 4 1.0-3 0.0-0 CAL STATS LEADERS RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jaydn Ott 14 49 3.5 2 7 49.0 Jaivian Thomas 6 19 3.2 0 5 19.0 Chandler Rogers 5 17 3.4 0 7 17.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Fernando Mendoza 15-22-0 68.2 158 1 158.0 Chandler Rogers 3-6-0 50.0 21 0 21.0 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Nyziah Hunter 4 47 11.8 1 26 47.0 Mavin Anderson 4 34 8.5 0 19 34.0 Jaydn Ott 4 34 8.5 0 23 34.0 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Teddye Buchanan 2 7 9 0.5-1 0.0-0 Cade Uluave 2 6 8 0.5-2 0.0-0 Nate Burrell 1 4 5 0.0-0 0.0-0 Here is a quick look at the top team statistics for the Tigers and Golden Bears. Quick Look n Total Touchdowns 104 n Rushing Yards 177102 n Passing Yards 451179Tickets 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 Struggling to make an impact on his football team early in high school, Jalen McLeod wanted to quit, but his older brother, Aubrey, would not let him. “He’s the one who made me stay with football,” Jalen recalled. “I wasn’t fast enough. I was too skinny. He’s the one who told me to get in the gym.” Said Aubrey to Jalen: “’Bro, you’re different from everybody. You’ve got a chance. Your head is on straight. You want to get somewhere in life. This is your way out.’” Aubrey believed Jalen’s athletic prowess could be the avenue to obtain a college education. “He made sure I stayed in school,” Ja- len said. “He made sure I wasn’t like the crowd. He made sure I moved away from the crowd. He did everything for me.” When Jalen signed with Appalachian State after graduating from high school in Washington D.C., Aubrey continued to look after his younger brother. “He basically was like my father,” Ja- len said. “Anything I needed, he had it for me. He was always there for me. He was there for everybody in my family. That’s the type of person he was.” Tragically, Aubrey McLeod passed away in April at age 29, the victim of a shooting while taking his sons to football practice in Washington D.C. Jalen dedicated his final college foot- ball season to Aubrey. “This whole season is for him,” Jalen said. “Everything he poured into me, I’m pouring out on that field. Everything he put into me, it didn’t go to waste.” An uncle to four nieces and nephews, including Aubrey’s three children, Jalen hopes to provide for his family the way Aubrey looked out for him. “That’s who I’m playing for,” Jalen said. “His kin, my kin. I’m playing for him.” After three seasons at Appalachian State, McLeod transferred to Auburn in 2023, recording 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tack- les for loss, production he hopes to in- crease this year before playing in the NFL. “Last year, I had an okay season, but this season I’m coming for it all,” he said. “I’ve got to make people respect me.” In the days leading up to Kickoff on The Plains, McLeod reflected on Au- COVER FEATURE BY JEFF SHEARER PLAYING WITH AN EDGE: AUBURN’S JALEN MCLEOD, KELDRIC FAULKCommitted 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 burn’s season-opening five game home- stand, and the opportunities it provides. “It’s going to be good to make plays in front of the crowd,” he said. “For all of the bucks (outside linebackers), it’s a great way to showcase our talents, how we all came together, perform and make plays together.” On cue, McLeod delivered the sea- son’s first sack, followed soon after by fellow edge rusher Keldric Faulk, Au- burn’s one-two pass rushing punch. “Yes, sir,” McLeod said. “That’s my brother.” While McLeod is a veteran of five col- lege football seasons, Faulk is only two years removed from high school. “He’s young but he’s mature,” Mc- Leod said of Faulk. “He does everything like a pro. He moves like a pro. Very coachable. He’s a likable person, a per- son you always want to be around. He makes everything more enjoyable. He doesn’t act like he’s 19. He acts like he’s way older, like he’s been here before.” Faulk earned the respect of his team- mates and coaches, who selected him to be the youngest player in the event’s four decades to represent Auburn in Dallas in July at SEC Media Days, where Keldric shared the vision for the Tigers’ defense under coordinator DJ Durkin. “Relentless effort, violent tackling and elite mental execution,” Faulk said. “That’s what fans and opponents are go- ing to see from us.” A 6-foot-6, 288-pound sophomore from Highland Home, Alabama, Faulk suc- cessfully navigated the steep climb from Class 2A high school football to the SEC. “When you’re coming from a smaller school, you feel like you’re behind every- body else,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Faulk earned his historic Media Days invitation by impressing Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze with his production and presence. “Keldric has had an incredible voice that people listen to because he’s wise for his age,” Freeze said. “His work ethic is incredible. He’s probably the most ac- countable guy we have on the defensive side to this point.” “It shows that I’m becoming a vocal leader on my team,” Faulk said. “It shows that I’ve been doing something right, so I need to start to bring everybody else with me. “When you’re one of the leaders on the team, accountability is prob- ably the No. 1 thing you should strive for. Hold- ing myself accountable as well as everybody else has been one of the most challenging things about transitioning to a leader.” An all-state player in high school, Faulk ranked No. 79 nationally by Rivals. Even with that lofty resume, it’s rare for a true freshman to earn a starting lineman position in the Southeastern Conference. “Changing my mindset,” said Faulk, who admits he struggled as an early en- rollee in his first spring, pessimistic about his chances of earning playing time as a true freshman. “When I went into sum- mer and fall camp, my mindset changed. I wanted to make an impact at Auburn as soon as I could.” Make an impact, he did, finishing his first season with 35 tackles after mak- ing his first start at LSU in Auburn’s sixth game of the 2023 season. “Words can’t describe how I felt play- ing in that game,” Faulk said. Faulk recorded his first sack in Au- burn’s Music City Bowl matchup vs. Maryland, finishing the season with 3.5 tackles for loss. “I want to become a better pass rush- er than I was last year,” he said. “I felt like I did pretty well in the run, shedding blocks. As far as transitioning from run to pass, I think I can do a whole lot better than I did last year. “We want to strive for greatness every day. Whenever we step on that field, we have a different mindset.” An emerging star in Keldric Faulk. An established veteran driven to honor his brother’s memory in Jalen McLeod. For Auburn, they form a confident combo, creating havoc for opposing quarter- backs. 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 >