< PreviousSTATS COMPARISONS AUBURN STATS LEADER RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jarquez Hunter 31 143 4.6 1 19 47.7 Damari Alston 26 131 5.0 1 13 32.8 Brian Battie 22 117 5.3 0 24 29.3 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Payton Thorne 49-75-3 65.3 561 4 140.3 Holden Geriner 4-9-0 44.4 67 0 33.5 Robby Ashford 7-17-0 41.2 65 1 16.3 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Jay Fair 15 184 12.3 2 36 46.0 Shane Hooks 8 106 13.3 1 32 26.5 Rivaldo Fairweather 11 101 9.2 1 41 25.3 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Eugene Asante 18 10 28.0 3.5-23 2.0-17 Donovan Kaufman 9 7 16.0 2.5-9 1.0-6 Larry Nixon III 8 7 15.0 1.0-10 0.0-0 GEORGIA STATS LEADER RUSHING ATT NET AVG TD LONG AVG/G Daijun Edwards 32 184 5.8 3 21 92.0 Kendall Milton 23 96 4.2 1 37 32.0 Roderick Robinson II 15 89 5.9 2 23 29.7 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT YDS TD AVG/G Carson Beck 93-128-1 72.7 1,184 6 296.0 Brock Vandagriff 6-10-0 60.0 114 1 38.0 RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG TD LONG AVG/G Brock Bowers 22 256 11.6 2 41 64.0 Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint 11 182 16.5 1 50 60.7 Dominic Lovett 17 169 9.9 0 33 42.3 DEFENSE UA A TOT TFL-YDS SACKS-YDS Tykee Smith 10 5 15.0 2.5-9 0.0-0 Smael Mondon Jr. 11 3 14.0 0.0-0 0.0-0 Malaki Starks 7 6 13.0 0.0-0 0.0-0 Here is a quick look at the top team statistics for the Tigers and the Bulldogs. Quick Look n Total Touchdowns 1722 n Rushing Yards 791636 n Passing Yards 6931,350 20 STATS COMPARISONS AUBURNTIGERS.COM® FAVORITE CHIP OF THE22 1983 TEAM REUNION The seeds for Auburn’s 1983 SEC championship were planted nearly three years earlier when Pat Dye arrived from Wyoming and implemented a strenu- ous winter conditioning program early in 1981. “It was incredibly challenging physi- cally, mentally, emotionally, on every lev- el,” recalled quarterback Randy Camp- bell to Andy Burcham on the Talking Tigers podcast. “All you thought about was, can you make it through the next day?” For approximately three dozen play- ers, the answer was no. Those who stayed and endured laid the foundation for Au- burn’s excellence in the 1980s. “He felt like he had to put us through that to separate the people who really wanted to be there and were committed to winning championships from the ones who weren’t,” said Campbell, who as- cended the depth chart from 11th-string when he arrived in 1979 to QB1 in 1982 and 1983. “I’m glad there wasn’t a transfer portal back then. We might not have had anybody left.” Winter workouts served as a warmup for grueling spring practices. “It was the toughest spring in my 25 years here,” remembered assistant coach Joe Whitt. “There was never another spring like that one. We dug it deep and solid.” Linebacker Gregg Carr was a fresh- man in 1981. “There were no holds barred, it was physical, and it was incredibly mental,” Carr said. “What we ended with after four weeks of really just an all-out assault on the football field was a bunch of guys who really believed and bought into what Coach Dye was trying to instill in us. “We all felt to a man that we had been through some- thing incredibly taxing and physical, and I think it set the groundwork for what was to happen at Auburn over the ensuing several years.” Kicker Al Del Greco was never more thankful to be a specialist, escaping the brunt of the rugged work- outs. “Those guys who went through that first spring practice, there’s just a dif- ferent level of brotherhood there,” Del Greco said. “Discipline and work ethic, it definitely came from that spring.” In his first team meeting, Coach Dye told the players what to expect. “If you love football and you love Au- burn, you’ll be able to make it,” Dye remi- nisced in a Talking Tigers podcast prior to his passing in 2020. “The ones who stay, we can build a foundation that will last a long time around here.” Auburn went 5-6 in 1981, Dye’s first season. Bo Jackson arrived in the 1982 fresh- man class, helping the Tigers go 9-3 that season including an Iron Bowl win that ended Alabama’s nine-year rivalry streak. “Bo’s combination of size, strength and speed was incredible,” Campbell said. A sophomore in 1983, Jackson rushed for 1,213 yards and 12 touchdowns, aver- aging a career-best 7.7 yards per carry. On defense, Carr led the Tigers in tackles for the second straight year. Sensing that Coach Dye was building a winning program on the Plains, Ben Tamburello chose Auburn over Alabama and earned the Tigers’ starting center position as a true freshman in 1983, be- coming one of just four offensive line- men in Auburn history, and the only cen- ter, to earn All-America honors in more than one season. Ranked No. 4 in preseason, the 1983 Tigers opened at home with a 24-3 win over Southern Miss before stumbling the following week 20-7 vs. No. 3 Texas in a top-five matchup at Jordan-Hare Stadi- um. The strength and resilience forged two seasons prior in those winter work- outs and spring practices showed up in the upperclassmen who stuck it out and provided leadership in ’83. After losing to the Longhorns, Auburn ran the table, winning 10 straight games and defeating five straight ranked teams to end the season: No. 5 Florida, No. 7 1983 TEAM REUNION AUBURNTIGERS.COM 1983 SEC CHAMPION AUBURN TIGERS REUNITE 40 YEARS LATER BY JEFF SHEARER Bo JacksonMaryland, No. 4 Georgia, No. 19 Alabama and No. 8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl. The Tigers allowed only seven points to Georgia and Michigan and 20 to Ala- bama. “We played great defense,” Whitt said. “We had a lot of talent.” “Those teams were just loaded with talent,” said Carr, whose 453 career tack- les rank second in Auburn history behind Freddie Smith’s 528. After going 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference to win Auburn’s first SEC championship since 1957, Auburn faced the Wolverines in New Orleans. Trailing 7-6 in the final minute at the Superdome, Michigan stopped Jack- son short of the goal-line on third down, setting up Del Greco for a 19-yard game-winner. “It was my last attempt in my last game,” said Del Greco, whose poise un- der pressure impressed his future Miami Dolphins head coach, Don Shula. “He said that being able to do that in that moment was one of the things that made them interested in signing me.” Despite Auburn’s daunting strength of schedule and four top-10 wins down the stretch, the Tigers remained ranked No. 3 in the polls, even though No. 1 Ne- braska and No. 2 Texas both lost their bowl games. Miami, ranked No. 5, moved up to No. 1 in the final polls after beating the Corn- huskers in the Orange Bowl, with Nebras- ka dropping to No. 2 ahead of Auburn. “A lot of people think we were the No. 1 team in the country. That was really a special time,” Tamburello said. “We were close to winning the whole thing. A great memory.” “It’s still a great memory,” Del Gre- co echoed. “We knew we were the best team in the country that year. We still cherish that.” Months after Auburn’s 9-7 Sugar Bowl win, Michigan coach Bo Schembechler came to the Plains to visit Dye, who intro- duced Del Greco, the kicker whose field goals delivered the Tigers’ win in New Or- leans. “Coach Dye said, ‘He may not be the best that there is, but he’s the best when you need him,’” Del Greco recalled. “That stuck with me for a while, and I always ap- preciated that. He did a lot for me as far as being a father, a husband and doing what’s right. That’s what was great about Coach Dye.” Forty years after earning a treasured place in program history, the 1983 Auburn Tigers return to the Plains. To laugh, to love, to remember. “They all talk about what an influence Coach Dye had on their lives,” Del Gre- co said. “What it did for the program, and what part we played in getting Auburn football back on the map where it is today.” AUBURNTIGERS.COM 24 1983 TEAM REUNION 1983 TEAM REUNION Ben Tamburello Al Del Greco Gregg Carr Randy Campbellsave on auto insurance spend on Tiger merch *INSURANCE FEATURE NOT AVAILABLE IN EVERY STATE. Countrywide average premium savings for customers with safe driving discounts and Drivewise vs. those without. Savings vary by state, based on driving behaviors & based on how you buy. Subject to terms, conditions & availability. In some states, through your participation in Drivewise, your driving data may be used for purposes of rating & your rate could increase with high-risk driving. Allstate Fire and Casualty Ins. Co. & affiliates. 3100 Sanders Rd, Northbrook, IL. © 2023 Allstate Insurance Co. Marks are registered trademarks of their respective owners. PROUD PARTNER Safe driving and Drivewise® saves you 40%*28 HEAD COACH HUGH FREEZE 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, nationally ranked recruiting classes and bowl appear- ances at multiple stops during his highly decorated career. 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 12 years is 103-47. 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, Lib- erty had the best start in program history (8-0), tied the program record for wins (10) and defeated two Power 5 programs in Syracuse and Virginia Tech. For his ef- forts, Freeze was a finalist for the George Munger Collegiate 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. AUBURNTIGERS.COM HUGH FREEZE HEAD COACH® TRUCKWORX.COMNext >