Auburn 2028 quarterback commitment Sam Sollie did enough to flash the arm talent, but Friday night belonged to Oxford from the opening whistle.
The Gadsden City Titans opened the regular season with a 56-28 loss, and the early damage came fast. Fellow 2028 prospect Kamari English took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, giving the Yellow Jackets immediate control and leaving Gadsden City chasing the game before it ever found a rhythm.
That was the theme for the Titans all night. After a sluggish start in which he went just 1-for-5 on the first two drives and threw a pair of pass attempts away, Sollie settled in and put together a more productive stat line. He finished 10 of 20 for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns, but the comeback never really got traction.
Losing the bulk of an offensive line and receiving corps can make life difficult anywhere, and it can be especially brutal in high school football. Gadsden City is dealing with that reality right now, and the season opener showed how steep the learning curve can be.
Afterward, Sollie pointed to execution on both sides of the ball and the need for a better start.
"We've just got to execute the gameplan better," Sollie said following the loss. "The defense has to play good.
The offense has to play good. The offense picks up the defense.
The defense has to pick up the offense. We've got to start stronger than we did.
Not the way we wanted to start out, for sure."
In Other News...
Auburn Just Showed How Far Its Willing To Go For Golesh
Auburn did more than simply hire Alex Golesh. It committed to him with a six-year deal that puts his annual compensation at $6.75 million, a package split between direct salary and payments to his LLC and rounded out with the kinds of benefits that usually signal a school is making a major investment in its coach. The agreement also includes an automobile allowance, club memberships, moving expenses and ticket allocations, plus performance incentives tied to regular-season wins.
The contract details make clear Auburn wanted structure as much as commitment, with buyout language that spells out what would be owed if the relationship ends at different points along the way. That kind of language is standard in big coaching deals, but the level of specificity around Goleshs contract shows just how carefully Auburn is trying to protect its side of the bargain while also making sure the coach knows exactly what the school is promising in return. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Just Got Pulled Into A Messy SEC Eligibility Fight
The latest eligibility fight in college sports has started to ripple well beyond the schools directly involved, and Auburn has now been drawn into the conversation as the SEC keeps absorbing the fallout. The issue centers on recent rulings that have changed how fifth-year eligibility is handled, a shift that has already influenced player movement and raised fresh questions about roster building and competitive balance across the conference.
Diana Florence, the lawyer involved in the Colorado 5 in 5 case, has been gathering statements from student-athletes affected by those decisions, while Oregon coach Dan Lanning has already gone public with his criticism of the new rules. His concerns about fairness to current players and the sports integrity underscore why this dispute is becoming so much bigger than a technical eligibility argument, especially for SEC teams trying to manage a constantly changing personnel picture. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Defensive Pecking Order Is Finally Starting To Take Shape
As Auburn wraps up preseason camp under new head coach Alex Golesh, the defensive picture is becoming clearer after a couple of scrimmages helped sort out who is handling the first-team work and who is pushing from behind. The Tigers have spent August trying to build a reliable two-deep across the front, at linebacker and in the secondary, and the early read from camp is that experience and steady practice showings are starting to matter as much as raw talent.
There are still a few spots where the competition is alive, but the broader shape of the defense is beginning to emerge. Auburn is moving toward a more defined pecking order at defensive tackle, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback and nickelback, which is exactly what a staff wants before the season starts. The last days of camp may not settle every battle, but they should give the Tigers a much better sense of who they trust when the games begin. [Read more 🡒]