Auburn’s 27-24 stunner over No. 1 Georgia didn’t just shake up the weekend in Athens. It also put two Tigers in the SEC spotlight.
On Monday, the conference handed out weekly honors to quarterback Byrum Brown and kicker Alex McPherson after both played central roles in Auburn’s upset of the previously unbeaten Bulldogs.
Brown took SEC Offensive Player of the Week outright after a big all-around night. He threw for 150 yards, ran for 115 more and scored two touchdowns in the win.
It was the second straight game Brown piled up more than 100 yards passing and 100 yards rushing, and the 22nd time he’s done that in his career. He has also found the end zone with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in four straight games, a stretch that puts him alongside Nick Marshall and Cam Newton as the only Auburn quarterbacks to do it.
McPherson shared SEC Special Teams Player of the Week with Tennessee’s Cooper Ranvier after delivering the finish. He made both of his field goal tries, including the game-winner as time expired to seal the 27-24 victory.
His walk-off 34-yard kick was Auburn’s first field goal in regulation since Wes Byrum’s game-winner against Oregon in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. The honor is the second of McPherson’s career and his first since last season, when he went 6-for-6 on extra points and hit a 47-yard field goal, then the longest of his career, in Auburn’s win over Arkansas.
Auburn now turns to LSU, with the Tigers set for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
In Other News...
LSU Faces A Dangerous Road Test Auburn Is Built To Exploit
LSU heads to Auburn for an SEC matchup that already has the feel of a stress test for both sides. The Tigers are still carrying the energy from Auburns upset over Georgia, and both coaching staffs have acknowledged how hard it can be to keep that emotional edge once the next week arrives. For LSU, the setting matters almost as much as the opponent, because recent SEC road trips have been a problem and this one lands in a place where Auburn should have a crowd fully behind it.
The numbers point to LSU as the steadier team on paper, with advantages in several offensive and defensive categories, but the trip to Jordan-Hare has a way of shrinking those edges. Auburn does not need to be perfect at home to make life uncomfortable, especially when the atmosphere is already primed after a signature win. For LSU, the challenge is turning statistical superiority into a road performance, and for Auburn, it is about using the home-field surge before the emotional letdown has a chance to settle in. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Still Waiting On Key Signee As Eligibility Fight Drags On
Auburns exhibition matchup with Alabama in Birmingham is already feeling the effects of a legal fight that has pushed back the arrival of international signee Mantas Rubtaviius. The delay in the lawsuit between Rubtaviius and the NCAA means he remains unavailable for the game, leaving Auburn to move forward without one of the newcomers it was counting on this fall.
Rubtaviius situation has become a reminder that roster building does not always move on a clean timetable, especially when eligibility questions are still tied up in court. For Auburn, the bigger concern is simple: a player expected to be part of the mix is still stuck in limbo, and there is no clear resolution yet as the Tigers prepare for the next step of their preseason schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Is Giving Jordan-Hare An Extra Edge For LSU
Jordan-Hare Stadium is set to sound a little different for Auburns next home test. The university plans to amplify the crowd atmosphere for Saturdays matchup with No. 18 LSU by using microphones for the marching band and field-level speakers, a move aimed at turning an already charged setting into something even more difficult for the visitors to navigate.
It comes on the heels of Auburns upset of No. 1 Georgia, which only sharpened the anticipation around another major home stage. The LSU game is set for 11 a.m. Central on ABC, and with kickoff coming early in the day, Auburn is clearly looking for every possible edge to make Jordan-Hare feel as loud as it can from the start. [Read more 🡒]