Auburn LB DeMarcus Riddick: 'Ryan Williams ain’t no big-time player to me'

Auburn linebacker DeMarcus Riddick was pretty adamant about his feelings towards Alabama ahead the Iron Bowl.

That started with a shot at star freshman Ryan Williams. Eventually, it turned into a prediction about his future against the Crimson Tide.

“Ryan Williams is Ryan Williams,” Riddick said. “Yeah he’s electric, all this and that. In my eyes, he ain’t really nobody to me. Ryan Williams is himself. He ain’t no big time player to me. Like I said, ‘Bama, it’s a big rivalry … Every rival team I played, I never lost to. I will not lose to ‘Bama while I’m here. (Jalen Milroe) is a good quarterback, he’s fast. But he’s not faster than me … He will not get out that box this week.”

Here is the video of Riddick's comments from Monday's media availably.@abc3340 https://t.co/TSLeuC6JkX pic.twitter.com/jFUdBgWnw8

— Johnny Congdon (@congdonsation) November 25, 2024

Riddick isn’t the only one fired up for the Iron Bowl. Head coach Hugh Freeze is ready for the game this weekend, although he had different words than his linebacker.

“There is no bigger game on the schedule,” Freeze said. “To sit in this seat and to lose one like we did last year still doesn’t sit right. I know that the Auburn faithful had to endure that, and we want to change that feeling in this building and for our great fan base in this state. It’s a tall task. Their roster is deeper, and it was deeper last year too. We had a shot to win it, so we have to find a way to keep ourselves in it and give us a chance to win and try to change that and start making it a regular expectation.”

DeMarcus Riddick fired up for Auburn-Alabama

Riddick kept it simple when it came to his feelings regarding the Crimson Tide. The team needs a win to become bowl eligible and should they do it, it’d be quite the upset.

Freeze is about instilling belief in the Tigers.

“You have zero chance of winning if you don’t have a belief that you can do it,” Freeze said. “I think somewhere along the line in these difficult losses we started believing more, and hope has become a real thing that you can go on the field and be a good football team. You’ve played close games with them, but you can win them. It’s going to take an amount of that belief going into Tuscaloosa to win. It’s not an easy place to play. No road game is.

“Just look at the SEC every week. It’s hard enough to win at home but you go on the road, it’s really difficult. That’s a tall task that we have, but it better start with us believing that we can go in there and win.”