Behind Enemy Lines: Auburn Tigers

The 2024 Kentucky football season is right around the corner. You’ve kept close tabs on what’s happened around Mark Stoops’ program. Now KSR is speaking with folks who closely cover the opponents Kentucky will face this fall.

Today we’re chatting with Cole Pinkston, an insider over at Auburn Live. The Tigers are not a common foe for Kentucky, but this is a big game for the Wildcats this fall. Let’s dive into expectations for Auburn in year two of the Hugh Freeze era.

Behind Enemy Lines: Tennessee

For Auburn to get where it wants to go, what has to happen?

Pinkston: I think they gotta get the passing game going. That was the biggest problem last year. Run game was pretty good; passing game was abysmal. Payton Thorne from Michigan State, he didn’t look great, but they think he’s gonna be improved. They got receivers around him. Cam Coleman‘s a five-star receiver they think is gonna be great. KeAndre Lambert-Smith from Penn State, they think he’s going to be good, so they got some good pieces now to help make that passing game better. That’s definitely the main thing though.

Is it a worry long-term about Hugh Freeze? They’ve gone after some transfer portal QBs but haven’t sealed the deal on the big guys.

He’s definitely put his hat in the ring for several portal guys and has nothing to show for it other than Payton Thorne, which if you asked him, he thinks Payton Thorne’s pretty good. He’s got a lot of wins under his belt. He has a lot of career passing yards, 8,000-something, he’s played for four years.

(Freeze) likes the experience, but he was going for some other guys and they didn’t get those guys. I don’t think he’s huge on trying to outbid people. He said that recently. That’s how you win transfer battles. But he’s had good quarterbacks at other places he’s been: Chad Kelly was good at Ole Miss, Bo Wallace, Malik Willis went to the pros from Liberty. So he’s always had good quarterbacks and does well with quarterbacks. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how Payton Thorne improves. That’s gonna be telling.

Outside of Alabama, what game do you think Auburn fans have circled?

Oklahoma is interesting because it’s a new one and it’s sort of a toss-up. We don’t know exactly what Oklahoma is going to be yet. That one’s interesting.

Kentucky is on the road. That’s one that I would consider a toss-up because Kentucky’s on the right track. Mark Stoops has been pretty good. Last time Auburn and Kentucky met was in 2020 I believe. It was a close one. Kentucky’s given Auburn problems over the years. You can go back to Cam Newton who almost didn’t pull that one out for Auburn. So that’s one game they look at and that’s kind of in a weird spot on the schedule. Where’s Auburn gonna be at that point? Can that one make or break you? You almost need to win that one if you’re Auburn. That one’s interesting.

Kentucky and Auburn are competing more and more on the recruiting trail. What do you make of it?

I think it’s because Mark Stoops has longevity. He’s starting to break into these areas that Auburn has always had — I would not say locked down, because they’re in the same areas as Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson — but places that they’ve always done well. Mark Stoops has longevity now. He’s pitching, ‘I’m gonna be here.’ And that’s huge in recruiting because you really can’t guarantee it that much and he can.

‘I’ve been here for a long time. We got sustained success.’ So I think he’s starting to reach out and branch out to those areas and he’s getting some guys from there. You got a guy that Auburn had committed a couple years ago, Ja’Kobi Albert, won that battle when I thought Auburn still wanted him even when he went to Kentucky. Trevin Wallace was huge. That was a big one.

Does Auburn still want Martels Carter?

Charles Kelly, Auburn’s secondary coach, he’s big on (Kentucky DB commit) Martels Carter. When he was the defensive coordinator at Colorado, that was one of his top guys and that didn’t change when he moved to Auburn. So they’re gonna keep fighting for him. That’s gonna be close. We’ll see.