Nov. 8, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn coach Gus Malzahn delivered a hopeful medical report for his injured players Tuesday, saying quarterback Sean White would start at Georgia and SEC leading rusher Kamyrn Pettway may be cleared to play as well in the Saturday game.
Malzahn also said leading receiver Tony Stevens and linebacker Tre' Williams, each of whom missed last Saturday's game, would also play.
White didn't start against Vanderbilt last Saturday, but came on to lead Auburn to a comeback win. Pettway suffered a leg injury late in the game and his status is less clear for Georgia. Stevens and Williams are also on track to play after nursing injuries last week.
White, who leads the SEC in passing efficiency, is "not 100 percent," Malzahn said, but good enough to play.
"He went in there and did a solid job" against Vanderbilt," Malzahn said. "He'll be better this week than he was last week. We'll see how it goes in practice. Last week, he didn't take any practice reps. He did warm up on Thursday just to see what he can do, but he didn't take any practice reps. He'll practice this week."
Pettway rushed for 173 yards against Vandy to run his season total to 1,106 yards.
"We're hoping to get him on the practice field today or tomorrow," Malzahn said. "He's done well so far. He's kind of a quick healer. I'll know more later in the week but he is planning on practicing."
Kerryon Johnson, who has battled an ankle injury and was listed as "80 percent" healthy last Saturday, is closer to being at full health. Both Johnson and Pettway each missed a game with an injury this season.
"We didn't have Pettway one game, and K.J.'s done a super job," Malzahn said. "Stanton Truitt has done a very good job running between the tackles when we've asked him to. We feel good about what we have. We're not ruling out Pettway yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays, but at the same time we've got other guys that will be ready to go. We've got a lot of confidence in those guys."
Auburn was caught shorthanded at linebacker last week, with Williams out with an injury and Deshaun Davis getting ejected in the first quarter on a targeting foul.
"Those guys are kind of our quarterbacks" on defense, Malzahn said. "Hats off to the linebackers that took their place the other day. That was really impressive what they did. Quarterbacking, the whole deal. We should have everybody back and ready to go defensively."
Malzahn said he was happy with the way the team overcame the injuries last week.
"They can handle adversity," Malzahn said. "They showed a lot of guts, a lot of courage. Any time this year when you're playing well, you're going to be the target of everyone. You get their best. We got Vandy's best.
"We were down at halftime at home when we were expected to win. When you have that feeling and you can overcome it, I think that does nothing but help your team.
"We had a lot of new faces out there. We had a lot of people go down that weren't there. It was a really good team win that I know that'll help us in the future."
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine
Gus Malzahn was asked about status of Kamryn Pettway and other hurt Tigers, and then I dropped the phone.
You are there! Action video! pic.twitter.com/NrQHvPVaA9-- Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) November 8, 2016