Dec. 4, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Bob Stoops was having a little trouble hearing the questions during a Sugar Bowl teleconference Sunday.
"I apologize about the noise because I'm in a helicopter landing in New York City."
Ah, the life of a college football coach. Stoops, the Oklahoma coach, and Gus Malzahn, his Auburn counterpart, were on the road Sunday: Stoops flying in for the College Football Hall of Fame dinner in New York and Malzahn on the recruiting trail.
They'll come together for the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans in a game with a headline that, at first blush, pits Oklahoma's high-powered offense against Auburn's tough defense. The pairing between 8-4 Auburn and 10-2 Oklahoma was announced Sunday after the College Football Playoff committee sorted out things. Oklahoma was ranked seventh. Auburn, at 14th, was the highest ranked SEC team not in the four-team playoffs, and thus won the Sugar Bowl bid.
"I know our fan base is going to be very excited. It ought to be a good game," Malzahn said.
Auburn fans should be excited with Malzahn's injury report Sunday, one that was better than late in the season when the Tigers held out nine players in Week 11, and played without starting quarterback Sean White in Week 12.
"I feel pretty certain we'll be close to 100 percent," Malzahn said. "We had some key injuries to impact players late in the season that really hurt us."
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Auburn won six straight games before White ran into shoulder problems and leading rusher Kamryn Pettway missed two games with a leg injury before being held to 17 yards in his comeback against Alabama.
"Those two guys were playing at such a high level when we were making that stretch run. Sean was very efficient. I think he was one of the conference leaders as far as completions, quarterback ratings and everything that went with it. Of course, Kamryn Pettway was really emerging as one of better offensive players in our league. When Sean got hurt late in the game against Ole Miss, we just never really recovered. Pettway late in the game against Vanderbilt and he was not even close to 100 percent last game. I'm feeling very confident that they'll be close to 100 percent by the time we play Oklahoma."
Malzahn said "we were playing very good football" before the injuries and "I feel like we can have a chance to do the same thing."
Malzahn also said injured defensive backs Rudy Ford and Josh Holsey would be OK, too.
That all will help against an Oklahoma team that beat Oklahoma State on Saturday to win the Big XII with a 9-0 conference record.
"You're talking about a big-time offense to go with a very good defense. We have a lot of respect for them," Malzahn said. Stoops said Oklahoma will be playing "an excellent football in Auburn, so it'll be a great challenge, but we're looking forward to it."
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine