AUBURN, Ala. – Two weeks before they take on Maryland in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, the Auburn Tigers practiced Saturday, suiting up for the first time since the Iron Bowl three weeks earlier.
"I'm excited to start practice today," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. "I've missed our kids and seeing them around. That's always a good thing that we have put ourselves in position to get extra practices in. We're playing a very good opponent. It's going to be a great challenge for us."
Auburn will be without a trio of defensive standouts in the bowl game, lineman Marcus Harris and cornerbacks Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James, who are opting out to begin preparing for the NFL Draft.
"I just told these young guys they're going to get thrown in there," Freeze said. "It'll be fun to watch them. You're going to get those young corners, for sure. It'll be good to see how they prepare for a game and then go play a very talented football team."
Auburn's 2024 defense received a double dose of good news this week when defensive back Keionte Scott and linebacker Eugene Asante, whose 84 tackles are 36 more than his next closest teammate, announced they will remain on the Plains for their senior seasons.
"I'm really glad that people like Keionte and Eugene are coming back to help lead us," Freeze said. "I think they'll be great for these young kids since they are two of our great leaders and captain-material guys. They can help set the culture for our defense next year, so I'm thrilled that they're back."
Juggling bowl practice, recruiting and the roster management that comes with the transfer portal era requires coaches to be master multitaskers.
"It's very challenging," Freeze said. "The calendar has got to be looked at and changed somehow, someway for sanity and for what's good for our sport."
The Tigers will continue to practice on campus before taking a break for the holidays, wrapping up on Friday, Dec. 22, two days after Auburn signs the bulk of its 2024 high school recruiting class next Wednesday.
"I like the effort that we've put in to building relationships and to being thorough," Freeze said. "I feel like we're signing a really solid class for our first class here. There are always a few missing pieces that you'd like to have a few more of. But there is no doubt that if we get to the finish line with the kids we think we're going to get, we've improved ourselves."
Auburn will prioritize high school players in recruiting, then plug in those missing pieces with portal transfers, Freeze says, hoping to create a championship culture.
"I'm going to try the high school formula with needs from the portal," Freeze said. "We would really love to build it like that and get a relationship with kids and their families and try to hold on to them at Auburn and get Auburn to love them and them to love Auburn. I'm just hopeful that there's a group of guys that we can convince to do that."
The Tigers and Terrapins meet at Nashville's Nissan Stadium on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. CT on ABC and the Auburn Sports Network.
Hugh Freeze's recruiting philosophy: 'Get Auburn to love them and them to love Auburn.'
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
