AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins and kicker Alex McPherson have been named Southeastern Conference players of the week for their roles in the Tigers’ 33-24 win at Arkansas, the SEC announced Monday.
The SEC’s co-defensive player of the week, Atkins led Auburn with a career-high 13 tackles, including four tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
"It’s amazing," said Atkins, who transferred to Auburn after playing his freshman season at LSU. "Looking back a year ago when I was at LSU doing the same things in practice, it has been great being able to get the opportunity to prove myself on this level. To get the award for working so hard in the offseason and grinding and the dedication, when I wasn’t getting any hype in the spring, I always knew that when it was time I’m going to make that play. To get the player of the week just shows that hard work always pays off. No matter how the hand is dealt, it always pays off in the end."
Atkins’ 13 tackles are Auburn’s most since Owen Pappoe made 16 against Ole Miss in 2022. Atkins has led the Tigers in tackles or tied for the tackles lead in all five SEC games, totaling 49 stops, an average of 9.8 per conference game.
“He just makes plays,” Auburn outside linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni said. “He has a knack for finding the ball, finds a way to get it out. We did have things today where we flushed it for him to be the guy that got the pressure. Really glad to see the guys up front do their job so he could make the play.”
The 6-foot, 210-pounder from Houston, Texas, leads Auburn with seven sacks, including four in the past two games. He’s accounted for two of the four 4.0 TFL games in the SEC this season and has 13.0 TFL on the year, the most for an Auburn underclassman since Nick Coe had 13.5 in 2018 and the most by an inside linebacker since DeShaun Davis had 15.0 in 2018.
The SEC’s special teams player of the week, McPherson was 6-for-6 on field goals at Arkansas, the first Auburn kicker to do so since Daniel Carlson vs. LSU in 2016.
“It was a huge day for the operation. It was an awesome feeling to be able to get that done for my team after a rough week last week. I’m proud to be able to do that for my guys,” said McPherson, who hit a season-long 43-yarder in the third quarter before drilling a 47-yarder in the fourth quarter.
“I fall back on my faith and know that I have enough to go out there and do it, and that’s what I did,” said McPherson, who is 74-for-74 in career extra point attempts. “I just trusted the Lord and went out there and performed.”
Auburn hosts Kentucky Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.