Auburn football, Hugh Freeze looking for more players in the transfer portal
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
Is more help on the way for the Auburn Tiger?
Freezing temperatures are likely for several hours inland and a few hours closer to the
coast.
Yass.
You are locked on Auburn, your daily podcast on the Auburn Tiger.
I'm your host Zach Blackerme.
Thank you so much for making Lockdown Auburn your first listen every single day.
Joining me, Daryl Daprich Montgomery radio vent hanging out with us.
Then we'll be joined by Matt Sheahan, host of Lockdown Spartans for a very in-depth conversation
about new Auburn Quarterback, Peyton Thorne.
The first Daryl, Auburn is adding a bunch of guys over the last week or so.
It's been very, very fun, but you kind of get the feeling they're not done quite yet.
There are still holes, there are still questions throughout this roster.
The most glaring to me still despite adding Kayla Burton is wide receiver, Daryl.
Yeah, I fully expect there to be some more names that come on to the Auburn roster from
the transfer portal Hugh Freeze said as much yesterday at the children's golf tournament
in Birmingham where he said, yes, we're still looking to add to the roster.
There are obvious glaring needs, a certain weakness in certain positions that I think
Auburn will pursue.
Because of that, what happens is your quarterback comes and then the dominoes start to fall.
We've talked about that a lot.
It starts to snowball.
Even on the defensive side of the ball, people don't understand that.
They think, oh, why would somebody that's an edge or a middle linebacker be affected
by the quarterback position?
Well, it's all about competitiveness and a roster that's better to compete for championships.
So it'll even draw, in my opinion, people from the defensive side of the ball.
So let's start with the receiver here.
I guess the big two that we're hearing is Jair Shorter, the receiver from North Texas.
And then the former Colorado receiver, Montana, Lamonius, Craig, those are the two biggest
names, literally, as far as guys that are tied to Auburn that play a wide receiver.
Yeah, it's interesting.
Craig took a visit to Arizona after he did Auburn and I kind of reached out privately
to some people that were in the media there in cover, Arizona.
And they don't have a really good feeling about it.
They feel like that ship has sailed.
That doesn't mean anything.
I'm just stating what I've heard kind of doing a little research.
I love reaching out to people, see what they know.
Sure.
And they just feel like he's a kid that wants to play in the SEC.
Now, he might be telling people things that they want to hear, but I just think that Auburn
will have, you know, Arizona's got a good receiving room.
They do.
I mean, they got some good dudes coming back from receiver and Auburn, there's a chance
for playing time right away.
There's a chance to get on the field.
I think that's an advantage that obviously playing in the SEC and how many people they
put in the league.
I love the Jayer shorter kid that kind of emerged last week because of his size.
He's a kid, Zach, that went on to the roster at North Texas as a freshman as a tight end,
converted tight end 6, 2, 2, 18, but can flat out fly, takes the top off, had an injury
last year, very efficient.
The amount of catches that he has is touchdown to catch ratio, unbelievable.
He's a big play guy, big play receiver.
We don't need a possession receiver.
Auburn doesn't need a guy to get nine catches over the middle.
We got, you know, Auburn needs somebody to take the top off down field and I think shorter
is that candidate.
Yeah, I definitely think position of need and then like the role within that position
is shorter, it kind of checks off those boxes.
And I think, I think Montana Lemones Craig actually does the same thing.
I think he could be effective in that intermediate passing game.
So we'll certainly see if they choose Auburn and if Auburn wants them, it certainly seems
like shorter is more likely to come than Craig, but I still think they both, I still think
they end up both strongly considering Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.
As far as the defense, Daryl, I mean, we've talked about how solid this defense can be
and we heard from several people like close to the program and then just, I guess, obvious
speculation about a potential safety coming, maybe adding a safety during this transfer
window and Auburn hasn't really been tied to any names, but an interesting one popped
into the portal.
I guess this was either yesterday or the day before, Daryl.
Yeah, you're talking about the kid from Louisiana.
Mm hmm.
And I think that Auburn would probably take one safety if it was the right safety.
Remember, I was very high on Jalen Key from UAB, but it looks like that ship is sale.
He's probably going somewhere else.
And then, you know, McDonald leaves, but Jalen Simpson's a guy that moves from corner
to safety.
So it's like you pick up a safety and that's an error because we played at the end of the
year last year at safety.
I still think from a depth standpoint, one more would be really beneficial.
If it's the right one, you take them, especially if it's a safety that's really, really an
elite tackler that can come up, box and make that tackle on the running back.
I think Auburn's good in coverage.
You know, it's coverage is safety is that can cover and get downfield, especially a converted
corner like Simpson, you would hope he could turn his hips and get after it in the zone
middle of the field, but they need a guy that can tackle in space and at the line of scrimmage.
And maybe that's this kid from Louisiana is that answer.
Yeah.
And Pettis glue is how I'm going to, I mean, he's truly from Louisiana, EA UX going on
at the end of the name.
So all of us going for all name SEC names, man.
I mean, that's not the name.
That's not right.
I mean, you got Revaldo Fairweather, Zaire, shorter is a cool name.
You know, Montan, Lamonta, Montan, Lamonta, Lamonta is Craig.
I mean, you got this.
And I always get to L and the M confused, but now I remember MLC.
So yeah, I mean, I would love to pick up one more safety from a depth standpoint.
And if it's a guy that has a certain skill set that like I talked about, I can tackle
in the box.
Let's get him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then the North Texas linebacker.
Nixon, right?
Yeah.
What is the first name Larry Nixon?
I think that's right.
I want to confirm.
Yeah.
I just, you know, all the, I just remember seeing his name a lot.
Look, North Texas got some dudes.
I mean, I, you know, they watch some of the guys every time Auburn is linked to somebody,
I'll just go back and try to watch like I'll Google them on YouTube, try to watch their
highlights and both of these guys have some nice highlights.
So that would be a good pickup for depth as well to play that, I guess the Mike linebacker
is where he would play.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
And I think that, I mean, that's the position group where you saw just a ton of rotation
at that spot.
And so does that mean they feel good about multiple people?
Does that mean that they kind of want one person to really step up and that hasn't really
happened yet outside of, outside of Austin Keys, the Ole Miss transfer?
I mean, that number two spot seems wide open and I don't think they want to give it the
camera, I Lee.
I don't think they're going to give it to Mario Tolin.
I think he's going to be more of a game plan piece.
So you look, Wesley Steiner has it right now, which is kind of crazy, but he's got the athleticism.
Maybe with some better coaching, he can figure all that out.
But yeah, I mean, I think that's, I mean, he can come in and play, I think.
And then probably another edge is still on the menu.
I've heard the Liberty Kid that we talked about maybe three weeks ago, Steven Singes,
I believe is his name.
Good edge rusher has seven career sacks played for Garrett at Liberty.
So he's familiar with them.
It's my opinion that Auburn was shooting their shot with McCloud and Uquo.
And then if Uquo moves on to Ole Miss or Missouri or whatever and they miss on him, then I think
Steven Singes is a nice fallback plan for that other edge.
And then you've got four that you can rotate for a depth standpoint.
So I, you know, this is just what I think.
I think there's four more positions that are going to, you know, be added in the roster.
I think you get two receivers, a linebacker and then an edge.
I've liked to add a safety, but that's the one I'm least optimistic about.
That's probably the one where you have the weakest sales pitch as far as like pitching
path to playing time.
Yeah, right.
I mean, we've kind of made the case with receivers and the edge spot and linebacker.
With safety, it's like, I don't think you're going to start.
I mean, I don't think anybody in the portal at this point is better than, you know, the
guys that you've got, but I think it's like, hey, we want to play four safeties and you
could be our fourth best safety.
Like, I don't know if that's that enticing of an offer unless somebody wants something
else.
You know, they just want to be in the SEC or they've got three years left of eligibility
and they're like, okay, cool.
You're not going to be the guy after Jalen Simpson leaves, you know, or something like
that.
That's why you have a better pitch.
It is, but I think that's why you have a better shot.
Zach, you make a great point with a group of five kid like this kid from Louisiana because
you can sell him on playing in the SEC and that it's a step up.
And so maybe you need that acclimation period to come in and get some reps, not start, but
get on the field for some reps and, you know, a kid that's coming from a power five conference,
that's a tough sell.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're certainly right.
They're certainly right.
All right.
So Auburn lands, Peyton Thorne.
Why did he leave Michigan State?
Let's get to the bottom of that with Matt Sheahan of locked on Spartans.
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And joining us now for a little lockdown crossover action, Matt, she and the host of
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All right.
So Peyton Thorne leaves Michigan State and then very quickly is tied to Auburn and all
things happen very, very quickly.
I guess what was your general response?
And I know just from listening to lockdown Spartans, you saw this coming.
But I guess when the news started coming, what was your initial reaction to all of us?
Yeah, it was a thing where it's in hindsight, we should have saw this coming maybe or not
be so shocked because when it did happen at midnight before the transfer portal window
closed, it's like, oh my God, did not see that coming.
And then he actually sit down and sink for a little bit.
And yeah, okay, this guy is in his third year as a starting quarterback.
He has now thrust into the starting quarterback battle, which I'm sure, you know, on the surface
isn't the greatest thing in the world.
And then well, during that battle seems like 80% of this fan base is loudly rooted against
him as well.
So option A, okay, great.
Come to a school where they don't even know if I'm going to be the starting quarterback.
They're not convinced the fan base doesn't really seem to want me with this thing or,
hey, option B, Auburn's telling me how pretty I am.
Auburn wants me to come down there, play some SEC ball.
We get a fresh start.
What would you pick?
I mean, so that's kind of why it, when you really think about it, maybe shouldn't have
been this big surprise, even though he wasn't the lead to start for Michigan State going
into the off season here.
So that's the long short of it here, Zach.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it always turns into this transfer portal, Aaron.
I guess you saw with the pros a little bit, but I think college sports are a little more
emotional than the pros while we love it so much.
But yeah, when someone leaves you via the portal, it quickly turns into a we didn't want
them anyway.
But he did start at state for two years and one year, I think was pretty saw.
I think everybody's happy with what happened two seasons ago.
I was myself.
Yeah.
Last year, I'm sure there's a lot of frustration all around it.
I've watched several of the games from last season.
I don't think it was all foreign, but it's the one perfect no, but like I think there's
a lot of things going on that the, you know, Coach Tucker needs to fix up there.
But I mean, that certainly seems like that's what Auburn folks are hearing from Michigan
State people.
And I'm getting comments like, Oh, I'm so glad he's gone.
It's like, I don't know.
I don't know how you can say losing this guy is like the best thing for your program.
And I've heard you talk about some of the younger guys.
So there's a lot of excitement on like you get to go ahead and turn that page, but you're
losing a guy with two years of experience.
Like that's not a, that's not always like, that's not a good thing.
Matt.
Right.
And so here's the way I put it is that if you lose your starting quarterback, an incumbent
of two years, that could really decimate another program here.
But I mean, aside from all the fans that are actually very happy that Peyton Thorne is
leaving because yeah, let's not get ourselves there is a good faction that are just saying,
say, and I don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Like, sure, isn't great, not necessarily.
But like I don't think it's as devastating as it is for every other program.
And that's not just, you know, Mr. Lockdown Spartan saying that like you can see it with
the reaction of the coaching staff too, because they're not even looking for quarterbacks in
the spring, traditional portal window.
They're looking at Noah Kim.
They're looking at Kate and Howeser being like, well, we're comfortable with the
people that being one of these two guys.
So I mean, from that point of view of how far the drop off is might not be as bad as
it would be a lot of other programs, luckily, but with that said, like the floor was already
pretty low to begin with here.
It was not the greatest season last year.
And I think just a fresh start is good for everyone.
That's what I've been parading like the last few weeks here is that this is good for all
parties involved.
It's good for Peyton, fresh start, new program, a fan base that might be just like a smidge
more patient with him than we would of this year.
And then well, for MSU's point of view, like, all right, let's turn the page, work on some
future quarterbacks to have years of eligibility left.
And let's just let's just all move forward and try to be happy with our lives.
I agree with you, but it is kind of funny because like, I love the Auburn fan base as
I am part of it.
The patient is not a word I would use to describe it.
I had to use that pretty loosely there.
But yeah, right.
I totally get it.
I totally get it.
So we mentioned this a second ago, two years ago, Peyton's first full year as a starter.
I mean, I think every Michigan State fan was ecstatic with how things were going 10 wins
seat or 11 10 or 11 wins.
Remind me.
11.
Yeah, 11.
There we go.
We need to count all of those.
And then obviously last year that was not the case.
What happened?
11.
Yeah, right.
I mean, Kenneth Walker leaving has been kind of tied to a big part of that.
But surely it's more than just a running back going to the NFL, right?
Yeah.
Of course, like Peyton Thorne wasn't to blame for having 27 different starters on defense
last year.
Peyton Thorne is not to blame for having a kicker routinely miss kicks inside of 30 yards.
I mean, Peyton Thorne can only do so much when it's a five and seven season.
It's number one position group, let alone one guy here.
Yeah.
But yeah, like losing Kenneth Walker turns out, Zach, when you lose a guy that probably
should have won at FL rookie of the year, that actually hurts you a little bit.
But yeah, there was so many other factors that went into last season, chalked them up
as excuses or really as we like to call them over here.
Reasons for just it falling apart here.
And I think just a lot of defensive injuries didn't help.
And also, Peyton Thorne referenced this too.
In spring ball, he referenced it once last year that kind of flew over everyone's head.
Like he did get hurt very early on in the season and that may have harmed his game a
little bit.
He was a little less active with his legs and scrambling.
Was that injury last year?
Matt, I've been told what it is.
I don't know if it's public or not.
I don't want to say it.
I've heard leg injury.
That's all I got for you.
I was told something different.
So that's interesting.
It could be more than one thing.
I don't know.
See that.
And that's the thing too.
That's the fun that we get with Mel Tucker here is that injury news up in East Lansing
is more tightly held than anything that's like in the Pentagon, you know, like it is
top flight certified.
Sure.
Yeah, so it's tough to know what it really is and it's not going on here.
But it wasn't till two different years and the one thing that, you know what, I'm going
to spin this table here.
How does the run game down Auburn here for you guys?
Like is it soldering here, you guys?
It's expected to be.
It's expected to be the backs are good.
I think there's still questions along the offensive line.
The offensive line was bad a year ago.
Hugh Freeze has gone on and I've had four transfers on the offensive line.
So I mean, it looks better.
But Jarquez Hunter is going to be a really special back.
I'm Ari Austin Jeremiah, a college one of the best freshmen, probably one of the best
freshman backs in college football based on recruiting rankings.
So yeah, I mean, it should be good.
And that's kind of what we're pointing at because there's a stat that's going on around,
going on around, you know, the Auburn sphere where like Peyton Thorne stats when you, when
he had a 150 yard rusher in a game, it's crazy.
It's crazy how much different that is.
And I think that's going to happen a lot this season at Auburn.
And like to bring it back to Peyton's throwing like the drop off from Kenneth Walker to the
run game we had last year, it was like going from a Maserati to your 1990 Camry that only
has three wheels on it.
Like it was, we were atrocious in the run game last year and that also reflected in the past
game because two years ago in that 11 win season, I paid and Thorne was making a killing
in the play action game.
And of course, like it'd be ridiculous not to just point to Kenneth Walker being a massive
reason for that.
But if you have some semblance of a good run game, I think it's going to bring a lot of
comfort to Peyton Thorne because last year, I think when he turned around to hand the ball,
I think he knew that this is not Kenneth Walker at all actually.
And oh boy, I need to do a lot more.
So I think he's forcing a lot more in the past game because two years ago, I always
lauded him for just how smart he was with the football, never threw it into trouble,
was always just so cerebral.
And last year we saw him stray a little bit away from that.
And I don't wonder, it really just seemed to be that, well, okay, he knew that he kind
of had to do way more than he could.
And that's how we got in some trouble here and there last year.
So if that's a good run game, that's going to bring comfort to Peyton Thorne and your
fan base hopefully.
Matt, I want to ask you in just a second, why Michigan State did this certain thing that
didn't really make sense, especially after what you just said?
I want to touch on that in just a moment right here on Lockdown Auburn.
When I encourage you to join the Lockdown Auburn Discord, it is free.
All you have to do is click the link in the episode description down below.
Matt, it seemed like Michigan State consistently ran the ball on first and 10 and then like
second and eight.
I mean, every game I watched from last season, that seemed to be a consistent theme.
And then I mean, we've seen this at Auburn over the past decade, where it's like, all
right, it's third and eight again.
Like, you know, and everybody wants to jump on a quarterback and all of a sudden it's
like, well, we're not really helping them out here.
It seemed like a similar thing.
So everybody's kind of looking at Thorne's numbers because he dropped like, I think it
was like 600 yards from 2021 to 2022 as far as passing goes.
It's completion percentage went up 2%.
Yeah, right.
But I don't think he was like a worse quarterback, Matt.
Like I don't think he regrets from 21 to 22.
I just think like Michigan State did had no business from a play calling standpoint, from
a personnel standpoint, whatever it may be, as far as putting them in a situation to succeed.
Why do you think they ran in and learned really down so much?
Can I just say, I don't know.
I just like, like, you can see it in the side of this room, but there is a dent in the dry
wall.
And that is really banging my head so many times because look at the play call is very
hit and miss.
There are some really good games for offensive coordinator Jay Johnson last year.
There are also even more games where it's like, we do know kind of Thwacker is not here
anymore.
Like, I just want to make sure we all know this because yeah, man.
And when an idiot like me can just point out what you're going to do every first down,
like what do you think the professional defensive coordinators are going to do?
Like they know what's coming in.
It was just all too predictable last year and not predictable with the good run game
because it's one thing where you can handle ball to Kenneth Walker and he's going to get
six yards no matter who knows if the ball's been ran in last year where there's a lot
of issues here.
So, yeah, it's behind the eight ball is one way to put it.
The second had a ball if you want to use that pun but yeah, it's nice that he then used
to get better this year too.
The second and eight ball.
Well done.
Like that.
Yeah, that was so I want to make sure people caught that.
Well, it's trying to be as good as you, man.
You know, that's your way past that your way past that.
All right.
So I guess the big question is and I talked to Jay Stevens host of Vlogged on Buck.
I was asked your next we were talking about one of the receivers that we added.
Can he win?
Can Peyton Thorne win in the SEC?
Iron balls at home for you guys.
Right.
I mean, that helps.
Yeah.
No, yes, I think so because and here is where I met out with with Peyton Thorne and there
are so many people that are going to take what I hear and think that I'm insulting him.
But if he could just be that game manager because that GM word like is is almost offensive
to a lot of people.
But no, really, like that is a compliment sometimes.
Sometimes all you have to be as a game manager kind of sort of was one two years ago and it
seemed to work out great.
But yeah, if he could just go back to the old Peyton where, you know, he isn't getting
skittish out of the pocket way too quickly, you know, and I think a fresh face of new
offensive lineman could possibly help that.
I think we have some brushes whose last year between Peyton and the offensive line.
And if he can just go back to the cerebral, all right, it's second and eight.
I'm not going to throw the ball into a double team right now.
We're going to live to see another day here.
I think he can.
Now, what is a threshold for winning down there though?
Are we talking like eight and four?
We talking 11 and one like what it's how much?
I mean, this is a rebuild situation.
I mean, you just hired a new head coach, you know, Brian Harson left this roster in shambles.
Auburn's pretty much flipped the entire offense.
Right.
You know, with transfers or, you know, kind of guys that are growing up a little bit.
So yeah, I think eight and four, I think most Auburn fans would be happy with an eight
and four season right now.
I can see that.
I really can because also like I do think Peyton Thorne is a pretty headstrong kid.
Now, whether this was all just window dressing, but like he is the son of a coach.
He knocked down every single cliche and also like in every press conference in the midst
of a terrible season last year took blame for everything, never really pawn anything off
on anyone else.
So I think he is a headstrong person, which correctly, if I'm wrong here, might be a little
important if you're a quarterback of an SEC team.
So yeah, I don't know.
I think it is there.
He just needs a good supporting cast and by, you know, the remodel of the offense, the
roster for you guys, it seems like the bones are in place there for for all Peyton.
Yeah.
How much of his success was receivers?
I mean, you guys had a guy that was drafted high recently, then obviously, you know,
on Coleman, which I imagine I was a tough weekend for you and I apologize.
And not the best.
Oh, no, it's okay.
It's just why I haven't slept in two weeks.
It's fine.
You still look great.
You still look great.
Thanks.
Yeah, no, totally.
It's got his hours of makeup before this.
But I mean, a lot of a lot of his throws, Thorns throws the Coleman specifically.
I've watched more of last year than 2021, but it seemed like more of his throws, like
Coleman still like wasn't getting separation.
Like, it was still a all placement thing.
And then, you know, he wanted the, you know, the high pointing the football and all that.
But to me, I mean, he's coming into a situation where like, I think Auburn's receivers need
some help.
Okay.
And the fact of like he was able to throw to guys, even his best guy, when he wasn't able
to create separation is a good thing.
And that was going to be the interesting litmus test for this year for Michigan State because
it wasn't just key on Coleman.
It was also Jaden Reid, who just got picked in the second round by the Packers.
And this will be Michigan State's fans nine thousandths time hearing this, but Peyton
Thorne and Jaden Reid, they went to high school together.
So they had some pretty good built in chemistry beforehand, which, you know, just the talent
of both players by itself, pretty solid.
But when they had that chemistry, like there were a lot of times last year, it's like,
all right, certain nine effort here comes a grenade.
Jaden's going to be down there somewhere.
And then like that offense actually worked a good deal work two years ago as well when
there were some things that had to be made.
So that was going to be the interesting part.
Should he have still been at Michigan State as all right, how is he going to do without
all pal Jaden Reid?
So that is going to be, well, now a litmus test that is going to play out in Auburn is
like, all right, how is he going to do with a new room of receivers?
Like, was it really just Jaden Reid that was carrying a lot of the magic or was that kind
of overblown from our point of view?
So I stay tuned to find out how important receivers are going to be here for him.
Yeah, because like I don't think they have a second round draft pick that will be catching
passes this year.
And that's helpful.
It turns out, yeah, yeah, second round draft picks are good.
I know we all over hype, you know, if you're not a strong pick, you're a bomb.
That's not how it works.
That's not how it works.
Yeah, those guys make a lot of money as well.
All right, I want to throw it back to something you said about how he kind of got a little
skittish in the pocket at times.
Yeah.
I was when watching him, especially last year, I was impressed.
I mean, he still did it some, but usually when he left the pocket, like there was a
reason to I was actually impressed with his pocket presence.
Is that was not a narrative up there?
It depends who you ask because that is a highly contested debate.
It's like, oh, he's got live legs.
They're good.
It's like, well, that is such a razor thin lie between being smart and good with your
legs.
But also the other end of that is you're a little too skittish or throwing off balance
and these are by the throws are inaccurate.
So it's it is a razor thin margin between the two.
Yeah, well, I guess I'm asking you that if it depends on who I'm asking, I'm going to
ask you.
I think he built a little early here more times than not.
And I got to say some of that was justified because there were some offensive line issues
here, whether it be injury, whether it just be performance.
And I think that there were some trust issues here, especially like late in the last year
where you watch these games is like, Oh, why, why'd you why'd you escape?
You had a clean pocket.
Oh, this is why because probably the eight prior games that would not have been a clean
pocket.
So like I think we're a little bit jumpy here.
And I think that's an issue as well.
But that's not to say that like, you know, sometimes his legs are a strength.
We saw it.
I hate to keep going.
But actually no, I love going back because this was the happy times two years ago.
I think it's a lot more smart.
He got a lot more done with his legs in the scramble game.
But again, and that was the old one better two years ago in your mind.
Not really.
No, I don't think there's much improvement.
I'll tell you what makes an old line look really good is a second round running back
by the name of Kenneth Walker, who wins the Don Walker Award.
He makes every offensive line look good.
But now even just the past protection from two years ago to last year, it was it didn't
change all too much.
And I think that there was just trusted.
There's trust issues there.
If I could use that again.
Sure.
Got it.
And so all right.
So you think eight wins is possible for paying for the season?
Okay.
Yeah, I just took a peek at the schedule a few days ago.
I wish I had it memorized at the top of my head, but like it's it's nice.
The non-conference is super easy.
Yeah.
Yeah, right.
You go to Cal.
That's the toughest one.
And I have a whole lot of respect for where that program is right now.
I mean, it's a road.
It's weird.
It's two hours.
Two hours.
Different time zone.
You know that that could impact it.
But you get fandered build on the road.
It's like that you should be at five.
That's five right there.
You get the two Mississippi schools Mississippi State and Ole Miss at home.
If you split those like you're almost there, Matt.
Yeah, I know.
And like you do have like Georgia this year.
Am I or am I making that up?
You do have Georgia and Bama at home.
Yep.
Okay at home though.
So like, okay.
I don't know if we're gonna go as far as saying you'll win.
Yeah, you don't have to do this.
Yeah.
You can say maybe you can go against one of those teams, but yeah.
That's as far as I was gonna go.
Like you can probably cover against one of those two teams.
So yeah, that's up.
Sure.
Yeah, we'll see what our friends and fans will have the line at.
But yeah, I mean, I think 7 to 5 is at my expectation right now.
But I think if I think you can kind of do something, you can totally do that.
You can totally do that.
Like we don't know what A&M is.
You know, you go to college station.
I know.
Right.
That's a tricky one.
You know, and you know, they're their offensive coordinator hire was certainly interesting.
So we'll see what that looks like.
You go to Fayetteville.
That's a, I mean, Auburn usually takes care of business in Fayetteville, but we'll see.
We'll see what happens, you know, to do a lot of Auburn football.
But I don't know.
I think A&M 4 is certainly possible if things click.
But yeah, I'm kind of expecting 7 and 5 right now.
If I'm pinned against the wall and forced to make a prediction, sure.
Give me 7 and 5.
Give me 7 and 5.
But yeah, there's a lot of question marks there.
Like what is going on in college station?
Like, I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't think it's going to be 2 million fans there who are rooting against you.
And that's just going to be a tough environment.
That's true.
So that's true.
Matt, she had a folks want to check out anything Michigan State Spartans related.
Where can they find you?
She had underscore sports locked on Spartans and we need to get something from Auburn eventually
here because I'll tell you what, like 2013 we beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship
game to give you the birth of the national title game and all that we've got in return
is you guys just pillaging our village for our quarterback and also giving us a kicker
that couldn't make a 26 yarder to go to a bowl game.
We need a bone from Auburn here eventually.
So I do have a good word to the people.
I haven't.
So if you get a...
No, but I do like Auburn fans a lot.
I really do.
I'm not just pandering and I'm pulling sunshine up your butt for no good reason.
You can pander.
I'm cool with pandering.
There's nothing wrong with pandering.
That's fine.
I also need to pander because we need something out of Auburn.
So if Hugh Freeze, I know you're listening right now, like if you could just give us someone,
like, just anyone, like, you're just great.
If you could...
I'll see what I can do.
I'll see what I can do, my friend.
Appreciate you.
Yeah, be sure to check out Lost on Spartans and come back tomorrow.
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