Football preview: Auburn looks for win No. 5 vs. Western Kentucky, Alabama hosts Austin Peay, UAB braves Death Valley
If you didn’t know better, you’d have sworn that Auburn won a battle of heavyweights when it outlasted Texas A&M Saturday on the Plains.
Instead, the Tigers and Aggies came streaking into Jordan-Hare Stadium, both having lost five games in a row.
In the end, it was Auburn interim head coach Carnell Williams who received a freezing-cold postgame water-cooler shower as his squad gave him his first victory.
“I am very appreciative of the Auburn family, the way that they showed up Saturday night. Wow, what an atmosphere,” Williams said. “It was a great win, but now it’s time for us to turn that page. We have a Western Kentucky team that’s pretty doggone good: very explosive on offense, got a good defense.”
Auburn (4-6) hopes to continue the celebration this week as it hosts the Hilltoppers (7-4) on Senior Day at 3 p.m. Saturday on the SEC Network.
Alabama cast out some of the demons that haunted it on the road this season, coming from behind last week to down Ole Miss in Oxford. And whether it was moving in the pocket or making people miss, Nick Saban said Bryce Young’s elusiveness led to three or four explosive plays that helped the Crimson Tide win.
“He’s deceptively quick to make people miss, especially if they’re coming at him out of control,” the coach said. “But he does a fantastic job of having a feel in the pocket of when he needs to do it and he’s very good at doing it.
“And our receivers have done a really good job when he does scramble of applying scramble rules to get where they need to get so they have an opportunity to make themselves available for the ball,” Saban said. “That was good for us in the game.”
Alabama (8-2) steps out of conference to host Austin Peay (7-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN Plus.
Bryant Vincent watched 12 to 14 hours of film on his UAB team’s next opponent, the LSU Tigers of the SEC. But it didn’t take nearly that long for the interim head coach to know LSU linebacker Harold Perkins is something special.
“He’s a guy who really stood out,” he said. “You sit there and you watch him and all the things that he does. Whether he’s rushing the passer, whether he’s spying the quarterback, whether he’s playing coverage, this is without a doubt the best pure freshman I’ve seen in my career. Without a doubt.”
The Blazers (5-5) will get a good look at Perkins and his mates when they face the SEC West champs (8-2) at 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN Plus. UAB is 1-1 in its prior two meetings with the Tigers.
UAB interim head coach Bryant Vincent on the challenge & opportunity of playing LSU from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Troy and South Alabama aren’t playing one another this week. But each will be on the other’s mind as they bid for a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game.
The Trojans and Jaguars have identical records; each is 8-2 overall and 5-1 in league play. If both finish conference play at 7-1, Troy would be in the title game by virtue of having beaten USA 10-6 in their Battle for the Belt rivalry game in October.
Louisiana-Monroe (4-6, 3-3) visits Troy while South Alabama plays at Southern Miss (5-5, 3-3) on ESPN Plus. Both games kick off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
In other college action:
Huntingdon at Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Hawks (9-1, 7-0 in USA South) begin play in the NCAA Division III playoffs by visiting the defending national champions at noon Saturday. Huntingdon, which is making its seventh trip to the NCAA playoffs, is 0-2 against The Cru (9-1, 8-0), falling in 2015 and 2019. Coach Mike Turk’s team has averaged 40.6 points per game, while UMHB averages 44.6.
Mercer at Samford: Chris Hatcher’s Bulldogs will certainly still be beaming a week after knocking off No. 11 Chattanooga 35-24 for the school’s first Southern Conference Championship in his 11 years at the school in Homewood. The win also came with an automatic NCAA playoff berth. The conference title was secured by Furman topping Mercer 23-13. This week, the Bulldogs (9-1, 7-0) face the Bears (7-3, 5-2) at noon Saturday on ESPN3.
Jacksonville State at Central Arkansas: The Gamecocks closed out their home schedule last week with a 42-17 victory over Eastern Kentucky. JSU (8-2, 4-0 ASUN) will bid adieu to the Football Championship Subdivision this week as it faces the Bears (5-5, 3-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday. Coach Rich Rodriguez and his team will play in Conference USA of the Football Bowl Subdivision beginning next season.
North Alabama at Memphis: UNA interim head coach Ryan Held leads the Lions (1-9) into the final game of the 2022 campaign. They’ll take on the Tigers (5-5) at 1:02 p.m. Saturday on ESPN Plus.
Texas Southern at Alabama A&M: The Bulldogs (3-7, 3-4) complete their season at 1 p.m. Saturday against Southwestern Athletic Conference foe Tigers (5-5, 4-3). The game can be seen on HBCU GO.
Idle this week: Alabama State.
Season complete: Miles, Birmingham-Southern, Tuskegee, Faulkner, West Alabama.
HIGH SCHOOLS
Class 7A: Thompson vs. Hoover, Part 2, seems more like a movie than a semifinal game in the Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs. Either way, it is a blockbuster. Hoover, 11-1 and No. 1 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, is the team that has long been the standard of excellence in Alabama with 13 state championships. The most recent of those titles was in 2017, before Thompson, 9-3 and ranked No. 3, began its current string of three championships in a row. The Bucs’ 9-0 victory a few weeks ago set the stage for them to host the rematch on Friday at the Hoover Met.
Sails Up, Husky Down!
Bucs take care of business at home 28-11 to advance to the Semis!
🏴☠️🏈🔥🎥@HooverAthletics @RecruitHoover @MaxPreps @AL7AFootball @AHSAA_football @patrickdeavours @KyleParmley @HooverSun pic.twitter.com/pSV3QMZQpa— Hoover Bucs Football (@BucsFootball) November 12, 2022
Class 6A: Homewood (10-2) visits No. 4 Saraland (11-1) on Friday.
Class 5A: No. 3 Pleasant Grove (10-1) hosts No. 7 Arab (11-1) on Friday.
Class 4A: No. 5 Andalusia (11-1) travels to No. 2 Anniston (11-0) on Friday.
Class 3A: No. 2 Gordo (11-1) heads to No. 3 Piedmont (10-2) on Friday.
Class 2A: No. 6 B.B. Comer (10-2) welcomes No. 3 Reeltown (10-1) on Friday.
Class 1A: Coosa Christian (8-4) greets Lynn (11-1) on Friday.
AISA: No. 3 Jackson Academy (12-0) faces No. 6 and defending champion Lowndes Academy (10-2) today for the Class A title.