​​Lyle's Corner

Saturday, December 31st, 2016
I thought yesterday's post would be my last for 2016. Well, it turns out that that was a premature notion. 
 
We all know about the hype surrounding Jarrett Stidham's pledge to Auburn earlier this month. But yesterday, the Tigers gained a bit more depth at quarterback.
 
Malik Willis, a 3-star athlete from Roswell, Ga., verbally pledged to Auburn. For the past few months, he had been committed to Virginia Tech. But that changed when Auburn promised him the chance to play quarterback. Had he stayed in Blacksburg, he most likely would have started at defensive back. 
 
Willis told Rivals.com that there were a handful of reasons as to why he flipped his commitment. 
 
"It was important that I got a shot at least because I feel like I can play quarterback at the next level. I feel like their run-pass option offense is the same as Roswell's and we run a lot of the same plays. That's what Coach (Rhett) Lashlee likes about my game. He felt my talents fit what they needed. Everything at Auburn was just more in line with what I'm looking for. I had to do what's right for me and my family and this is closer for them and it gives me a chance to play the position I love." 
 
The 6-feet-2, 188-pound Willis guided his team to the Class 7A state finals this season, where it lost to Grayson 23-20 in overtime. He completed 184 of 304 passes for 2,562 yards, 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions. On the ground, he tallied 1,033 rushing yards on 140 carries. He was especially hot in the playoffs, connecting on 70 percent of his passes with 12 scores and just one interception. 
 
He was named Class 7A offensive player of the year in Georgia by the Atlanta  Journal-Constitution. 
 
Willis will enroll at Auburn in January. 
 
He is commitment No. 20 for the Tigers, which moved up to No. 8 in the 247Sports recruiting team rankings. Auburn can take up to six more in the 2017 recruiting class because one current pledge, long snapper Bill Taylor, will blue shirt and not count toward the 2017 scholarship totals. 
 
Willis has close ties to Roswell offensive tackle Jordan Tucker, another Auburn target. If the Tigers offer Tucker (and they might be close to doing so), he will also likely pledge to Auburn. 
 
It's interesting to note that Willis played at Atlanta Westlake before transferring to Roswell. Westlake is former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton's alma mater. 
 
Now, I can definitively say that I've written my last post for the year. Until next year, Happy 2017, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 

Friday, December 30th, 2016
As Auburn basketball entered its SEC opener against Georgia, Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl said he wasn't concerned about his team suffering from a post-Christmas letdown. 
 
But the outcome of last night's contest was a letdown in itself. 
 
The Tigers, starting four freshmen, held a 13-point advantage in the first half and a 12-point lead in the second half. It wouldn't last as the Bulldogs rallied to defeat Auburn 96-84. Georgia improved to 9-4 on the season, while Auburn fell to 10-3. 
 
"We showed our youth," Pearl stated. "We panicked in the second half, and young teams will do that. Clearly, we are disappointed." 
 
Mustapha Heron, who scored 19 points for Auburn, had his own explanation. 
 
"I think they just kind of went on a little run, and I don't think we responded well enough to it," he said. "But that's just something the more we get together the more our experience develops. We'll be just fine, I think." 
 
Apart from Heron, Danjel Purifoy had 13 points, while Jared Harper had 10 and Austin Wiley had 11. 
 
Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to overtake Georgia's two preseason All-SEC selections - J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten - who amassed 58 points combined. 
 
"We couldn't get stops," Pearl noted. "Nobody could guard Maten. Not a soul. Nobody could guard Frazier. We didn't give enough help in our defense to force those other guys to beat us. We just couldn't stop them, so it didn't matter what we were doing on the offensive end. We didn't execute as well. We tried to get it back quickly when they made their run. Obviously, that inexperience showed." 
 
While that may be true, Heron said his team can build on the result of the game. 
 
"I think that, as a young team, we need something like this to move forward and get better," he reasoned. "I think going down the stretch when we have leads we need to take better shots. I think my shot selection down the stretch was a little poor. It could definitely be better, and I think, just as a team, just taking care of the ball and all that stuff." 
 
Thanks to their freshmen, the Tigers cruised to a 13-point lead in the first half behind some excellent 3-point shooting. Auburn canned seven of its first 10 trey attempts, then bogged down as Georgia trimmed the lead to three, but regained its rhythm to take a 51-43 cushion into the locker room at halftime. 
 
In the second half, the Tigers led by 12, only to see the Bulldogs storm back to deadlock the count at 70-all with 10 minutes left. Auburn grabbed the lead back at 76-74. But things steadily went south from there. 
 
Georgia went on a commanding 12-0 run to take an 86-76 lead with 3:40 to go. It proved too big a hill for the Tigers to climb. All told,  the Bulldogs outscored Auburn 53-33 in the second half. 
 
The Tigers will get a chance to bounce back at Vanderbilt on Jan. 4. The game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff, and will be televised on the SEC Network. 
 
I'd like to close this post by wishing each and every one of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017. Always remember to count your blessings, make every day count, and never take this life for granted, because it's such a precious gift. And as always, thanks to  all of you for reading my blog. Your support means more to me than you could ever know. 
 
Until next year, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 
Thursday, December 29th, 2016
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I certainly did. 
 
Auburn football got some exciting news today, as All-SEC kicker and two-time Lou Groza Award finalist Daniel Carlson announced he will return for his senior season in 2017. Carlson was also named an AP All-Ameriocan for 2016 as well as Auburn's Special Teams Player of the Year this season. 
 
In his three years with the Tigers, Carlson has not missed an extra point, nailing all 140 tries and has successfully booted 82.7 percent of his 81 field goal attempts. In  a home game against LSU this season, Carlson scored all of Auburn's points, kicking six field goals in an 18-13 upset win. 
 
Aside from his splendid field goal accuracy, Carlson also constantly smacks the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs, giving his team an advantage with all the hidden yards he contributes to with each touchback. 
 
Though he's been named a Lou Groza finalist twice, Carlson will make one last go at the award. Plus, his brother Anders Carlson is set to join the team, as he is a 2017 Auburn commit. That ensures that both of them will be able to spend at least one season on The Plains together as Tigers. 
 
This is certainly thrilling news, but there's only one question that will only be answered next fall: Can Auburn's offense help the Carlsons out, as opposed to the Carlsons being the ones to carry the team? 
 
In other news...
 
- Auburn basketball returns to action tonight at 6 p.m. CT when they open SEC play against Georgia. The game will be televised on ESPNU. 
 
That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 
Thursday, December 22nd, 2016
 
Auburn's T.J. Dunans and the sport of basketball both celebrated happy birthdays last night. Dunans, 24, scored a career-high 21 points in helping his Tigers top Oklahoma 74-70 in the Hall of Fame's Birthday of Basketball Game in Uncasville, Conn. 
 
Meanwhile, Mustapha Heron, a native of Waterbury, Conn., tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds in front of his home state fans. 
 
Jared Harper scored 21 of his own, mostly thanks to  a stellar second half. 
 
Seventeen-year-old Austin Wiley made his first college start in his second college contest as the Tigers started four freshmen for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign. Wiley recorded six points, three rebounds, a block and a steal. 
 
Auburn improved to 9-2, its best start since the 2007-08 season. Meanwhile, the Sooners, who reached the Final Four last season, slipped to 6-5. 
 
Defense and missed shots were the highlights in this one. 
 
Oklahoma started out sluggish, but suddenly began nailing 3-pointers in the second half. But the undaunted Tigers retaliated. 
 
Auburn held a 45-41 advantage in rebounds. 
 
The first half was a defensive struggle. The teams combined to hit just three of their first 21 shots when Oklahoma jumped out to a narrow 5-4 lead. But Auburn soon picked up the pace. By the time the Tigers took a 19-10 lead, the Sooners had sunk just four of their first 23 shots. Auburn shot 39 percent in the first half. The Sooners were worse, only shooting 24 percent. The Tigers were in front at intermission by a 34-22 count. 
 
In the second half, Oklahoma seemed to grab momentum, as Auburn didn't make a field goal for more than six minutes, and the Sooners cut the margin to three. However, Harper then began clicking and Auburn took a 58-46 lead with 6:51 remaining. 
 
Horace Spencer and Bryce Brown, who had missed the previous two games due to suspension, practiced this week but didn't play. 
 
The Tigers return to action tomorrow afternoon when they face Connecticut in Hartford at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN2. 
 
That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 
Thursday, December 15th, 2016
 
With over three hand a half hours left until Auburn basketball hosts Costal Carolina (as I write this), I need to get a couple of tidbits in. 
 
First off, the Tigers will be without sophomores Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer, as they were both arrested and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. 
 
Head coach Bruce Pearl declined to say whether both of them would miss just one game or if it would be a multiple-game suspension. "To be determined," he said bluntly. 
 
Now, for some good news: The football team has landed yet another commitment, this time at tight end. 
 
Salvatore Cannella, the No. 2 junior college tight end in the 247Sports Composite, pledged to the Tigers yesterday and signed his National Letter of Intent. 
 
The 6-feet-6, 230-pound Cannella caught 29 passes for 443 yards and seven touchdowns this season. He will have four years to play three seasons at his next destination. Cannella is a mid-season transfer. 
 
He picked Auburn over Texas and Maryland. 
 
Auburn offered him a scholarship two weeks ago and he took an official visit a week later. He followed that up with an official visit to Texas. In the end, it came down to those two schools. 
 
When asked what endeared him to Auburn, he replied, "The tradition, it's the best competition in the country - you're playing against the best. If you want to be the best you've got to beat the best. That's just how I feel. I've always wanted to play in the SEC. That's been one of my things." 
 
During Cannella's official visit to Auburn, the Tigers coaching staff compared him to former Auburn tight end C.J. Uzomah, who now plays in the NFL, because of his frame and pass-catching ability. 
 
The Tigers currently have only one scholarship tight end - redshirt freshman Jalen Harris. 
 
Cannella will arrive on campus in January. He is the 18th commitment for the Tigers, who inched up one spot to No. 9 in the 247Sports recruiting team rankings with his verbal. 
 
That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 

 
​Wednesday, December 14th, 2016
Auburn football's Class of 2017 took a hit last night. Whether it's minor or major is for you to decide.
 
Four-star athlete Tray Bishop, who has been committed to Auburn since July, has opted to de-commit from Auburn. He told 247Sports that the Tigers are still in the mix, but he wants to be certain he's making the right decision.  
 
"I just need some time so I am decommitting," he stated. "I just want to take some time to make sure I am making the right decision." 
 
However, Bishop's choices are limited at this point. He said he was only considering Auburn and two SEC East schools. 
 
"I don't want to reopen my recruitment," he assured. "It is down to Georgia and Florida and Auburn still in the picture." 
 
According to 247Sports, Bishop, a Georgia native, is the No. 4 athlete in the class of 2017 and the No. 16 overall recruit from the state of Georgia. 
 
Now, we can focus on a bit of news that's more encouraging. 
 
Quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who pledged to the Tigers last Saturday, faxed in his Letter of Intent to Auburn this morning. 
 
"Papers are in!" Stidham said, just after 8:30 a.m. CT. 
 
Shortly thereafter, he tweeted, "Officially a part of the @FootballAUteam! Time to get to work! #WDE
 
Soon after, Auburn confirmed his signing. Today is the last day mid-year junior college enrollees can sign. 
 
Stidham will start a previously planned vacation later in the day and arrive at Auburn on Dec. 19. He will begin participating in Sugar Bowl practices the next day. 
 
Stidham, who transferred from Baylor this summer, will be a redshirt sophomore next season. 
 
That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 
 
 
​Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
The Tigers were dealt a big heartbreak in the Big Apple last night. 

Boston College scored on a tip-in with 0.2 second left to give the Eagles a heart-stopping 72-71 edge over Auburn at Madison Square Garden. 

Danjel Purifoy kept the Tigers in the thick of it, tallying 27 points. He was one of only two Tigers to score in double digits. In the end, however, it was all for naught. 

"Danjel Purifoy played terrifically," stated Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. "He plays with a great rhythm and tempo offensively. He played really well." 

"But probably beyond that, you could look at a lot of different positions, including the bench, and we didn't have one of our better nights." 

Indeed, poor shooting decisions and poor rebounding played a major role in Auburn's 10-point deficit in the first half. Still, they fought back to take their first lead at 61-60 with 6:46 remaining in the contest. Things only got wilder from there, as the teams exchanged the lead back and forth, keeping the fans engrossed in suspense. 

Pearl went on to thank the fans for their support. "I'm very pleased with the turnout," he said. "It's the first time Auburn has been to Madison Square Garden. From the media, I hope you guys will walk away and be astonished by how many people were here to see an Auburn basketball team that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Our Auburn family has given us great support. We just didn't take advantage of it tonight." 

Purifoy canned two crucial free throws with 7.5 seconds left to put Auburn up by one. But the Eagles ultimately pulled off the victory in stunning fashion.

"I'm really at a loss for words," Purifoy lamented. "If we had won this game, it would have been a big win for us." 

Freshman Mustapha Heron pitched in as well, amassing 15 points as Auburn's only other double-digit scorer.

The Tigers slipped to 6-2, while Boston College improved to 5-5.  

Auburn had 11 blocks on the night, with Horace Spencer leading with six. Boston College, however, held a 49-32 advantage in rebounds. The two teams combined for 38 turnovers and 32 missed 3-point attempts. 

"The rebounding advantage was significant," Pearl noted. "The fact they dominated the glass was a factor, and as a result, they won the game on offensive rebounds. It stands to reason. We didn't play well early. Our youth showed, obviously. I thought defensively we had a hard time keeping Boston College in front of us." 

True. The Tigers trailed 43-39 at intermission, and started the second half by hitting only one of their first nine shots. Still, they kept on scrapping. The valiant effort simply fell short. 

Auburn returns to action on Thursday night when it hosts Costal Carolina at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be telecast on the SEC Network. 

In other news...
- The football team gained another commitment for 2017, as three-star cornerback Traivon Leonard from West Palm Beach (Fla.) Oxbridge Academy flipped from North Carolina and pledged to the Tigers. 

"I just really like everything about Auburn," he told AuburnUndercover. "I feel like it's the best place for me." 

The decision wasn't exactly a total shock, as the aforementioned source reported on Sunday that it was "very likely" to happen. 

Leonard is the second cornerback committed to the 2017 class, joining early enrollee Malcom Askew. 

Auburn has vehemently pursued Leonard for quite some time, as secondary coach Wesley McGriff locked in on Leonard last summer when Leonard took a multi-day trip to the school. The 6-feet-1, 194-pound Leonard returned for a game this fall. 

Auburn has visited Leonard each of the past two weeks. Plus, they watched him play in October.

Leonard noted that he grew close to McGriff during the recruiting process. "He's really one of the biggest reasons I'm going to Auburn," Leonard said. "I want to play for him. He's not a guy I want to let down out there."  

Leonard is not an early enrollee, and will officially visit Auburn in January. He is the Tigers' 18th commitment. Auburn rose one spot to No. 8 in the recruiting team rankings. 

That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 


Sunday, December 11th, 2016
Don't worry, folks. I haven't abandoned my blog. However, I've been quite busy getting ready for Christmas over the past week. Plus, with Auburn's student-athletes focusing on finals this past week, there wasn't much to write about during that period. 

Auburn football got some pretty thrilling recruiting news yesterday evening. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who transferred from Baylor this summer, has pledged to the Tigers.

Stidham's addition gives Auburn a major advantage with National Signing Day looming on the horizon on Feb. 1.  The Tigers now have the ninth-ranked recruiting class in the nation. There are still about nine spots left to fill. 

At Auburn, Stidham, who will be a redshirt sophomore next year, is expected to compete with 2016 starter Sean White for the starting job in spring practice. 

During his high school tenure, Stidham was the country's No. 2 dual-threat signal-caller in the class of 2015. As a true freshman at Baylor, he played in 10 games with three starts, passing for 1,265 yards, 12 TDs and two interceptions while completing 68.8 percent of his throws. 

But when Bears coach Art Briles was fired in the offseason, Stidham moved on, and ultimately landed at McLennan Community College in Texas. However, he saw no action this season. 

Auburn, which had recruited Stidham in high school, almost instantly came into the picture when he announced his plans to transfer from Baylor. He attended practice at Auburn in early August, then returned to watch the Tigers host Clemson in this season's opener at Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

During the final week of November, just days after Auburn fell to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, Stidham was back on The Plains for an overnight official visit. On top of that, Auburn visited him each of the past two weeks, culminating with Friday's in-home with head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Rhett Lashlee. 

It was during that visit that Stidham gave his commitment to the Tigers. He is expected to sign with Auburn on Wednesday and might arrive at the school as early as Dec. 19 or 20, although the exact date is unclear at this time. However, if he were to arrive at said date, that would enable him to take part in Auburn's Sugar Bowl practices.  

Lashlee played a large role in this verbal as he and Stidham grew close during the recruiting process. Stidham said that Auburn - and Lashlee - recruited him more valiantly than anyone else. 

Texas A&M had recently appeared to pose a serious threat, but the Aggies went in the opposite direction when another quarterback pledged to them. Florida tried to make a late surge, but that didn't leave much of a mark even though the Gators visited him last weekend. 

With Stidham's pledge in the books, some of my closest friends and family members have begun to speculate that John Franklin III will move on from Auburn. Only time will tell if that is indeed the case. 

In closing, don't forget that the men's basketball team returns to action tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 p.m. CT when they face Boston College at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. The game will be televised by FS1.

That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 

 
Friday, December 2nd, 2016
It's not typical of me to write about commits who are simply making visits to Auburn, but this could be a major benefit for the Tigers' offense. 

Any loyal Auburn fan would agree that the Tigers have had more than their fair share of dissension at quarterback in recent seasons. Such has certainly been the case this season. 

Sean White has played solidly (when healthy), but Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin III haven't exactly become elite quarterbacks this year. That explains why Auburn is striving to sway a four-star signal-caller to The Plains. 

Lowell Narcisse previously committed to Auburn before changing his mind and pledging to LSU, at least for the time being. He is making an official visit to Auburn this weekend. 

It's no secret that high school athletes can be wishy-washy, so there's always the distinct chance that Narcisse will change his mind again. He says he's merely exploring his options at the moment. 

Only time will tell if Gus Malzahn and his staff can persuade Narcisse to have a change of heart. 

Don't forget: The basketball team faces UAB in Birmingham tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by beIN Sports. 

That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE!