Auburn will play Cal in a true road game at 9:30 p.m. central time Saturday in Berkeley, California
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze celebrates a 59-14 win over the University of Massachusetts Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. Julie Bennett | preps@al.comIt’s about as hard a turn as Auburn could make.
One week, it’s the Auburn community reuniting at Jordan-Hare Stadium with a sense of optimism and excitement for a new year. It’s a record-setting crowd in the season opener. And then the next Saturday, Auburn will be nearly 2,500 miles and two time zones away from the gates of Jordan-Hare. Auburn plays Cal in its second game of the year. It’s the opening leg of a two-year series in Berkeley, California this fall, and back in Auburn the next.What’s up with Jarquez Hunter?Hunter didn’t suit up for Auburn’s opener against UMass. He was on the sidelines wearing his jersey with no pads and sweatpants. He spent most of the game sitting on a medical table on the sidelines off to the side of the rest of the bunch. After the game, head coach Hugh Freeze had a short press conference where the subject of Hunter’s absence was not addressed. To this point, Auburn has not commented on Hunter’s status at all. Whenever Freeze or other officials have been asked, they have stated it’s an internal matter and nothing further. Hunter missed a couple of Auburn’s first fall camp practices and was first seen on the field on Tuesday, Aug. 8 during a period of practice open to the media. No official reason was given for that absence, either. Hunter has practiced ever since. But in advance of the UMass game, Freeze was asked if Hunter would play. He stated that generally, he would not comment on who would and would not, play without specifically mentioning Hunter. It’s unlikely Auburn officials will answer this question at some point this week. We will likely have to wait until warmup Saturday to see if Hunter is in uniform.Based on Freeze’s comments on the Monday before the UMass game, it didn’t seem like he was ruling anyone to for sure be unable to play in the first game due to injuries. Of the players dealing with injuries whom Freeze did mention last week, cornerbacks Nehemiah Pritchett and J.D. Rhym as well as wide receiver Nick Mardner didn’t play. Pritchett’s absence may have been both the most expected, but also the most impactful. During a period of open practice on Tuesday, Prtichett was off to the side not participating. In his place, Champ Anthony, Kayin Lee and Donovan Kaufman saw a lot more playing time. Kaufman especially had a great game with a forced fumble, a sack and multiple tackles for loss. Mardner’s absence wasn’t too notable on a day where no wide receiver was asked to do too much. The bulk of Auburn’s offense came on the ground. Across all three quarterbacks who played — Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner — Auburn only had 14 completions on 25 pass attempts. Jay Fair led Auburn with five catches and a touchdown. Malcolm Johnson Jr. led Auburn with 59 receiving yards, but they all came in the fourth quarter when the result of the game was long in hand. Mardner’s biggest ability for Auburn is that, well he’s big. He, fellow receiver Shane Hooks and tight end Rivaldo Fairweather are Auburn’s biggest targets, but the two who played had a total of two catches — and both were Hooks. Fairweather actually wasn’t targeted at all the whole game. There are a lot of reasons for that, namely Ashford being Auburn’s go-to guy in the redzone, taking away situations where the size of those pass-catchers would be especially impactful.There’s no way around it. This is a LONG trip. So how is Auburn preparing for it? “Coach Freeze does this thing called the truth meeting and after that meeting, it’s all Cal,” defensive tackle Jayson Jones said after the UMass game. “Throw away Umass, throw away what happened during the game, it’s all Cal and the preparation for that. Time difference, got to think about, two hours behind central time, so that’s going to play a part in that. We’ve just got to stay ready for them. They’re going to come play hard, we’re going to come play hard.” The long flight and late start time — kickoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. central time on ESPN — take a toll on the body. It’s also Auburn’s first road trip, let alone a marathon of one. Cal likely won’t bring the type of deafening environment Auburn will see at Texas A&M and LSU once SEC play begins, which could help with the adjustment that far from home. But handling a trip like this is still a conversation after the game. Auburn still has to fly back and like Jones said, quickly turn the page to the next game — which would be back at home against Samford. Auburn coaches have previously talked about making sure the players get enough rest, so that the toll of the trip won’t stem into the Samford game, and the trip to College Station, Texas the week after.
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