Auburn Tigers RB Damari Alston: ‘We Can Still Accomplish Whatever We Want'

A tough loss can be hard to come back from but one member of the Auburn Tigers knows the team still has a lot to play for.

Auburn Tigers running back Damari Alston has big goals for 2024. / John Reed-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers were stunned by Cal at home last week.

While many people were ready to write the Tigers off for the season following the game, one member of the team has been emphasizing that the season is not over to his teammates.

Junior running back Damari Alston has taken it upon himself to check up on his teammates and attempt to keep everyone in a positive headspace.

“I was calling everybody after the game,” Alston said. “Just telling the guys we can still accomplish whatever we want to accomplish this year. The game didn’t go as we wanted it to, and that’s bad execution on the offensive side of the ball. Now it’s a new week. Every week should be a faceless opponent, it’s Auburn versus the world.”

Alston knows how much potential Auburn has to put points on the board. That is what makes the game against Cal so tough to swallow for him and the rest of the offense.

“It definitely makes it harder,” Alston said. “Looking back at the tape with the talent we have and the things that we do each and every practice, we had a great week of practice last week, it just didn’t translate to the game. It makes it [film] harder to watch, because we know what we have and we know the team that we can be, but it does make it easier because we know the mistakes can be fixed.”

After Auburn struggled to move the ball through the air it is expected to rely on the rushing attack more this week. That is a challenge Alston is prepared to handle along with Jarquez Hunter and Jeremiah Cobb.

“We’re hoping to run the ball more this week,” Alston said. “Being more aggressive in the run game and we’ll see how that goes. I’m pretty sure it’ll work.”

Head coach Hugh Freeze explained how the Tigers will be working with a condensed playbook this week. Alston is confident in that approach and believes it will be beneficial for the offense.

“I feel like it’ll be good for us because it allows us to play faster, less thinking,” Alston said. “When we’re tied into our base offense and playing faster, it allows us to do more damage on the offensive side because guys aren’t thinking as much. I think that’ll help.”

Despite quarterback Payton Thorne having a rough day against Cal, Alston still has confidence in him and made a point of letting Thorne know that.

“I shot him a text just letting him know that we got his back,” Alston said. “I know there’s a lot of hate going towards him on social media and things like that. I just told him to keep his head up because that’s one of my closest friends.”

Alston and the Tigers return to action on Saturday to host New Mexico at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and ESPN2 will carry the broadcast.