Injuries Piling Up for Auburn Tigers Ahead of Arkansas Clash

The Auburn Tigers made light work of the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday, but they didn't come away unscathed.

Auburn Tigers tight end Brandon Frazier suffered a broke foot on Saturday in a win over the New Mexico Lobos / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

As Auburn improved to 2-1 on the season with SEC contests the next-three Saturdays, the injuries are mounting up for the Tigers.

Three starters were held out in Auburn’s 45-19 win over New Mexico on Saturday night, which required some shuffling around on the offensive line and a different look in the secondary.

The Tigers will also have to turn to its depth at tight end.

“B (Brandon) Frazier, unfortunately, broke his foot,” Freeze said after the win. “We got some not so good news on that.”

No timetable has been given on a possible return for the senior tight end.

Rivaldo Fairweather and Micah Riley both caught touchdown passes from the tight end spot on Saturday, and Luke Deal had his first reception since the 2022 season.

In the secondary Auburn started with a three-safety look and stayed with it through the contest as starting cornerback Kayin Lee was held out. Nickelback Champ Anthony played outside cornerback opposite of Keionte Scott. Caleb Wooden, Sylvester Smith and Jerrin Thompson started at safety.

“He (Kayin Lee) has a calf strain,” Freeze said. “He struggled with it all week. We’ve got to get some of these guys healthy like him, Cam (Coleman), and Too Tall.”

On the offensive line Auburn went with a new starting lineup as right tackle “Too Tall” Izavion Miller was held out with a hip injury. From left to right, the lineup was Percy Lewis, Tate Johnson, Connor Lew, Jeremiah Wright and Dillon Wade. Wade shifted from his left guard spot to right tackle.

“I don’t remember a sack,” Freeze said after the game. “I don’t think we had one. Any time you get through a college game without a sack you’re somewhat pleased. I’m sure I’ll see on film where we need to clean some things up. That was without Too Tall who didn’t play tonight. We had to shuffle things up. I thought we had really good balance too. I haven’t looked at the number but I thought we were really balanced on run/pass, and that helps in the pass protection too.”

10 Tigers caught passes on Saturday, and Camden Brown got the start at receiver in place of Coleman. Brown scored his first touchdown of the season on Auburn’s opening drive on a 10-yard slant.

“I think any time you do that you’ve got a happy room,” Freeze said of spreading the ball around. “And it puts on tape that there’s not just a single guy that you can double and do different things. Hopefully Cam will be back next week to add to that rotation.

“I always like to see guys that practice well like Camden Brown,” Freeze added. “It was so good to see him catch a touchdown, because no one practiced better this week. That’s the reason he got the start is because the way he practiced. It’s always good to see those guys get touches.”

Arkansas visits Jordan-Hare Stadium next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Auburn is currently a 3.5-point favorite over the Razorbacks according to ESPN.