Auburn football: Noah Igbinoghene emerging as star at corner, kick returner

Auburn football fans already know the name, but it’s time the rest of the SEC learns it, too: Noah Igbinoghene.

On Monday, the SEC announced that he is the Special Teams Player of the Week. Someone from Auburn was going to win that award this week. The SEC had multiple Auburn players to choose from the game Saturday. No one officially will say it, but his closest competition likely came from teammate Ryan Davis, who averaged 48.0 yards on two punt returns, and Jordyn Peters, who blocked a punt and disrupted another one.

He returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown Saturday against Arkansas. He started right, then cut left between a couple of Razorbacks and once he hit his stride, no one was catching him.

“I feel like I can reboot the fans and everybody to get into the game again just like we did today,” Igbinoghene told AuburnTigers.com. “And I want to continue to do it.”

He flat-out ran away from everyone on the field.

He’s the first Auburn football player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since Corey Grant did it in 2013 against Tennessee and the longest since Tre Mason went 100 yards against Washington State in the same season.

Igbinoghene arrived at Auburn in 2017 as a wide receiver and track standout from Hewitt-Trussville High School. He played in all 14 games as a freshman.

He caught six passes for 24 yards, had one carry for 11 yards. He as Auburn’s primary kickoff returner, bringing back 24 kicks for 571 yards (23.8 yards per return) with a long of 72 yards.

But in the spring, Auburn coaches moved Igbinoghene to cornerback and it didn’t take long for them to see that it was the correct decision. He impressed coaches and vaulted up the depth chart. He was named starter opposite Jamel Dean before the opener against Washington State and looks to be a mainstay there for the rest of his Auburn career.

In the Week 1 victory against the Huskies, Igbinoghene showed good ball skills and closing speed, although Jake Browning picked on him a few times with back-shoulder throws to receivers. The sophomore has continued getting better each week.

He is tied for seventh on the team with 13 tackles and is first with three pass breakups. He’s also forced a fumble.

On his three kickoff returns, he’s averaging 47.0 yards, which would tie him for first in the country if he had enough returns to qualify.