Auburn football has been missing two of its key defensive players for the past several weeks. Junior linebacker Owen Pappoe has missed four straight games due to an injury sustained in the Penn State game earlier in the season. Meanwhile, senior defensive end TD Moultry has been sidelined due to compliance issues.
When will the pair return to the field? The real answer is that we don’t know.
However, first-year head coach Bryan Harsin has been hinting that Auburn football fans may see the return of team captain Owen Pappoe after the Tigers’ bye week, per AL.com’s Tom Green:
"“I hope he’s ready to go,” Harsin said Wednesday during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “We need him. I think this is a good time, at least for him, with this bye week to really give us a chance (to get him healthy).”"
Prior to his injury, Pappoe racked up 15 tackles, including two for a loss on the season. Though linebackers Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten have stepped up in Pappoe’s absence, the linebacker has to be ready to get back into the action after missing four games.
Meanwhile, Auburn Undercover’s Phillip Marshall reports that T.D. Moultry’s compliance issues are related to driving a car registered to an Auburn booster:
"Moultry, multiple sources say, was apparently loaned a vehicle that is registered to an Auburn booster and had driven it since the summer. Though the vehicle – apparently a pickup truck – was not transferred to his name, such a loan would be a violation of the NCAA’s extra benefits rule.Auburn athletes are required to provide copies of title and registration for vehicles they drive on campus. Since Moultry had no title and registration, compliance officials were not aware of any potential problem until days before Auburn’s trip to LSU."
Whether or not Moultry will be able to play in orange and blue again remains to be seen, and it’s concerning that there are issues like this in the day and age of NIL. Despite the issues with Moultry, it is likely that we will see Pappoe return to the field sooner rather than later.