Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin named two captains for this Saturday evening’s Ole Miss matchup at Jordan-Hare Stadium that, on both sides of the ball, represent the team’s ceiling.
Roger McCreary could be the highest-drafted Tiger in the 2022 NFL Draft. Either McCreary or Owen Pappoe, anyway. But it was the CB who was named one of the honorary captains this week.
The other, Tank Bigsby, has slowed down considerably after a scorching hot start against weak competition but a middling showing since in SEC play. His 28 yards in 10 carries vs. Georgia eliminated the notion that he was Heisman material in 2021. Eventually, Bigsby could prove to be such, and also worthy of a high-round draft pick. For now, he is co-leading the backfield with true freshman Jarquez Hunter, who’s admittedly having a breakout season himself.
Harsin announced it via Twitter:
Our Honorary Captains for this week:@Rogerjamez@tank_bigsby #WarEagle 🦅 pic.twitter.com/5xi2WkfutV
— Bryan Harsin (@CoachHarsin) October 27, 2021
When it comes to the Rebels’ explosive offense and improving pass defense, it’s going to take big games from the two Tiger leaders to see an Auburn football victory against #10 Ole Miss. McCreary’s pass coverage and tackling downfield will be critical in avoiding the projectiles launched by the arm of Matt Corral and the legs of both a scrambling Corral and the 1-2 RB punch of ‘Snoop’ Conner and Jerrion Early.
Tank Bigsby, meanwhile, needs to serve as a decoy to the Bo Nix passing game against an Ole Miss secondary that–while improved significantly from a season ago–still was vulnerable to explosive passing performances from Bryce Young, KJ Jefferson, and Hendon Hooker already this season.
If the captains live up to their knighted titles, and the likely returns of Pappoe and T.D. Moultry give an extra lift to the Tigers defensive front, Ole Miss could be yet another stepping stone towards a ‘for all the marbles’ Iron Bowl matchup against the team up north.