For the final time of the 2023 season, Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers football team will take the field Saturday afternoon as they’re set to see the Maryland Terrapins in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl from Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.
Coming into the postseason matchup, both the Tigers and Terrapins sit at 6-6 on the year. However, when they hit the field Saturday, both teams will look wildly different as each will be without a handful of starters who chose to opt out of the bowl game.
For Maryland, its biggest hit comes from under center as Tualia Tagovailoa, the Terps’ starting quarterback and the Big 10′s leading passer, opted out. Meanwhile, Auburn will be dealing with a depleted defense as defensive backs DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett opted out, as did defensive lineman Marcus Harris.
As such, both the Tigers and Terrapins will be seeing new faces get significant playing time on Saturday, which feels like a kickoff for the approaching 2024 season.
“It’s a different world now for me with the opt-outs and the transfer portal and things,” Freeze said during Friday afternoon’s press conference. “We’ll have a different team tomorrow than we had at the end of the season, but in some ways, that’s exciting to kind of see how they perform.”
Auburn and Maryland are set to kick off at 1 p.m. Follow here for updates:
12:30 p.m. | Pregame
Both teams have taken the field for pregame warmups, giving us a final look at who might be unavailable.
Here’s a look at Auburn’s list of unavailable players and their reasons for missing Saturday’s game.
- DT Marcus Harris (opt-out)
- DB DJ James (opt-out)
- C Avery Jones (unknown)
- DB Nehemiah Pritchett (opt-out)
- DB Jaylin Simpson (unknown)
While Simpson has accepted his invite to the Senior Bowl, indicating his intentions to turn to the NFL Draft, there hasn’t been an official announcement that he planned on opting out of the bowl game. Freeze also mentioned at the start of bowl preparations that Simpson was still nursing a nagging hamstring injury, which could explain his absence.
Meanwhile, despite chatter about defensive back Zion Puckett missing the game after he too declared for the NFL Draft, Puckett was fully dressed out for pregame warmups, indicating he’ll likely play against the Terrapins.
1:05 p.m. | Coin toss
Auburn calls tails and wins the toss. The Tigers will defer to the second half.
Maryland’s offense will take the field first.
1:11 p.m. | Maryland scores game’s first touchdown
With a five-play, 75-yard drive, the Maryland Terrapins find the end zone first thanks to a 2-yard rush from quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.
The score was set up by a 61-yard pass play between Edwards and running back Roman Hemby. Auburn freshman defensive back Kayin Lee was in position to shorten the big play, but couldn’t finish the tackle.
Maryland leads Auburn 7-0 with 13:11 to play in the first quarter.
1:17 p.m. | Payton Thorne and the Auburn offense goes 3-and-out
Following Maryland’s easy road to the end zone, Payton Thorne and the Auburn offense traveled just nine yards on three plays, forcing the Tigers to punt it away early.
Oscar Chapman’s punt set up the Terrapins at the Maryland 35.
1:30 p.m. | Maryland stretches its lead out to two scores
Auburn’s depleted defense continues to struggle against the Maryland offense, which marched 75 yards down field on 11 plays.
A 5-yard pass from Edwards to tight end Preston Howard is good for the score.
The Terrapins lead the Tigers 14-0 with 5:58 to play in the first quarter.
1:37 p.m. | Auburn’s offense goes 3-and-out for second straight drive
With its second possession of the afternoon, Auburn’s offense traveled just three yards before having to punt it away.
Chapman’s punt was fielded at the Maryland 24-yard line.
Maryland is currently out-gaining Auburn 150 yards to 13 yards.
1:41 p.m. | Maryland continues to shred Auburn with third touchdown
Set up by a 57-yard pass from Cameron Edge to Kaden Prather, the Maryland Terrapins score a touchdown on their third consecutive possession.
Edge later found freshman receiver Dylan Wade for a 3-yard touchdown, giving the Terps a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
1:57 p.m. | Auburn’s longest drive ends with a turn over on downs
The Tigers were on the verge of going 3-and-out for the third time on the afternoon before Oscar Chapman successfully reached the line to gain on a fake punt.
However, the gamble wouldn’t get Auburn far as the drive stalled at the Maryland 48-yard line with a turnover on downs.
The Terrapins’ offense takes over near midfield with a comfortable 21-0 lead with 11:42 to play in the second quarter.
2:23 p.m. | Auburn finally finds td zone with 3-yard touchdown
With a 14-play, 80-yard march down the field, the Tigers finally find the scoreboard on a 3-yard touchdown connection from Payton Thorne to tight end Brandon Frazier.
The drive featured 10 passing attempts — of which six were thrown in the direction of an Auburn tight end.
Auburn tight end Rivaldo Fairweather was the star of the drive, having hauled in four receptions on the drive, good for 41 yards.
Maryland continues to lead 21-7 with 2:34 to play in the second quarter.
2:35 p.m. | Maryland tacks on three points with 49-yard field goal
With just eight seconds left to play in the first half, the Terrapins added three points to its lead thanks to a 49-yard field goal off the foot of Jack Howes.
Maryland leads Auburn 24-7 just before halftime.
2:37 p.m. | Halftime
After one half of play, the Tigers trail the Terrapins 24-7.
While Auburn will receive the ball to open the second half, the Tigers find themselves in a significant hole.
In the first half, Maryland outgained Auburn 269 yards to 125 yards. Meanwhile, Maryland’s pair of backup quarterbacks have combined for a 9-for-16 passing performance, good for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Auburn’s Payton Thorne, on the other hand, is 9-for-19 for 62 yards and a touchdown through one half of play.
3:00 p.m. | Auburn starts the second half with 3-and-out
Auburn having an opportunity to start the second half with possession of the football was good news.
However, it didn’t matter as the Tigers quickly went 3-and-out in their first drive of the second half.
Through three plays, Auburn went backwards 12 yards, forcing Oscar Chapman to punt it away on 4th-and-22.
3:09 p.m. | Payton Thorne tosses a Pick-6
For the second time this season, Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne has tossed a Pick 6 in the City of Nashville. Thorne’s first came on Nov. 4 against Vanderbilt. This one, however, feels considerably worse as Glen Miller’s 44-yard touchdown return deepens Auburn’s hole to 24 points.
Maryland leads Auburn 31-7 with 11:05 to play in the third quarter.
3:15 p.m. | Auburn fumbles the kickoff return
After what felt like the worst possible situation as Thorne watched Glen Miller return his interception for a touchdown, Auburn collapsed again as Brian Battie fumbled the kickoff return, giving Maryland the football back at the Auburn 40-yard line.
3:34 p.m. | Auburn gets its first turnover of the game
Caleb Wooden picked off Cam Edge to give Auburn its first turnover of the game. The interception was the first of Wooden’s career.
Wooden returned the pick out to the Maryland 31-yard line, where the Tigers’ offense took it over from there.
3:52 p.m. | Auburn quarterback Holden Geriner tosses interception
After forcing its first takeaway of the game, Auburn gave up its third turnover shortly after as quarterback Holden Geriner tossed an interception to Maryland’s Lavain Scruggs.
Geriner entered the game earlier in the drive, replacing a struggling Payton Thorne.
The Terrapins’ offense will take the field at its own 5-yard line with 11:01 to play and a comfortable 31-7 lead.
4:08 p.m. | Auburn freshman Hank Brown tosses 53-yard dime to set up TD
Auburn true freshman Hank Brown entered Saturday’s game as the third Tigers’ quarterback to see the field.
On the second pass attempt of his career, Brown connected with Caleb Burton for a 53-yard connection, setting up the Tigers on the Maryland 1-yard line. A plunge from fellow true freshman Jeremiah Cobb gave Auburn its second touchdown of the day.
The Tigers continue to trail the Terrapins 31-13 after a failed 2-point conversion.
4:26 p.m. | FINAL
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley gets dumped on with a cooler of water to seal the Terrapins’ 31-13 win over the Tigers in the 2023 TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
For the first time since 1975-77, the Auburn Tigers have suffered three consecutive losing seasons.
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