Hugh Freeze provides update on status of DJ James, Nehemiah Pritchett and Marcus Harris for Music City Bowl
Ahead of the Music City Bowl, Hugh Freeze has provided an update on the status of an important defensive trio for the Auburn Tigers.
DJ James, Nehemiah Pritchett and Marcus Harris are looking to continue their football careers elsewhere, and it’s evident they don’t want to jeopardize an injury. According to Freeze, they won’t play against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, Dec. 30.
“I believe DJ and Pritchett will not play, as I believe that about Marcus Harris also. Those guys will decide to opt out,” Freeze revealed, via Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live.
Continuing, Hokanson added that Freeze also said, “the rest will play as long as they are healthy enough to play.”
On the season, Harris has accumulated 21 solo tackles, seven sacks and one forced fumble. Meanwhile, James has amassed 30 solo tackles, two interceptions and nine passes defensed, wile Pritchett has added 19 solo tackles, three passes defenses and an interceptions, as well.
Alas, it remains to be seen who replaces these valuable players for Auburn, but the Tigers will certainly miss having them on the field later this month against Maryland.
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Moreover, Auburn opened as a 2.5-point favorite over Maryland per the lines at FanDuel. The over/under for the matchup is at 48.5 points.
Bowl eligibility is a positive step for Auburn in their first season of Hugh Freeze’s tenure. It’s also a significant appearance for Freeze himself based on an incentive in his contract.
It has been two years since the Tigers last appeared in the postseason. They missed out on a bowl berth by one game last year in Bryan Harsin’s final campaign.
The Tigers might be feeling even better about their season had their last two games not gone how they had. At 6-4, they had two chances inside Jordan-Hare to win as many as eight games. Instead, New Mexico State and Alabama both stunned them in different fashions to bring their record down to .500 in 2023.
Their offense often let a lot to be desired with far more traction in the run game than the pass. However, they still posted a Top-40 unit on defense by allowing just 21.9 points per game on the year.
On the other side, Maryland still managed to win one more game after their season went off the rails at the start of October. After a 5-0 start, the Terrapins dropped five of their final seven, albeit with three defeats coming to Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State, to end their campaign.
Maryland’s offense will look to hang some points on Auburn behind the arm of Taulia Tagovailoa, a quarterback who has a brother that the Tigers are very familiar with. He just finished a senior season where he threw for over 3,300 yards and 25 touchdowns.