Towns McGough injury update: Hugh Freeze shares where Auburn kicker stands in recovery

There is arguably no position that struggles more with consistency at the college level than the kicker position. Despite that, teams are often forced to rely on the kicking game. That’s likely why there was so much concern surrounding the injury to Auburn Tigers kicker Towns McGough.

Luckily, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was able to share a mostly positive update at the start of the week. Nothing is certain yet, but it appears as though McGough is going to be able to bounce back from what Freeze described has tweaking his ankle relatively quickly.

“I think he’ll be okay,” Hugh Freeze said. “This week he was moving around pretty decently this morning. It’s just his foot caught the turf and it kind of tweaked his ankle. But I think he’ll be okay.”

The injury seemed to occur on a field goal attempt during Auburn’s win over Ball State. On a field goal attempt, he seemed to get his foot jammed up in the ground. That led to him chunking the kick and injuring that ankle. Obviously, an important injury to a kicker, there was some initial concern that McGough would miss time. That doesn’t appear to be the case now.

Hugh Freeze has already dealt with kicker injuries during his time at Auburn. Last season, kicker Alex McPherson missed the majority of the season with ongoing gastrointestinal issues. To replace him, Freeze turned to Towns McGough and Ian Vachon. For his part, Vachon has now transferred out of the program. McPherson has now returned and is hoping to become one of the better kickers in the country.

In the playing time he has earned over his career, McGough is 27 for 27 kicking extra points. He’s also now 5 for 13 on field goals, including the miss on the play he injured his ankle. McPherson, meanwhile, is 63 for 63 on extra points in his career. He’s also 21 of 23 on his career for field goal attempts.

Luckily, McPherson is able to play this season. However, Freeze has kept that to a relatively limited role. In the opening weeks, he’s handled short-range kicks. McGough, on the other hand, has taken care of kickoff duties. McGough also took care of the 52-yard field goal attempt against Ball State, which was when he got injured. Now, Southern Miss transfer Connor Gibbs is also providing depth beyond that.

Towns McGough first came to Auburn as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2024. An Auburn, Alabama native, McGough was the 2,363rd-ranked prospect overall and the top-ranked kicker in that recruiting cycle. The expectation is that he will eventually become the team’s primary kicker.