Champ Anthony injury update: Tigers safety status revealed on Auburn-Vanderbilt Wednesday report

Auburn will travel to No. 16 Vanderbilt to take on the Commodores in Nashville during Week 11. It will be the first game back for the Tigers after firing former head coach Hugh Freeze.

With game day swiftly approaching, both teams have revealed the latest on their injury front during the SEC’s Wednesday availability report. Read the entire list below:

Auburn

Out:
CB Champ Anthony
WR Horatio Fields
WR Sam Turner
CB Donovan Starr
OL Connor Lew

Questionable:
LB Elijah Melendez
K Connor Gibbs
TE Brandon Frazier
DL Jourdin Crawford

Vanderbilt

Questionable:
S Dontae Carter

Out:
DL Yilanan Ouattara
QB Drew Dickey
RB Chase Gillespie
DB Vanzale Hinton
DL Nikhil Jefferson

One major question of Auburn heading into the week was the status of team captain, safety Champ Anthony. He was reportedly seen on crutches during Tuesday’s practice after sustaining an injury against Kentucky last weekend. It’s the second season in a row that Anthony is dealing with a leg injury.

Additionally, LB Elijah Melendez was not practicing in pads on Tuesday. He’s recovering from a head injury stemming from Week 10’s game vs. the Wildcats. WR Horatio Fields, C Connor Lew, and DL Jourdin Crawford all missed last week’s matchup.

Meanwhile, the Commodores only had five players miss last weekend’s game on the road vs. Texas. That includes DL Yilanan Ouattara, QB Drew Dickey, RB Chase Gillespie, DB Vanzale Hinton and Nikhil Jefferson.

Vanderbilt is coming off its second loss of the season — a 34-31 loss to the Longhorns on the road. The Commodores scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, but Texas’ initial lead proved to be too much for Diego Pavia and company. Texas began the game with a 24-3 lead.

For Auburn, their 10-3 loss to Kentucky triggered the Tigers’ athletic department to make the call and part ways with Hugh Freeze. Freeze was in his third season coaching Auburn, but never won more than six games in a single season. DJ Durkin will take over Freeze’s position on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

Winning this game is mandatory for Vanderbilt, as a loss would drop the Commodores out of the College Football Playoff race. With two losses already to Alabama and now Texas, Vanderbilt cannot afford to lose to an unranked Auburn team at home.

This will also be a must-win matchup from Auburn’s perspective. With three games remaining, Auburn’s 4-5 record means the Tigers will have to win at least two of those matchups to qualify for a bowl game. With Mercer and Alabama on the docket after Vanderbilt, beating the Commodores would go a long way in achieving that goal.

The next Auburn at Vanderbilt Week 11 injury report will be made available on Thursday. Kickoff is slated for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.