Damari Alston ruled out for Ball State game
AUBURN — Auburn will be without its starting running back Damari Alston for the home opener against Ball State, head coach Hugh Freeze said Thursday.
Jeremiah Cobb will start in Alston’s place. It will be the second start of Cobb’s career. Cobb complimented Alston in the backfield against Baylor, finishing the day with a career-high 16 carries and a career-high 74 yards in the win.
Alston carried the ball 16 times for 84 yards rushing against Baylor. During Monday’s press conference, Freeze noted that the running back entered the week questionable for the Ball State game with a banged up shoulder.
Freeze was asked Thursday if he expected Alston to play Saturday.
“I do not,” he said.
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Depth expected to contribute
UConn transfer Durell Robinson and true freshman Omar Mabson are expected to play.
“He’s learning, I have zero worries about handing him a run play,” Freeze said of Mabson. “It’s just the other things that come with playing that position, in particular the pass [protection].”
Freeze wants to see how Mabson handles pass protection and Ball State’s blitz packages.
“How will he do in those moments?” Freeze said. “That’s not a knock on him, that’s normal. He’s a freshman running back, but excited to see him get some reps.”
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Meanwhile, Robinson saw game action against Baylor. He carried the ball once for three yards rushing.
“No problem with the run game, just being able to do all the things that Damari, comes pretty natural for him and Cobb, because they’ve been in the program a couple years,” Freeze said.
“Making sure there’s a lot of things that happen with O-line calls that they have to be aware of, because that picture changes on the O-line, and if Connor (Lew) changes a protection, there’s a way that he should know that, and is he locked into that? So, that’s what we need to see some growth in, in both of those.”
Auburn kicks off against Ball State at 6:30 p.m. CST on ESPNU Saturday.
