Sooners prepare for healthier Auburn
NEW ORLEANS — Time has healed significant wounds for Auburn quarterback Sean White and the Tigers’ offense, which anticipates a return to prolific midseason form against No. 7 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
“That makes me excited and makes a lot of other people excited, too,” Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson said before practice in New Orleans on Saturday. “Obviously, we can do a lot of great things when we are healthy.”
No. 17 Auburn (8-4) fell in the AP poll from No. 8 during November because of losses in its final two Southeastern Conference games against Georgia and Alabama . Power runner Kamryn Pettway wasn’t able to play against Georgia because of a leg injury and tried to come back for the Iron Bowl, but managed only 17 yards on 12 carries. White missed Auburn’s final two regular season games with a throwing shoulder injury.
Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans said the Sooners are well aware of how a healthy Pettway, who rushed for 1,123 yards and seven touchdowns, will make defending Auburn tougher in the Superdome on Monday night.
“He is a good back and does a lot of great things for them, which is going to be a good challenge for me,” Evans said, adding that he noticed Pettway wasn’t playing or was limited during Auburn’s last two losses.
Added Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, “Pettway is obviously a big part of what they do.”
Sometimes, there is subterfuge regarding the health of key personnel during bowl season, but it certainly sounds like White and Pettway will be ready to go against the Sooners (10-2).
“Coming back to practice, I hadn’t noticed any pain and didn’t have to hold back,” said White, who passed for 1,644 yards and nine touchdowns this season, but hasn’t played a live snap in about seven weeks. “I can make any throw out there.”
GROUP OF FIVE: Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck has no interest in a playoff specifically for Group of Five teams.
Fleck responded Saturday to comments by Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier, who said recently that it’s time for a conversation about creating a playoff for the Group of Five. Northern Illinois is in the Mid-American Conference with Western Michigan.
Fleck, whose undefeated MAC champion Broncos (13-0) play Wisconsin (10-3) in the Cotton Bowl on Monday, said he loves the mix of the Group of Five and the Power Five leagues. He calls a Group of Five national championship “ridiculous.”
“I think the way it is, is perfect. If you’re in the Group of Five, if you can go undefeated two years in a row, you deserve to be in a national championship and you’ll find your way into the national championship,” Fleck said.
MINNESOTA: Gophers coach Tracy Claeys is scheduled to meet with athletic director Mark Coyle on Tuesday, preceding any announcement on Claeys’ future, three people familiar with the situation said this weekend. All three said they remain unsure whether Claeys will be fired or retained for 2017, as the team’s 9-4 finish this season has been clouded by the fallout from an alleged Sept. 2 sexual assault.
FLORIDA STATE: Dalvin Cook, a junior from Miami who will likely be a first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, has decided to forgo his senior season and become a professional. He made the news official on Saturday in a live broadcast from his Instagram account, a day after playing his final college game in front of family and friends in a 33-32 Orange Bowl victory against Michigan.
KENTUCKY: Kentucky running back Stanley “Boom” Williams is turning pro. Williams announced after the TaxSlayer Bowl on Saturday that he plans to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. He said he finalized his decision Friday and told coach Mark Stoops after the game.