Auburn will do something the program hasn’t done since the 2013 National Championship game against Florida State when the Tigers travel to South Carolina for Saturday’s 6 p.m. C.T. contest against the Gamecocks.
The Tigers have to play a game without a Carlson kicking off since Anders Carlson got injured on an onsides kick in the fourth quarter of the loss against Mississippi State.
Anders’ older brother Daniel handled kickoffs and field goals from 2013-2017. Anders took the reigns in 2018 and has held it down until his ACL injury requires season-ending surgery.
Carlson was 14-21 on field goals and 34-35 on extra points. He was even better last season at 20-22 and was 2-3 from 50 yards or more.
Ben Patton will likely take Carlson’s place. Patton hasn’t attempted a field goal but has three extra-point makes. There’s a lot of focus on TJ Finley replacing Bo Nix, but a close game could come down to a field goal. Also, Carlson had touchbacks on over 60 percent of his kicks, which is 41st in the nation. He kicked the ball out of bounds for the only time this season after Auburn’s first touchdown in the Miss St loss.
Auburn’s kicker will have a lot of pressure on him on a Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. An errant kick could lead to advantageous field position for South Carolina.
Redshirt freshman Evan McGuire is another kicker on the roster. Teams typically prefer to have a singular placekicker. However, the Tigers could split duties between Patton and McGuire or utilize punter Oscar Chapman on kickoffs without Carlson.
Harsin initially didn’t commit to Patton in his chat with reporters.
“We’ll work through our kicking game and who’s going to kick off and who will kick field goals and who will do all those things with Anders being out,” Harsin said. “But we’ve got to get through this week of practice before we get too far into who’s doing what and where we’re going to go as far as our specialists go with Anders being out.”
Harsin took a deep breath and strongly hinted at Patton being the guy.
“Ben’s done a good job. I like Ben. Ben works hard. He’s prepared. I know he’s going to get his opportunity,” Harsin said. “If that’s the case, then he’s going to be ready to go. He’s going to go out there and practice well and put himself go in the game and be ready to kick mentally ready to kick. So we’ll see what that looks like this week of practice and go from there.”
Get to the television or in your seat if you’re fortunate enough to grab tickets early because the kickoff might be a sign of change for the Tigers.
Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nwilborn19
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