Auburn kicker Anders Carlson announced Tuesday night that he underwent successful surgery to repair his left ACL, which he tore three days earlier during Auburn’s 43-34 loss to Mississippi State.
Carlson made the announcement on his Instagram account after having the procedure completed earlier in the day in Pensacola, Fla., at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine.
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“All the time, God is good, and God is good, all the time,” Carlson posted in a caption under a photo of himself giving two thumbs up with his left leg heavily wrapped and in a brace post-surgery. “A successful surgery down in Pensacola, and now the long journey to recovery begins. Walking by faith and not by sight in this season and know the best is to come.”
Carlson tore his ACL late in the fourth quarter of Auburn’s historic collapse against Mississippi State while trying to recover an onside kick attempt with 3:37 to play and the Tigers trailing by nine after a Tank Bigsby touchdown run. Carlson limped off the field after the play, and coach Bryan Harsin on Monday confirmed the severity of Carlson’s injury.
A timeline for Carlson’s recovery has not been disclosed. He still has one year of eligibility remaining after this season -- thanks to the free year granted to athletes due to the pandemic -- but would then be a sixth-year senior. He could also go pro after this season, though it is unknown how the injury would impact that decision and any pre-draft process for the veteran kicker.
A redshirt senior who has been the Tigers’ starting kicker for the last four seasons, Carlson’s 2021 season -- and likely his Auburn career -- ends with him sitting at third on the program’s career scoring list with 352 points. He ranks just behind Wes Byrum’s 363 career points.
During his four seasons as Auburn’s kicker, Carlson made 67-of-93 field goals, with a career-long make of 53 yards, and he connected on 151-of-154 extra-point attempts. Carlson was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in 2020, and he finishes this season making 14-of-21 field goals and 35-of-36 point-after tries.
It is unclear who Auburn will turn to at kicker for the remainder of the season, though left-footed walk-on Ben Patton has been listed as Carlson’s backup on the team’s depth chart throughout the season. Whoever the Tigers settle on, Saturday’s game at South Carolina will mark the first time since the BCS national title game against Florida State at the end of the 2013 season that Auburn will not have a Carlson at kicker.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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