Tank named SEC freshman of the week

Published 11:47 pm Monday, October 26, 2020

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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It hasn’t taken former Callaway Cavalier Tank Bigsby long to become an indispensable member of the Auburn offense.

Bigsby became a starter in week two, and he has been the team’s leading rusher in all but one game this season.

In Saturday’s 35-28 road win over Ole Miss, Bigsby ran for 129 yards on 24 attempts with two touchdowns, and he was named the Southeastern Conference freshman of the week.

Bigsby also returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, but that score was negated be cause of a penalty.

Gus Malzahn, Auburn’s head coach, said Bigsby is “running with passion. He’s breaking tackles. I think he came into this game tied for first in the country in breaking tackles. He’s continuing to do that.”

Bigsby has run for at least 100 yards in three SEC games, making him just the third Auburn freshman to accomplish that, and one of those players is Bo Jackson.

Making that feat even more impressive, Bigsby has reached the 100-yard mark it in three straight games, and he still has five more SEC games to play.

For the season, Bigsby has 74 carries for 432 yards, good for an average of 5.8 yards an attempt, and he has three touchdowns.

Bigsby has also caught 11 passes for 84 yards.

Many of Bigsby’s yards have come after contact, which isn’t surprising to those who watched him routinely shrug off tackle attempts during his time at Callaway.