AUBURN | Alex McPherson was perfect on the field last season.

But the offseason has been a series of setbacks for Auburn’s sophomore kicker. He missed most of spring drills with a hamstring injury and has dealt with an illness this summer that sapped his energy and caused him to lose a lot of weight.

After getting a proper diagnosis and treatment, McPherson has been on the road to recovery over the last several weeks.

“It was a slow process to get him to where he’s at now,” said special teams coordinator Tanner Burns. “But I think he weighs a little over 140 now. So he’s gaining that weight, he’s starting to kick. Really kind of amping that up this week. Health-wise and everything, he’s back to being himself.”

McPherson made all 13 of his field goal attempts last fall including a 53-yarder against Texas A&M. He also made all 40 of his PAT’s, earning Freshman All-American honors.

He’s been unable to participate during fall camp but was will still out there with his teammates.

“He’s getting better. A lot of ice cream. Putting a lot of pounds on through the ice cream,” said long snapper Reed Hughes. “From the outside looking in, it was kinda hard to watch because he wants to be out there with us. He wants to do all the practice reps. He wants to get everything going with us, and he just couldn’t.

“Watching him have to put on that face of he’s being positive, he’s here with us, it was inspiring, really, because he was going through a lot, losing a lot of weight. And yet he was right there with us cheering us on. So that was really cool to see. That says a lot about his character and what kind of person he is.”

McPherson’s coaches and teammates are expecting him to be back this season. Freshman Town McGough, who was a standout in the spring and has continued to perform well, will handle the kicking duties until McPherson is ready to return.

“It’s been great for those younger guys in the room to have his veteran presence,” said Burns. “Even though he’s just a redshirt sophomore, they all respect him as a player. When he says something, it holds weight. So it’s been great to have him back more around the guys than maybe he was this summer or late spring.”

Auburn opens the season Aug. 31 against Alabama A&M. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+/SECN+.