Auburn not expecting Boobee Whitlow back to full health against Ole Miss

Auburn starting tailback Boobee Whitlow’s return to action against LSU shocked most fans, considering the redshirt sophomore had been ruled out at least a month after undergoing knee surgery Oct. 8.

In the loss to LSU, his role was obviously limited: three carries for 9 yards. And Auburn isn’t expecting much more this Saturday against Ole Miss (6 p.m. CST, ESPN).

“Boobee (Whitlow) is not 100 percent and he won’t be 100 percent this week,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday. “... (Whitlow is) not in the shape that we need. He was on a limited basis by design and it’ll probably be something like that this week, too.”

Granted, Auburn’s RB1 against LSU didn’t disappoint. True freshman D.J. Williams totaled 151 yards from scrimmage — more than Whitlow has had in a game this season — on his way to earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

“He handled it like he’s been here,” receiver Seth Williams said of D.J. Williams. “He handled it like a veteran. I feel like he’s got more big things to come.”

So the freshman is theoretically Auburn’s lead back with Whitlow still working back to full strength, but Malzahn said he’ll still look at the other backs on the roster to have roles moving forward.

Senior Kam Martin was the first ‘back on the field against LSU, carried for 2 yards on the opening drive, then didn’t touch the ball again. Shaun Shivers had the second-best production behind D.J. Williams with four carries for 22 yards, followed by Malik Miller’s one carry for 1 yard.

“That was [D.J. Williams’] first extended play so we’ll see how practice goes,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got some other guys that we feel good about, too. We’ll see how practice goes and we’ll have a good plan. Probably after Thursday’s practice, we’ll know what we’re going to do.”

Ole Miss isn’t an elite defense overall, but it’s performing well against the run under first-year coordinator Mike MacIntyre, holding opponents to 3.65 yards per rush. That ranks fourth in the SEC, just behind Auburn.

“We’re a run, play-action team,” Malzahn said. “We need to be effective running the football. We need to continue that streak, and that will be a challenge.”