Coming off a leg injury that sidelined him his entire freshman year, running back Mark-Antony Richards was the talk of fall camp. He was lauded for his ability to not only run the ball patiently and well, but to be able to catch the ball well out of the backfield.

But as the season kicked off, Richards was nowhere to be seen on the Auburn offense.

He didn’t receive his first carry until Auburn had secured its blowout victory over LSU and he came into the game with backup quarterback Grant Loy.

With Tank Bigsby and D.J. Williams banged up and the game all but over, Auburn utilized Richards in the fourth quarter and gave him his first extended playing time since arriving at Auburn.

Richards responded by carrying the ball 14 times for 57 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

Bo Nix thought the redshirt freshman played well in his first true test.

“I thought he did a good job hitting the holes with speed and physicality, and our offensive line did a good job of giving him those running lanes and continuing to battle throughout the game,” Nix said. “They continued to lean on them and push them, and because of that there at the end, we got some running lanes and we were able to run the ball a little bit.”

Bigsby came into the game questionable with a hip injury, but ended up playing.

He carried the ball 11 times, but wasn’t his usual self, totaling just 39 yards and not looking as explosive as earlier in the year.

“Yeah, I mean, he [Bigsby] and Brodarious [Hamm] both are two guys that practiced a bit on Thursday. It was a game-time decision,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “They showed a lot of guts and heart and gave it their all. But obviously, you can see Tank, he's not close to 100 percent.”

And Williams, who’s been battling injuries all season long got hurt early in the game and did not return. He spent the rest of the game limping on the sideline with his ankle taped up.

“And then D.J. got banged up in the first quarter, too, and wasn't able to return,” Malzahn said. “So we'll need to get healed up this next week.”

If the Tigers are unable to get healed up as Malzahn hopes, Richards may continue to see more playing time with just him and Shaun Shivers the only healthy running backs on the roster.