Barber 'Can't wait' for night game

OXFORD, Ala. — D'Angelo Barber's seen plenty of Auburn games.

Saturday's contest against Ole Miss will be different. It's not an 11 a.m. kickoff, it's not a 2:30 p.m. kickoff, but rather a 6 p.m. kickoff. Barber knows what this means — Jordan Hare Stadium will be rocking.

"Auburn never ceases to amaze you with the game experience," Barber said. "I can't wait to see it because I know the night time environment will be even crazier. Everybody will have the whole day to rest, or do whatever they need to do, to come out there with as much energy as they can."

Auburn will try to feed off that energy as the Tigers try to knock off No. 13 Ole Miss. It's the third straight ranked opponent for Auburn, which saw its defense give up 48 points on the road to LSU last week.

"They had a slip up last week, but I feel like they’re gonna get back on track this week," Barber said. "Especially with it being another [SEC] opponent and them knowing what’s at stake with this year, trying to qualify for a bowl game at the end so I think it’ll be pretty good."

Before Barber suits up for the Tigers, the 6-foot-1 linebacker commit still has to finish out his career at Clay Chalkville. The Cougars took a huge step in their 2023 campaign Friday night, claiming a region championship with a 28-14 victory over Oxford.

"It was just a fun game, great teamwork overall, just a hard fought battle," Barber said. "Even with them trying to make a push at the end, we just persevered through adversity."

It's the third straight region championship for Clay Chalkville, as its undefeated season continues.

Barber also spoke highly of linebackers' coach Josh Aldridge, and the work that he's done since arriving on the Plains. Auburn's built a strong linebacker room in the 2024 class, with three four-star commits, and did so through constant communication.

"When [Aldridge] got in, from day one that he was able to contact me and get my information, it was just constant talking, constant text messages, constant calls, just everyday," Barber said. "When July 4 came and it was decision day for me, it was just a no brainer that I knew that was the place I was gonna call home."