Brahms has 'amazing' return after three years
AUBURN | On just the seventh play of his college career, Nick Brahms snapped the ball, drove Arkansas defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall several yards out of the way and watched JaTarvious Whitlow scamper five yards untouched into the end zone to give Auburn an early 7-0 lead.
It would turn out to be all the points the ninth-ranked Tigers would need in Saturday night’s 34-3 win over the Razorbacks.
“Everything I’ve been through, it meant a lot to go out there and start again. It was amazing,” Brahms said.
It had been three years since Brahms last started a game as a junior at Navarre (Fla.) High School in 2015. He missed his senior year after breaking his right fibula in preseason drills, redshirted last year at Auburn and then underwent surgery in March after breaking his left fibula during spring drills.
He was cleared for full contact the last couple of weeks of preseason practice and served as a backup to junior Kaleb Kim the first three games of the season before starting his first college game against Arkansas.
“Just in practice he’s came on,” said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn of the decision to start Brahms. “He’s been close. He wasn’t healthy until about 3-4 weeks ago so it was just a matter of giving him some reps with the ones. We did that the last two weeks and just felt like he was ready to take over that position.”
Brahms put in four solid quarters of work at center, something he wouldn’t have been able to do a few weeks ago.
“I had to get in shape. Football shape is different than regular shape. I had to do all that but I’m 100 percent now,” Brahms said.
Auburn’s offense operates out of the shotgun most of the time and Brahms appeared to be consistent with his snaps the entire game.
“Obviously, collectively as a unit we’ve got a lot of things to work on. But for his first time out there, I thought he did really well,” quarterback Jarrett Stidham said.
Brahms was also tasked with making the majority of the calls on the offensive line even with veterans Marquel Harrell and Mike Horton flanking him at guard.
“They were relying 100 percent on me to make the calls and even if I was wrong, I was right. That’s basically what they were saying coming into the game. We were on the same page. I think the communication was good,” Brahms said.
The Tigers managed just 225 yards of total offense including 91 rushing yards on 36 attempts, an average of 2.5 yards per carry. The running game has been the Achilles heel of the offense through the first part of the season and remains a work in progress.
“Nick, I thought, did a good job just as far as looking right now with the eye before looking at the film,” Malzahn said. “Anytime you’ve got a new center, it may take a little bit. But if that group stays healthy, we will continue to get better.”
Auburn returns to action next Saturday against Southern Miss. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.