All good things must come to an end. If Auburn could play every game in Jordan-Hare Stadium, I'm sure it would.
The Tigers were given five straight home games to start their season. Five straight games in front of their own screaming fans. However, all good things must come to an end — and it ends with LSU.
Auburn has a chance to do something it has not done since the '90s: win three straight against LSU. It's setting up to be another classic Tiger Bowl, which means its time for the AuburnSports.com WAR ROOM presented by Lynch Toyota of Auburn.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
This weekend is the last weekend for recruits to see game action in Jordan-Hare in basically a month. Auburn is welcoming some big-time recruits, looking to make a lasting impression before hitting the road.
There will be several official visitors, lots of unofficial visitors and a couple visitors where winning this head-to-head matchup against LSU is crucial.
OFFICIAL VISITORS
Getting 4-star corner back Tony Mitchell on campus is massive for Auburn, especially for an official visit. It appears that while committed to Alabama, he's still somewhat open to checking out his options. This weekend will be one of three official visits he's set for this fall, alongside Alabama and Texas A&M.
Arkansas commit Alex Sanford will be on an official visit this weekend, taking a closer look at the Auburn program. Initially with a top three schools of Arkansas, Tennessee and Jackson State, it seems that Auburn has made its way into the discussion at this point in time.
There's at least some interest from Sanford in seeing what the Tigers have to offer, as Auburn looks to flip him from the SEC foe.
Bradyn Joiner, who is Auburn's longest-tenured commit in the 2023 class, will take his official visit this weekend. He's been committed since January and has not missed a home game yet.
BIG-TIME VISITORS
Along with official visitors, there are a number of high-profile unofficial visitors this weekend. If Auburn can flip or land some of them, that could send the Tigers up several spots in the SEC recruiting rankings.
One recruit that this game is particularly interesting for is defensive lineman Darron Reed, who's an LSU commit. This will be Reed's third trip to Auburn during the five-game home stand, as he visited for the Mercer game, the Penn State game and now the LSU game.
An Auburn win could go a long way, especially if the defensive line shows up.
Keldric Faulk will make another trip to Auburn after visiting for the San Jose State game a few weeks back. He's close with edge coach Roc Bellantoni, who is not giving up on Faulk yet. Faulk knows this and wants to go where he feels most wanted.
Right now, it's Auburn and Florida State giving him that feel. The Tigers are still behind Florida State, but do not count them out just yet. It's also likely that if Faulk shows, so will his brother, Jakaleb Faulk, who's a target in the 2025 class.
Currently committed to Georgia, Gabriel Harris is another edge target that Auburn is after. With the recent commitment of Adam Hopkins, Harris now has ties to Auburn, as the two grew up together and were teammates before Harris transferred to the IMG Academy.
He took an official visit to Auburn in the summer, two months after he committed to Georgia. Along with the coaching staff, Hopkins is also working to flip his childhood friend Harris.
The combo of James Smith and Qua Russaw has been a common sight on Auburn's campus this season. Smith and Russaw are good friends and teammates out of Carver Montgomery, looking to go as a package deal to whatever school they choose.
There are a lot of options, but Auburn certainly looks to be one in play. They were last in town for the Penn State game and Smith indicated he expected more from the Tigers in that one, so it will be important for Auburn to show significant improvement on the field this weekend.
Miami native Rueben Bain will make his first trip to Auburn since his official visit back in June. Auburn is considered to be in the hunt for the 4-star edge rusher, who the Tigers have preached their need for him.
Bain is also looking at Alabama, Florida State, Miami, Louisville and USC.
Michigan State commit Clay Wedin was scheduled for an official visit to Auburn back in the summer, before calling it off due to his commitment to the Spartans. Nonetheless, Auburn is a place he's been several times, with his latest trip in March.
It's no secret that Auburn needs offensive lineman, something that the Tigers can use to their advantage when making a pitch to Wedin as to why he should flip.
THE LANGSTON FIVE
Led by Auburn safety commit Terrance Love, five high-priority targets for Auburn from Langston Hughes High School will be in attendance.
Love is the only one currently committed to Auburn, but he's working to change that. Tight end Jelani Thurman may be the most likely to flip out of the crew, as Love is pushing hard for Thurman to join him.
The rest of the Langston Five includes 2023 defensive lineman Joshua Horton, 2023 offensive lineman Johnathan Hughley and 2024 quarterback Air Noland.
Horton is committed to North Carolina, but Auburn was in his top schools prior to commitment. The Tigers may not be out of the race, but certainly have ground to make up.
Auburn can preach playing time to Hughley, who is a mountain at 6-foot-7 and could help the Tigers out on the offensive line. He's been committed to Georgia for well over a year, but he's taken numerous trips to Auburn since his commitment.
Auburn already has one quarterback in its 2024 class, but seeing how things have gone this season, it might not be a bad idea to take a second one, especially since it's looking like the Tigers may not take one in the 2023 class.
Enter, Air Noland.
Noland has been to Auburn several times and has a "great relationship" with the coaching staff.
COMMITS ARE COMING
Several Auburn commits outside of Joiner and Love are scheduled to attend.
Running back Jeremiah Cobb, who is on pace for a third consecutive 2,000-yards rushing season, headlines the group.
Adam Hopkins, previously mentioned, will return for a second consecutive week. The Thomasville, Ga., native will be busy during his trip, as he'll be working on flipping his childhood friend Gabriel Harris from Georgia.
Daquayvious Sorey will make the trip from Chipley, Fla., back to his future home. The wide receiver is completely shut down in his recruitment, meaning he is all Auburn and not looking anywhere else.
It's a shorter drive than Sorey for Jacorious "JC" Hart, who's making the 15 minute commute from Loachapoka, which has become a weekly routine for the corner back commit.
The kickstarter for the 2024 class, A'Mon Lane will attend the Tigers' final game of the five-game home stand. He'll make his first trip back since the Penn State game two weeks ago.
OTHER 2023 VISITORS
Ohio State commit Cedrick Hawkins took an official visit to Auburn in June and makes his return this weekend. Auburn will continue to work in order to make up ground for the Rivals 250 safety.
Stanquan Clark committed to Louisville a little more than a month and a half ago, and with the Cardinals on the road tomorrow, it's given him an opportunity to visit elsewhere.
With over 25 offers, Clark is rated as the No. 11 outside linebacker in the 2023 class and the Tigers are knocking on the door, hoping he'll listen to what they have to say.
This weekend will be another unofficial visit for Pike Road, Ala., native Vysen Lang, who has become quite familiar with the coaching staff. He's spent a good bit of time on campus, but Lang is still exploring his options. Similar to Darron Reed, this is a crucial matchup for Auburn on the field.
He visited LSU several weeks back unofficially, but after the visit said that an official visit was "coming soon". Lang is also fresh off an official visit to Tennessee, where it appears the Vols made quite the impression.
Ta'Derius Collins is planning on dropping a top five or top six schools at the beginning of November. Auburn is looking for this weekend to make a good enough impact to make that cut.
He's used two of his five official visits, one to Baylor and the other to Indiana. We'll see if this weekend is enough to convince him to use a third official visit on Auburn.
More 2023 recruits that will be in attendance include wide receiver Edwin Joseph, running back Khalifa Keith, offensive lineman Adrian Griffin and offensive lineman Barrett Maddox.
CANNOT IGNORE THE 24s
There is a plethora of top recruits in the 2024 class attending this weekend. Lots of in-state guys and lots of out-of-state guys.
J'Marion Burnette is one of those in-state guys that Auburn's been taking a good look at. He's visited Auburn already this season, for the Penn State game, and is set to make his return this weekend.
Brauntae "Tae Tae" Johnson received the Auburn offer earlier this month and will make his first trip to the Plains this weekend.
Out of Fort Wayne, In., he's collected over 15 offers with notable ones from Cincinnati, Michigan State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee and Ohio State.
The No. 2 player in Indiana is another product from the Midwestern state that Auburn is keeping an eye on. He's never made a trip to Auburn and picked up the offer a little over a month ago, so getting him on campus is a productive early step for the Tigers.
Jeremiah Beaman was in Auburn for the first game of the home stand and will be there for the last. He's trained alongside current Auburn defensive lineman Jayson Jones in Birmingham and is in the beginning stages of building a solid relationship with d-line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh.
Auburn is looking to get ahead in his recruitment and so far, it looks like the Tigers have progressed well.
Alabama, Texas and Texas A&M are some schools drawing interest from Kamarion Franklin, with Auburn being another stop to see what the Tigers have to offer. The No. 1 player in Mississippi is already 6-foot-6 as a junior and has over 20 offers.
Lawayne McCoy picked up the Auburn offer Thursday and on Saturday, he'll be in Auburn for the LSU game. Auburn is the third SEC school to offer him out of his eight offers, meaning the Tigers have an opportunity to be an early standout.
Zion Ferguson is another LSU commit attending the game. Auburn is certainly closer to home for Ferguson, who's from Loganville, Ga., and the Tigers need to use that to their advantage.
The commitment to LSU was recent and Auburn is looking to give Ferguson a reason to think about the home team Tigers this weekend.
One of the best prospects in Alabama for the 2024 class, Sterling Dixon has interest from Alabama, USC and LSU outside of Auburn. In a recent talk with TideIllustrated, he mentioned that Auburn and LSU are the ones "really making their voices heard."
He also mentioned that he would not mind playing alongside Auburn target Kavion Henderson, who is set to announce his commitment Nov. 6.
A pair of Central High standouts will also be in attendance this weekend. Cameron Coleman and Jayden Coleman, the No. 24 and No. 22 players in the state, are set to visit.
Cameron visited Alabama last week for the Vanderbilt game. Jayden recently dropped his top 10 and Auburn made the cut. He most recently visited Tennessee for the Florida game.
JacQawn McRoy picked up the Auburn offer at a camp in the summer, and made his return to Auburn two weeks ago for the Penn State game. This weekend will mark another visit for the 6-foot-8 offensive lineman out of Pinson, Ala.
Kaleb Harris picked up the Auburn offer a little over a month ago. He's got 14 offers now, with notable ones from Arkansas, LSU, Michigan State, South Carolina and UCF.
Malik Blocton did some double-dipping last week, attending Auburn's game against Missouri before heading across the state to Alabama's game against Vanderbilt.
There have been five home games for Auburn to open the season and Blocton has been at all five. His brother is Marcus Harris and the relationships with the coaching staff continue to grow for the Pike Road, Ala., native.
