With Towns McGough struggling and Alex McPherson still struggling with his illness, Hugh Freeze made the decision to go with Ian Vachon as the placekicker for Auburn in the Tigers' 48-14 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.

The walk-on from Birmingham-Southern had a perfect debut, making field goals from 22 and 26 yards while nailing all six extra points. So, will Freeze keep Vachon as the primary kicker going into this Saturday's matchup against No. 14/15 Texas A&M?

"Yeah," the Auburn coach said. "It'd be hard to take it from him at this point. Currently, Ian is batting 1,000. Those have been critical plays in some of our losses that had we made those, the whole dynamic of that game at that point kind of changes. So we're not going to take the ball out of his hands right now."

How did the Huntsville, Ala., native find out he would get the chance this past Saturday? Well, special teams coordinator Tanner Burns let some other important people know first.

"I found out Thursday afternoon, but my parents found out Tuesday morning," Vachon said. They knew but kept it a secret from me so Coach Burns could tell me. He wanted to make sure they would be coming to the game. They said it was very difficult to keep that secret from me, but when they told me, I was so happy, and my parents were ecstatic. It was definitely a relief getting the news, and I am so glad I got to do this."

Even without playing time before Saturday, Vachon said putting on the Auburn orange and blue has been a blessing. The fact that he is even wearing a football uniform this fall is impressive considering that Birmingham-Southern shut down following last academic year. Actually, Vachon had no intentions of playing this season.

"I was actually working over the summer," he said. "I wasn't going to go to school. I was just going to stay and work, but then I got a call in July, came down here and started kicking and got on the team."

Not that Freeze and this coaching staff have lost total confidence in McGough. It's just a part of being a freshman playing college football.

"I think Towns is going to be outstanding," Freeze said. "He's a young freshman, and all of our freshmen are making mistakes that are playing. Kickers probably get more magnified than the DBs or defensive linemen. I want to be sure everyone hears me loud and clear; I think his future is extremely bright. You don't get that type of leg strength often."

As for Vachon's current role on the team, Freeze knows a feel-good narrative when he sees one.

"Proud of him, it's a great story," the coach said. "He came through when he got his number called Saturday, so he'll get another chance."