SEC play has arrived.
Auburn takes on Arkansas to open up its conference slate Saturday, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. Plenty of recruits will once again be on campus, meaning it's time for an AuburnSports.com WAR ROOM, presented by Lynch Toyota of Auburn.
Let's get into it.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
We've already seen three impressive weekends of visitors, but with an SEC opponent coming to town, it's no surprise that this one is the best-looking list of expected visitors. There will be one official visitor, several flip targets and plenty of highly-rated 2026 prospects on campus.
COMMITS ARE COMING
2025: WR Derick Smith, RB Alvin Henderson, DE Jared Smith, LB Bryce Deas, CB Blake Woodby, TE Ryan Ghea, TE Hollis Davidson, S Eric Winters, LB Elijah Melendez, S Anquon Fegans, OL Jacobe Ward, OL Tavaris Dice, OL Tai Buster, LB Jakaleb Faulk, P John McGuire
2026: S Wayne Henry, LB Jamichael Garrett, BUCK Hezekiah Harris, LB Shadarius Toodle
OFFICIAL VISITOR
Nelson McGuire is the only official visitor this weekend. He's originally from Midlothian, Texas, and spent about two weeks committed to Minnesota in June before reopening his recruitment. Since reopening his recruitment, the 6-foot-5 offensive guard picked up several SEC offers, including Auburn earlier this month.
BIG DOGS ARE COMING
There are some big-time flip targets expected on campus this weekend, with none other than Deuce Knight expected to visit Auburn for the third time in four weeks. This is a good sign for Auburn, which is also set to host Knight for an official visit next weekend.
Auburn still remains in a good spot to flip the Notre Dame commit, but if Knight isn't in the class by the end of this month, that aforementioned good spot could start to slip away.
Caleb Cunningham is expected to be on campus for the first time since making his commitment to Alabama in mid-July. It's important to look at who he's on campus with — him and Knight talk often. If Knight ends up flipping to Auburn, this could become an interesting storyline to watch.
Cunningham did name Auburn his leader at some point, after all, before later committing to the Crimson Tide.
Auburn is expected to welcome back Georgia Tech commit Samuel Turner for another visit, one week prior to his official visit. This is someone the Tigers have been working to flip for months, as Turner moved quickly up Auburn's board after an impressive summer. He's expected to visit Georgia Tech next month as well, as there will be a date at some point where Turner either shuts it down or flips.
Shamar Arnoux is expected to make his game day visit debut this season, as the USC cornerback commit returns to Auburn for the first time since Big Cat Weekend. He committed to USC back in June, but continues to take visits.
Auburn stays in contact with Arnoux, and cornerbacks coach Wesley McGriff was at the Carrollton—Parker game Friday night keeping his eyes on him, along with Na'eem Offord.
One of several St. Frances players expected to visit for the Arkansas game, Darrion Smith committed to Tennessee in late July. The next day, Auburn offered the 6-foot-3 defensive tackle.
He'll be on campus for his first Auburn game experience with three of his teammates and current Auburn commits Blake Woodby, Bryce Deas and 2026 safety Wayne Henry.
Erick Smith returns to Auburn for another game day visit, as the Tigers could be close to adding the second Smith brother to its 2025 class. Both Auburn and Alabama offered toward the end of the summer, but all signs point to the Tigers having the advantage in this one.
CAN'T FORGET 2026
There's a whole crew of playmakers coming from St. Frances in Baltimore and 2026 safety Jireh Edwards is one of them. Rated as the No. 19 overall player in the country, Edwards will be on campus with his three committed teammates and the defensive tackle Smith.
This will be the first trip to Auburn for Edwards, who was offered in January of this year.
Returning to campus for the first time since Big Cat Weekend and the highest-rated player in the 2026 class expected to visit, Jordan Carter is taking his time. He wants to make sure that all the schools that are giving him attention get a chance and Auburn's doing exactly what it needs to.
He loves head coach Hugh Freeze and defensive ends coach Josh Aldridge, they communicate regularly and make him feel like a priority.
Following an impressive summer, Zyan Gibson is jumping up the rankings. He's up to No. 119 nationally and is an in-state prospect — something that we know Freeze has prioritized in his recruiting philosophy. We'll see what kind of move Auburn can make with Gibson this weekend.
Kaiden Prothro is seeing every side of Auburn.
He was on campus back in March to catch a spring practice, returned right before the dead period in late July and now is expected to make a game day appearance. He's close with tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua, as Auburn seeks at least two tight ends in the 2026 class.
Auburn wants Cederian Morgan to visit every week.
He's one of the most sought after prospects in the 2026 class for Auburn, as the Benjamin Russell product is putting together and impressive junior year. This will be his second game day visit to Auburn, making the trip for the opener against Alabama A&M Aug. 31. He was at Florida last week and will be at Alabama next weekend.
One of the elite players in the country, Aaron Gregory hears from Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis — who coached his cousin at Georgia Southern — all the time. This will be the first game day visit to Auburn for Gregory this year, who is joined by a couple of his Douglas County teammates.
The other side of that top tier Douglas County receiving duo, Devin Carter is still wide open in his recruitment. The talented wide receiver pays attention to the schools he's interested in and Auburn's wide receiver play to begin the season has impressed. He likes how spread out things were amongst the offensive players, especially with the young wideouts.
If Hank Brown is able to find his targets in the passing game today, it could be an eye-opening visit for Carter.
Tyriq Green is another prospect who will be making their first game day visit of the year, and another who had also visited Auburn for Big Cat Weekend. The four-star attends Buford, where Auburn has one commit already and is hoping to tap into the talented program.
South Carolina commit Keenan Britt will make his way back to the Plains, as he has done plenty of times before. He committed to the Gamecocks earlier this month, but there's a lot of familiarity amongst the Auburn program for Britt. His older brother, K.J., played linebacker for the Tigers.
There's still a long way until signing day, so we'll see how this one progresses.
New intel: Britt will visit another time.
It's not a long drive to Auburn for Rivals100 defensive end Tristian Givens out of Columbus, Ga. He was offered by Auburn back in April, as his recruitment continued to pick up steam in the summer. Florida, Tennessee, USC, Utah, LSU and Miami have all followed suit with offers of their own, as the 6-foot-4 defensive end continues to climb the rankings.
Katrell Webb is finally getting his Auburn visit.
He was supposed to visit Auburn for Big Cat Weekend, but something came up and the Suwanee, Ga., native was unable to make it. Webb had been wanting to return and finally accomplishes that Saturday as he's expected to take in his first Auburn game day experience of the season.
Other 2026 recruits: RB Omar Mabson, WR Deion Thomas Jr., DE Bryce Robinson, DE Tristan Lyles, ATH Xavier Lherisse
LOOKING AHEAD
It's a weekend packed with tons of 2026 visitors, but there's still recruitments even further down the road to pay attention to. Central quarterback Bobby Coleman Jr., who will likely take over the starting role next season for the Red Devils, has been to every game. His brother is Cam Coleman, after all.
However, Bobby impressed the staff at camp and holds an Auburn offer, along with Texas A&M and Georgia.
Part of a talented Grayson team, running back Joel Bradford has already accumulated double figures in offers as a sophomore. Auburn is one of them, as is Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Cole Crawford is one of 100 players in the 2027 class to go ahead and pick up a rating, as the 6-foot-3 Cartersville, Ga., native falls in at No. 72 nationally. He's been to Auburn once already this year, visiting in the summer time for an elite camp. He's also a heck of a baseball player.
