AUBURN | Auburn could be without its top offensive playmaker in a key SEC West game this weekend.
Running back JaTarvious ‘Boobee’ Whitlow, who leads the Tigers in rushing yards and all-purpose yards, and is tied for the team-lead in touchdowns, is questionable for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.
“Boobee Whitlow did not practice last week. We’ll see where he’s at this week. I’d say right now he’s day-to-day,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.
Whitlow, who was already playing with a shoulder and neck injury, appeared to injure his leg at the end of a 27-yard run at Ole Miss Oct. 20. If he’s unable to play against the Aggies, Malzahn said they’ll go with a committee approach at running back.
“We feel right now that all of our guys can go in there and do a good job and then we’ll go with the hot hand,” Malzahn said.
Malzahn added that junior Kam Martin, who began the season as the starting running back, was also banged up against the Rebels. He also insisted that Asa Martin would be in the running back mix this week even though the true freshman has just three carries all season.
Whitlow led Auburn to a 31-16 win at Ole Miss rushing for 170 yards on 19 carries before being injured at the end of the third quarter. The redshirt freshman has 626 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 100 carries, and has caught nine passes for 69 yards and one touchdown.
“He’s really came on with a physical presence. He’s a big back,” Malzahn said. “I think our last game he broke a lot of tackles and that’s really the thing that stood out to me. He’s been banged up but he continues to come back. We’ll have to see what happens this week. But he’s really run with a purpose and that’s helped us.”
Malzahn also updated the injury status of two other starters. Right tackle Jack Driscoll, who left the Ole Miss game with a knee injury, practiced last week in a limited role and is day-to-day. Cornerback Jamel Dean, who didn’t travel to Oxford, has returned to practice and will play against TAMU.
The off-week gave a number of banged-up Tigers an opportunity to heal up for the stretch run of four games in November to close out the regular season.
“I think there was quite a few guys that were banged up that we were able to take some off of and get some of the younger guys more reps and more experience last week,” Malzahn said. It was two-fold as far as that’s concerned. We needed that off-week just for the health.”
Auburn hosts No. 25 Texas A&M Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.