Auburn football DL Malik Autry among top-rated freshmen in College Football 26
Many video game players have spent the last week playing the new video game release from EA Sports, College Football 26. The second game in the revived series has updated plenty of features, which includes a new soundtrack provided by the Auburn University Marching Band.
Locally, many Auburn fans are beginning dynasty mode with their favorite team in hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff. Over the last week, ratings of players in the game have been released, and Auburn freshman has the chance to make a name for himself in the game. Freshman defensive lineman Malik Autry is among the highest-rated freshmen in the game according to a list complied by On3, where he will begin the season at 81 overall.
Autry's high rating for a freshman ensures that Auburn will have one of the best defensive fronts in the new video game. The Opelika native is paired with Keldric Faulk, who is one of the game's highest-rated players at 93 overall.
It is hard to determine what Autry's strengths are at this point, as he has yet to play a college snap. However, 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins gives us a preview of what to expect.
Has overwhelmed opponents not only with his sheer mass, but also his get-off as he's quick to fire out of his stance and engage with active, heavy hands. Frequently makes double teams work and will collapse run lanes by creating momentum with his leg drive. Not one that has a bunch of quarterback sacks or pressures on the highlight reel, but has proven to be effective on inside games as he jars forward and pushes protection.
Autry is one of several Auburn players to receive a respectable grade in the new EA Sports release. Faulk, along with wide receiver Eric Singleton, have ratings of 93 and 92, respectively, while several others, including Cam Coleman, Damari Alston, and Kaleb Harris, have ratings in the 80s.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
38 minutes ago
- New York Times
Curt Cignetti, Indiana undaunted after offseason spent as a CFP talking point
LAS VEGAS — Curt Cignetti's Indiana Hoosiers won a school-record 11 games and qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2024, yet critics hammered them as undeserving of their CFP selection because they played what was perceived as a weak schedule within one of college football's toughest conferences. Advertisement Instead of absorbing the body blows and ignoring the rhetoric at Big Ten media days on Tuesday, Cignetti trumpeted his team's 2024 accolades and, in the process, became his league's staunchest defender. Cignetti brought the receipts and dished plenty of bravado. And the second-year Indiana coach offered no apologies for his success. 'We played who we played,' Cignetti said. 'We had the No. 1 victory margin in college football, with No. 2 in points scored, No. 3 in total defense, No. 3 in turnover ratio. So we did it in dominant fashion.' Those numbers seemed to pass anyone's eye test, despite the conversation entering the CFP and immediately following the Hoosiers' first-round CFP exit at Notre Dame. Ten of Indiana's 11 victories came by a margin of at least 14 points. It beat both 2024 CFP finalists (Michigan and Washington), and its only losses came at 2025 CFP finalists Ohio State and Notre Dame. Indiana also beat Nebraska 56-7, and the Huskers' 18-point win over Colorado, which was part of the Big 12's four-way tie for first, should have provided a transitive property boost to its resume. Instead, the Hoosiers found the public backlash that non-bluebloods often face when they approach the sport's highest levels. 'The noise got real, real loud going into the Ohio State game,' Cignetti recalled. 'We went from being the darling story of college football to being like the enemy, the hunted. Like these two fronts, the biggest college reporting venue in the world, and a big conference down south, you're getting it from both sides. Like, 'They better play good or they're out.' But then a couple SEC teams lost that night.' If Cignetti was surprised about the criticism, he didn't let it bother him. In fact, it seems to have emboldened him. Instead of ramping up the Hoosiers' nonconference scheduling, Cignetti chose to downgrade it, canceling a home-and-home series with Virginia that was set for 2027-28. Advertisement 'We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy,' Cignetti said. 'Some people don't like it. I'm more focused in on those nine conference games.' This season, 13 of the Big Ten's 18 schools will play at least 10 power-conference opponents. In the SEC, 13 of 16 teams will play only nine power-conference foes. The decision was a power play of sorts for Indiana, which desires to face an SEC opponent every year — when a new CFP format is in place. 'We really want to have meaningful regular-season games,' Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. 'We're trying to schedule now based on the format that we're playing.' That philosophy is not without detractors, even from within his conference. Purdue coach Barry Odom told an Indianapolis radio station last week that 'I could take the approach of one of the other schools in the state, cancel games and do some of those things, but the schedule is what it is.' On Tuesday, Cignetti said, 'I saw it. It was a flicker in my brain, and it was over.' When asked about the challenges of playing on the West Coast, Cignetti quipped, 'It didn't affect us against UCLA.' The Hoosiers beat the Bruins 42-13 last year. Cignetti's unvarnished confidence has resonated at Indiana, historically the Big Ten's least successful football program. The Hoosiers never won more than nine games in a season before last year, and now they're selling out Memorial Stadium. Cignetti's 'I win, Google me' line during his inaugural news conference became a program flex. Last year's results led to enthusiastic buy-in in Bloomington. 'He instills confidence in his players and his coaches and certainly our fan base and everyone who's around him,' Dolson said. 'But the good thing is, he's very authentic. He is not what I would call a cocky person at all. I think he just believes in his plan and believes he knows how to win and how to develop young men on and off the field. Advertisement 'When you really get to know him, and you see just how authentic he is and how he really is doing these things for the right reasons, it makes it easy to not let any of the, maybe, outside noise and the bravado — it's just not fake. He just really believes in what he's doing.' That confidence has spilled over to Cignetti's program pillars of recruitment, development and retention. Through strong donations to its name, image and likeness efforts, Indiana retained every key player and acquired several likely contributors, including starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Cal. With four players returning who earned All-Big Ten accolades along with several other starters, Cignetti has his eyes on repeating or, perhaps, topping his 2024 success. And his goals reflect his swagger. 'This is a new year, a new team, right?' Cignetti said. 'We're trying to build a program that year-in, year-out, competes for Big Ten championships, College Football Playoff and ultimately the national championship. That's our vision.'
New York Times
38 minutes ago
- New York Times
Mandel on Week 1 games with playoff implications, 10th-place SEC team, CFB formats
Given I'm spending part of this week at media days for the Big Ten, whose Las Vegas location makes about as much sense as its list of members, this felt like the right time to start pivoting the mailbag largely to on-field questions. It didn't quite work out that way, but at least it's primarily split down the middle. Come for the discussion about possible 10th-place SEC teams, stay for a look at College Football Playoff formats and NIL. (Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.) Advertisement Which game in Week 1 or 2 has the most significant playoff implications? I'll certainly be watching Texas and Ohio State, but that feels more like a game for seeding, rather than determining who is in or out. — Rob Even as an expanded CFP proponent, I can acknowledge the stakes aren't as high for those early-season mega-matchups. Not that I'll enjoy them any less. However, it sounds like you're talking about games where the two teams are both viable contenders, but without the same margin for error. Notre Dame at Miami on Sunday night of Week 1 fits that bill. Miami found out the hard way last year that 10-2 in the ACC is not good enough. The Canes finished No. 13 in the final CFP rankings, four spots below Mountain West champ Boise State and two spots behind 9-3 Alabama, even with the Tide's bad losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. Losing at home to start 0-1 would not help the Hurricanes' cause. Not to mention, Mario Cristobal's program could use a validating non-conference win. The Canes thought they had that when they beat a ranked Texas A&M team early in the 2023 season, but those Aggies plummeted to 5-7 and got Jimbo Fisher fired. Notre Dame, coming off a trip to the national championship game, would be a whole different thing. Whereas if they lose, it's the same old Miami. As for the Irish, they're always toeing a thinner line. A loss wouldn't be fatal by any means, given they brushed off losing to NIU last year, but you never know what Notre Dame's schedule strength will end up being. On paper, this may prove to be its toughest game. However, at least one or two teams from among Texas A&M (Week 2), at Arkansas (Week 3), Boise State (Week 4), USC (Week 5) or possibly at Pitt (Week 10) are likely to prove more challenging than expected. The closer we get to the season, the higher I am on the Irish. Jeremiyah Love could be a superstar, and the defense is stacked at seemingly every position. However, a lot is riding on CJ Carr, whom we haven't seen. If he's not ready, this could easily go from a 12-0 or 11-1 team to more of a 9-3 team, and that's not going to cut it. Advertisement Here are 10 SEC teams, listed alphabetically. By default, one of them will finish 10th or worse in the conference this year. Which team(s) do you think fall below that threshold from this group? • Alabama • Auburn • Florida • Georgia • LSU • Oklahoma • Ole Miss • Tennessee • Texas • Texas A&M (Not listed: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Vanderbilt) — Brian S. I assume it will be more than one, given the unbalanced schedules, the hit-or-miss nature of the portal and that preseason conference polls always have at least a few whiffs. First up would be Tennessee. It's not just because of losing Nico Iamaleava, though that didn't help. Appalachian State transfer Joey Agular should be decent if he picks up Josh Heupel's offense. However, Dylan Sampson and James Pearce Jr. were so important to last year's Vols, and their secondary suffered a lot of attrition. I could see them finishing below .500 in conference play. Opinions seem to be all over the map on Ole Miss. You can tell Lane Kiffin is high on new QB Austin Simmons. However, Kiffin and his collective went all in on last year's roster, particularly up front on defense, only to fall short of the CFP yet again. I see this being a rebuilding year. And then there's inevitably going to be one 'I can't believe I talked myself into this team.' Given how much space I've spent talking up Oklahoma this offseason, it could very well be the Sooners going 2-6 (again). Though not if John Mateer has anything to say about it. What do you expect from Indiana? They have a much tougher conference schedule this season. On the other hand, they now have former Cal standout Fernando Mendoza as their quarterback (this Ducks fan wishes Oregon had given him a legit look). — Drex H. There's a tendency with these out-of-nowhere teams to assume they'll come back to earth the following year, but that's not always the case. A good example is Duke, which has gone 9-4, 8-5 and 9-4 over the past three seasons. The Blue Devils' place in the ACC preseason poll the past three years: Last place in the former Coastal Division (RIP) in 2022, tied for sixth in 2023 and then back down to 11th in 2024 — behind Cal. Advertisement I would not discount Curt Cignetti's second Indiana team. While it snuck up on me how highly regarded Mendoza is by NFL Draft guys, he had his moments at Cal, including a showcase night against Miami and a game-winning 98-yard drive against Stanford. And that was with an underwhelming supporting cast. IU brings back top-two receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. and landed versatile Maryland running back Roman Hemby. And I'm guessing no one remembers the Hoosiers' defense finished second nationally in yards per play per game (4.3). Three 2024 All-Americans, Mikail Kamara, linebacker Aiden Fisher and cornerback D'Angelo Ponds, are back. However, I don't want to minimize the schedule. Last year's was quite possibly the weakest in Big Ten history, and while IU mostly beat up on the bottom-feeders, it lost to the three best teams it faced, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan (the fact that last year's Wolverines were the third best they faced says a lot). This year's Hoosiers face Penn State, Oregon and Iowa on the road and a preseason top-20 Illinois team at home. Indiana's Vegas win total is 8.5. That's a tough one. However, Cignetti is such a great coach that I'll go ahead and sign on for 9-3, which, while a step down from 11-1, would still ensure the program's second-best record since 1968. Which Big 12 second act do you think is more likely to be a success: Scott Frost at UCF or Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia? — Kevin J. You must have missed my coaching hire grades from this past cycle. I gave West Virginia my only 'A' and UCF my only 'D.' And I'm starting to wonder whether the Frost grade was too high. If you missed Frost's comments to Chris Vannini at Big 12 Media Days, the coach feels his 16-31 record at Nebraska was entirely the fault of Nebraska for being a 'bad job' and not his for having no discernible offensive identity, inexcusable special teams play and failure to instill any confidence in his teams to win close games. With Frost having learned nothing, I don't know why anyone would expect his UCF sequel to be any different. This is a Big 12 job now, not an ACC – er, American – job. The week-in, week-out competition level will be closer to Nebraska's than 2017 UCF's. Whereas Rodriguez has had two redemptive coaching jobs since bombing at Michigan, taking Arizona to its only Pac-12 championship game and leading Jacksonville State to a Conference USA title in just its second FBS season. West Virginia is in a much different place than it was 18 years ago. Advertisement I don't expect a repeat of his three straight top 10 seasons from 2005-07. I also wouldn't expect any instant returns in the first year. However, I fully expect him to have the Mountaineers in Big 12 championship contention within three years. Even if not, they will at least be far more entertaining. Of all the active college coaches who were former players themselves, which one do you think would be the most helpful to their current team? They would be in their collegiate prime and cannot switch positions. — Daniel S. You might assume I'd say Deion Sanders, but Colorado had the best two-way player since Deion just last year, so I don't know whether he'd make the Buffs that much better. The FBS answer is Bowling Green's Eddie George. Can you imagine the 1995 Heisman winner, who ran for 1,826 yards and 23 touchdowns his senior year, going against MAC defenses? BG to the CFP! However, the all-divisions answer is Norfolk State's Michael Vick. Whatever the craziest stat line anyone has ever achieved for a player in NCAA Football, the 1999-2000 version of Vick would obliterate in the MEAC. You are the commissioner of college football and your first assignment is to establish the Playoff. What would you do? A 30-team Playoff? 64? 2? Keep bowl games? Go to home games for the higher seeds? Anything goes … — Marty C. I don't know if it would fall under my purview, but the first thing I'd do is move up the regular season by a week so we can build a more sensible Playoff calendar. First-round games the weekend that is currently Army-Navy, quarterfinals the weekend before Christmas, semifinals on New Year's Day and the championship a week after that, whether it falls on a Tuesday or a Saturday. No more competing with the NFL. I'd keep the size at 12. No one who gets left out of that field has any right to complain because they don't have much of a résumé. Plus, I like keeping first-round byes as an extra incentive on the last day of the regular season. However, they would likely go to the top-4 teams, regardless of conference, and those teams would get to host a quarterfinal game. No. 3 Texas playing its first game at the Peach Bowl last year was … something. Which brings me to an idea I proposed a few years ago. First off, I will not apologize for giving the Rose Bowl special treatment. It will get its annual Jan. 1 date, which means it will always host a semifinal. The other five will each host one primetime semifinal and one championship game over the course of five years. Advertisement Finally, I am keeping bowls. I would love to see more bowl games, with a catch: We're eliminating conference tie-ins. It's going to be a circa 1979 free-market bonanza. If the Gator Bowl wants to pit 5-7 Auburn against 4-8 Florida State, knock yourself out. I assume the Pop-Tarts Bowl will rise to the top of the non-CFP pecking order. I want to see Alabama players tearing into a giant strawberry Pop-Tart, ideally, right before SMU's Playoff game. Will Purdue be the first school in modern college sports history to return more starters from the men's basketball team (four) than the football team (one) this upcoming school year? — Dan K. There's no way to answer this definitively, but I did do three minutes of research. I knew Jedd Fisch's first Washington football roster had just two returning starters. It turns out that the basketball team, which had also undergone a coaching change, had one as well. So, Purdue it is. If you were playing Washington State's and Oregon State's hands from the beginning, what would you have done differently? It appears they have cemented their status as programs that will have little to no national relevance. It seems odd that they wouldn't have done home-and-homes with as many old Pac-12 teams as possible and any brand that would bring eyes to the TV. — Themanebro You make it seem like a school can snap its fingers and conjure up six home-and-homes on very little notice. Most schools lock in their non-conference contracts years in advance. The Pac-12 imploded in August 2023, and schools had to create schedules from scratch for 2024 and 2025. I don't think they would have had a season in 2024 without the Mountain West's lifeline. As for this year, Oregon State's 2025 schedule is frankly remarkable. It has five Power 4 games, plus the two Wazzu games. The Cal, Houston, and Wake Forest home-and-homes all came together after the Pac-12 mess. Washington State is less impressive, though it did land a one-off game at Ole Miss and has Washington coming to Pullman. A more interesting question is this. The two schools were determined from the beginning to keep the Pac-12 alive and refused to lower themselves by joining the Mountain West. In the end, though, they formed Mountain West 2.0, with nowhere near the revenue they'd hoped to generate. Advertisement Would they have been better off just keeping football independent? Oregon State will go from five Power 4 games this year to, at most, three next year (Houston, Texas Tech, and hopefully Oregon, though that has not yet been agreed upon). Boise State is always an attention-grabbing opponent, but at least half the schedule will consist of former MWC schools and Montana. With three years' notice, they could have come up with a more impressive independent schedule. I'm not sure if the financials would have worked. I've been busy and haven't followed the drip, drip, drip of the offseason. Have I missed anything? — John C. Yes, but I can give you the CliffNotes: Everybody is mad about everything.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
The absurdity of absolute power. Big Ten, SEC fight to shape College Football Playoff
LAS VEGAS — The Big Ten and SEC control the future of the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten and the SEC can't agree on anything. Which tracks about just how you think it would in Sin City, driving directly into the theater of the absurd. 'I'm not going to put any deadline on it,' Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said Tuesday of negotiations for the new CFP format, while opening Big Ten Media Days at Mandalay Bay Resort. I know this is going to shock you, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made it clear last week during SEC Media Days that, 'We have a deadline of Dec. 1.' Just when you thought the great College Football Playoff format debate couldn't devolve to more ridiculous levels, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti entered the chat and changed everything. Forget about the Big Ten and its desired 16-team format that focuses on automatic qualifiers (four each for the Big Ten and SEC) and the need for CFP play-in games during championship week. Forget about the SEC and its desire for 11 at-large selections of the 16, based heavily on strength of schedule. Cignetti wants everyone to know that the CFP selection committee has too much power in the process. The very committee that last year selected his 11-win team – with one win against a team with a winning record – to the exclusive party. The same guy who, when asked Tuesday about Indiana dropping a non-conference game against big, bad Virginia for a Championship Subdivision directional school, responded with, 'We figured we'd just adopt the SEC scheduling philosophy.' I swear I'm not making this up. SCHEDULE DEBATE: Indiana coach fires hot at SEC after dropping Virginia POWER RANKINGS: Where the Big Ten teams stack from first to worst But at this point, nothing should be surprising in this ever-more-absurd cock walk. Each ego-driven, billion dollar conference trying to exert power over the other, in a blatantly awkward swinging dictator contest. The Big Ten doesn't want to be seen as the SEC's little brother. The SEC doesn't want to be pushed into a corner, and bend the knee to the conference it has dominated on the field for decades. Sankey touted the SEC's historical strength of schedule in defense of 11 at-large selections. Winning 14 national titles since 2000 doesn't hurt, either. Petitti responded by declaring the Big Ten played in eight of the 11 CFP games in 2024, had the four most viewed television games on the season and seven of the top 10. Then he dropped the ultimate "scoreboard" hammer: 'We just stand by what we do in the Big Ten. I think the national results have shown the last couple of seasons.' Translation: the Big Ten has won the last two national titles. The SEC has done … what exactly? There's nothing logical about this public spat, nothing tangible that can be easily negotiated with clear minds or paid off with more money — which a 16-team CFP most certainly brings. This is about superiority and inferiority, and where the SEC and Big Ten fit. No matter the collateral damage. Imagine you're Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. A distinguished 38-year career in the Air Force, retired as a Lieutenant General — the second-highest general officer rank. You're minding your own business at Big Ten media days, sitting quietly in the back of the large ballroom when some schlub who just picked up his first power conference coaching job starts throwing darts at your committee. A committee the SEC and Big Ten played a critical role in creating and developing, and growing into the singular, insular monster it has become. So I asked this titan of service to his country, and frankly, to the Big Ten and SEC and every other college football conference, what it was like to watch Cignetti kneecap his committee. Was it difficult to watch? 'Yeah,' Clark said, smiling wide — and then he stopped himself. Because like all military personnel, he knows there's oder and there's consequences for going outside it. 'The committee selected Indiana,' Clark continued, 'And I think it was the right decision, too.' Would you look at that, a lesson in swallowing ego and pride for the greater good. No swinging dictators necessary. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
