Newsbits

Now starting at linebacker for Auburn University ...

--So, yeah, it's still the season of DEATH: The good news:

Three starting defensive linemen should be back for Saturday's game against Georgia.

The bad news: Two new starters - receiver Montez Billings and linebacker Merrill Johnson - could be out.

Billings has a broken nose and Johnson has a broken hand, according to coach Tommy Tuberville, who revealed the injuries Tuesday. Billings has a chance to return this week, but Johnson is likely to be out until the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29.

The good news on Johnson is that Chris Evans was of course already platooning with him. The bad news is that Chris Evans probably needed the platoon to help rest his fractured toe. Although maybe now the platoon will feature Great Story Pybus, the same Great Story Pybus who according to the article "missed the Tennessee-Martin game with undisclosed injuries."

Sigh. On the plus side, Powers believes he's back to something approximating full fitness. Against Mo Massaquoi and A.J. Bryant Green, we will need him. Sorely.

--I should note that Auburn fans don't actually get to do much complaining about injury woes when ...

Since the preseason, (Kiante) Tripp has moved from right tackle to left tackle to tight end and now back to right tackle again. This will be the fifth different combination the Bulldogs have used on the offensive line this season when they face Auburn on Saturday.

If Marks, Coleman, and Doolittle are all back to their usual selves, this could be somewhat promising.

--As an occasional reader of Uniwatch who would be a more regular reader if I didn't spend 90 minutes clicking through to pics of various uniform irregularities every single time I visited, it's awesome that Auburn is honoring Virgil Starks with a helmet decal, but also awesome that the decal itself is awesome:



Nicely, nicely done, whoever's responsible. (And oh, on the subject of uniforms: a Uniwatch reader noticed that Kodi's apparently the only Auburn player who wears his numbers on his socks.)

Apologizing for the sparse content today; I got a late start and now I'm off to crank out the second half of the Ole Miss recap. Back when it's finished.