Vanderbilt prepares for big dose of Harkes Hunter Auburn

If Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze wants to prove he’s the smartest guy in the room, it might be best for him to stick to his newly established formula when they take on the 5-3 Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday.

By turning around and throwing the ball to running back Harques Hunter, he increased his total to 278 yards against Kentucky last week.

Of course, the consensus was that Freese was overdue for release of the SEC’s most dynamic running back, but he didn’t really have time to cry over spilled milk.

Hunter poses a very real threat to every team he faces on his path to success – a clear and present danger that has Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lee very concerned heading into this weekend’s matchup.

“He’s just physically running,” Lee said this week. “He runs really well on his pads. He keeps his balance. He reminds me a lot of (former Vanderbilt/Kentucky) Ray Davis in that way. He just has a talent for patience, sharpness and the ability to accelerate. We can’t put enough emphasis on body contact in our selections.”

Hunter’s unique ability to gut teams for greater gain is sure to have NFL scouts on high alert. He is much more than just a strong defender.

Lea experienced another Hunter masterclass when Vanderbilt faced the Tigers last season. The then-Auburn junior running back broke free for runs of 67 and 56 yards en route to 183 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s a memory that’s ingrained in Leah to this day, so the suffering of Hunter performing again would be a Halloween nightmare he’d wholeheartedly wish he could avoid.

“(Hunter) had two huge runs that were just brutal,” Lea said of the experience defending against Hunter last season. “Part of it was the defensive leverage, the structure of the defense… and part of it was he’s a really good player. He’ll go through tackles and if you don’t make contact with your body, he’ll bounce off you again and he has the ability to accelerate.”

Vanderbilt fell out of the AP Top 25 after a narrow 27-24 loss to fifth-ranked Texas last weekend, so they’ll have plenty of motivation of their own to help them get back on track.

It’s pretty clear that if Freeze decides to play aggressive football and run with Hunter again over 20 times, Leah will fight fire with fire with some extra physical play on defense.

A lot will depend on what Freese decides to do with his own game plan, having had some success taking over the run game, in theory the Auburn boss should hate over-interference.

However, this is Coach Freese we’re talking about, so perhaps we should expect the unexpected.