Auburn held off the Ole Miss Rebels, 35-28, on October 24 in Oxford, but the Tigers lost a valuable piece in the process.

Speaking with the media on Sunday night, head coach Gus Malzahn said right guard Brandon Council will be out for the season with a knee injury suffered in the win.

A native of Tar Heel, North Carolina, Council was a modest two-star recruit in the 2016 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Beginning his collegiate career in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with the Akron Zips, he redshirted his first year on-campus, before starting nine games at left guard in 2017.

Making the move to right tackle as a redshirt sophomore, he started the first three games for the Zips, but suffered a season-ending injury in that campaign, as well. Council returned in 2019 and started all 12 of Akron’s contests, seven at left guard, two at center, two at right tackle, and one at left tackle.

Graduate transferring to Auburn ahead of the 2020 season, he started each of the Tigers’ games, four at right guard and the Week 3 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks at right guard.

Redshirt freshman Keiondre Jones is expected to step into the role in Council’s absence.

With the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) previously ruling 2020 would not count as a year of eligibility for student-athletes, Malzahn left the door open for Council to return to the program in 2021.

Auburn (3-2) hosts the LSU Tigers (2-2) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on the SEC on CBS.