Auburn star freshman running back Tank Bigsby won’t play Friday in the Citrus Bowl against Northwestern, according to AL.com’s Matt Zenitz. No reason was listed in the report by Zenitz.

That obviously handicaps Auburn’s offense with losing its biggest impact player.

Arguably the top freshman running back in the country, there has been some speculation that Bigsby is considering leaving Auburn following Gus Malzahn’s firing. This certainly won’t temper the discussion either.

Chad Morris was asked this week if Bigsby would play, and his answer was ominous.

“Well, we are hoping. We’ll see on that,” Morris replied. “He has definitely had a great year, a phenomenal year. A young man that has an incredible future ahead of him. When you are able to get the ball in his hands, he makes a lot of things right when they aren’t right.”

The co-Freshman of the Year racked up an impressive 834 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns in 2020’s shortened season.

Backups Shaun Shivers and DJ Williams will get more carries against Northwestern.