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College Football

Charles Barkley talks Auburn rivalries as he asks to ‘please pray for better quarterback play’

Keith Farner

By Keith Farner

Published:

Charles Barkley puts Alabama in a different category than Georgia among Auburn’s rivals.

He doesn’t hate Georgia, the opponent this week for his Auburn Tigers.

“Not really, I mean I hate Alabama, that’s a little different animal,” Barkley said on The Next Round. “You can’t have that much hate in your heart, No. 1. I really don’t hate Alabama I just want to beat them. I hate their fans because they’re obnoxious. They lost 2 games last year and it was like, ‘Kill us now, that’s the end of the world.’ And then after they lost to Texas, it was like ‘Oh my God.’ You’ve got the greatest coach ever. And they’re a bunch of ungrateful brats. That’s the only thing I hate about Alabama. Listen, Alabama’s a great program, I’ve got a lot of friends that played there. You know how much love and respect I have for Coach Saban. But I just hate their fans because they’re obnoxious, and entitled.”

Barkley then pivoted to this week’s game, and referenced a recent faith event at Auburn, where there were many baptisms.

“If y’all gonna be down there baptizing people, please pray for better quarterback play,” Barkley said. “Let’s get these 3 quarterbacks and baptize them and maybe the Lord can make them play better. Because the one thing you can’t do as a coach, you can’t have your quarterback playing scared … or looking over his shoulders. You can’t play 3 quarterbacks, you can’t play 2 quarterbacks. That’s the No. 1 position in sports, but the No. 1 thing you have to have as a player is confidence in yourself, to make good plays and bad plays. If you’re scared to make bad plays, you can’t make good plays.”

Barkey referred to the quarterback play last week in the loss to Texas A&M when Payton Thorne was 6-for-12 passing for 44 yards, Holden Geriner was 2-for-7 for 8 yards and Robby Ashford was 1-for-4 passing for 4 yards. Ashford rushed for 25 yards, but the other 2 combined to lose 37 yards rushing, and Auburn mustered just 2 yards in the 3rd quarter.

“Right now, they are in no man’s land,” Barkley said. “You got to make a decision and live with it.”

Coach Hugh Freeze understands, and addressed Thorne’s play on Wednesday.

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.

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