Auburn's Montravius Adams, Alex Kozan win SEC honors

Auburn's Montravius Adams, Alex Kozan win SEC honorsAuburn's Montravius Adams, Alex Kozan win SEC honors

Oct. 24, 2016

By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn's 56-3 win over Arkansas was so impressive Saturday that not one, but two of the key participants won Southeastern Conference player of the week honors Monday.

Defensive tackle Montravius Adams was named the SEC defensive lineman of the week and guard Alex Kozan shared offensive lineman of the week honors, the league office announced.

Adams had two tackles for a loss and was credited with half-a-sack as Auburn's defense held Arkansas to 25 yards rushing and a modest 215 total yards.

"It proves to us that we can be as good as we want to be when we go out on the field," Adams said. "To be a senior, to be a leader of this team, it's really just great to see you and your teammates out there playing ball."

Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele was impressed, saying that "on every single play, we had the front four either knocking people back or affecting the rusher."

Kozan graded 93 percent and had 10 blocks that resulted in a first down or touchdown, and was part of an offensive line that sent Auburn to a record 543 yards rushing, the most any SEC team has ever had in a league game. Auburn averaged 9½ yards on every running play, 9.2 yards on every snap.

"It definitely speaks to our team and coaches," Kozan said. "We've definitely never started a game as well as started this game."

Kozan said Auburn, now riding a four-game winning streak, would turn its attention to Saturday's game at Ole Miss.

"In this league, you've got to move on because the next team you play is getting ready for you. Ole Miss will be a tough challenge, especially at their place. We've got to get ready for them," he said.

The SEC's other weekly winners were LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who was named the offensive player of the week; Alabama's Jonathan Allen, who was named the defensive player of the week; Kentucky kicker Austin MacGinnis, who was named the special teams player of the week; Kentucky running back Benny Snell Jr., who was named the freshman of the week; and LSU center Ethan Pocic, who shared offensive lineman of the week honors with Kozan.

Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine