One of the more unfortunate scenarios involving Auburn football last season and this one has been the illness of kicker Alex McPherson.
The Fort Payne, Ala. native came in as one of the nation's top kicking prospects, and showed why immediately, only missing one field goal attempt throughout his first two seasons with the program.
A lengthy battle with ulcerative colitis cost McPherson the majority of the 2024 season. While he has already seen some action in 2025, his journey back to 100 percent is still a work in progress.
"I'm feeling a lot better," McPherson said. "Just physically and the medicine is starting to work. Pretty quick the first week I took it, so feeling a lot better. Trying to gain the weight back and get the strength back that I had. Just feeling really good now."
McPherson has been taking medication to help give him the enery he needs to kick.
"It really just allowed me to keep food down, keep food in and get the nutrients that I needed to have the energy to go out and play," McPherson said. "That's really been the biggest thing for me, having that energy to go out there and do it. I don't know how to describe the feeling — when you just feel bad, you feel bad all the time it's kind of what I was feeling like. I feel normal again, so that's pretty much what it is."
McPherson is making progress from a kicking standpoint as well. His range is moving in the right direction.
"It's gone up like 15 yards," McPherson said. "I think we started at 20. It was 15 or 20 — it was 20 when we started the season. Definitely at the beginning of camp it was even less than that. I'd say about 15 yards, maybe 20 on a good day. Right now we've got me at the 30-yard line. We've been talking about making it 32, so it'd be a 50-yard field goal. Really it's just 30 to 32 right now is my range that we're comfortable with sending me out there."
Despite the extensive challenges he has faced, McPherson has remained committed to his recovery and getting back to making an impact for the Tigers.