Good morning. The highly anticipated volleyball game against Kentucky may not have had the ending Auburn fans wanted, but it did have the beginning they needed—a chance to see themselves show up and show out for a sport that’s only recently gained the spotlight.

From here, the possibilities are endless.

What else can you find mixed into today’s Brew?

🏐 Bella Bell’s transition from Kentucky to Crouch’s crew
🏈 The latest Auburn Made rundown, NFL edition
🐅 And much, much more!

🎥 FILM ROOM: MARCUS DAVIS

A special guest joins the WarEagle+ Film Room—wide receivers coach Marcus Davis joins Jason Campbell to talk about his best plays as an Auburn Tiger.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Grading on the Bella Bell Curve. In the spring of 2021, Bella Bell reached the pinnacle of collegiate volleyball. A redshirt freshman at Kentucky at the time, Bell helped the Wildcats win their first national championship in program history.

In Bell’s three seasons at Kentucky, the Wildcats lost just five SEC matches and won the conference all three years, sharing the honors with Florida last year.

Despite the team’s success, Bell was looking at life after volleyball, and Kentucky didn’t offer any kind of wildlife program. Meanwhile, Auburn has one of the best wildlife programs in the SEC.

“I was like, ‘I know where I want to go. It’s Auburn,’” Bell recalled. “Brent [Crouch], new head coach. Building the program to be successful. Everything timed up perfectly for me in terms of Auburn getting better, the wildlife program, they had a scholarship available. It was pretty easy.”

As soon as she graduated from Kentucky, Bell left for Auburn. She arrived at the end of May, and after two weeks of practice, she joined the team on their foreign tour to Europe.  

Now, five months later, Bell is one of the top players for an Auburn team ranked No. 24 nationally and fourth in the SEC at 8-4. But to say it’s been an adjustment going from Kentucky to Auburn would be an understatement. 

Bell, a fifth-year senior, is playing right side for the first time after being a middle blocker her entire life. She is also one of the oldest players on a team made up primarily of sophomores.

Read the rest of the article for more on Bell’s take on the stiffer competition this year, the way her positive mentality has rubbed off on her teammates and her thoughts on playing against her former Wildcats teammates.

🔼 Pick Your Spice Level. Auburn women's basketball continues the opening week of the 2023-24 season tonight against the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Tigers host Louisiana-Lafayette at Neville Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. CT.
 
The Tigers (1-0) are coming off a season-opening 78-49 victory over Jacksonville State Monday night that saw four Auburn players in double-figures, led by 14 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson. In her Auburn debut, freshman Savannah Scott scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0) had a similar experience in its home opener, defeating a D-II school—Spring Hill—75-45 on Monday night. A win for Auburn would keep the team unbeaten against ULL 5-0 and improve the Tigers to 108-19 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt.

Auburn hits the road for the first time this weekend, making the trek to Scott-Grayson's home state of New Jersey to take on Rutgers. Game time is 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, with a national broadcast on Big Ten Network.

A couple more Brew headlines to make your day ⏬

🧡 Hoops coach Bruce Pearl hyping Coach Crouch for the big volleyball matchup is a must-watch.

🏈 Hugh Freeze’s message for the week: We fight together.

🔼 Nice Recovery. Chandler Wooten was Johnny-on-the-spot Sunday, making his first NFL fumble recovery after a muffed punt by the Carolina Panthers. 

That and more in this week's Auburn Made NFL rundown:

Derrick Brown, DT, Carolina Panthers
Tallying four tackles and a quarterback hit, Brown had another productive week despite his team's loss to the Colts. The former top-10 draft pick now has an impressive 39 QB hits in four NFL seasons, including six in 2023. Brown also registered his second pass deflection of the season Sunday, and one of his four stops came on third-and-1 to force a punt. 

Daniel Carlson, K, Las Vegas Raiders
The always-reliable Carlson did not miss a kick this week, scoring 12 of the Raiders' 30 points in a win over the New York Giants. He was 3 of 3 on field goals with a long of 41 yards in the fourth quarter. He also made all three extra points and is still 100 percent (14 for 14) on PATs this season. Carlson has 56 points through the team's first nine games. 

Read the full run-down for the stellar plays by New England Patriots’ Jonathan Jones, more on Wooten and to discover what other Tigers are in the NFL.

🔼 Pearl’s Premier Pick. Head coach Bruce Pearl and his coaching staff have inked yet another five-star recruit as Tahaad Pettiford signed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Tigers on Wednesday.
 
Pettiford, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound guard out of Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, burst onto the scene over the summer as one of the best-scoring guards in the country.
 
Rated the No. 2 point guard and No. 21 overall player in the Class of 2024 by 247 Sports, Pettiford played AAU basketball for New Heights Lightning on the EYBL circuit, shooting 33.5 percent from the 3-point line and averaging 13.3 points per game.
 
"Tahaad is a very unique player," Pearl said. "He is a gifted scorer with an unlimited range.”
 
The Tigers have now signed one of the nation's top point guards in back-to-back years, with five-star Aden Holloway currently a freshman on the team's roster.

🔼 News That’s On Point. It’s a banner hoops recruiting day, as Auburn women's basketball welcomed its first member of the 2024-25 signing class—Jordan Hunter signed a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Tigers Wednesday.
 
Heading into her senior year at Hewitt-Trussville High School, the 5-9 guard from Trussville, Alabama, has racked up 1,474 career points, 548 assists, 502 rebounds, 285 steals and 143 blocks.

Hunter is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in Alabama and 50^th overall nationally by Hoopseen and No. 74 in the nation by World Exposure Report, which also ranks her as the state's top prospect. She is a three-time 7A All-State selection and has helped lead Hewitt-Trussville to class 7A runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021.
 
"Jordan is a long, athletic point guard with a high basketball IQ," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said.
 
"I chose Auburn because of the amazing coaching staff," Hunter said. "I wanted to play for a coach who would not only make me a better player but a better person."

🤔 TIGER TRIVIA

Razor Sharp. With a two-game winning streak under its belt, Auburn faces Arkansas this Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas (3-6, 1-5) is currently tied for last in the division, so today’s question is—who are they tied with?

Think you know the answer? Scroll to the bottom to find out!

🐅 ONE BIG THING

Going the Distance. One of college football's most elite running backs, Jarquez Hunter has been recognized this week as #1 in the SEC and #2 in the country, with 421 rushing yards and an average of 8.1 yards per carry.

🎁 THE ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY

Calling all Auburn fans! The Diamonds Direct Ultimate Fan Giveaway starts now and runs through Nov. 17. Enter for your chance to win two tickets to the Auburn vs. Alabama game, pregame hospitality passes, sideline passes, fan gear, and a $250 Diamonds Direct gift certificate.

📬 FORWARDED BY A FRIEND

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Thursday 11/9

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Louisiana @ 7:00 p.m. CT on SECN+ | Live Stats 

Friday 11/10

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Southeastern Louisiana @ 7:00 p.m. CT on SECN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats 

⚽️ Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament | Live Stats

👟 Women’s Cross Country/Track @NCAA South Regionals 6k @ 7:30 a.m. CT. | Live Stats 

💨 Men’s Cross Country/Track @NCAA South Regionals 10k @ 8:30 a.m. CT. | Live Stats 

🐎 Equestrian @ Texas A&M @ 1:00 p.m. CT

Saturday 11/11

⚽️ Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament | Live Stats

🐎 Equestrian @ SMU @ 10:00 a.m. CT

🏈 Football @ Arkansas @ 3:00 p.m. CT SEC Network | Live Audio

Sunday 11/12

⚽️ Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament | Live Stats

🏐 Volleyball @ Missouri @ 3:00 p.m. CT SECN+ | Live Video 

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ Rutgers @ 4:00 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network 

🐅 Click here to view the entire Auburn Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Mississippi State

Let’s not get overly confident, however. As Coach Hugh Freeze noted in his recent presser, Arkansas’ record doesn’t accurately reflect the level of play from this season. And they’ve got a bit of momentum following a 39-36 OT win at Florida last Saturday.

All that being said, Jarquez Hunter’s been on a tear, and Payton Thorne has passed for 424 yards and five touchdowns over the last two weeks, so let’s do this thing. War Eagle!

🐅 Have a great Thursday, y’all!