When Auburn High School alum Towns McGough arrived at Auburn, he likely wasn’t expecting to become the primary kicker right away.

Sophomore Alex McPherson was returning to Auburn after going a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals in 2023. But the outlook of Auburn’s kicker position changed when McPherson became unable to practice due to a gastrointestinal illness.

Head coach Hugh Freeze first announced that McPherson was dealing with the illness in early July. McPherson still isn’t practicing with the team, as of Friday’s practice.

McGough has taken he first team kicker reps throughout fall camp, and Freeze has expressed confidence in the freshman.

“The first week, it was fairly inconsistent, which kind of shocked me a little after the spring game. But this week, he’s been really solid,” Freeze said before Friday’s practice. “It’s not always him, let’s be clear. I mean, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong with the snap, the hold, the timing of that, and we’ve had to improve that protection some, and the operation. It’s been much better this week.”

Senior punter Oscar Chapman has been McGough’s holder throughout fall camp, and he too praised McGough’s progress.

“He’s just a natural kind of athlete, so he just smokes it,” Chapman said Friday. “He’ll just go out there and smoke a ball or just go out there and have fun with it, which is really good to see. He is kind of relaxed and he doesn’t think too much, which is really good as a kicker.”

Chapman was McPherson’s holder the last two seasons, but called the adjustment going from him to McGough was “nice and easy.”

Often for kickers, their mentality can be just as important as the actual technical ability. For a freshman like McGough, the lack of experience could raise questions there.

But despite not kicking in a game yet, Chapman complimented McGough’s mentality.

“I think he’s got a really good professional attitude towards kicking and he just is able to relax into the role,” Chapman said. “When he doesn’t think too much about it, he goes out and has a kick and jogs off, and we’re not over critiquing it or doing anything. It’s just, ‘oh, that one was good. Oh, that one was a little off.’ It’s just, it’s simple and that’s what you need, so it’s good.”