Two years ago, Auburn defensive lineman Gage Keys was living more than 1,100 miles west in Minneapolis, where he was a part of the University of Minnesota’s football team.

In that same boat at the same time was fellow Auburn defensive lineman Trill Carter, who arrived to Auburn’s Woltosz Football Performance Center alongside Keys on Tuesday afternoon — just as they do everyday.

“We ride to the facility together every day,” Keys said of he and Carter, who were roommates during their time at Minnesota.

In 2022, both Keys and Carter decided to transfer from Minnesota — Keys landing at Kansas and Carter landing at Texas.

After going their separate ways, while it seemed unlikely that the two former roommates would ever play alongside each other again, they never completely ruled it out.

“A little bit, yeah,” Keys replied when asked if there was ever a running joke that he and Carter would finish their college playing careers together.

On Dec. 14, Keys entered the transfer portal for the second time of his career and was hearing from a slew of schools, including Arkansas and Missouri, as well as other Power 5 programs.

Weeks later, on Jan. 5, Carter followed suit and entered his name into the transfer portal.

At this point, it’s known how the story ends: They both transferred to Auburn.

“It’s been good to be with him again, for sure,” Keys said of Carter. “As a young player, when I was young coming in, he kind of took me under his wing and helped me and taught me a lot of the things I know today.” Now, fast forward, both being older players (and) more experienced, it’s good to have him, just to go back and forth with each other, as far as film, scheme, whatever.”

And while the reunion with Carter has been one of the payoffs for Keys’ decision to transfer to Auburn, it was far from why Keys, who says he wasn’t even sure if Carter was going to leave Texas, made the decision to come to The Plains.

Instead, it was former Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris who helped seal the deal for Keys.

Like Keys, Harris also arrived to Auburn after having transferred from Kansas. And while the two never found themselves on the Jayhawks’ roster at the same time, the two always had that common.

“Talking to somebody who had been where I was and then came here — it was important to have that,” Keys said, adding that Harris helped him weigh the decision to transfer.

Since joining the Tigers, people have been quick to point to the fact that the last time Auburn landed a former Kansas defensive lineman out of the transfer portal — referring to Harris — it worked well.

Keys doesn’t mind the comparison at all.

“It’s definitely a good comparison as far as like one player coming from the same school and coming here,” Keys said.

However, Keys heeds that he and Harris’ playstyles aren’t that comparable.

“We definitely got different types of things about us, so you’ll be able to see that for sure, definitely, in the fall,” said Keys. “But yeah, it’s a cool comparison and it’s cool to be able to have guys who you can look up to like that and just watch their film.”

When asked to describe his playstyle, Keys quickly pointed out his versatility.

“What I’m good at is being very explosive. I’m a line player; very strong, big size,” Keys said. “So just being able to be versatile, pass rush, move around. I could play every single position on the D-line, and I’ve done that in spring ball.”

After Harris announced that he’d be foregoing his senior season and instead be entering the NFL Draft, Auburn’s defensive line became an area of concern.

The addition of Keys, who tallied 21 tackles and four quarterback hurries last fall, is expected to help remedy some of those concerns.

“I absolutely love Gage and I absolutely love Trill,” said Auburn defensive tackles coach Vontrell King-Williams. “Those guys have done some things that will put them in some good situations. Still gotta fix some technique things, but those transfers have been… we’ve hit on those two transfers for sure.”