SEC Starter Suspended for Crucial Week 7 Game After Series of Disciplinary Issues

Alex Golesh is benching one of Auburn’s best defenders right before facing No. 1 Georgia. Star linebacker Xavier Atkins has been suspended for Saturday’s game, leaving the Tigers shorthanded against the nation’s top-ranked team. Golesh confirmed the decision during Monday’s press conference but refused to explain why. Auburn is already a heavy underdog, and now its head coach is taking a defensive star out of the equation without offering any answers. “We will be without Xavier Atkins this week,” Alex Golesh said, via 247Sports . “We’ll revisit it next week when we meet again on Monday in here.