Auburn running back Kamryn Pettway, who led all Football Bowl Subdivision rushers in the month of October, has decided to return to the Tigers.
The 6-foot, 240-pound redshirt sophomore from Montgomery, Ala., has rushed for 1,123 yards and 6.1 yards per carry this season despite missing three games due to injury and not receiving any carries during the opening loss to Clemson. Pettway announced his decision early Sunday morning on social media.
"For all of the Auburn fans asking, I will be back next season," Pettway posted on Twitter. "I have some unfinished business!"
Pettway split time at fullback last year with Chandler Cox, but he was needed at tailback this season when Peyton Barber, Roc Thomas and Jovon Robinson left the program with eligibility remaining. Sophomore Kerryon Johnson opened this season as Auburn's starting tailback, but Pettway had 152 yards in the second game against Arkansas State and 123 in the third game against Texas A&M.
In October victories against Mississippi State, 38-14, Arkansas, 56-3, and Ole Miss, 40-29, Pettway averaged 199 yards. He had 173 yards on 25 carries in a win over Vanderbilt on the first Saturday of November but pulled a leg muscle on a fourth-quarter run that kept him out of games against Georgia and Alabama A&M.
"He had that injury late in the year, but he was unbelievable up until that point," NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper said last week on a conference call. "He just runs over people, and he's got some quickness. Right now, he would be in the top 12 running backs, and if he had been completely healthy all year, he maybe would have been in that 6-to-8 range.
"He could have been in the second- or third-round discussion had he finished out strong."
NFL projections will now wait for Pettway, whose announcement occurred hours after former Baylor University quarterback Jarrett Stidham, the nation's No. 1 junior-college prospect, stated his intention to transfer to Auburn.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.