« Football 2010

Ryan Pugh

School
Auburn University
Position
Center
Major
Building Science

Classroom

Ryan Pugh maintains a 3.49 GPA in building science. He has been honored as a second-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District member as well as a two-time Southeast Conference Academic Honor Roll selectee and a three-time Academic Top Tiger.

Character

Pugh is an intelligent, hard-working student-athlete that will be successful in any endeavor. His work on the football field and in the classroom show clearly what he is capable of in each of those arenas. In an age where many young men look at college football as a stepping stone to the NFL, he truly is a “student-athlete.” One example that illustrates this involves a mission trip some Auburn football players took this summer to the Dominican Republic. Not only did Pugh volunteer his time and energy, but he took on a leadership role, encouraging others to go and asking them to unify their efforts. Just before they left, Pugh wrote all of the other members of the team a heart-felt letter and asked them to pray and work to prepare themselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually so that they might have a great effect as they went to serve on the trip.

Community

Along with the player-organized trip to the Dominican Republic, Pugh has been very involved in the Auburn community. He has volunteered at Camp ASSCA, a camp for disabled children near Auburn. He has also spent time working at Storybook Farm, a theraputic horse riding center. In addition, he has worked with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council Toys for Tots campaign and with canned food drives for the East Alabama Food Bank.

Competition

Pugh entered his senior season on the preseason All-SEC second team after finishing with the same postseason honor in 2009. He has been named to the SportsIllustrated.com Midseason All-America Second Team, the Phil Steele Midseason All-America Third Team and the Phil Steele Midseason All-SEC First Team. On the offensive line, Pugh helped the Auburn offense set team single-season records in points (433), yards of total offense (5,613), passing touchdowns (25) and plays (914). The Tigers offense also ranked 13th nationally in rushing (212 ypg), 16th in total offense (431.7), 17th in scoring offense (33.3) and fourth in red-zone scoring offense at 95 percent.