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Auburn running back Tre Mason (21) is congratulated by Auburn offensive lineman Avery Young (56) after a first-quarter touchdown in the BCS National Championship Game. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

-- Auburn right tackle

Avery Young

suffered a broken hand on the first play of the BCS National Championship.

And Young continued to play, coming up with a key block on

Tre Mason

's 37-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left.

Auburn's redshirt freshman right tackle is expected to be healthy going forward, healing in time to go through spring practice.

"It was the first play of the game," Auburn head coach

Gus Malzahn

said. "He’s a tough guy and a great competitor. He had a pretty bad ankle injury midway through the year and battled through that. He’s very athletic. He’s a great kid."

Young, who started the final nine games of the season, could also be a possibility to replace

Greg Robinson

at left tackle after the potential top-10 pick declared for the NFL Draft earlier this week.

A shoulder injury forced Young to redshirt after starting the first three games of his freshman season at right tackle, and the injury kept him out of most of the offseason workouts that set the table for the Tigers' powerful running game.

Young has elite athleticism and size -- a lot like Robinson -- the perfect combination for a player protecting the quarterback's blind side, although Malzahn said the Tigers hadn't made any decisions on whether or not Young will get a look on the other side of the line.

"We haven’t got that far yet," Malzahn said. "As we get done with recruiting we’ll start thinking a little more personnel-wise and all that."

Backup tackles

along with little-used rising sophomore

Robert Leff

, will also likely get a chance to replace Robinson, according to Malzahn.

"Shon Coleman, Patrick Miller, Robert Leff, we’re going to open that dude up and see who wins that job," Malzahn said. "The good thing is we have a little bit of depth at that and have some experience."