The Auburn Beat

Mosley, Harris will play in Senior Bowl

2012-01-03T12:12:00.003-06:00

(Courtesy of Auburn sports information)

AUBURN — Auburn football players Brandon Mosley and Josh Harris have accepted invitations to play in the 63rd Senior Bowl on Jan. 28 in Mobile, Ala.

“We’re excited to have both Brandon and Josh here representing Auburn later this month in the Senior Bowl,” Senior Bowl President and CEO Steve Hale said. “They have both had great careers and are considered to be top prospects at their respective positions.”

Mosley was a second team All-SEC selection by the league coaches in 2011 after starting all 13 games for the Tigers, one at left tackle and 12 at right tackle. The 6-6, 305-pound senior started 11 games in 2010 as he helped Auburn to the BCS National Championship.

“First of all I feel blessed to be in the situation and really honored and thankful for the Senior Bowl asking me to come,” Mosley said. “It’s a huge privilege and I certainly appreciate it and it’s a dream to be able to play in the Senior Bowl and continue on to the next level.”

For his career, the Jefferson, Ga., native started 24 straight games and appeared in 27. As a junior in 2010, he was a part of an Auburn offense that set a school record by rushing for 300 yards or more in six consecutive SEC games.

“I want to show that I can be the tackle that they need in the NFL and show that I've got what it takes and really just want to work hard to prove that to them and hopefully I’ll be able to do that,” Mosley said.

Harris served as the Tigers’ deep snapper on all field goals, PAT’s and punts the last two seasons. He earned a scholarship prior to his junior year. The Carrollton, Ga., native has six career special teams tackles and was part of a unit this season that ranked third in the SEC in punting.

“It’s just really a blessing,” Harris said. “My time at Auburn was incredible. As a walk-on I just never thought I’d end up in this position to now be able to try to fulfill a childhood dream of mine and play in the NFL and this will be a great opportunity to get that exposure.

“It’s good to know that I’ll get to wear a helmet with that AU logo on the side one last time. Auburn just means so much to me and it always will and now that my playing days are over we get to go out there and represent the Auburn family one more time.”

Chizik, Trotter talk about bowl victory

2012-01-01T00:19:00.002-06:00

ATLANTA - Here are some remarks from Auburn coach Gene Chizik and quarterback Barrett Trotter following the Tigers' 43-24 Chick-fil-A Bowl victory at the Georgia Dome.

Chizik

“It was a lot of fun. I am so happy for our kids and our coaches. That was a good football team that we beat tonight. We are just glad to come in here and have the first win of the year starting our next year.”

(On the onside kick)

“There is no question (it was the momentum changer). We knew we were going to do that. We told the players all week that we were going to do that. We knew we were going to get it and we are pretty much undefeated when it comes to that kick. It’s hard to stop if you execute it right. But, it was definitely a momentum changer.”

(On Barrett Trotter)

“I couldn’t be more proud of a young guy than I am of Barrett Trotter in so many ways off the field, the way that he handled everything in the middle of the season and what a fitting end to his season. He finished it the way he started it.”

Barrett Trotter

“It means a whole lot to finish out with these guys. It was good to be able to finish what I started. I got the opportunity to start the season, and there is nothing I hate more than starting something and not finishing it. I hate that Clint (Moseley) got hurt, but I am so glad to be able to come in and send all of the seniors out with a win. As soon as I saw Clint limping off, I went ahead and took my headset off and started warming up.”

(on the long pass to Emory Blake)
“It is the same pass that we have been running all year. They were playing a tight corners look, and I feel really comfortable with that play. Emory made a great play on the ball and got open, and it was a really long play that helped us.”

Chizik: Dyer's status unchanged

2011-12-30T12:35:00.002-06:00

ATLANTA – The status of suspended Auburn tailback Mike Dyer has not changed, according to Auburn coach Gene Chizik.

Chizik was asked Friday during a Chick-fil-A Bowl press conference about recent rumors that Dyer, an Arkansas native, plans to transfer to Arkansas State, where Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was recently hired as head coach.

“Mike Dyer’s status has not changed,” Chizik said. “If it does, I’ll let you know. I’m not aware of any of that.”

Dyer, a sophomore, has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons and led the Tigers in rushing this year with 1,242 yards.

He was suspended indefinitely Dec. 11 for an undisclosed violation of team rules, although Chizik left the door open for Dyer’s return should he accomplish certain objectives.

What Auburn's coaches are saying about the Cavs

2011-12-29T15:30:00.002-06:00

ATLANTA - Auburn safeties coach Tommy Thigpen and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media on Thursday to talk about the Tigers' upcoming matchup with Virginia in Saturday's Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Thigpen analyzed Virginia's offense, while Malzahn discussed the Cavaliers' defense. Here'w what they had to say:

Thigpen on Virginia's offense

"What we’re seeing is a team that doesn’t allow you to do much on defense. With all the switching and the motions, it creates a lot of confusion. So if you have a young team like we have, it limits you. If you’re watching teams that play them, they’re not playing much man coverage versus them, because of the shifts and the motions and the miss-fits. So we’ve got to be pretty vanilla. And communication is key. They take a lot of pride in running the football. That’s been Virginia’s MO since I was in high school. I’m from Virginia. I was recruited by Virginia back in the days and it doesn’t seem like they’ve changed at all as far as run the ball, run the ball, play action. They do a tremendous job.

The offensive line is big, they’re strong. They kind of look like an SEC team. They run the ball. They take a lot of pride in running that football. Communication’s got to be right on point. We can’t bust any assignments."

Malzahn on Virginia's defense

"Virginia’s defense is very sound. They’re very impressive up front. They play a great run defense, especially in between the boxes. They try to keep things in front of them. They try to make you earn it – very few big plays. And at the same time, they’ll pick and choose when they pressure and they do a good job with their pressure. They’re well coached. You can tell the guys, they know what they’re doing, they know the situations and they’re going to make you earn it."

Lolley talks about Chizik as DC

2011-12-28T16:48:00.003-06:00

AUBURN Auburn's assistant coaches met with the media after Wednesday's bowl practice for Saturday's Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia.

Auburn secondary coach Phillip Lolley had an interesting take on Auburn head coach Gene Chizik as a defensive coordinator. Chizik has been serving as defensive coordinator since Ted Roof left earlier this month for a similar job at Central Florida.

Here's what Lolley had to say:

I've worked with him before. I know exactly what to expect. He's always a great teacher, always motivated. The whole team sees that he loves to coach. The head coach role is different. You can tell he's missed being out there and being in the battle.

"I always know what to expect from Coach. He's a great leader, a great teacher. You can tell that we started from ground level with our teaching methods. That's what we wanted to accomplish going into this bowl game – get the ground work again knowing that we've got a lot of young players. We've done a lot of teaching, a lot of drills, a lot of fundamental. He's been highly, highly excited. Not being able to coach a position for 4 or 5 years, having to serve as the head guys, he's been highly motivated. It rubs off on everybody; it's contagious.

"It's something we talk about all the time, but they're seeing the head man now in a teaching role. They see why he was in demand to be a head coach. It all started on defense for him. It's been a new experience for our guys, but to me I've been there with him before. I knew what to expect.

Is it fun for you?

"Absolutely! It's been fun. It brings back a lot of memories. We were undefeated before he went to Texas. I knew what to expect. I've worked with him. I knew he'd be highly motivated and he'd be fast-paced.

"The players who played at Auburn before understood that. When he was hired as head coach, you saw a lot of our old players come back because they remembered him as the defensive coordinator. They knew how highly motivated he was. Now these younger players that we have are able to see what the older players saw back then.

Is it a return to the old Chizik?

"He's always been the same guy. When he was coordinator before, he was always highly motivated and stressed fundamentals. He's the same Chiz I remember. Being in a head coach was new to me. Being in this role isn't new to me. I remember."

Auburn will face Texas A&M in 2012

2011-12-28T09:46:00.002-06:00

(Courtesy of Auburn sports information)

AUBURN — Auburn football’s 2012 Southeastern Conference schedule has been released by the league office.

Auburn’s conference home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium will include LSU (Sept. 22), Arkansas (Oct. 6), Texas A&M (Oct. 27) and Georgia (Nov. 10).

The 2012 home schedule will feature the defending SEC Champion (LSU) and SEC East Champion (Georgia), and a first-ever trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium by new conference member Texas A&M.

The Tigers’ SEC road schedule will be games at Mississippi State (Sept. 8), Ole Miss (Oct. 13), Vanderbilt (Oct. 20), and Alabama (Nov. 24).

The non-conference schedule will include games against Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic to start the season as well as home games against ULM, New Mexico State and Alabama A&M. The dates for the four non-conference games will be announced at a later date.

Auburn will host its annual A-Day on Saturday, April 14. The A-Day kickoff time as well as the entire weekend of A-Day activities will also be announced in the near future.

2012 AUBURN FOOTBALL SEC SCHEDULE

Sept. 8 at Mississippi State

Sept. 22 LSU

Oct. 6 ARKANSAS

Oct. 13 at Ole Miss

Oct. 20 at Vanderbilt

Oct. 27 TEXAS A&M

Nov. 10 GEORGIA

Nov. 24 at Alabama

Auburn defense has its swagger back

2011-12-27T16:30:00.001-06:00

ATLANTA – For a unit that ranked at or near the bottom of the SEC in most major statistical categories, Auburn’s defense has an unusually high level of confidence heading into the Tigers’ New Year’s Eve Chick-fil-A Bowl showdown with Virginia.

Must be that new defensive coordinator.

(FOR MORE, READ WEDNESDAY'S ANNISTON STAR)

Yeah, Newton's the real deal

2011-12-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

ATLANTA – Auburn coach Gene Chizik was fielding questions from the media after the Tigers’ Tuesday practice in the Georgia Dome when a reporter changed the subject from Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl to former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

Chizik was asked if he were maybe just a little bit surprised with Newton’s success as a rookie quarterback with the Carolina Panthers.

“No. I'm not surprised,” Chizik said. “Anybody who wanted my opinion last year, that's the opinion I gave them. He's a star. And anybody who thought differently…they have their own opinion. I was around him every day, I watched him every day, and I'm not one bit surprised. As the years go on, and he learns more about the league, and learns more about the defenses, you're going to see more of the same.”

Mason likes the Georgia Dome

2011-12-26T17:01:00.003-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn held its first practice in the Georgia Dome Monday in preparation for Saturday night's Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia.

Afterward, several of Auburn's players met with the media, including freshman running back Tre Mason.

Here's what Mason had to say:

Talk about playing in this game.

"It's exciting. It's a great opportunity I was given, so I'm just going
to do what I've got to do to win.

What do you think of the Georgia Dome?

"I like the turf. The turf is a fast track."

Does that give you and Onterio McCalebb an advantage?

"I feel like it is. It'll be an advantage for us. We're a couple of
fast guys. This will actually help us get to be where we need to be,
which is the end zone, a lot faster.

Has Onterio been helpful?

"He's helped me greatly. He's like a brother. What I didn't really
understand, he corrected me on it. He's got me to where I understand
the entire offense."

Are you ready to run between the tackles?

"I've been ready. I've been ready since high school to run between the
tackle. That's what I'm here to do."

Are you big enough?

"I think it really takes a lot of heart, and not being afraid to run
between the tackles. Some running backs may be shy between the
tackles, but I’m not. It's not a size thing at all."

Talk about the work you got during the regular season.

"A lot of reps. It was Mike (Dyer) and I. We were getting an equal amount of
reps, and we just kept each other going because you never know when
somebody might go down."

How has Quan Bray fit in?

"He's perfect. He's versatile. He could play every position on the
field if you wanted him to. He could play defense, too. He's just a
great athlete."

Talk about your freshman year?

"It was good to get your feet wet and learn some of this offense. I
can't wait until next year and really play a lot."

Coordinators unlikely to be hired before bowl game

2011-12-21T12:53:00.003-06:00

AUBURN – Auburn coach Gene Chizik concedes it will likely be after the Tigers’ Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia before he hires an offensive or defensive coordinator.

“Again, without boxing myself in the corner with the timeline, that’s certainly a very good possibility, yes,” Chizik said Wednesday.

Chizik must replace offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who will be leaving after the bowl game to become the head coach at Arkansas State, and defensive coordinator Ted Roof, who left two weeks ago to take the defensive coordinator’s job at Central Florida.

Although Chizik said he’d like to hire coaches who he knew would stay for several years, he said hiring coaches who are a good fit for Auburn is more important than continuity.

“I think you hire the best guy,” he said. “Obviously, continuity is something you would really, really like to have. The real unfortunate reality is if you hire really good ones, there are a lot of people who want them. But I want to hire the best fit and the best person for Auburn. Obviously, continuity would be a big deal but the most important thing is that it be the right fit, in terms of being on the same page and the same philosophies. That’s the most important thing.”

Jermaine Whitehead, philosopher, offers something to chew on

2011-12-20T16:52:00.001-06:00

Auburn freshman cornerback Jermaine Whitehead has an interesting view on how a defense is supposed to work.

“A defense is like a picture... or it's like a pie,” Whitehead explains. “You don't want a piece out of the pie. You want the whole pie. That's how the defense is."

Chizik talks with media after Monday practice

2011-12-19T20:41:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Monday night's practice for the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game. Here's what he had to say.

“We had a really good practice tonight. Again, I thought it was uptempo. Went back to a lot of teaching tonight. Had a pretty good full-padded practice (Saturday) and got after it pretty good. Anyway, we had a great practice. Again, we’re going to go pads tomorrow, and get back after some fundamentals and continue to try and grow in that area. We expect fully to have two more good practices before we get out of here.”

How much game plan is in?

“Piece by piece we’re starting to get there. We’ve got two more days and then we’re going to have four when we get there. We’ll have enough time to get in what we need. Piece by piece, we’ve definitely done that.”

Talk about how T'Sharvan Bell seems to have a good attitude about going through the re-hab on his knee.

“I think outstanding. I think he has done a really, really good job. You know part of the process of rehabbing from injuries is how you mentally go through it. I don’t think there’s any question he has approached this well. So I think that’s half the battle, but he’s in great spirits as you guys know. I think his rehab is really right on time. Again, I don’t see any reason to believe he’s not going to have a great positive attitude moving forward because he has certainly done that the last couple weeks.”

What have you seen from the young guys in bowl practice?

“I feel like we’ve gotten better. I feel like a lot of the young guys who actually played a good bit during the year, you give them a little bit of time off and they come back a little more veteran like, but I think they’ve gotten better.”

What's the key to your success in bowl games?

“I think you have to be really smart in how you proceed in terms of how you’re practicing, how much you’re practicing, how little you’re practicing. Some guys can take it to the other extreme and by the time your team plays they’re tired and beat down. We’re trying to get them to a place where we’re physically and mentally ready, but we’re not overcooked, so to speak. I think we’ve done a good job over the years of managing the time we have with them. And give them the right amount of walk throughs, meeting time and on the field practice time.”

Trotter's status for next year uncertain

2011-12-17T18:26:00.003-06:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – With Clint Moseley established as Auburn’s No. 1 quarterback, and freshman Kyle Frazier getting equal reps with Moseley, redshirt junior Barrett Trotter seems to be the odd man out.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said Saturday has had some discussion with Trotter about his future with the program, but nothing definitive.

“We've talked on the surface where's he's at, the details of that I'm not going into it,” Chizik said. “We'll talk more when the season ends.”

Trotter started the first seven games this season for the Tigers (7-5). He completed 81 of 149 passes (54.4 percent) for 1,009 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Moseley has completed 65 of 104 passes (62.5 percent) for 794 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Auburn hands out awards

2011-12-16T22:45:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - The Auburn football team held its annual awards dinner Friday night. Listed below are the winners.

Awards Voted on by Players

Offensive MVP — Emory Blake

Defensive MVP — Neiko Thorpe

Special Teams MVP — Steven Clark

Team MVP — Philip Lutzenkirchen

Awards Voted on by Coaches

Special Teams Points Leader — Cody Parkey

Outstanding Offensive Newcomer — Reese Dismukes

Outstanding Defensive Newcomer — Jermaine Whitehead

Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year — Corey Grant

Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year — Daniel Pond

Academic Eye of the Tiger — Eltoro Freeman

Strength and Conditioning MVP — Jared Cooper, Corey Grant

Auburn works on special teams

2011-12-15T14:56:00.001-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn devoted Thursday’s bowl practice strictly to special teams’ work.

“Practice was great,” said special teams’ coordinator Jay Boulware. “Coach (Gene) Chizik likes to run our program here at Auburn like an NFL football team. Basically, we had an NFL special teams practice today. It allowed us to hone in on some of the stuff, game-plan wise, and we were also able to go back and refine some of the other things that we haven’t touched on in a while and things that we touch on once a week - hands team, on-side kick team and stuff like that.”

Boulware said the practice went well.

“It was crisp,” he said. “It was sharp. It was kind of a touch-up in some areas and put some guys in that may have been out before and are healthy now and getting ready to go for the game against Virginia.”

The Tigers play Virginia Dec. 31 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

Chizik issues statement on Malzahn departure

2011-12-14T11:21:00.001-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik issued the following statement Wednesday about offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's departure to take the head coaching job a Arkansas State.

Chizik said Malzahn will continue to work with the Tigers through the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia.

“I’m very happy for Gus and the opportunity that awaits him at Arkansas State. Gus has always had the strong desire to become a head coach and the chance for him to return to his home state that he is so familiar with, will be very beneficial. He’s meant a tremendous amount to our program the past three years, helping our offense and our program achieve unprecedented heights, winning a BCS National Championship and setting countless offensive records. Gus has experienced success in each stop of his coaching career and I have no doubt that he will have similar results at Arkansas State. We look forward to having Gus stay with us through the bowl game and hope to send him out with a victory.”

Malzahn leaving for Arkansas State

2011-12-13T22:44:00.002-06:00

By Charles Bennett

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is expected to be named the next head coach at Arkansas State today.

Arkansas State has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 p.m. to announce the hiring of a new coach to replace Hugh Freeze who left to take the head coaching job at Ole Miss last week.

Whether Malzahn will begin his duties immediately or stay with the Tigers through their Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia is unknown.

If he leaves immediately, the Tigers will be without an offensive or a defensive coordinator. Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof left last week to take a similar position at Central Florida.

Earlier Tuesday, Auburn coach Gene Chizik, who is presently serving as defensive coordinator, was asked about the possibility that Malzahn would leave for another coaching job before the bowl game.

“Gus and I have a great relationship and we’ve had several discussions about moving forward in his career and where his goals are,” Chizik said. “At the end of the day, his decisions are going to be up to him and I’m sure he’s going to make the best decision for him and his family. But we’re very open when we talk about it. Again, if an opportunity arises, I’m sure he’ll do what’s best for him and his family, just like I did.”

(FOR MORE, READ WEDNESDAY'S ANNISTON STAR

Clark, Lutzenkirchen honored by SI

2011-12-13T15:48:00.001-06:00

Courtesy of Auburn sports information

AUBURN – Auburn punter Steven Clark and tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen were both named to the Sports Illustrated Honorable Mention All-America Team, the magazine announced Tuesday.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Clark has 69 punts this season with an average of 40.5 yards per punt. The sophomore has 32 punts inside the 20, a mark that ranks him tops in the Southeastern Conference and for second in the nation.

With 34 fair catches and two touchbacks, only 10 of Clark's punts have even been returned this season for just 62 yards. Of the 10 returns, five have gone for zero or negative yardage. For his efforts this season, Clark has twice been named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and was named to the All-SEC First Team.

Lutzenkirchen, a native of Marietta, Ga., is third on the team in receiving with 24 catches for 238 yards and seven touchdowns, ranking him third on the team in scoring this season. Just a junior, he holds the Auburn touchdown record for a tight end with 14and holds the single-season record with his seven this season.

An All-SEC Second Team selection, Lutzenkirchen is tied for third nationally for touchdowns among tight ends. He has three game-winning touchdown receptions on his career and also helped block for an Auburn rushing attack that tallied 2,097 yards this season.

Pro Football Weekly honors Clark

2011-12-12T17:03:00.003-06:00

(Courtesty of Auburn sports information)

AUBURN - Auburn sophomore punter Steven Clark has been named to the Pro Football Weekly All-America Team, the magazine announced Monday.

Clark finished as a finalist last week for the Ray Guy Award and was named to the All-SEC First Team by the league’s head coaches.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Clark has 69 punts this season with an average of 40.5 yards per punt. He has 32 punts inside the 20, a mark that ranks him tops in the Southeastern Conference and for second in the nation.

With 34 fair catches and two touchbacks, only 10 of Clark's punts have even been returned this season for just 62 yards. Of the 10 returns, five have gone for zero or negative yardage. For his efforts this season, Clark has twice been named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Chizik speaks about Dyer situation

2011-12-12T13:21:00.004-06:00

Auburn coach Gene Chizik briefly addressed the suspension of tailback Mike Dyer while speaking with reporters prior to a press conference Monday in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

"When you see him back in an Auburn jersey, you know he's done everything we've asked him to do," Chizik said.

Chizik deflected further questions about Dyer by saying, "I'm not going to talk about the ones who are not here."

Auburn had confirmed reports of Dyer's indefnite suspension on Sunday.

Dyer, a sophomore who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons, will not play in Auburn's Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia, and his future with the Tigers beyond the bowl game remains uncertain.

Junior Onterio McCalebb and freshman Tre Mason are expected to fill Dyer's spot.

Dyer suspended for bowl game

2011-12-11T11:31:00.003-06:00

AUBURN – Auburn tailback Mike Dyer has been suspended for the Tigers’ Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia because of an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Dyer, a sophomore, has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons for the Tigers.

Auburn officials confirmed the suspension Sunday that was first reported by AuburnUndercover.com, AuburnSports.com and the Birmingham News, but offered no elaboration.

Last week, Dyer was selected first-team All-SEC by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press.

Dyer rushed for 1,242 yards this season, second in the SEC behind Heisman candidate Trent Richardson of Alabama.

Auburn (7-5) plays Virginia (8-4) at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Auburn begins search for defensive coordinator

2011-12-10T11:36:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn has spoken with Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops about the Tigers' vacant defensive coordinator's position, according to a report by Al.com.

Auburn is seeking to replace Ted Roof, who left last week to take the defensive coordinator's job at Central Florida.

In his second season at Florida State, Stoops' defense ranked sixth nationally in total defense, including second in rushing defense and 18th against the pass.

Other coaches whom Auburn is apparently interested in include South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson and former North Carolina interim head coach Everett Withers.

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik is serving as defensive coordinator for the Tigers as they begin preparations for their Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl game with Virginia.

Chizik has indicated there is no timetable in place for naming Roof's successor.

Auburn's Dismukes earns post-season honors

2011-12-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

(Courtesy of Auburn sports information)

AUBURN – Auburn freshman center Reese Dismukes picked up a pair of post-season awards Thursday as he was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and the CBS Sports Freshman All-America Team.

A native of Spanish Fort, Ala., Dismukes started all 12 games at center for the Tigers and was the first Auburn true freshman to start at center in four years. A mainstay on the Auburn offensive line this season, Dismukes helped the Tigers rush for 2,097 yards this season, ranking fourth in the SEC. The Tigers rushed for more than 200 yards in six games this season, including a season-high 291 yards at Arkansas.

He also helped block for running back Michael Dyer, a first-team All-SEC selection, as he rushed for 1,242 yards on the season, enough for second in the SEC and 10th all-time at Auburn.

Chizik will fill Roof's spot for bowl game

2011-12-08T13:37:00.000-06:00

AUBURN – With the departure of Ted Roof, Auburn coach Gene Chizik will serve as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator for the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A showdown with Virginia.

Chizik said Thursday he will be patient in making the hire and doesn’t feel any particular sense of urgency to replace Roof, who left to take the defensive coordinator’s job at Central Florida.

“I’ll be serving as defensive coordinator for the bowl game,” Chizik said. “Timelines, I don’t put timelines out there for any of those types of issues. We’re always going to take our time and do our due diligence when it comes to finding the right fit for Auburn. So we’ll do that. But I will be serving as the defensive coordinator for this game.”

Chizik responds to Roof's depature

2011-12-08T11:44:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn head coach Gene Chizik issued the following statement Thursday regarding the departure of defensive coordinator Ted Roof for a similar position at Central Florida.

“Ted has played an important role in the success of our football program, helping Auburn win 29 games in three years, including a national championship last season," Chizik said. "I’m very appreciative of the passion, energy and work ethic Ted brought to the program every day. I know that this will be a great opportunity for Ted to be reunited with his mentor in George O’Leary and we wish him and his family nothing but the best at UCF.”

Roof leaving for UCF

2011-12-07T13:54:00.001-06:00

Multiple sources are reporting that Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof is leaving for a similar position at the University of Central Florida.

Auburn places six on Coaches' All-SEC teams

2011-12-06T14:44:00.002-06:00

(Courtesty of Auburn Sports information)

AUBURN - Six members of the Auburn football team have been named to Coaches’ All-Southeastern Conference Teams, the league office announced Tuesday.

Auburn placed three players on the All-SEC First Team with sophomore running back Michael Dyer, sophomore defensive end Corey Lemonier and sophomore punter Steven Clark.

On the second team are junior tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, senior offensive lineman Brandon Mosley and junior running back Onterio McCalebb as an all-purpose selection.

Dyer ranks second in the SEC, 22nd nationally, in rushing with 103.5 yards per game and has his second consecutive 1,000-yard season in the books with 1,242 on the season. His 1,242 yards rank him 10th all-time at Auburn in single-season rushing and move him into 10th on the career rushing list with 2,335 yards.

Dyer is also fourth in the SEC in scoring with 10 touchdowns on the season. On the 2011 season, he tallied six games of 100 yards rushing and four of 150 yards or more.

Lemonier ranks third in the SEC and is tied for 12th nationally in sacks with 9.5 per game. He is also tied for fifth in the SEC with 13.5 tackles for loss this season. On the season, Lemonier is seventh on the team in tackles with 44 and has a team-high 15 quarterback hurries. He has also forced five fumbles and returned one for nine yards against Ole Miss.

Clark, a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, punted for 2,794 yards this season, averaging 40.5 yards per punt with a long punt of 58 yards. He is second in the nation in punts inside the 20 with 32 while nine of those have gone down inside the 10. Only 10 of Clark’s punts have even been returned this season with five of those for zero or negative yards.

Lutzenkirchen is third on the team in receiving with 24 catches for 238 yards and seven touchdowns, ranking him third on the team in scoring this season. A junior, he holds the Auburn touchdown record for a tight end with 14 and holds the single-season record with his seven this season.

Mosley has been a mainstay on the Auburn offensive line this season, helping the Tigers rush for 2,097 yards this season, ranking fourth in the SEC. The Tigers rushed for more than 200 yards in six games this season, including a season-high 291 yards at Arkansas.

McCalebb has been an all-purpose threat for the Tigers, ranking second on the team in rushing, second in receiving and first in yards per kick return. When running the ball, McCalebb tallied 532 yards on 102 carries for a 5.2 yards per rush average. He averaged 44.3 yards per game rushing and scored four rushing touchdowns on the season. On his career, McCalebb ranks 17th all-time at Auburn in career yardage with 1,907.

As a receiver, he tied for the team lead in catches with 30, going for 291 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 9.7 yards per reception and 24.2 receiving yards per game. Among running backs all-time at Auburn, McCalebb ranks tied for sixth in receptions, eighth in yardage and 10th in yards per reception. McCalebb also returned 10 kicks for 320 yards and a touchdown this season. He currently holds the Auburn record for kick return average with 28.3 yards per return on his career.

The SEC individual award winners will be released on Wednesday and the SEC All-Freshman Team will be announced on Thursday.

Dyer makes first-team All-SEC

2011-12-05T16:15:00.002-06:00

Auburn running back Mike Dyer has been selected to the Associated Press All-SEC first team.

Dyer was second in rushing in the SEC to Alabama Heisman hopeful Trent Richardson, rushing for 1,242 yards and 10 touchdowns on 242 carries.

Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen and defensive end Corey Lemonier were selected to the All-SEC second team.

Lutzenkirchen caught 24 passes for 238 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Lemonier finished tied for the SEC lead in sacks with 9.5

Auburn faces Virginia in Chick-fil-A

2011-12-05T11:36:00.002-06:00

AUBURN – As expected, Auburn received and accepted an official invitation on Sunday to play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 31.

What wasn’t expected was a late change in opponents. The Tigers will play Virginia (8-4) instead of Virginia Tech (11-2).

The Tigers (7-5) were anticipating a match up with Virginia Tech, which lost to Clemson 38-10 Saturday night in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte, N.C.

But the Sugar Bowl, in what was considered s surprise move by ESPN’s college football analysts, chose Virginia Tech over higher-ranked teams like Baylor, Kansas State and
Boise State as an at-large BCS selection to face Michigan.

When the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s turn came, they chose Virginia over Georgia Tech and Florida State to face the Tigers.

“Virginia closed the season very strong and had wins head to head over Georgia Tech and Florida State,” said Chick-fil-A Bowl president Gary Stokan in explaining the bowl’s selection.

Virginia coach Mike London was pleased by the development.
“It has been a great year and a great opportunity for a young team to play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl,” London said. “We’re humbled by the opportunity to go play in Atlanta, and what an opportunity, to play the defending national champions.”

Auburn will be making its 38th bowl appearance and its fifth in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, formerly known as the Peach Bowl.

This year’s game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve at the Georgia Dome.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik said the close school’s close proximity to Atlanta should please Tiger fans.

“We feel blessed to be in such a great bowl game,” Chizik said. “The Chick-fil-A Bowl has been outstanding through the years in terms of interest and fan excitement. Atlanta is a place that is very near and dear to our hearts. Our fan base is going to be extremely excited. We’re thrilled to be in such a great bowl game.”

The two schools will divide 34,000 tickets. The game is a sellout to the general public for the 15th consecutive year.

Tickets for the Chick-fil-A Bowl are $80 and may be purchased through the Auburn Ticket Office via aubtix.com or calling 1-855-AUB-2010. All seating assignments will be based on Tigers Unlimited Priority. For the best seats, fans are encouraged to place orders through the Auburn Athletic Department. For additional information, visit www.auburntigers.com/bowltickets.html.

“Virginia and Auburn represent two of the most exciting young teams in the country,” Stokan said. “With these two teams, we have two top-tier coaching staffs, incredible fan bases and great history and tradition. We’re expecting an unmatched atmosphere and a real battle in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Bowl.”

The only meetings between Auburn and Virginia came in a home-and-home meeting in 1997 and 1998. Auburn won the 1997 meeting, 18-7, in Charlottesville, while the Cavaliers won in Auburn, 19-0, in 1998. It will mark the first time the two teams have met in a bowl game.

Auburn coaches looking

2011-12-02T14:56:00.003-06:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn heads a list of three Auburn football coaches who are candidates for head coaching jobs elsewhere.

Malzahn interviewed for the head coaching at North Carolina on Thursday, according to multiple sources. AuburnUndercover.com reported the news first.

Auburn running backs coach Curtis Luper has interviewed for the head coaching job at UAB according to the Birmingham News, while Auburn wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor is a candidate for the head coaching job at Tulane.

“I can’t say how strong a candidate Taylor is, but he’s definitely in the mix at this point,” said a source familiar with the process at Tulane. “He’s a strong recruiter, familiar with recruiting Louisiana, and that’s what Tulane needs.”

Malzahn has been one of the hottest coaching commodities in the nation since heading a record-setting offense that helped lead Auburn to the BCS title last season.

He was considered for the head coaching jobs at Vanderbilt and Maryland last season, but returned to Auburn after receiving a raise that made him one of the most highly-paid offensive coordinators in the nation at $1.3 million per year.

Malzahn has deflected questions about his coaching future, but has acknowledged on many occasions that his goal is to be a head coach.

Current North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham was in the same capacity at Tulsa in 2007-2008 when Malzahn was offensive coordinator at Tulsa.

Chizik discusses Iron Bowl loss, bowl practice

2011-11-27T19:43:00.003-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media Sunday evening and talked about a variety of subjects, including Saturday's Iron Bowl loss, the upcoming bowl game, and what went wrong for the 7-5 Tigers this season.

Here's what he had to say.

Have you watched the tape from the Alabama game?

“I’ve watched most of it. We’ve had recruits in all day, so I’ve watched bits and pieces of it. Most of it.”

Your thoughts?

“Very disappointing. And again, like I said last night, it was a very good football team. It’s disappointing because in the fourth quarter going in, if we were able to convert on that fourth-and-short and go in and close the distance to a touchdown, I think the momentum of the game and how our crowd was into it would have given us a chance to get into it and have a chance to stay in the game. We had our chances, we just didn’t execute well enough to get it done.”

Losing the way you did against teams like Georgia and Alabama, was that what makes it tough to take rather than the number of losses?

“I don’t think, regardless of what the rest of the records are, regardless of how you did in the other games, any time you get beat against a Georgia and an Alabama, very unfavorably like we did, obviously it’s very disappointing. You’ve got to keep in perspective that the losses we did have that were lopsided came against very good football teams. You take the No. 1 team in the country and the No. 3 team in the country (LSU and Arkansas), and you make mistakes on the road against great teams, that’s the result you get. That was the No. 1 team against the No. 3 team. In our case, we said it from the beginning: Our margin of error is very small. The bottom line is when we’ve played in those games and they’ve been lopsided, we’ve done things that we can’t do and win games: turn the ball over, give up big plays on defense. It’s very disappointing, and when you play in games against those good of teams, that’s the result. We’re going to take all of those things and we’re going to grow from it. We’re going to learn from it. We’re going to use those things to move forward and get better.”

You've got a lot of young players. How much will they benefit from the bowl game?

“I think it’s extremely beneficial, because they’re going to get enough time off where they’re going to get separated and removed from football, then all of a sudden start all over again. It’ll almost be like spring practice with a game at the end. For us and our football team, no question about it, that extra practice time will be invaluable.”

What's the upcoming schedule?

“We’ve got to really concentrate on the academics this week because we have exams the following week. Obviously we’ll stay in shape weight room wise and conditioning. But we’re going to prepare academically this whole week and the following week without there being any true practice time. At least that’s the plan now, and that plan could change.”

Do you hope to get some injured players back for the bowl?

“We’re hoping they can. That’s the goal for a lot of those guys that weren’t able to play this year and are going to be in that situation. We’re hoping they’re back and able to practice for the bowl game because, again, it’s going to be like their first spring practice. Some of those guys will be day-to-day when it comes to that, as far as how they progress.”

Is Kris Frost one of those players?

“He’s trying to work himself into that. He’s made a lot of strides here in the last three weeks. He’s one of the guys we think may be able to do something during bowl practice. We just don’t know exactly to what extent yet.”

Will T'Sharvan Bell be back for spring?

"You hope that when spring practice starts there’s some things he’ll be able to do. And guys just come along at a different pace faster than others. With him, I think it’s just going to be how he responds to the surgery. Certainly, we would love it. Maybe non-contact drills, it may be nothing at all, I don’t know. We’ve got to wait and see."

Where’s Kris Frost going to play?

"That’s a good questions because we haven’t seen him play yet – he never made it to the practice field. So we don’t really know. We know he’s a great athlete and he’s got the ability to probably play anywhere at those linebacker positions that we want. That’s going to be a great evaluation process for us this spring with him."

Kris is helping coaches on the sideline during games?

"Since he’s been coming back to practice and he’s been a little more engaged with us versus just with our medical staff, yes. We felt like he’s more engaged, more into it mentally and so we obviously used him to help us with signals last night."

Any update on Shon Coleman?

"I think he’s doing, medically, really well. I don’t profess to be a doctor to know exactly what that means, but it sounds like he’s really doing well in terms of treatment, where he’s going, the effectiveness of his treatments. So it’s been very encouraging. But as far as what that means for him playing, ever playing, when he may be able to play, there’s not really anything out there on that yet."

Will you consider any changes at quarterback for the bowl game?

"The bottom line is: it’s like everything that we’ll do. We’ll go back and really revisit every position at every facet. Offensively, defensively, special teams-wise, every facet of what we’re able to accomplish and not accomplish. You can lump the quarterback in there with the guards and the centers and the wideouts. It’s all the same."

Was the offense different over the course of the season. It seemed more effective early.

"Everything was done… It’s the exact same offense. That never changed. In terms of pace, in terms of what we were trying to do, whether we ran it or threw it, that was all based on, again, what the defenses were giving us or not giving us. We added a couple wrinkles in there with Kiehl at quarterback because, again, we felt like that was something that would give us a little bit of extra running game in there that we didn’t feel like we had. So really and truly, when we weren’t good on offense it was because we didn’t execute it. It’s that simple. That combined with as we got deeper in the season, obviously, we were playing some great defenses too. So, it’s a combination of that and it’s, again, it’s a deal where we’re going to go back and reassess and look at everything. But we didn’t change anything offensively. We still paced people when we felt like it was effective. Again, you’ve got to look at how your defense is playing. If your defense is on the field for 28-30 snaps and your offense has been out there for nine, you’ve got to play the game differently. So going back and evaluating it, nothing changed with the offense, but our plans did change based on what was unfolding during the game."

How much did it hurt losing Emory and Trovon over roughly the same time frame?

“Losing Emory for three or four games, whatever it was, that definitely didn’t help us. Even up to last night he’s still not 100 percent. That’s not an excuse that’s just the way it is. That’s the reality of taking away some our vertical passing game that for the first three games was there. So all that combined.”

With those guys banged up – you had Jaylon Denson who didn’t step up?

“There’s a lot of moving parts in the offense. You’ve got to put those guys in position where there’s a comfort level between the quarterback and themselves. And they’ve got to be able to convert different routes on the run based on what they see coverage wise and that’s hard sometimes on a young guy. That’s some of the reason you didn’t see them in there as much as somebody might expect. It’s just not that easy that you put a wideout in there and he runs downfield and you throw him the ball up. That’s not the way offenses are run. We know that down the road they are going to be really good players, but again, it takes time at the wideout position to learn the position.”

Do you still believe in what you’re doing offensively?

“Absolutely. I believe we have to get much better everywhere.”

Same apply to the defense?

“We have to get much better everywhere.”

Will you do what you can to keep this staff intact?

“Again, there are going to be guys who are going to be sought after as head coaches, there are going to be all kinds of different variables, but I’ve always placed a very high amount of importance on staff continuity. But at the end of the day, guys have to do what they think is best for them and their families, just like I have had to do for my whole career. Again, some guys will have opportunities, some won’t, but again they will do what is in the best interest of their families.”

Do you prefer Quick changes or slow changes?

“I haven’t really given it a lot of thought. Typically, when there are changes they all happen at different times. So I’ve got a plan in place for however it happens and whether that’s early or late.”

You mentioned making a 10,000-foot view of the program, does that include assessing personnel and changes that you instigate?

“That includes assessing everything. That includes players, coaches, managers, trainers, everything. We were 14-0 last year and I did the same thing. We were 8-5 the year before and I did the same thing. In my seat, I don’t think that’s anything unusual. That’s what you always have to do to keep moving forward. I assessed everybody and every single person in this program when we were 14-0 and I’ll do the same thing this year as well. Including myself. We’re always trying to look for a better way and a better result. We’ll assess that and at the end of the day we’ll do what we think is best for Auburn.”

How did the recruiting weekend go?

"Again, Auburn does such a great job of selling itself. Although the result of the game was not favorable, I think the atmosphere -- the game day experience, the way our fans showed up and were into it the whole game -- was incredible. That was pretty much the consensus of every recruit who was here. It was a huge success. We had a lot of official visits, a lot of unofficial visits. I don't think there's any question that the game day experience here and what our fans brought to the table -- it was second to none. I think every recruit saw it."

Are you convinced that this kind of offense can thrive in the SEC?

"It can be an extremely effective offense moving the football, running the football. You asked specifically about the quarterback position. Any offense is going to be more productive … if you don't have that epic quarterback but you're surrounded by a lot of great players with a lot of experience -- the quarterbacks have a chance in this league to be successful. If you are not surrounded by a lot of great players and your quarterback is not an epic quarterback, they may struggle because of the nature of defenses in this league. We're always trying to get the best quarterback we can get. We'll continue to do that. That's where you can pretty much start no matter what type of offense you're in. You start there. It doesn't mean your offense can't be great without a great quarterback. In this league, jn my opinion, if you have a quarterback that's not a great quarterback but he's surrounded by a lot of really, really good players with a lot of experience, you can still have a lot of success with that."

Do you anticipate a wide-open QB race in the spring?

"I anticipate having a wide-open race everywhere. At every position. Our football teams know right now that we'll go with the best guy at any position that earns that spot. That's true with every position."

Will Tre Mason get another shot on kickoff returns?

"Tre got hurt for a little while there and that kind of set him back. He just needs to keep working at it. We knew Onterio had the potential. He works it in practice. He loves doing it. He likes being the kickoff return guy. In the middle of the game, several times he's asked to go in there and get a shot at it. Tre has turned the ball over at that position some. He's still going to be really good at it. That's a great case in point of a young guy who is going to grown from mistakes that were made. He'll continue to do it for us at some points. He'll continue to battle for that job back. We have a lot of confidence that he can do it."

Can you talk about Onterio's leadership abilities?

"I'm very appreciative of guys who are willing to do the dirty work -- cover punts, knock punts back, change the game because of field position, be a kickoff return guy. You used Onterio so I will, too. He's covered every punt this season -- and we've punted a good bit. Never asked to get off it. Wants to be on it. We've got a lot of guys like that. We need that idea to catch on with everybody on our team. For our young guys to see that is invaluable."

Chizik meets with media for final time before Iron Bowl

2011-11-23T17:45:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media Wednesday afternoon prior to the Tigers' practice. Here's what he had to say:

Everybody says Alabama in a blowout. Any impact on the players?

“I can’t really speak on what impact that has. One thing we’ve been conditioned to do around here for three years is always block out the outside distractions and I think our guys have always done a great job of that. We talk about that a lot and we talk about again blocking out all the things that you can’t control and only working on the things you can control. I really believe our teams lives by that. I don’t have any reason to believe that it’s any different now.”

Do you see confidence going into this game?

“Absolutely. Our guys, we expect to win every game we play. We’ve got to prepare like that. So far, it has been a great week of practice, as I anticipated. Again, we’re excited about getting out there and playing.”

Schooling the younger guys on the rivalry, just wondering if the “Punt, Bama, Punt” game from 1972 was part of the highlights?

“No, I mean we’ll continue to do some things during the week but right now it’s been more just talking about the importance and the history and we haven’t really gotten into specific games in past history that have had huge impact on the rivalry, but again, we’re just giving them information that is appropriate at the time.”

How much does it add to confidence that you’ve won 14 straight at home?

“Well, again, we talk about the importance of playing well at home and we talk about the importance of having our fans there and just the great game day atmosphere and that’s one of the reasons you come to Auburn. It’s a great game day experience. Again, over the last year threes we haven’t lost a whole lot of games here at home. Again, I think in this league in particular, with home field advantage there truly is a home field advantage. So we love playing at home and we love playing in front of our fans and our guys understand that it’s important to win here.”

Is it an important weekend to showcase your program because it’s looking like you’re going to have a lot of recruits here?

“We’ll have some good recruits coming and we’re excited about that, but certainly it’s a week where we can show all the recruits the direction of the program, which is really important. We feel great about where we’re headed, there’s no question about it. Again, for all these young guys coming in the thing that will be very glaring to them when they come to the game to watch our football team they’ll see that they’re going to have the same opportunity next year in terms of playing time. So I think it’s going to be a great weekend.”

How are Jonathan Evans and Jawara White?

“Again, they have practiced and it appears they will be ready to play on Saturday so I think both of those guys are ready to go.”

How about Brandon Mosley and Ladarious Owens?

“Again, we’re going to see what they can do tonight. And we’ll kind of gauge the progress from that.”

How nice is it to have Thanksgiving dinner with a lot of your players and their families?

“Well, I think it’s just a neat time. A lot of the players families are already here. We really haven’t had a lot of time to spend a lot of quality time with them. It’s going to be neat for all the families, our coaches included, that we can get some time and spend it with our families and obviously for the players it’s great that they have their families coming in too.”

For the ones on rather restrictive diets, do you give them a mulligan on Thanksgiving?

“Absolutely. I’m sure that they will all eat well tomorrow.”

If Mosley can’t go, is the plan the same to move Chad Slade in there and Eric Mack?

“Yes.”

Lemonier drops four-letter word on Alabama

2011-11-22T17:41:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn sophomore defensive end Corey Lemonier may be from Hialeah, Fla., but he got a quick introduction into the Alabama-Auburn series last year.
Lemonier, who met with the media Tuesday, discussed the difficulty in stopping Alabama's running game as well as his hatred (his words) of the Crimson Tide.
Here's what he had to say.

What do you think the key will be to have success defensively on Saturday?

“Just everybody playing their responsibility and gang tackling. You have to do that to win this game.”

Is that something you guys did against South Carolina?

“I felt like we did that. Containing Marcus Lattimore, who was like their biggest strength. Against Alabama, Trent Richardson's their biggest strength. We need to take him out of the game.”

Physically, what goes into stopping the running game?

“Just mentally preparing in practice. You might not get the look you want but you've got to be mentally prepared, just going into the film room and studying your guy.”
Nobody gives you much of a chance to win this game. Does that bother you?
“It doesn't. That's how it goes. You've just got to play and just prove everybody wrong.

Do you talk about that at all, nobody gives you a chance?

“They’re going to talk about it. They haven’t talked about it recently. I heard that we’re like a 21-point underdog. So it’s good to be an underdog.”

What did you guys learn as a defensive line from facing Georgia?

“Just everybody rushing the passer, playing their gaps, being fundamentally sound. Just do your job, basically.”

Anything you can do defensively to catch them off guard?

“We’ve been watching film and the guys we’re going to go against and they give off keys, so we’re just going to play off that, try to seize the opportunity.”

What have you seen from their quarterback?

“I don't think they put the pressure on him too much. They just run the ball; they're great at that. And he just makes plays when he has to. We've just got to eliminate the run game.”

What’s the key to beating their offensive line?

“They’re good. They're big and physical. We've just got to be physical right back. Just get after them.”

What does (defensive line coach) Mike Pelton tell you about this game? Obviously, this is one he played in and he’s been around it for a long time.

“He just says that he hates Alabama and he's like, 'You should hate them, too.' And we do hate them. Everybody in our d-line room hates them. I'm not from Alabama, but being here for one year, I just hate Alabama.”

When was the last time the defensive line played at a high level?

“We had some plays here and there every game, just not frequently. I think we had a pretty good game the Ole Miss game. We got after them.”

What do you hate most about Alabama?

“Watching that 30-30 (ESPN Special “Roll Tide, War Eagle) really makes me hate them even more.”

What sticks out to you about last year's game:

“Just perseverance to fight back, basically. Just fighting back and never quitting.”

Did you learn more about this rivalry from playing in it or what happened in the aftermath?

“I really didn't like Alabama even during recruiting. During the season, playing against them, hearing all the trash talk, that made me hate them even more.”

Was there a lot trash talk in last year's game?

“Just coming back big deficit, that's all I remember. We won, so...”

Did you gain extra confidence from that game? Coming back?

“Oh, definitely. The guys that played from last year know how to win and knows how to beat them are back. We're just going to try to do it again.”
Knowing they’re going to line up and try to run the ball at you, what does that do for you as a defensive line?

“It just keeps you on your toes, because they'll run, run, run and then throw it over your head. Basically you've just got to stop the run and make them one dimensional. That's what we're trying to do, make them one-dimensional.”

Does it fire you up at all that there’s a guy who is trying to win the Heisman (Richarsdson) against you?

“Definitely. Two years ago, they stopped (Mark)Ingram. Who says we can't do it again?”

Do you see more attention since you had that mid-season sack run?

“I don't really care about that. I'm just trying to help my team out as much as possible.”

Clark selected as Guy Award finalist

2011-11-21T16:56:00.001-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn sophomore punter Steven Clark has been named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, the Augusta Sports Council announced Monday.

The winner of the Ray Guy Award will be announced during the Home Depot College Football Awards live on ESPN at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8.

Clark, along with fellow finalists Ryan Allen (Louisiana Tech) and Jackson Rice (Oregon), were chosen from a group of 10 semifinalists that was taken from an overall pool of 54 nominees. The Ray Guy Award annually recognizes the nation’s top punter.

The candidates were evaluated on their overall statistics and contribution to the team. Particular emphasis was placed on the punter's net average, percentage of total punts inside the 20-yard line and percentage of punts not returned. A national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) coaches, sports information directors, national media and former Ray Guy Award winners will decide the winner.

Clark, a native of Kansas City, Mo., has 64 punts this season with an average of 40.4 yards per punt. He has 30 punts inside the 20, a mark that ranks him tops in the Southeastern Conference and for second in the nation.

With 33 fair catches and two touchbacks, only eight of Clark's punts have even been returned this season for just 41 yards. Of the eight returns, four have gone for zero or negative yardage. For his efforts this season, Clark has twice been named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

ESPN College GameDay coming to Auburn

2011-11-20T14:39:00.003-06:00

AUBURN — Auburn will host ESPN College GameDay on Saturday prior to the Auburn-Alabama game.

The traveling pre-game show which features ESPN commentators Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews, will make its third appearance at Auburn in the last four years and fifth appearance on campus since 2004.

It will be GameDay's seventh visit to Auburn during its 25-year existence and will mark the 13th time that Auburn has played in the on-site game. The last time GameDay visited Auburn was on Sept. 18, 2010 when the Tigers hosted Clemson.

The show airs live on Saturdays from 8-9 a.m.on ESPNU/ESPNU HD and from 9-11 a.m. on ESPN/ESPN HD. The GameDay set location will be on the Campus Green east of Jordan-Hare Stadium. The show will also air live hits from Auburn on Friday.

GameDay’s other previous visits to the Auburn campus have been in 2008 (vs. LSU), 2006 (vs. Florida), 2004 (vs. Georgia), 1997 (vs. Florida) and 1995. Its debut on the Plains was on Nov. 18, 1995, when Auburn hosted Alabama.

The Auburn-Alabama game will be televised by CBS with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. at Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Chizik meets with media following Wednesday practice

2011-11-16T20:07:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Wednesday's practice. Here's what he had to say.

Chizik

“On a different note, I want to wish all the people that were affected by the storms today, No. 1 they’re doing OK. All our players are OK. So that’s a concern for everybody in the community, I know. Football wise, had a good week and finished practice tonight on a very positive note. A lot of energy at practice. Got one more day and we need it. And we’ll be ready to play Saturday.”

If Gus leaves, would you like to replace him with a guy who runs a similar system?

“If any of my coaches leave, we’ll replace them with who we feel is the best fit. And that’s what we’ll always base it on.”

Have you been contacted about any of your coaches this year?

“No.”

When you guys first had all the injuries at defensive end, you mentioned Joel Bonomolo as a guy who could step in. What’s kept him off the field?

“It’s been kind of a strange year for him. He was healthy at the beginning of the year, then got banged up and came back. Was healthy for a little while then got banged up again. It’s really been more of an injury issue than anything.”

What about Ladarious Phillips?

“He just hasn’t progressed as fast as we’d like him to. He’s just got to grow up. Again, his progression hasn’t been what we’d hoped.”

What about Jake Holland?

“He’s getting healthier. Week by week, all the treatments and rehab are starting to help him. The week off helped him. He’s still beat up and banged up a little bit but he’s certainly better than he was two or three weeks ago.”

Has anyone emerged at Bell’s corner spot?

“I think they have all really competed and practiced hard. Again, we’re not in a position to say who is going to start Saturday. But they have all practiced really hard. They have competed. All the young guys I mentioned earlier in the week, they have all competed and all had a really good week.”

Could you take a by committee approach?

“It could be. Again, we feel like we have a couple different guys who are real close. The name of the game is to try and keep them fresh and keep the same guys in there as much as you can, but if you have to rotate them depending on what’s happening in the game during different drives we feel comfortable doing that too.”

Dyer talks about Georgia loss, moving on

2011-11-13T20:50:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn tailback Mike Dyer was one of several players who met with the media Sunday night after practice. Here's what he had to say:

How frustrating was it to lose to Georgia like that?

"It was very frustrating. We all thought we were prepared for the game and mentally focused and physically ready for the game. We had two weeks off. First quarter, first drive down there, we had a good drive, and after that it kind of went downhill. We made a couple of bad mistakes, and it just haunted us in the end."

Was it difficult not to be in the game with all the passing going on?

"It makes it a lot tougher for the whole offense to work. People have to go out there and make plays. The run's not had a lot of production as it normally does, but we just got to go out there, make plays, listen to our coaches and make things happen."

Did you guys go in with the game plan to throw?

"I think we were just going out there to try to open up the run by passing, try to open up the game. They just had a good defense. They played us very well, and they played better than we did."

Was it their front?

"A lot of twists in the front, kind of to make confusion. They just came out and played great defense. They have solid linebackers, and they came out there and played better than we did."

What about this week against Samford?

"Just trying to get back on track and try to finish it out strong. Really, just trying to give Auburn what they deserve and play hard these last two games and see what happens."

Is it difficult to perform on limited carries?

"It's always hard when you don't get in a rhythm in the first quarter and then you have to go out there and try to get in a rhythm in the second quarter. For a running back, it makes it a lot harder, but you just have to tough it out and make things happen."

Chizik talks with media after Wednesday practice

2011-11-09T19:55:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Wednesday night's practice to discuss preparations for Saturday's game at Georgia.

Here's what he had to say:

Chizik

“I think again, this is kind of winding down our second week and we had a really good week of practice so far. Again, it’s going to be a fun game and we’ve got another day of preparation, which we definitely need, but they’ve been really focused and practice has done real good. We’ve still got a few things we need to clean up, but other than that, I feel good about where we’re at.”

How important is it to pace things out when you have a couple weeks to prepare?

“I don’t think there’s any question. There’s a fine line in there always between working them too much and not working them enough, kind of like a bowl game, and really trying to use some good judgment on how much they need versus how much they need to rest and get healthy. It’s important. I think we’ve got a good plan. I think our plan the way we have executed it over the last two weeks is about where we need to be. But it’s definitely important that you make some good decisions in that regard.”

Is Emory Blake making progress?

“I think so. I think he’s making progress. He’s not 100 percent, but day by day he’s getting better.”

Can you talk about the process of getting Eltoro Freeman to play so much better?

“I don’t want to make it sound like it’s a huge process. The more you play the more experience you get, the more confidence you get, the more you settle down. I think it’s more of that. I think it’s more of the experience part. Getting a comfort level with playing in those environments. You can’t simulate that in practice. It’s obviously an experience thing.”

Auburn to sign four in men's basketball

2011-11-09T17:44:00.001-06:00

AUBURN – Although Auburn has yet to issue an official announcement, the Tigers plan to sign four men’s basketball players this week during the early signing period.

Asauhn Dixon-Tatum, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound center from Anderson, Ind., Jordon Granger, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward from Florissant, Mo., Shaquille Johnson, a 6-foot-5 small forward from Alpharetta, Ga. And Jordan Price, a 6-5 guard from Lithonia, Ga., have apparently all signed national letters of intent to play for Auburn.

An official announcement is expected later this week.

Dixon-Tatum is attending Chattahoochee Tech in Georgia this year after averaging 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.2 blocks per game as a redshirt freshman at Div. II Grand Valley State in Michigan last year.

His 59 blocks were the fourth highest in school history, and he shot 57.1 percent from the field.

Dixon-Tatum chose Auburn over Memphis, Ole Miss, UAB and Evansville.

Granger led McClure North High School to the Missouri Class 5 State Championship last year while averaging 14.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks.

Granger chose Auburn over Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Saint Louis U. and Detroit.

Johnson, who is ranked as the 92nd best prospect in the nation by ESPN.com, averaged 9.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a junior at Milton High School last year for coach David Boyd.

Johnson won the Under Armour Dunk Contest at Venice Beach, Calif., this past August that was televised by ESPN.

He selected Auburn over Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Miami (Fla.).

Price, rated a four-star recruit by ESPN.com and Rivals.com, was also rated the 14th-best shooting guard in the nation by Scout.com.

Sullivan to be honored

2011-11-09T12:08:00.003-06:00

Courtesy of Auburn Sports Information

AUBURN — Auburn Heisman Trophy winner and current Samford head coach Pat Sullivan will be recognized prior to Auburn’s game against Samford on Nov. 19 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sullivan winning the Heisman in 1971.

The recognition will take place at 11:35 a.m. CT, 25 minutes before kickoff. Former teammates of Sullivan will join in the recognition.

“Obviously, this is very humbling,” Sullivan said. “I really appreciate (Auburn AD) Jay (Jacobs) inviting my teammates back, because I know I won the award because of their help. I’ll also look forward to having our Samford team there and to them being able to share in it. It doesn’t seem like it has been 40 years, but I appreciate all of the kindness that everybody has shown me. I will also really appreciate Jean and our kids and grandkids being there and being part of it.”

Sullivan set several SEC and NCAA records during his Auburn career, en route to being a two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year, while winning Auburn’s first-ever Heisman Trophy in 1971. Sullivan passed for 2,012 yards and 20 touchdowns in 1971 as Auburn finished 9-2 and ended the season ranked 12th nationally.

"We are thrilled to have the chance to honor Pat Sullivan on the 40th anniversary of his Heisman Trophy," Jacobs said. "Coach Sullivan is and will always be an Auburn football legend, but more importantly, he is a class act with the utmost character and integrity. Recognizing Coach Sullivan along with many of the players from his era will be a special moment for the entire Auburn family."

Sullivan finished his career with 6,284 passing yards, 53 touchdowns and an NCAA-record 71 touchdowns responsible for.

Sullivan is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Whitaker ready for Georgia

2011-11-08T21:23:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker was one of several Auburn players to meet with the media following Tuesday night's practice. Here's what he had to say about Saturday's game with Georgia and a few other things.

Was the off week big?

"It did help a lot as far as preparation for this week. We've got a lot of people who were nicked up and need to get healthy, needed to get that extra week. Even during the bye week, we got a good bit of work in for Georgia. Today was our first full day going at it. It went great. It's going to be a great challenge."

Big game for you, being from Georgia?

"This is it. This means a lot. Last year, we actually clinched the SEC West, if I'm not mistaken, after Georgia. It's so ironic that this year they're in the same kind of deal we were in last year. It's one more game. We're going to get their all. You're going to get Georgia's all playing them anyway. I've got a lot of respect for Coach Richt. It's like going against family. It's going to be pretty special. We have a job we've got to get done."

You know these guys pretty well?

"I know Abry Jones, who is from Northside. Cross-town rivalry. You have Garrison Smith, who was recruited with me. You've got Ray Drew, who I actually recruited. I don't know too much about Crowell, but I know him by knowing Gabe, though Gabe. You've got a mixture of a lot of guys that you know or have heard of coming up through the high-school system."

It was intense game last year. A lot of personal fouls. Will it be the same?

"That's the way it. It's Georgia and Auburn. When you've got a pretty good offensive line, who don't mind hitting you in the mouth and you don't mind returning the favors, there are going to be some shots. There's going to be a little talking here and there. We're going to respect the game. We're going to play until the whistle blows."

Ben Jones said he wants to exact some revenge?

"Ben Jones is a pretty good center. I remember it, too, from last year. I don't know what that means from Ben. We have a lot of respect for Ben. He's one of the elites in this league, in my opinion, and in the county. I wouldn't necessarily grade Ben into a category by himself or anything like that, but he's pretty good. He does a great job."

It's a bit of a role reversal. You want to wreck their season this time?

"We're just trying to get seven on the board and Georgia's in the way of that. That's where we're trying to go. We understand where they're trying to go. It's all about Auburn when it comes to Auburn. It's not about the opponent."

Can you talk about the improvement of (linebacker) Eltoro Freeman?

"He lifts up the defense. We actually call him Bull. He a high-energy guy, high motor, very vocal guy. When you see him out there doing his thing, running across and making unbelievable tackles and causing fumbles and all that … when you're getting that from your middle linebacker, it lifts everybody. It makes you want to elevate your game. We were joking the either day. He was like, 'Man, you're doing your thing!' I said, 'It feels good running free, don't it?' He said: 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' I said: 'We've got to keep it up.' He feeds off of me, I feed off of him, the whole defense feeds off Eltoro. He's a pretty good guy."

How important is getting pressure on Aaron Murray?

"It's big. Murray is one of those quarterbacks where if you give him time and let him sit back, he'll pick you apart. We've got that. There's no way we're going to underestimate him or anything like that. Murray is a great quarterback. He runs that offense. The deal is that we have to get to Murray and hit him when we can -- the right way. Not late or anything like that. I'm pretty sure they've been circling their game for a minute because of how that game ended. I'm pretty sure they're ready and pumped up, but so are we."

Moseley talks about off week, Georgia

2011-11-06T20:48:00.002-06:00

AUBURN - Auburn quarterback Clint Moseley met with the media following Sunday night's practice. Here's what he had to say about the Tigers' off week and the upcoming game at Geporgia.

Was the off week nice?

"I really needed that break. It was awesome. Going home, it was really one of the first times that all my high school friends were in the same spot. Our whole group that we had coming up through high school. It was all of us. There was one friend who wasn’t there – he had to work, he actually works at Toys R Us in Mobile – he couldn’t come. But everybody else was there. It was what I needed. I’ve never laughed that much. We were together pretty much the whole time, made a fire, just the high school stuff that helped me get my mind off everything. I feel really refreshed. I felt like starting over when I got here today. I needed it."

What did you work on last week?

"Last week was – like I’ve said before and I know the coaches have said it – just kind of getting back to the basics and focusing on us more. Like I’ve told you before, it’s the little stupid mistakes that we make, just the little things. We’re one missed assignment away from a huge play so many times. I know that’s the case with a lot of people, but it happens a lot to us. That’s what we wanted to focus on – just making it real simple and focusing on the small things. This week we’re game-planning, but that’s what we focused on last week."

Was it nice to focus on fundamentals instead of an opponent?

"It helps my confidence and my comfort level. Those two days were two more days for me to go out there and lead and become a better leader and just kind of get used to it. It really helped and I’m really starting to… I’m really close to being 100 percent confident in the job and just where I am right now. It helped and it’s only going to get better."

Is it a different feel taking snaps vs. Ole Miss after getting a start under your belt?

"Yeah for sure. It was a lot different. It was also new. It all happened so fast, LSU and the magnitude of the game and all that. It was kind of surreal. The Ole Miss game, I’d already been thrown out in the LSU game and learned a lot and I grew up a lot. I had to handle, obviously, adversity and it really helped my confidence and how I feel mentally. Going into the Ole Miss game, I knew that I couldn’t really face a better defense than I did, so my confidence was way up and I really felt like it was a high school game as far as confidence and running the offense and not having any doubts and the competitiveness. I wasn’t not necessarily trying to mess up but at LSU, but it all happened so fast, and then Ole Miss my leadership really came out a lot more. So it was a lot better – preparing and playing in the Ole Miss game."

What does it mean to get Emory Blake and Trovon Reed back?

"Just brings two more weapons to our offense and that’s something they have to game plan for. They both require attention. You got them both on the field, that’s something the defense is going to have to point out. If they don’t, we’ll surely get them the ball. It really opens our game plan up and lets us do a few more things, I think it’s really going to help us."

What do you think of Georgia's defense?

"They’re really good. They’re really good internally on the d line. They’ve got huge guys there. We’re going to have to get them tired. When they’re fresh, they’re hard to beat. They can play with anybody. So we’ve got to wear them do. You can see that they get tired and that’s where we need to get them. They’re good tacklers, they cover well, they’re a complete defense. But if we execute like we can and we have been in practice, I don’t think they’ll be able to stop us."

Chizik talks about preparations for Ole Miss

2011-10-26T20:29:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Wednesday's practice to discuss peparation for Saturday's game with Ole Miss.

Chizik

“I thought we had a good practice. Again, I think our guys have responded really well this week. And like any of the other weeks we’ve come back off tough losses, they’ve really just focused and very willing to get better. Again, I think we’ve had a good week of practice, obviously we’ve got a little bit more time to prepare, which we’ll need every minute of it. But overall, I think it has been a really good week. It’s going to be a great challenge for us and I think our team is going to be ready to play and again I think it’s going to be a challenge for us.”

Talk about the trend toward offense?

“I think all circumstances are different. But I think the day and age of these different offensive philosophies have changed the game some. You can even see a little bit of it trickle up to the NFL. You can look at the NFL and see a lot of high-scoring games there with different things that people do. Certainly, you see more points scored now and you see in this day and age that offenses are so explosive that you can see in a matter of minutes 14, 21, 28 points scored. Certainly that’s the case if you turn the ball over and don’t protect the ball yourself but there’s just a lot of new ideas out there and a lot of explosive offenses with great players. I think it’s pretty simple when you look at stats these days how many teams average 450, 500 yards a game. There are a lot of them out there.”

Will it cycle back to defense at some point?

“I think this game always goes in cycles. I really do. I think defenses eventually catch up with the new wave of things out there. But it really, anyway you slice it, it’s always going to come down to blocking and tackling and having the right guys in right positions and things of that nature, but particularly in college, when you have quarterbacks who are running quarterbacks, who have the ability athletically to give an offense another dimension, other than just running the football, I think you open up a whole new realm of how to play defense. You know, so many college teams have those type of guys. So many college teams have those type of guys. Again, it becomes very challenging for college defenses.”

Will Emory play this week?

“I’m going to say I feel a little better, comparatively speaking, if we compare to where we were last week. Again, it’s going to be day to day. It really is. It’s going to be a game-time decision. He has tried to do more. He is not where we would like him to be, so only time will tell over the next 72 hours or whatnot. But right now for him to say he can play in the game full tilt, I can’t say that.”

Does it help to get Trovon Reed back?

“Yes, and Trovon should be full speed, based on what I’ve seen so far, unless something else happens. He should be in a better place than he was this time last week, so we expect him to play. We expect him to be further along than he was last Saturday.”

Emory warmed up and then didn't play. What happened?

“You know, you take them and of course we do treatments on Friday night and we continue that all the way through, do it on Saturday mornings, try to get as many treatment opportunities as we can to see where they may end up on game day. Again, you don’t know where they’re going to end up, but if we feel like there’s any chance at all, we’re going to take them and work them down to the 11th hour and see if there’s an opportunity for them to play.”

Has the running ability of the new Ole Miss quarterback opened things up for them?

“No question about it. He’s very similar to Masoli from last year in terms of the offense you can run with him in there. Him bringing another threat to the defense on the ground. Make no mistake about it, he can throw the ball too. You can see there has been an evolution with him in terms of comfort with the offense and how far he has come from the beginning of the year and what he looks like he feels like comfort-level wise from our eyes is that he has really settled in on some things that he feels good about – both throwing and running and the dimension he brings to the run game. So no question about it, he definitely adds another dimension, particularly when things break down, particularly in the pass game, his ability to scramble and make things happen.”

Malzahn talks about offensive woes

2011-10-25T21:16:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media following Tuesday's practice.

Here's what he had to say.

Talk about how guys have responded since the loss to LSU?

“Well, they were pretty upbeat tonight. A lot of energy. It was very refreshing to see that. They’ve kind of put that LSU game behind. They’re looking forward. Just ready for another game.”

What stands out from film?

“Obviously, we’ve got to figure out a way to score more points. There were times when they were very aggressive on defense. Obviously, we would have liked to have been able to throw the football a few more times. We got a lot of pressure. But give that bunch credit, and we’re continuing to work to get better.”

What did you see from Clint Moseley?

“I thought he did some good things. Showed a lot of toughness. Bounced back. For a young, inexperienced guy, that’s what you look for as a coach. How is he going to respond to the adverse situations. How is he going to respond to his teammates when things aren’t going good. I was very pleased with the way he handled himself and the way he responded to his teammates.”

Why is it so fifficult in finding someone to replace Emory?

“We’re continuing to try different guys to do different things. The fact that Trovon (Reed) came back, that was a positive. He has the ability to stretch the field vertically. He only practiced one day last week and it was eliminated role, but his role will expand. We just need to get some more guys more consistent as far as that goes.”

Is it frustrating no one has stepped up?

“It’s frustrating to me when we’re not playing well on the offensive side. It’s not just one thing. There are a couple different variables that are keeping us from playing better. Some of it has to do with we’re playing very good defenses, but at the same time, we’ve got to find a way. That’s what I’m continually trying to do, trying new people, trying to figure out new pieces of the puzzle. We’re just waiting on somebody to step up and I’m very confident that will happen. We just need to do that pretty quick.”

Do you anticipate changes on the offensive line?

“The thing about the offensive line is you can see things we’re really improving on. Anytime you mix and match. Chad Slade has played three different positions and we rely on a lot of our guys working together. The fact that he has two starts under his belt and the guys are starting to be in place, we’re just continuing to work.”

Thoughts to play Robinson or Westerman?

“There has been a lot of talk about a lot of the freshmen and those two too, but you evaluate them and you evaluate if they’re ready and if they can help you. As a coach, you have to do that, but there has been talk throughout the year.”

With the blending of quarterbacks, is it hard for them to get a rythmn?

“I think so. It keeps a quarterback out of his rhythm, so I’ve got to do a better job with keeping our guys in rhythm. Kyle Frazier has done some very good things and he’ll continue to get better, but I think it’s fair to say that it has been tough, especially last week for Clint, to get into a rhythm and I need to do a better job of helping him do that.”

How are you dealing personally with the way the offense has struggled?

“Well, you’ve just got to look at everything, you’ve got to evaluate everything. My goal is to make us as good as we can be. I’m continually doing that and our coaches are continually doing that and I feel like we can get better. That’s what I told our guys today. We need to find ways to improve each week, get better at what we do, and I really look for our guys to do that.”

Do you see a bigger role for Onterio McCalebb?

“He has been carrying a big load, but he is a guy we can hang our hat on. He’s a true champion. He took some licks and he got back up. Most people would want to come out of a game like that, but he’s a great leader. He has been a great leader for us the last two years and we need to continually find ways to get him the ball.”

What did it mean to see Clint get beat up and still stay positive?

“It means a lot. Our players had a lot of respect for Clint even before that game and I know after the game, they really respected. He didn’t complain, he didn’t point fingers. He was just, ‘hey, we’ve just got to stick together.’ He showed some very good leadership skills for a guy who is very young and inexperienced.”

Would you like to get back offensively to what you were doing earlier in the season?

“Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the defenses we’ve been playing. We haven’t had a lot of time to throw the football at times and we’ve not been consistent throwing and catching. I think there are a lot of variables that have to do with that. Bottom line is we have to do a better job of taking what the defense gives us. If they’re going to put guys up, we’ve got to be able to throw the football. And at times this year we have been inconsistent doing that when they bring an extra guy down and dare you to throw. So I think that’s our challenge and we’ll continue to work on that and we’ll keep that in mind.”

Important to get back to throwing it down the field?

“I think so. I think we’ve got to be good at both running and passing. So the last couple weeks, our challenge has been throwing the football. When we get passing yards down the field and get that rhythm, we’re a lot more effective offense.”

Are you still trying to find an offensive identity?

“You look for your strengths and you try to build around them and at time we’ve had some but we’ve been inconsistent and I think that’s the bottom line for us. The challenge that I’ve got is I’ve got to get us more consistent. So that’s what we’re looking really hard toward doing. Our guys understand that. The good thing is we’re continuing to work. Now that we’re settling in offensive line wise, I think they will get better and better as it goes. Receivers, we need to get more consistent there and we need to be consistent from the quarterback position also.”

Was Emory Blake able to do anything at practice?

“Yes.”

Samford at Auburn set for noon kickoff

2011-10-20T12:12:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn sports information

AUBURN — Auburn’s homecoming football game on Nov. 19 against Samford at Jordan-Hare Stadium will kick off at 12 p.m. and be offered on pay-per-view.

Pay-per-view will be available in the state of Alabama to cable subscribers and small dish owners who subscribe to DirecTV or Dish Network.

Individual tickets to the Samford game are currently available and can be purchased at www.aubtix.com or call 1-855-AUB-2010.

Chizik not concerned about possible LSU suspensions

2011-10-19T20:24:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Wednesday night's practice. Here's what he had to say about the Tigers' preparation for Saturday's game at LSU.

“Practice went well. I think we’ve had two really good back-to-back practices getting prepared for this huge game. It’s going to be obviously a huge challenge but it ought to be a lot of fun. Again, we’re going to have to play our best game to win this game and it’s going to have to be a full team effort. Offense, defense special teams are going to have to have collectively the best game we’ve played to this point to to have a chance to win the game.”

Will the LSU suspensions factor into your preparation?

“No. absolutely not. We’re concerned with Auburn and what we’re trying to do. All that other stuff will take care of itself one way or the other. We’re really not paying a whole lot of attention to that.”

How has Clint Mseley's week

“I think it has gone good. I think he’s excited about the opportunity. I think he has practiced well. It’s going to be a great situation for him going into an environment like this. It ought to be a lot of fun for him, but I know he’s excited about it and I know he has prepared well. He’ll continue to prepare well the rest of the week, so we expect him to play well.”

Being from Louisiana, is Trovon Reed trying extra hard to get back?

“I think he’s trying extra hard every week to get ready to play, but certainly this will be special for him if he is available to play. Anytime you go back to your home state, no matter where you’re from, it’s exciting for those guys. We’re hoping he’ll be able to but again, we’ll know more by game time.”

Are mosf of the injured guys in the same boat?

“Yeah, they’re pretty much all in the same spot. Again, we’re going to try to continue to get them treatments and rehab them all the way up to Saturday. Again, we’ll see what happens Saturday and how they feel.”

Was Emory Blake able to do more?

“He has been able to do a little more. Again, it’s going to be a situation that comes right down to that morning and seeing how he feels at that point.”

Did Emory and Trovon practice some?

“A little bit. They’re working in there some. Again, not full go like they’ve been before obviously, but they’re trying to work in there and get some game preparation in there.”

Are all the young guys already getting used to playing on the road?

“I think so. I think as these guys experience different environments and things of that nature it becomes a little easier for them in terms of not the game they’re playing in actually, but the challenge of playing on the road in this league. But I think that’s really collectively for this whole team right now. Again, I think you get new experiences every week with this bunch. This will just be another great experience for them.”

Do you talk about road venue specifics – 'Hey guys, look out for the tiger in the cage,' etc.

“No, no we really don’t get into the specifics of it. I think they’ve probably got a good idea of what they’re in for. But again, it just goes with the territory in this league and that’s what makes it fun playing on the road in the SEC. Every environment is different, every environment has their little nuance that each school has. That’s what makes it fun. But we talk more about crowd noise and distractions, but the specifics of everything, we don’t really go there.”

Is it important to get used to the field in pre-game?

“Absolutely, and every field is different and the way their turf is and different grasses are cut different. There’s a lot of variables in there, so pre-game is really big for our guys to get a feel for all that. And footing and traction and things of that nature.”

Kickers in particular?

“I think so. I don’t think there’s any question. They’re looking for that hard surface. They want that hard ground and that really sturdy surface. But all the fields are in great shape. No matter where we play, they all do a great job of keeping their fields intact. But it is important that those guys get out there and get a feel for it because every field is a little bit different.”

They force a lot of turnovers. Will that be a key?

“They’ve done a great job of that obviously. As I said earlier in the week, there’s a reason they’re No. 1 in the country. Their time of possession is up there, their turnover margin is up there and they’re playing great defense. If you put those three things together, that pretty much tells the tale. So it’s going to be extremely important for us to protect the ball. It’s going to be extremely important for us try to get turnovers ourself. So that’s all part of our ingredient if we’re going to have a chance to win. Protect the football, try not to let them control the game so much in terms of time of possession. And obviously defensively for us, getting some turnover is critical. Whether we get them from defense or special teams, it doesn’t matter. We need to get some turnovers.”

Are they cxcited about playing No. 1?

“I think they’re excited to play No. 1, just because it’s a big game for Auburn every year. The LSU game is one they should look forward to. This time last year, they were excited about it. They’re excited this go-round. Just going on the road and playing another great team on the road. It’s a great challenge for us and I think they’re excited to play.”

Malzahn discusses quarterback switch

2011-10-18T22:02:00.004-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media after Tuesday night's practice. He discussed, among other things, Auburn's decision to start Clint Moseley at quarterback ahead of Barrett Trotter Saturday against LSU.

Here's what we had to say:

"Had a good, solid day of practice. It was physical at times. Just tried to really focus on the fundamentals and little things and fours on the mistakes we made Saturday so we can progress rom here on out.

Talk about the decision to start Clint this week?

"At halftime, we were really needing him to give us a spark. We'd been struggling with some passing yards down the field and he made a couple plays that really helped us. I really feel like at this point that he's earned a chance to have a spot to start and lead this offense."

Because of the experience difference is he getting a lot more reps this week than Barrett did as the No. 1 last week?

"That's definitely true. He had been getting about 30% of the reps. He got a heavy amount of the reps today, which he needed especially with the new wrinkles or anything as far as our gameplan is concerned."

Will you change your playcalling because of Moseley?

"Anytime you've got another quarterback, as a playcaller you think just a little bit differently. Each quarterback has his own set of strengths. Him and Barrett are similar, but Clint does have a few things unique to him."

How is Barrett handling the situation?

"Barrett is a champion. Barrett's a great competitor. The unfortunate thing for him is that all of this is not his fault. We've got other issues around that need to be cleaned up and shored up. If you asked him, I know he'd like to have some things back. He's provided very good leadership for us. He's a very tough-minded young man. He's a team guy."

How is Clint different?

"Clint, he has that knack to do things once things break down. You saw that a little bit Saturday, made a couple plays when things broke down. He's got a little bit of the gunslinger in him. The bottom line is that we feel like he deserves a chance to lead this offense and see if he can take this offense a little higher."

You liked him at Leroy High School. Wny?

"He was a playmaker. The fact that he won three state championships. He was the MVP. He knows how to win. He has the ability to make plays when things break down. You always look for somebody who is used to winning. The fact that he was from Alabama, Mr. Football, didn't hurt, either."

Talk about Lutzenkirchen's ability to make big plays.

"He has that unique gift that he can get go get the football. He can get open. He's got the ability to make the big play when you need it. He's done that for us the past two and a half years."

Clint is from a small school. Is it hard to evaluate quarterbacks from the smaller schools?

"Anytime it's a quarterback, you've really got to do your homework. Not just on the field and film. You've got to be around them, what kind of person they are. The quarterback is the face of your program. A lot of things go into it - character, leadership, are they used to winning? All those things, not just film, go into that."

Talk about LSU.

"They're very talented. They're very quick. They've got speed, but they also have quickness. Some defenses have one or the other; they have both. Their coordinator is one of the best in the business. He's got the pieces of the puzzle right now. They make you earn it. They really are aggressive."

Clint is sort of an emotional player. Does that cause problems?

"I think he's grown up a lot. If you ask him, he would say that. There's certain things to being emotional that can be positive. At the same time, you can't get too high or too low from week to week. I'm real proud of where he's come from. He's gotten more mature - even in this season."

Have you worked with him on that?

"As a coach, you try to tell your players, specifically quarterbacks, what it takes to be successful and what it takes at the quarterback position."

How critical is the play of the offensive line this weekend?

"We've got to play better at every position. We have some deficiencies, but we've got to overcome them. We've got to find a way to be more efficient on offense. We've got to find a way to score more points. I really believe our guys have a good attitude. I really believe they've bought into our plan."

Will you need to simplify the offense for Clint?

"No, I don't."

What are you going to run?

"Each quarterback is a little different. You need to try to do what that quarterback is really strong in. You need to build around that, so that's what we'll do."

Will Kiehl Frazier's role change?

"We've tried to gradually bring Kiehl along with his package. He'll continue to have a role. He's done some good things for us."

Teams are daring you to throw?

"That's fair to say, yes. Last three weeks, yes."

Will you give in to that? Throw more?

"Uh, yeah. To be successful on offense, you have to take what the defense gives you. You've got to be effective to do that. We've not been very effective the last three weeks doing that. That's our challenge. That's what we're working hard to do.

Talk about the catch Quindarius Carr made against Florida.

"That catch Q made, that was really impressive. It was well needed. We were backed up and it really changed the field."

Ole Miss at Auburn set for 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU

2011-10-17T12:04:00.004-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn Sports Information

AUBURN - 19th-ranked Auburn football game against Ole Miss in Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 29 will be televised by ESPNU.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.It marks Auburn's first appearance on ESPNU this season.

The game will be the 36th meeting between Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) and Ole Miss (2-4, 0-3 SEC) with the Tigers holding a 26-9 series lead. Auburn has won the last two meetings against the Rebels and six of the last seven. The Tigers downed Ole Miss 51-31 last season in Oxford, Miss.

Full season tickets for the 2011 season are sold out. Single-game tickets for Ole Miss and Samford are still available. For information or to purchase visit or call 1-855-282-2010 or visit www.AUBTix.com.

Schedule for Oct. 29

SEC Network Television - Saturday, October 29:

Arkansas at Vanderbilt - 11:21 a.m.(SEC Network)

Georgia vs. Florida - 2:30 p.m. (CBS)

Ole Miss at Auburn - 6 p.m. ESPNU)

Mississippi State at Kentucky – 6 p.m.(FSN)

South Carolina at Tennessee - 6:15 p.m.(ESPN/ESPN2*)

SEC honors Clark, Lemonier

2011-10-17T11:59:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn sports information

AUBURN – Auburn sophomores Corey Lemonier and Steven Clark were honored by the Southeastern Conference Monday for their play in Saturday’s 17-6 victory over Florida.

Lemonier was named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week while Clark was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Lemonier, a native of Hialeah, Fla., led the Auburn defense with six tackles. Of his six tackles, 3.0 were for loss (minus 20 yards) along with 2.0 sacks (minus 16 yards). He also tallied four quarterback hurries.

He tied his career high in tackles and set new career-bests in tackles for loss and sacks. His tackles for loss and sacks are also team-highs for the season.

Lemonier helped the Auburn defense hold Florida to 194 yards of total offense, which was the fewest by a Gator offense since 1990 at Tennessee (194). It was also the fewest yards the Auburn defense has allowed since surrendering 191 yards to Tennessee in 2008.

Clark, a native of Kansas City, Mo., was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season, also earning it after his play at South Carolina.

He tied his career high with nine punts last weekend against Florida. Two of the punts were muffed by the Gators and recovered by Auburn, resulting in points for the Tigers each time. On the seven other punts (outside of UF fumbles), Florida’s average starting field position was their own 26 yard line.

Clark averaged 39.2 yards per punt, two of which led to Gator drives starting inside the 20-yard line. Florida returned four of the nine punts for a total of -4 return yards on the day.

Clark leads the SEC with 50.0 percent of his punts (22-of-44) inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. His 22 punts inside the 20 also lead the nation.

No. 19.23 Auburn returns to action this week with a 2:30 p.m., Saturday game at No. 1 LSU. The game will be televised on CBS.

Auburn kicks off basketball season with "Hoops Madness"

2011-10-13T16:05:00.003-05:00

(Courtesy of Auburn sports information)

AUBURN – Auburn University will host "Tiger Hoops Madness" at 7 p.m. at Auburn Arena.

The event will be the first opportunity for fans to see head coach Tony Barbee and the men’s team along with head coach Nell Fortner and the women’s team as they begin preparations for the 2011-12 season.

Tiger Hoops Madness is free to the public and will also feature a Fan Fest on the lawn outside the main entrance of the arena. The Fan Fest will open at 5 p.m. and will include inflatable games for kids, a face painter, and a balloon artist. In addition, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be available for an autograph session beginning at 5:45 p.m.

Former Auburn head coach Sonny Smith and stars John Mengelt and Marquis Daniels along with former Tiger golfer Jason Dufner, the 2011 PGA Championship runner-up and 2011 Phoenix Open runner-up, will be among the judges for the Slam Dunk Contest.

“I am extremely excited about the tip-off of basketball season with Tiger Hoops Madness,” said Barbee. “It is going to be a fun-filled evening for the students, our fans and my team. It’s a great way to welcome back the guys and meet the new players. There is going to be plenty of planned events and surprises for everybody. Get there early for a good seat.”

The arena doors will open at 6 p.m. and on-court festivities will begin at 7 p.m. Festivities will include team introductions, on-court activities from both teams with appearances by the Auburn cheerleaders, Tiger Paws, AU Pep Band and Aubie. Team activities for the men will include a slam dunk contest and an intra-squad scrimmage. Team activities for the women will include a three-point shootout and a dribble battle.

“We are very excited about this event and the opportunity to show our fans what they can expect when they come out to Auburn Arena this season,” said Fortner. “We have seven players coming back that started for us last year and a couple of new players that we are really excited about. It is going to be a great year for Auburn basketball and we can’t wait to get it started.”

All fans in attendance will have the opportunity to win various prizes throughout the night. Prizes include two pairs of tickets to the Auburn vs. Florida football game, an Under Armour gift certificate, an Under Armour sideline polo, a white Under Armour sideline jacket, a free round of golf at any Alabama Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course and more.

Seating for Tiger Hoops Madness is general admission and fans may enter through the north entrance of the arena or through the Scholarship entrance. The blue bleacher seating on the floor level will be reserved for AU students who will enter through the student entrance with a valid Auburn Ignited card.

Season tickets for 2011-12 are available now with prices starting at just $125 for a men’s ticket and $50 for the women. Potential season ticket holders will be given the opportunity to learn more about their ticket options throughout the October 14th event. A booth will be set-up at the main entrance where fans can inquire about seating information, be taken on a personal tour, experience various seating locations first-hand, and purchase tickets on the spot.

Fans can also order tickets online by visiting www.AubTix.com , by phone at 1-855-282-2010 or in person at the Auburn Arena Ticket Office located at 250 Beard-Eaves Court (open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.)

Chizik talks about end of NCAA probe, practice for Florida

2011-10-12T20:25:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media following Wednesday night's practice, and while much of the discussion involved the recently concluded NCAA probe, he also discussed practice and gave an injury update for Saturday's game with Florida.

Here's what he had to say. Verbatim.

Chizik

“I think we’ve had a really good week of practice so far. Obviously, we have tomorrow and some time left and we need every minute we can get but really pleased with how we practice. We’ll continue to prepare for this game and as I’ve said before we’re probably going to have to play our best game of the year to be able to win this game. We’re excited about it, our players up, there’s a lot of energy. It has been a good week so far.”

Your thoughts on the NCAA announcement today?

“I’m glad that the NCAA made a statement that concluded the investigation. As I’ve said many times, I feel very confident about the way we run this program and I’ve said many times that we haven’t done anything wrong, so quite frankly, I’ve moved on a long time ago. My focus has been to win football games and that’s where it will continue to be.”

Were you pleased that statement was made publicly?

“Yeah, I’m glad that it’s out public. Anybody that had any questions, now you can put that to bed.”

Would you like to see a faster process with investigations?

“Obviously, for anybody who is under those same set of circumstances, the quicker the better. I appreciate the NCAA coming out and making the statement that they have concluded the investigation. The time frame obviously for anybody the quicker the better, but they did their due diligence and this is where we ended up. Like I said, I moved on a long time ago.”

Did a recruit ever tell you he was turning down an offer because of the investigation?

“No. that hasn’t happened.”

Do you feel exonerated?

“I don’t really live my life that way. As I’ve said many times I feel really, really good at night when I go to sleep about the way we run this program and we’ll continue to run it the right way. I can’t say it enough, and again, I feel good about the way we run the program and literally I’ve moved on from this just a long tiem ago. My one focus is winning football games right now.”

Have you talked to Cam Newton?

“I talked to him a little bit tonight just haphazardly after practice, but we did not talk about that at all. I just told him I was proud of him and he’s going to watch the game Saturday and he’s excited about it.”

He’s going to be at Auburn? Carolina plays at Atlanta Sunday.

“I don’t know about that.”

How did you tell your players?

“We have not talked about it.”

Would you like to see changes in the way media handle NCAA investigations?

“You know what, the media has a job to do and everyone chooses to do it their own way everyone chooses how they want to do it. I’ve got my job to do and my job is to continue to do the right things for Auburn and to stand for all the right things. I can’t tell people how to do their jobs. I don’t have the energy to tell people how to do their jobs. I have my hands full doing my own. People are going to report and speculate. I think that’s 200 years old. I can’t really entertain the idea how to interpret things and how to report it.”

Injuries? Emory Blake?

“It’s still going to be game time. I think he has made some progress, there’s no question about it. We’re going to continue on the same path we’ve been on. But right now, it’s kind of a wait and see mode. Obviously, we know he knows everything within the offense so that’s not an issue. But how much further he can progress in the next two and a half days, I don’t know. So it will be a game-time deal.”

Has he practiced?

“No.”

Ladarius Owens?

“Right now, again, he’s not a guy we feel like can play on Saturday. We’re going to continue to evaluate him as well but right now it doesn’t look good for him either.”

Who gets that spot?

“Well, we’ve got Joel Bonomolo who is playing more for us right now. He was banged up early, but he has come back and he is healthy now. So he’s one of the guys to fill that spot.”

NCAA: No major violations found in Auburn probe

2011-10-12T16:02:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn Sports Information

AUBURN — Auburn University has received a letter from the NCAA enforcement staff stating the NCAA has concluded its investigation, and no major rules violations were found.

The NCAA letter can be found at www.auburntigers.com

NCAA Statement

After conducting more than 80 interviews, the NCAA has concluded its investigation into Auburn University. The NCAA enforcement staff is committed to a fair and thorough investigative process. As such, any allegations of major rules violations must meet a burden of proof, which is a higher standard than rampant public speculation online and in the media. The allegations must be based on credible and persuasive information and includes a good-faith belief that the Committee on Infractions could make a finding. As with any case, should the enforcement staff become aware of additional credible information, it will review the information to determine whether further investigation is warranted.

Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs Statement

“We appreciate the NCAA and thank them for their professionalism and thoroughness during this exhaustive investigation. We are pleased to put this matter behind us.”

Malzahn discusses offensive woes

2011-10-11T21:28:00.002-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn talked with the media following Tuesday night's practice and discussed the Tigers' recent problems in the passing game, as well as a variety of other subjects.

Here's what he had to say:

“I felt like we had a solid practice. The guys came out wanting to practice. Solid job of attention. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We put in our plan today. You could tell they were really eager to see what the plan was and to execute practice.”

When you look at Florida do you see a lot of good athletes on defense?

“Yeah, they have good athletes. I think they are extremely talented up front. Their linebackers can really run. Their secondary, they fly around back there too. But they are big and athletic up front and they present a lot of challenges.”

Are they comparable to South Carolina’s front?

“They’re very talented like South Carolina’s front but they’re different. They’re a different kind of talented. They’re big, they’re athletic. They really play the run well.”

Coach Chizik made it clear Barrett Trotter remains No. 1. Your thoughts on the
evaluation process.

“Well, just like any other game, we’re going to go with the guy who gives us the best chance of winning. We feel like Barrett does that. And really, we’ve got to get better around him. We’ve got to get better around him in all areas. There are some throws obviously he’d like to have back but he’s striving to improve. We’re going this week like we would any other week.”

Thoughts of giving Clint (Moseley) a shot?

“Well, like I said, we’re going into this exactly like the weeks before and we expect Barrett to play well.”

How did Kiehl Fraziewr play?

“He did a good job running the football. He did a good job of operating and communication. It was extremely loud. Obviously, those two balls he’d like to have back. He’s a competitor. He was extremely disappointed and he’s the type that doesn’t make the same mistake twice and just the speed of secondaries, it takes a while to get used to that. He’ll improve in that area.”

Do you see him continuing to have that many snaps?

“Well, with the team we’ve got now he’s definitely … he’ll have his role each week. Some weeks will be more than others. But we’re working hard to expand that.”
When you’re struggling in the passing game, how does it affect your play-calling?
“You’ve got to adjust. You’ve got to adjust to what gives you the best chance to be successful and scoring points. You’ve got to try and do the things you’re good at, and at the same time when they dare you to pass you’ve got to be able to execute when they do that. That’s what we’ve got to get better at. I think everybody saw that Saturday and we’re working very hard to do that. We’re going to continue to work hard and I really expect us to get better in that area.”

In the last two games, 17 times you’ve been on the opponents’ end of the field and gotten four touchdowns and one field goal. Why have you struggled?

“Well if you look back, I think there are some penalties and there are some turnovers. Which is really uncharacteristic of our offense. So we’ve got to do a better job of holding onto the ball. We’ve got to do a better job of not having penalties and finding a way to get the ball into the end zone. That’s the bottom line and that’s what we’re working hard to do.”

When you try to control the clock, is that a conscious effort to help the defense?

“Well, I think no matter whether it’s offense, defense or special teams, you know your team and you know what it takes for your team to be successful. Right now, we have to try and win the time of possession. We need to run the football and that’s what we’re going to do and we’re going to try and improve in that area each week also.”

Does it affect play calls on first and second down?

“No, the bottom line is we’ve got to get that initial first down. By whatever means that is, we’ve got to get that initial first own and our strength right now is running the football. We’ve got to continue to get better in that area, keep improving and keep getting first downs.”

Is there a Catch 22 on running and getting in a rhythm throwing?

“I think it’s a combination of both. When we do throw it, we’ve got to be effective at it. Like any year, you try to figure out what your strengths are and you try to build around the strengths. So that’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to get better in the areas where we’re deficient.”

You’ve talked about not playing two quarterbacks. Do you still view Kiehl as just a Wildcat or is this a two-quarterback system?

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s a two quarterback system, but his role is expanding each week and we’re just trying to give ourselves the best chance of being successful with the pieces of the puzzle we have. But his role will expand, but I’m not ready to say two-quarterback system yet.”

Is Kiehl No. 2

“No. Clint Moseley is No. 2.”

Is there a reason for all the interceptions?

“There are a lot of different areas. It’s not just one thing. It’s not just the quarterback, it’s not just a receiver. It has been different things and each one of those things and breakdowns. The bottom line is we can’t turn the football over, especially in the red zone and we’ve done that and that’s got to be corrected.”

Talk about third down problems.

“Yes, we’ve been poor. There’s no doubt. We’re not very good on third down throwing the football and we’ve got to find a way to get better.”

Is it difficult to remind Clint he’s No. 2 when he’s not first off the bench?

“No, I don’t think so. He gets the No. 2 reps with our main offense and he gets probably 30 percent of the reps. He knows that. Very clear.”

Clint only got one throw.

“We were hoping to have a little bit more, but we were wanting him to have a chance to get in the game and all that kind of stuff.”

Are you confident in Clint?

“I feel confident in all three of our guys.”

Anything you guys can do to get the confidence of the receivers back up?

“Well, we’ve got to do a better job of throwing. We’ve got to do a better job of catching and protecting. It all works together. I know at certain times when things aren’t successful one person gets blamed, but it’s a culmination of a lot of different factors. And how you get confidence is you make plays. You make the plays and you get confidence. We’ve got to make more plays.”

Any changes in the receiver rotation this week?

“Each position we’re looking at, but we’re expecting the same guys to be out there. You may see some young guys out there at different times, but our receiver group as a whole, they will all play.”

How much does it hurt not having Emory Blake?

“Well, Emory is one of our better players. Emory is one of the better receivers in the SEC, so anytime you’ve got a guy like that it is a big blow, but at the same time we’ve got a week of practice to prepare to not having him. We’ve got to do a better job of replacing him. We’ve got some young guys and it’s just a matter of the light to click on and them to get confidence to make plays. It’s not just that thing, it’s throwing, it’s catching.”

Was it a good practice?

“They seemed like they were eager at practice today."

Can you still be a good offense? Or a grinder?

"We're a work in progress. We're trying to build around our strengths.
The bottom line is that we have moved the football. When we've gotten
in the red zone, we're not getting in the end zone. We're capable of
being better. We're capable of scoring more points. We've identified
our deficiencies and we're trying to build on our strengths."

Why is the running game working early but not as well later?

“A lot of times defenses roll an extra guy or two down and dare you to
throw it. You have to be able to do them both effectively. You've got
to have an answer. You've got to be able to execute. We're working on
that.”

On the ESPN special you said Kiehl was the most talented you have ever coached?

“He's still learning the offense. He's still … there's a lot to it. There's a whole lot to it. If he went through spring, maybe things would be different. He's not ready to be the full-time quarterback.”

A lot of area high schools are running your offense. What do you think of that?

“There's a lot of great high school coaches around here. I've been fortunate
enough to meet a lot of them. We talk football. but … there's a lot of guys who can run an offense without running ours who are successful. We have great relationships with a lot of them.”

What’s the confidence like with the receivers?

“The way you get confidence is to play well. We're working hard to do that. We're very up front and honest with our guys. We can play better. We're deficient in some areas. We can play better than what we've done. The bottom line is turning the football over. That's unacceptable. The penalties - those two areas are unacceptable. That's my focus.”

Does this offense operates like teams from before?

“There's certain teams I've had that have run the football more than they've thrown the football. In the past, there's been a team or two that's similar to this.”

Specific team?

“No, it's probably Springdale High School.”

Kiehl apologized for his performance.

“He's a winner. He's got winner in him; that's how he is. He has high
expectations. He's not used to losing. He feels like he let his team
down. That'll help him in the future to be the type of quarterback we
want him to be.”

Was Barrett's performance a disaster?

“There were quite a few drops. There was a protection breakdown or two. To blame him for all that when you look at everything, it's a culmination of a lot of different areas. He did some good
things.”

How did he grade out?

“He graded out average.”

Auburn's Parkey talks kicking

2011-10-11T15:09:00.002-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn's weekly media day is on Tuesday. Kicker Cody Parkey was one of the players on hand to talk with the media. Here's what he had to say about playing Florida this week, and kicking in general.

Is this a big game for you, being from Florida?

"Yeah, I’m excited to play. All my buddies go to Florida. I know a couple guys from back home who play for Florida. It’ll be a fun game."

Did you consider Florida coming out of high school?

"I did. They show me some (interest) every now and then, they’d show they were interested. But they had a kicker who was a sophomore and now he’s a junior. You don’t really need a kicker every year, so that wasn’t really an option for me to go there."

Did you grow up a Florida fan"

"It was weird. I never really had, like, a favorite Florida team. I didn’t hate Florida, Florida State, Miami. I just kind of liked them all. So I never really had a favorite Florida team. I just kind of like them all."

Talk about your success with touchbacks.

"I’ve worked hard at it. I feel like I can do that every game. I continue to kick touchbacks every game. It’s something I’ve worked really hard at and I’m glad it’s showing off on the field and I want to continue to do so."

Do you try to kick your hardest or do you try for a smooth stroke?

"A lot of it is technique, but sometimes you know when you try to kick it as hard as you can you’ll get some kicks, which I’ve had one or two this year, that just kind of die out. And that’s what you don’t want. You just want to have a smooth stroke, but at the same time be powerful, but you don’t want to try to crush the ball, that’s when it goes awry. You just want everything to be smooth. That’s when you get your best kicks."

Are the techniques different for kicking off and for field goals?

"Ah, no. A lot of it is actually the same. The biggest difference is on a field goal you want to try to stay under control – more accuracy. On a kickoff, you know, you’re just really trying to explode through the ball. And you’re landing on your kicking foot, where on a field goal, you’re landing on your plant foot. So it’s a lot of transferring of energy. The biggest thing is just exploding through the ball on kickoffs. It really doesn’t get too confusing."

When did you get good?

"Probably after (last) season. During the season your legs get really tired and I probably didn’t do a good job with keeping them up to date and with the (hip flexor) injury I had last year. I just never felt 100 percent. My biggest goal this year was just getting back healthy – 100 percent – better than I’ve every been. Just working out a lot, extra training, rehab, just everything added in to me being able to kick as far as I can now. Over the summer, I noticed I was kicking back to what I usually was. Now I’m just above that. Just a lot of hard work. I pretty much noticed that in the summer how good I was doing."

What was it like when you were the man in high school?

"Yeah, I pretty much put everyone in the end zone, even if there was a wind in my face. It wasn’t too hard to kick it 60 yards. We put guys on the kickoff team that really didn’t play too much. We just had them run down. But occasionally I’d screw up and they’d think I’d kick it out of the end zone and they’d actually return it and none of the guys were ready for it."

Do any of your teammates want you to kick it shorter so they can get some action?

"Every now and then, they’re like, ‘Hey, I want a tackle. Let me get a tackle.’ But, obviously, I’m trying to kick as many touchbacks as we can because it’ll better our chances – it’ll better our team. But occasionally they’ll tell me, ‘Hey, let us play some.’ But I try not to let them."

Late night with Trooper Taylor

2011-10-06T09:25:00.003-05:00

Auburn's assistants usually meet with the media following Wednesday night's practice. Here's what wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor had to say about his injury-depleted unit and Saturday's game at Arkansas.

Got enough receivers to take to Arkansas?

"I hope so. Obviously Emory didn't practice today. But he's usually a fast healer. He's kind of banged up the week before and he made it back, but it'll be up to game time and if he's ready we'll play him. If we can't, we'll go to the next one.

"He's pretty solid with all his assignments and things like that. If he was a freshman or something, it would be different. But Emory's obviously an experienced kid. That helps with rehab too, so that helps with how you have to attack it. He's in the training room three or four times a day."

How are the other receivers doing?

"Feel pretty good about it. There's still some things to get done on the perimeter with putting guys in the right position. Because we do so many checks, sometimes we get mismatches on the perimeter. But for the most part we've been able to substitute and get the right guys in there. I've been proud to see the guys come back, like to see Jay Wisner catch the ball the way that he's done. He came back after the drops that he had earlier. It took himself a long time to redeem himself but he understands now why it's important to catch the balls that get thrown to him. But I felt like they've done a pretty good job on the perimeter. Anytime you run the football like we have, those guys on the perimeter make a big difference. We have to continue to do that and also make plays when you get the opportunity to do so."

Do you think you guys need more big plays?

"We need to take advantage of what the defense gives us. When they get opportunities to make plays I think for the most part when it's been there, they've done that. A lot of that is going to be dictated by what the defense does. There's nothing I would say we need to go back and change so that these guys can do this or do that.

How is DeAngelo Benton coming along?

"He broke the whole team down. Everybody got excited when we called his name to break it down. He's just that kind of guy. He works hard. He doesn't complain. Even though he doesn't get a bunch of reps, he still works the same way. For coach Malzahn's confidence and Trotter's confidence, it probably went a long way. He's two for two. We just need to try to extend some of that. He's a hard working kid and I love him to death. I call him the old man, because he's about as old as I am. But he's out there making plays and every day he comes to work. He's selfless. He doesnt' care whether he gets one play or 50 plays."

Blake remains doubtful, Morgan out for year

2011-10-05T20:13:00.003-05:00

Auburn coach Gene Chizik met with the media Wednesday night after practice. Here's what he had to say.

Chizik

“Two really good practices this week I feel like, yesterday and today. Again, I feel like we’re continuing to improve. This will be a really great test for us. This is a really, really good football team as we know. But practice has gone well this week. Again we’ve got to continue to maintain a level of focus again tomorrow and Friday and give ourselves a chance to win. But I feel like we made some progress this week, again in some areas. So one more day of practice and we need it, but practice went well this week.”

Anything new on Emory Blake?

“He didn’t practice tonight. I’m going to use the word doubtful, but again we’re going to try and bring him up to speed by game time, but again, he didn’t practice tonight.”

With him out, DeAngelo (Benton) and those other guys stepping up?

“They really have and it’s great to see guys like DeAngelo and Travante Stallworth, Quan Bray, Jaylon Denson, those guys just have to step up. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter who is playing out there, somebody has to step up and play a great role. D Lo again, as we mentioned earlier in the week, he had a great catch at a huge time in the ball game Saturday night. So he’s going to make a few of those.”

How about Chris Davis?

“He’s done a little more. He has practiced some. We’re going to keep treating him, bringing him up to game time. We’ll see where he’s at by Saturday.”

What did you think about ESPN’s Year of the Quarterback?

“Well, I haven’t seen it. It was great exposure for Auburn football to the fans and recruits. It was just good for our football team even, with the exposure we’re going to get from that.”

Any moments where you thought, ‘Gosh, I don’t want a camera here.’

“There are parts that hard, to let people in and see the inside daily routine of what we do and how we do it. There were times when it was certainly challenging for me. It’s not always my personality. Again, in the name of trying to expose the fans and recruits to Auburn football and what we try to do here every day, I thought it was a positive experience.”

What is Anthony Morgan’s status?

“Anthony’s not making the trip. It looks like he may be out for the year. Again, we’re going to continue to monitor and evaluate him, but right now, that’s what it looks like.”

Did he get hurt in practice?

“He had an injury that occurred that was not necessarily on the practice field. But I’m not going to get into details. It was an accident. Again, we’re going to continue to monitor it, but it does not look good that he will return for the year.”

Drew Cole, has he kind of moved into a student coaching role?

“He helps us a lot in terms of signaling and doing some things that kind of assumes the role of a coach. He’s smart and he can help us with different things but he’s also involved with our special teams as well. But he does a good job for us.”

Malzahn talks with media after practice

2011-10-04T22:20:00.002-05:00

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media following Tuesday night's practice to talk about the Tigers' upcoming game at Arkansas.

Here's what he had to say:

How was practice?

"Their focus was extremely focused in. They bounced around and seemed excited to practice. That was encouraging for this point in the season. That was encouraging."

With Emory Blake out, who will you count on at wide receiver?

"Well, Quindarius Carr is one of those guys. Travante Stallworth. Jaylon Denson. DeAngelo Benton. Those type of guys have a chance to show what they can do. D'Angelo Benton he's one of those guys just waiting for his chance and I know he's ready. He's had great practice all fall camp. It was real encouraging for him to make a big play in the game helped us win. So I feel very good about DeAngelo Benton."

Was it big for him to make a play Saturday against South Carolina?

"Oh there's no doubt. Big for everybody involved, more his self than anybody. He can do it. It's just a fact when you do it in a big moment like that it gives you nothing but positives the rest of the time."

Do you think you'll run the ball as much this week?

"We want to do whatever gives us the best chance of winning. They're a very good team and had a lot of speed on the perimeter. We just felt like we really needed to run the football. Time of possession's big. We have not gotten the first downs up to that point, and we got quite a few of them the other day and it helped our offense and helped our team."

Did the offensive line have its best game?

"I'd say that's fair to say because a very good defense they played against with some very good players and one of the best defensive coaches in the business. I was real happy, especially at the point where they were knew we were going to run the football in certain situations and we were able to do it somewhat successfully."

Did the guys on the line know you were going to run it that much?

"I think our guys knew it. I told Mike (Dyer) ahead of time to get ready. I didn't think he would carry it 41 times, but I thought it would be up there."

Will Kiehl Frazier get more playing time?

"Well we're expanding his package each week. He really did a good job in some key situations, especially third and fourth quarter. Each week we'll expand his role. He adds a differenet element to us when he's in the game."

Is he pretty excited about this week?

"I think so. You always worry about them being too excited. But both those guys it's probably real important for them to go home and play well and I know they'll give it their best."

Ever had so many true freshmen playing?

"No."

Is that scary?

"It's encouraging for the future. We're a work in progress. A lot of times when you make mistakes, it's just one or two mistakes that would have been a really well executed play. And anytime you got youth and inexperience, you're going to have growing pains. we've experienced some of those at certain times this year. It's just a matter of getting better and correcting those mistakes, but it's very good for the future."

Is this big for you, being from Arkansas?

"Well from my standpoint this will be the third time I've been there and done that. I'm just focused on our team and trying to do my best to give our team the best chance to be successful. I get to go home in the offseason and holidays and all that.

Do you still see big-play potential in the passing game?

"Yeah we have to. We're a run, play-action team. You've seen us, when we're at our best, we're hitting some big plays in the passing game when they bite it for the run. We just got to make people pay when they bring extra guys down. We were close on a couple last Saturday but it would have made me feel a little bit better if we had hit a couple of those and put it in end zone."

Where do you need to improve to get big plays?

"Protection. Quarterback delivering and receivers on the same page. It's a little bit of all of them."

Can Kiehl pass out of the Wildcat?

"He's only thrown it twice or once, and he got sacked one time. But he can throw it and we'll definitely let him do that."

When you went back to Arkansas that first time, was it weird?

"It was a little weird, a little awkward, there's no doubt. It was pretty fresh turnaround from being there. It was a little different. Second time you've got a job to do and the first emotions are all behind you."

Every week it seems you face talented defensive linemen.

"Yeah. You know you're going to find a couple guys that you know for sure are going to play in the NFL and probably be very good NFL players."

Florida-Auburn kickoff set for 6 p.m.

2011-10-03T14:20:00.001-05:00

AUBURN – Auburn' game against Florida in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 15 will be televised by ESPN with kickoff set for 6 p.m.

The game will be the 83rd meeting between Auburn (4-1, 2-0 SEC) and Florida (4-1, 2-1SEC) with the Tigers holding a 42-38-2 series lead.

Auburn has won the last two meetings between the teams, most recently taking a 20-17 victory over the Gators in Gainesville, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2007.

Clark selected SEC Special Teams Player of the Week

2011-10-03T11:37:00.001-05:00

AUBURN – Sophomore punter Steven Clark has been named the Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Clark was honored for his play in Auburn’s 16-13 win at No. 10 South Carolina on Saturday.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Clark punted seven times for an average of 37.9 yards per punt, including five punts inside the 20, all of which were inside the 12-yard line. Two were inside the 5-yard-line with the Gamecocks having to start consecutive drives from the 1 and the 4, a key role in Auburn holding South Carolina to just four snaps in Tiger territory.

After Clark’s punts, South Carolina’s average starting field position was the USC 16 as its possessions started at the 38, 4, 1, 11, 12 and 12 yard lines.

Clark, who leads the SEC and is second in FBS with 14 punts inside the 20, is the first Auburn punter with five punts inside the 20 since Jaret Holmes had five at Arkansas in 1997. He is also Auburn’s first Special Teams Player of the Week since Wes Byrum earned the honor on Oct. 11, 2010.

The Tigers (4-1, 2-0 SEC) return to action Saturday with their second road game in as many weeks, traveling to Arkansas (4-1, 0-1 SEC). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.

Dee Ford out for the year

2011-09-29T16:30:00.002-05:00

AUBURN - Dee Ford, a 6-4, 229-pound junior defensive end, is out for the season after suffering a herniated disc.

Ford had played in a reserve role behind starting rush end Corey Lemonier and was in on seven tackles, including two for loss and one sack.

Ford is eligible to apply for a medical redshirt, meaning he would have two full seasons of eligibility remaining if the request is granted.

Taylor talks with media after Wednesday night practice

2011-09-28T21:50:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Several of Auburn's assistant coaches met with the media following Wednesday night's practice. Here's what wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor had to say.

Why are you guys having so much trouble on bubble screens?

"Obviously the blocking on the perimeter's got to change and there's some things we do offensively to help ourselves with that, alignment wise. A lot of intricacies that go into that. But the biggest deal is put guys in position who can block, size-wise. Obviously you want speed but when it comes to blocking the perimeter, you want to have guys who have the size advantage. We're in a mismatch with an outside backer on Travante Stallworth. I'm asking him to do something he can't do. That's not his fault. Just when you pace, when you're going fast, we got caught a couple times. That'll improve."

How excited ia Quan Bray to get a chance this week?

"Quan is always excited. I don't know if you've ever been around him. The guys in the room are always trying to settle him down. The kid loves football. He'd do it all day. Unfortunately, you have class and weights and other things that go along with it. But if it was up to him he'd do football all day. But he's a great kid. Very excited. He understands football. He played quarterback, which helps there. I"m looking forward to seeing how he's going to do."

What's your confidence level in him?

"I feel really good. I trust him because he works hard and you got to trust what you see in practice. And I know you can't simulate a game but it's as close as you can, but he has done phenomenal. We contemplated putting him back before with two returners at a time."

Talk about how he has handled his personal problems

"To get the hand that was dealt to that kid. For him to make straight A's in that semester and doing well right now, and then to continue to play and not redshirt. He's phenomenal. Kid has great character. His family really has supported him and obviously the Auburn family. I think we talk about this kind of being his refuge.

"He and I discussed, we were just talking about my father passing away. I can tell him the exact time - it was 9/27 at 4:36 p.m. - I was 12 on the practice field. I told him that, and he can remember when he got the phone call. When you step between those lines, you're able to block some of those things out because everybody's equal. There's no qualms, no concerns other than what do I do on this play."

Talk about the job Emory Blake is doing.

"Emory's done a great job. I think a lot of it is carry over from last year. I think he got to see what great was like, working with Darvin and Cam and Mario, all those guys, T Zach...Work habits and tempo and he bought into that. He saw how important it was. Some people think two yards outside the hash is not a big deal...it is a big deal to this offense because spacing and timing and all those things make a difference. Emory's one of those guys who has a knack for that. He also understands the big picture - when I have chance to make a play, I have to make that play. While most people look at that as pressure, he looks at it as opportunity. That's not something you can teach. Some guys have that, some guys don't. I think that's a testament to growing up in a football family."

You have a new towel?

"No, it's been all year. It's TNG. I switch it up every year. It's just Tradition Never Graduates. That's what it stands for. I want these to guys understand. Players leave, tradition never does. You build your own legacy play by play and day by day. Ryan Smith, the stop on the goal line. Everybody's going to remember that.

"The towel started with me in high school and I've carried it everywhere I go. All that changes is the address and the hair line. And the waist line, but that's gravity - nothing I can do about that.

Do you sew?

"Actually I design them and I get them made. My sewing is not very good and my wife says she's not my maid. It doesnt' work like that at my house. I don't drive the train, I just take the tickets."

Reed out indefinitely with shoulder injury

2011-09-27T17:10:00.001-05:00

AUBURN Auburn wide receiver Trovon Reed will be out for an indefinite period of time after suffering a shoulder injury Saturday against Florida Atlantic.

“Trovon will not be playing this week,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “He’s out. We’re going to obviously monitor him week by week to see where he goes health-wise with his shoulder. But, for this week for sure, he’s out.”

Chizik said freshman Quan Bray would move into Reed’s spot at wide receiver and also take over Reed’s responsibilities on punt returns for Saturday's game at 10th-ranked South Carolina.

“Quan’s going to get more snaps than he’s usually gotten,” Chizik said. “We’ve been bringing Quan along week by week, and now he’s going to assume the same reps that Trovon got.”

Auburn at Arkansas game set for 6 p.m.

2011-09-26T13:45:00.002-05:00

The Auburn vs. Arkansas football game on Saturday, Oct. 8, in Fayetteville, Ark., has been set for a 6 p.m. kickoff and will air on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The announcement for which of the three ESPN channels will carry the Tigers and Razorbacks will come following the games of Saturday.

Auburn at South Carolina set for 2:30 p.m. start

2011-09-25T13:57:00.002-05:00

Auburn's game at South Carolina on Saturday will be televised by CBS and is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.

The Tigers (3-1, 1-0 SEC) lead the all-time series with South Carolina 8-1-1, including two victories over the Gamecocks last season.

South Carolina is 4-0, 2-0 in the SEC coming off a 21-3 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Phillips, Rose return

2011-09-21T20:14:00.000-05:00

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said following Wednesday night’s practice that fullback Ladarious Phillips and defensive back Jonathan Rose have been reinstated to the football team.

“They’ll both be available to play Saturday,” Chizik said.

Both players were suspended last week for an undisclosed violation of team rules and did not participate in the Tigers’ 38-24 loss to Clemson.

Chizik was asked if he expected both to play Saturday against Florida Atlantic.

“You know we’re going to end up playing a lot of young people,” he said. “Again, we’re preparing for those guys to to have an opportunity and be available to do that, as well as a lot of our young guys.”

Malzahn talks offense

2011-09-20T20:14:00.003-05:00

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media following Tuesday night's practice. Here's what he had to say:

Gus Malzahn

"Good practice tonight, good focus. Our guys were locked in and ready to move on to Florida Atlantic. I feel like we got better tonight.

Was it a physical practice?

"No. No, it wasn’t. We’ve been very physical and we’ve got a stretch coming up and we’re just trying to make sure our guys are fresh. At the same time, it was good work."

How has Barrett Trotter progressed?

"I went back last year and it took us three games to really figure out Cam and strengths and all that, and Barrett’s really the same situation. He’s shown a lot of toughness. He has a very good understanding of what we’re doing. And I’m learning him too of what his strengths are. So we’re trying to build on those things."

Where do you need to improve?

"I’d say overall, execution. We’ve got to get better at the little things. We’ve got to get better at protecting. Our quarterback got hit a lot. So we’ve got to do a better job of that. Just overall. We’re just kind of looking what we’ve done the last three games, just like we did last year. And we’re starting to figure out our identity and our strengths and our weaknesses."

The first quarter against Clemson went well, the rest of the game notso well. What happened?

"Of course they made some adjustments to take away some things. You look back at that last drive and the one thing, we really, really would have felt different had we gotten the ball in the end zone and given us a chance there. That was the big thing for me. There was some positives that we can build upon. And that’s what we’re going to try to do and that’s what we will do."

Important to keep the defense off the field?

"Yeah, I think everything works together for us to win. And we’re trying to stay on the field and we need to do a better job of staying on the field. That givs us the best chance of winning, so we’re working that area. And we’re working to improve that."

Will Mike Dyer get more carries?

"I think you go into each game with a plan and he’s a workhorse type guy and can definitely handle more carries. It just depends on the game and the situation. But he’s a physical guy and he’s put together well."

Is he quicker, faster than last year?

"I think that’s fair to say. As a true freshman, he didn’t go through spring, I think he’s going to be in better shape. Coach Yox has done a great job with him. He’s worked hard and you can tell he’s a step quicker.

Talk about the communication on the offensive line

"It’s very beneficial. The first time with the noise and the crowd, it’s very loud. And our communication, we had a couple breakdowns. And it’s got to be fixed. You always learn the first time you’re on the road, no matter what type of team you have, veteran or not, so it was very good for us to experience that and that’s something that we’re really going to work on correcting the next game."

What do you guys have to do to stay on the field longer?

"I think really the bottom line is the third downs. That’s the big thing, third-down and medium is the big thing for us that we need to be better on. And we’re working hard to do that."

Are you pleased with what you're getting out of the wildcat formation?

"I think we’re getting better in that area and it is a part of our offense that’s kind of a staple. And our staple things we need to be good at. But I do feel like we’re getting better in that area."

there was a third and short play in the second quarter where you went empty backfield. What was the call?

"What I was thinking was that I was trying to catch them off guard. As the playcaller, you do your best to predict and when it works it looks really good and when it doesn’t … As far as second-guessing myself, no. They did something a little bit different and they got us. But I felt good about it at the time."

Does the fast pace hurt the defense?

"We’ve got our job to do. And we’ve got to do a better job of keeping ourselves on the field. I don’t get into all that. We’ve got to do a better job of staying on the field. And really the bottom line is if we get better on third downs, we’re on the field. So that’s my only focus."

TV time not yet set for Auburn-South Carolina game

2011-09-19T15:43:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - If you were wondering what time Auburn and South Carolina will play on Oct. 1, you'll have to keep wondering. CBS used what's called a "six-day option" -- basically, they told the waiter to come back because they're haven't decided what they want to eat.

CBS will decide after this weekend's games.

All we know now is the game is either going to be on CBS at 2:30 or 7 p.m.; or on ESPN at 11 a.m.

And as they say in the TV world: Stay tuned.

Phillips, Rose suspended

2011-09-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

AUBURN – Auburn fullback Ladarious Phillips, a redshirt freshman from Roanoke, and Jonathan Rose, a freshman defensive back from Leeds, have been suspended for violation of team rules.

Both players missed Saturday’s 38-24 loss at Clemson.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said Sunday the status of both players will be “re-evaluated over the next couple of days.”

Chizik talks after loss

2011-09-17T18:24:00.004-05:00

Here are comments from Auburn coach Gene Chizik following Saturday's 38-24 loss to Clemson.

Chizik

"Clemson outplayed us pretty much from the second quarter all the way
through the rest of the football game.

"We had a fast start to the game, but we really couldn’t sustain much
after there. I felt like from the second quarter on we were not
productive; we were not making plays when we had the opportunities to.

"It’s very glaring, defensively, we have a lot of work to do. It’s very
glaring, offensively, we can’t turn the ball over going into the Red
Zone. We’ve got to sustain more drives. Time of possession is becoming
an issue with our team, certainly with the number of plays we’re
playing defensively. That’s certainly a combination of an inability to
convert on third downs for ourselves and the inability to get off the
field on third downs defensively.

"The first quarter was probably the best we’ve played. Then I felt like
we were a below-average football team.

"I expect us to bounce back and work this week and be a better football team."

Why was it so difficult to stop them on third down?

"Several different things. On passing downs, I felt like we didn’t get
very much pressure on the quarterback. When guys have opportunities to
make plays on the football, we’re not doing a good job of taking away
the short passing game. It’s an issue. We know it’s an issue."

Too many plays on defense?

"I don’t think there’s any question. Over 90 plays again today. We
can’t continue to play that many plays defensively. That is a product,
not just of our defense; it’s a product, offensively, of not being
able to sustain many drives and convert on third downs ourselves.

"As I said last week, I was hoping we were going to be a much better
football team this week. I don’t feel like we were. We have a lot of
work to do as a coaching staff.

"As the game wore on, I think tackling became an issue for the defense.
As the game wore on, I thought we were in positions to make
plays…we’re not coming down with the football.

"It was all around an extremely disappointing performance defensively.
And at many times, offensively, the same.

"We couldn’t get anything going on our kickoff return game to switch
field position. We made a poor choice on a punt when we’re up 14-0.

Will you take a more active role on defense?

"I’m really going to evaluate everything and I’m going to look at some
things. I have confidence in every coach on my staff.

"We’re not doing a lot different than we did the previous two years.
But obviously we have to take a look at our depth; take a look at our
young guys, and figure out ways to win games against very good
football teams coming up.

How will they respond to what is the first loss for many of them?

"There’s not options on that. They’re going to handle it like men.
They’re going to go out tomorrow and practice for the next game.
They’re going to have a short memory. I fully expect them to be there
tomorrow ready to go. That’s not an option."

Auburn loses linemen

2011-09-14T21:24:00.001-05:00

AUBURN – Auburn coach Gene Chizik confirmed Wednesday that offensive linemen Aubrey Phillips, and Ed Christian have likely suffered career-ending injuries and that defensive end Justin Delaine is out for the season with an injury.
Christian and Phillips will remain on scholarship but will not count against Auburn’s 85 scholarship limit.
“Him (Aubrey) and Ed have had medical issues, so that (medical hardship) is our anticipation,” Chizik said.
Delaine is eligible to return next season as a sophomore.
“That’s the plan right now,” Chizik said.
Specifics of the injuries were not released.

Chizik talks about Clemson game

2011-09-13T21:48:00.003-05:00

Auburn coach Gene Chizik's weekly press conference on Tuesday was shorter than usual.
Here it is, more or less in its entirety.

Opening statement

“We’re excited to start week three and going back and reevaluating ourselves. As everybody knows who watched the game, we certainly have a lot of room for improvement. I think we made some baby steps Saturday in being a better football team, but so many strides are left to go. We are getting ready to play a very good football team in Clemson, as we experienced last year when we played them. It’s going to be really interesting with a very young team, taking them on the road for the first time in a really exciting venue to play in as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to it. We’ll start our heavy dose of preparation today. We had a good practice last Sunday, and again, our goal is to get better every week. We’re certainly going to have to do that to have a chance to win this Saturday in a very, very tough place to play.”

On why the most recent teams are so good at winning close games...

“I think, number one, since we’ve been here, our guys are just willing to fight down to the end. They really truly believe in their hearts that when the games are on the line and things don’t necessarily look well, we still believe in each other that we can pull the games out. That comes from a great job from our coaches. Our players trust that we’re going to give them a plan to win. They trust that they work hard enough and that they’re prepared during the week, and it gives them the best chance to win on Saturday. Literally, the old cliché of not looking up at the scoreboard, keeping on playing to the end, is what we’ve been able to do. I just think that it’s really hard to close some of those games out if you’ve never done it, but we’ve repeatedly done it. I think that certainly helps our case.”

On last year’s game against Clemson and that being the starting point for the team being able to come back and win close games …

“Just going back and looking at the game film from last year, we’ll start there. We felt like that was more of a turning point for us as a football team last year. I felt like, physically, I thought we got beat on both sides of the line of scrimmage, just to be quite frank. We made that very clear that week. This is a very physical football team. That hasn’t changed. They’ve always been that. That’s been their history, meaning Clemson. That game last year, I think really opened our eyes to what playing physical football and what it looks like needed to be. Although we came out of the game with a win, I think we learned more on what we didn’t do, and we didn’t play a very physical game. I don’t think that’s going to catch us off guard this year. I think we’re ready for that. We know certainly in their offensive line, if you just take that, you know they’re bringing back four of their five guys that they had last year on both sides of the ball. We know it’s going to be a very physical battle, but yes, last year I think it was an eye opener for us. We know our guys will be very aware of what they’re going to face when they go in there.”

On the relationship between Auburn Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn and Clemson Offensive Coordinator Chad Morris…

“There are a lot of similarities. I think that if you just watch the two offenses, it’s obvious that there is a lot of carry over for each one. The connection that they’ve had over the years and the communication that they’ve had over the years in terms of doing the things coaches do. They pick each others’ brains for different things, and there’s a lot of carry over there. Both teams face it every day in practice. I don’t think there’s going to try to be anything revolutionary in either offense. There are a lot of things in the offense that you can pull from week to week, so it will be in the landscape of what they do offensively. Certainly with us, being in it three years now, we’ll do what we do. Very similar, and again, both defenses get an opportunity to go against it every day in practice.”

On memories from Chizik’s time at Clemson…

“I had a great two-year experience there when I got into college coaching with Danny Ford. I’m very thankful that he gave me an opportunity to work with him and a great staff at the time. I have a lot of very fond memories with a lot of great former players there and a lot of great people that are still there. Very fond memories for me personally. It was a great two-year period in my life, and it’s a great place with great people; very similar to Auburn.”

On fixing the problems on third down…

“We certainly addressed it a lot this week, and we spent a lot of time looking at it, evaluating it, on both sides of the ball. We’re very poor on both sides of the ball, converting it and stopping it. I don’t know how easy of a fix it will be. I know that, conceptually, we have to go back and revisit it and execute better on those downs. We’ll know more this Saturday. We know that for us to be able to win this game right now, we have to be much better on both sides of the ball on third downs. We do know that.”

On if the difficulties on third down are psychological…

“I don’t think it’s psychological. It’s just the execution of what we’re calling on both sides of the ball. It has to get better. I don’t think it’s a mental thing, no.”

Auburn-Florida Atlantic kickoff set for 6 p.m.

2011-09-12T15:14:00.004-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn football game against Florida Atlantic in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 24 will be televised by FSN.

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.

It will be the first meeting between Auburn (2-0) and Florida Atlantic (0-2). The game will mark the Tigers’ 17th meeting against a current member of the Sun Belt Conference and first since Auburn defeated Louisiana-Monroe, 52-3, last season. Auburn has a 16-0 record against members of the Sun Belt.

The game will be Auburn's first this season on FSN after opening the year with games on ESPN2, the SEC Network and ABC. The game is also Auburn’s first night game of the season.

Trotter talks after Sunday practice

2011-09-11T20:57:00.003-05:00

Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter talked with the media after Sunday's practice. Here's what he had to say:

After looking at the film, what did you think of Saturday's game?

"We obviously ran the ball a lot better than we did last week. Just establishing that run game and having Mike(Dyer) and O (Onterio McCalebb) having a lot more yards rushing the ball really helped the offense and really helped me in throwing, having time when we did want to step back and throw so more, to not have so much pressure."

Was there a comfort level with Brandon Mosely back on the right side (at tackle)?

"I think that's part of why our run game was working better, having Mosley over there. He's a big strong guy and it's always good to get him back where maybe he's more comfortable. I'm not real sure. One way or another they made it work.

Do you wonder if you guys are ever going to win in normal way?

"Not really. As long as we're winning, I don't really care."

Talk about Emory Blake.

"He's obviously one of the key receivers we've got. Any time we can get the ball in his hands, you can see what he can do when he gets it. That's always a big plus for me. Whenever I throw him the ball, whether it's a spot route or a post route or whatever, he's going to make me look really good and get a bunch of positive yards after the catch."

Any time you can get the ball in his hands, that's going to be beneficial to the offense. He's a great receiver and runs great routes and catches it just about every time you throw it to him. I'm very comfortable and confident throwing him the ball."

Talk about the first road trip, going to Clemson

"It'll be different, but at the same time once you get in the stadium it's 11 on 11. You've just got to kind of block all that other stuff out. You can't let that affect how we play."

What about the noise?

"It is difficult. We might have to transition and do some things different as far as signals and communication. That's something you're going to have to prepare for any time you're playing obviously another big school. You've just got to be ready for it."

Does it help to use visual signs?

"We don't have quite as much communication verbally as maybe some teams do. You can look to the sideline and hopefully get the play pretty easily."

What do you remember about last year's game?

"I actually watched part of last year's game just a little bit ago, and it was amazing how bad we played the first half. They pretty much manhandled us on offense that first half. We've got to come out and really be a lot more ready to play than we were last year."

Auburn makes changes on offensive line

2011-09-10T11:00:00.002-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn made some changes on the offensive line for Saturday's game with Mississippi State.

A.J. Greene was announced as the starter at right tackle ahead of Chad Slade, with Slade moving into the starting right guard spot ahead of John Sullen.

Sullen had been limited in practice because of a slight knee sprain suffered in last week's game against Utah State.

The only announced change for Mississippi State was wide receiver Chris Smith starting ahead of Sam Williams.

Trotter looking to take next step

2011-09-07T17:27:00.002-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Like a kid who just passed his drivers’ license test, Auburn’s Barrett Trotter is ready to get back behind the wheel of the Tigers’ offense and take it for another spin.

By all accounts, Trotter made a successful debut as Auburn’s starting quarterback in last week’s 42-38 season-opening victory over Utah State, but the road gets a little trickier on Saturday against Mississippi State (1-0) in the SEC opener for both teams.

“It was definitely a confidence booster for me to be able to go in there and play relatively well and help us come back at the end of the game,” Trotter said. “There were some positives there. But at the same time, we’ve got to play a lot better than that.

“I’ve watched Mississippi State. They’re going to be a lot better than Utah State. I know they’re going to be a lot faster, a lot stronger, a lot bigger. So we’ve got to really get more prepared this week.”

(FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, SEE THURSDAY'S ANNISTON STAR)

Tigers need to be more physical

2011-09-06T21:38:00.002-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Auburn has a lot of problems to solve heading into Saturday’s SEC opener against Mississippi State, and Tigers’ coach Gene Chizik hopes many of them can be corrected by the simple act of playing more physical.

Call it the “shut up and hit somebody” approach.

“If we don’t do anything else better, we better be more physical than we were last week,” Chizik said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “Again, you can look at the physicality of our special teams, and it is more in line with where we need to be. Our special teams are made up of offensive players and defensive players, same guys that play on offense and defense, so we have it in us. We have to be that on both sides of the ball when it comes to offense and defense.”

Auburn’s problems in last week’s 42-38 season-opening victory over Utah State were most evident on defense.

The Aggies moved the ball at will against the Tigers, rolling up 448 yards in total offense, 27 first downs and had four scoring drives of 14 or more plays. Utah State was 10 of 17 on third-down conversions.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY READ WEDNESDAY'S ANNISTON STAR

Malzahn says running game needs work

2011-09-06T21:23:00.003-05:00

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media after Tuesday night's practice. Here's what he had to say.

"We had a good 24-period practice. Got a lot done. It was a very physical practice, very demanding practice."

Lots of contact?

"I would say for a normal Tuesday, I would say it was a lot of contact but contact is definitely needed right now."

What are your thoughts after looking at film from Saturday?

"We've got to find a way to run the football. We're a run, play-action team. We've got to find a way to get that done. Our thoughts early on in that game was to run the football. We weren't able to be successful. We've got to find ways to run the football, and we've got a chance to be a good offense if we can do that."

Were you stubborn on purpose about running the football?

"Any time you go into any game, you have a plan. You have a new quarterback. So our thoughts were to run the football early. We were trying to gather information at the same time. And we weren't able to get first downs, and we didn't make very many plays in the first half. We definitely ran the football in the first half and that was our plan. Ideally, we'd like to make more plays and open it up a little bit more and keep them offbalance a little more."

How did you think (QB) Barrett Trotter performed?

"I thought he had a solid performance to start out. I was pleased with the way he protected the football, that's the No. 1 thing that you worry about with an inexperienced guy with his first start. He also managed the two touchdown drives at the end; I thought that was positive. But he's a competitor, and I expect him to get better each week."

How big was it, those last two drives:

"The positives were we didn't turn the football over. That's very important. And then find a way to win. There's a lot of teams that can't find a way to win. I kind of told our guys that's a positive we take away. We've got to protect the football, that was a big thing for us. We've just got to find a way to get more first downs and get momentum. We're a momentum team. When we get the momentum in our favor, we're a pretty solid offense. And when we don't, when there's three-and-outs, it can definitely look ugly."

How is Tre Mason progressing?

"Tre Mason is making progress, and i think a lot of our young guys too. I think you'll see those guys come on each week even more and more. A lot of them are overwhelmed, but a lot of those guys will get better each week."

Do you anticipate any personnel changes, particularly up front?

"We'll gather information. With an inexperienced team with a lot of unknowns, as coaches you learn a lot each game. I look back at last year, and we had a lot of pieces to the puzzle in place. But we didn't figure out our true identity probably until game four. So we are gathering information each week as coaches. Our goal is to get the best 11 on the field. We're still a work in progress."

Does the line need to be more physical?

"We've got to get better, there's no doubt about that. Coach (Jay) Grimes is one of the best in the business, and I know that he'll get those guys ready. Our guys came out today with a really good mindset to play physical football. You've got to remember we have one lineman that had 11 games starting experience; the rest of them that was their first rodeo. We had a true freshman starting at center. The encouraging thing is we really feel like we can get better each week. It's just a matter of how quick they can get the communication, the cohesion. It takes a lot for an offensive line to get together, so hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later."

Talk about Mississippi State's defense.

"They're a very good defense. A lot of those guys in the front and a lot of the guys in the secondary, we've been playing against for the last three years. They're an experienced defense. They’re very physical, they're very fast. It'll definitely be a challenge for us."

Is it different for Brandon Mosely to be at left tackle as opposed to right?

"Left tackle and right tackle is a completely different position. There's a lot of new faces up there, and I really expect those guys to get better every week. And that's our goal. I feel like we've got a chance to get better each week. If we can do that, we've got a chance."

Is the play-calling harder this year?

"What makes it challenging is we've got whole new faces for the most part other than a couple of positions. Last year was the first time since I've been coaching college that I've had the luxury of a guy that could run like that. As a coach, you try to build around your quarterback's strengths, and Barrett has definitely strengths. So you will see us try to build around his strengths.

Will defenses key more on the tailback without Cam running the offense?

"I think that's any offense that has more of a traditional quarterback, they're going to key on the tailback."

Assess how Barrett managed the game.

"Protecting the football, he was outstanding. And the way he managed the situation the last two drives, I thought was very impressive for a first starter."

Before that?

"There were some things that he'll get better at and he'll see and he'll understand better. The quarterback position in college is an extremely tough position to play. It doesn't make any difference if he's been watching and been in the offense for three years, until you get out there and actually see the different looks and actually play the position, that's when you learn. And I'm learning more about him and he's learning more about himself each game.

"The thing about offense, you've got to have all of them do the right thing. If one of them's not, it can really make everything ugly."

DeAngelo Benton was supposed to play a lot at wide receiver and didn't. Any reason?

"You have a plan to play a lot of different players. The way the game transpires changes some things. We'd like to play some other guys, not only DeAngelo but some other guys, more snaps. But the way the game transpired, the urgency, kind of changed things. The fact that we had 50-something plays didn't help either.

"Not only him, but there's some others that you'll see on the field as the year goes along."

Roof says defense needs to step up

2011-09-05T20:52:00.004-05:00

Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof met with the media following Monday's practice. Here's what he had to say:

Your impressions after watching the film (from Saturday's 42-38 victory over Utah State)

“Yes, there were way too many mistakes. Things that we can control and things that we’ve all got to get better at. There wasn’t any one group or any one thing. It was a combination of a bunch of things and we’ve all got to work to get it fixed. That’s what we’re doing.”

Do you anticipate personnel changes?

“No. I don’t think so. Like I said, we’ve all got to do our part to get better because we’ve got to get better in a hurry. You know the old adage that you make your most improvement from game one to game two, well that better hold true for us this week. Our kids are focused. They understand what happened. At the same time, we won the football game. But we’ve got a lot of work to do and that’s what we’re addressing. We’re moving forward to get things cleaned up and get them fixed so we can play much better football against Mississippi State.”

Do you anticipate playing as many as you did against Utah State?

“Yeah, I do. That’s one thing we’ve got to continue to do. Some people have earned that right. At the same time it’s a way of forcing depth to develop. Because as coaches sometimes guys get hesitant about putting guys in, this kid or that kid, but in the end it’s beneficial for everybody in the long run to go ahead and do it. That’s what we’ve decided to do and we’re committed to doing that.”

Anybody show enough to warrant more playing time?

“There are some guys who are probably going to get a few more turns. That’s still based on the performance on the practice field this week so everything we’re doing we’re evaluating to the nth degree.”

Have you started working on MSU?

“Oh, yeah. We took a part of practice and worked on Auburn, cleaning up things we had to clean up and a large percentage of it was Mississippi State. Usually we’re off on Monday so this is a great start for us and something we desperately needed.”

Was part of the trouble Saturday alignment problems, people in shock at their first game, or Utah State doing things they were not prepared for?

“I wish I knew because if I knew going into that game I had a specific deal … obviously we were concerned with that many young kids playing and as many things as they did offensively and they were a good offensive football team with a lot of returning starters. Those are things, at the same time you can preach it and preach it in practice and until it happens to them on the big stage, I think it really hit home. Why we coach the details we do, why we coach the forced communication that we do. Why we turn up the crowd noise on Thursday where we have to do all non-verbal communication in the secondary. So I think there are a lot of things that hit home because maybe understanding that we need to treasure the details in what we’re doing.”

What will Eltoro’s Freeman's role be this week?

“That’s to be determined. He’s going to have a role. He’s going to have a big role. I’m looking forward to getting him back. I think he’s going to bring some energy and he’ll help us put a charge in that defense.”

Which linebacker spot will he play?

“Not sure.”

You played a lot of zone last week. More man-to-man this week?

“We did what we thought we had to do to give us the best chance to win. And that wasn’t a situation where we wanted to play a whole lot of man coverage going in because there were some situations and things that they did that present problems. But we’re always going to play a blend of coverages, but we want to be ultra aggressive and get up there and let our corners play press and that’s what we want to hang our hat on. We’ll just do what we think we need to do to give us the best chance to win based on who we are, what we do well and at the same time what we have to defend.”

Has communication got to improve?

“Absolutely, because with communication come s confidence and when guys have confidence they play faster. That’s something that we’re harping on as coaches and have been harping on and will continue to harp on because with the adjustments offenses are forcing you to make everybody has to be on the same page on the back end and throughout the whole defense or else it will cost you a big one. So that’s an area we’re working hard to get better on this week.”

Jonathan Evans was able to practice?

“Yeah, yeah. He was very productive. Had a productive game. there are some things he’s got to get better on to become more relaiable, more consistent, but he was very productive, played extremely hard, was physical a times and I think that was a good first step for him.”

With all the youth on defense, which area did that show the most on Saturday?

“I think it showed throughout. but listen I’m not making excuses. There are no excuses. That’s who we are. That’s where we are and that’s what we are right now. We’ve just got to keep working, keep growing. There’s a lot of want to there, there’s great attitudes and good work ethic and a lot of talent, so we’re going to get better.”

Anybody other than Evans play well?

“There were some guys who played better than some other guys. I thought jeff Whitaker got better and was productive. He gave us some good push inside. I thought Dee Ford there at the end gave us some juice in the pass rush when we were trying to close the deal there.”

Mullen says he and Chizik haven't discussed Newton

2011-09-04T14:15:00.002-05:00

Even though Mississippi State reported to the SEC and the NCAA last year that persons claiming to represent former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton sought extra benefits for Newton to sign with the Bulldogs, MSU coach Dan Mullen says the subject has never come up between he and Auburn coach Gene Chizik.

Auburn plays host to Mississippi State on Saturday.

“I never really knew Gene much," Mullen said Sunday on his weekly teleconference. "I don’t think I ever actually got to meet him until we were at an SEC head coaches meeting. So, most of that is taking care of conference business. Our paths never really crossed much. During those meetings, I congratulated him on a great season, winning the conference championship and the national championship for the SEC and representing us so well the way that he did for us last season. So besides that, I really haven’t ended up crossing paths that much even throughout my whole career.”

And during those conversations, the subject of Cam Newton never came up?

“I’ve never discussed that," Mullen said. "The Cam Newton situation to me ended almost two years ago. He committed there in December (2009). I never really thought of it much. I did when we played them last year because I know he’s a very good football player. That’s what, about 20 months ago now? None of that to me has ever come up. I think Gene is a good football coach and I imagine everything he does, he does the right way with his program. None of that would ever even be a factor in my mind.”

Chizik talks post-game about Tigers' narrow escape

2011-09-03T21:19:00.003-05:00

Here are coach Gene Chizik's comments to the media following the Tigers' 42-38 victory over Utah State on Saturday.

Chizik

“Obviously, any time you can get a win no matter how you can get it you have to be pleased with that. I was pleased with a very young team being able to fight through a lot of adversity and persevere through times that didn’t look very good to be honest, but our kids as they have done so many times since we’ve been here they have found a way to come back and win. That is really good to see in our young guys. I think again that has kind of been instilled in this group that you never look at the clock and the scoreboard until it says 0:00. So in that regard we are thrilled that we came out with the win today. No question about it, I think it is obvious that everybody that saw the game realizes that we did not play well as a football team. There are no excuses for that. We just didn’t play well. I think it was very evident that our most experienced part of our football team is our special teams. I don’t think there is any question that offensively and defensively we are a long way off from being able to win very many games right now. Special teams-wise we have a lot of confidence and they played with a little bit of a swagger and rightly so. I think it was evident today in our kickoff return team even though it was Tre Mason back there, a young guy. We have a lot of guys on there that have done it before and we have some good yards on our kickoff returns. Our punt team was excellent. Cody Parkey was outstanding. The best that I have seen in a long time in kickoffs which is a field position issue that you can’t get enough of those. So, that is a great situation with our kickoff team plus our coverage was great on our kickoff team. We are still a little ways off on our punt returns but as you can see as I said before to win the game with the game on the line, we do an onside kick which we work routinely, and it pretty much unfolded exactly the way you would draw it up. So, those are the things that I take from the game that are positive. We spent a lot of time on two minute offense coming down to the end of the game and managing the clock and trying to win the game at the end. We spend a lot of time on that. I thought that was evident today but if you remove those things from the game, if you look at us defensively, we looked like a defense that was extremely young against an offense that had a lot of people back. We didn’t play well period. No excuses. I thought it was a very poor defensive effort. That’s not acceptable here at Auburn so I fully expect us to rectify that next week. Offensively, I thought the same for much of the game. I think finally in the last quarter or so we actually looked like an offense that is a college offense. Other than that I did not, and that is how I feel about it. So, we have a lot of work to do. I’m thrilled to have a win. I’m thrilled to come out on top. That was a good football team. They did a great job. They played probably a perfect game. Their game plan they executed to a ‘T.’ But again, my hat’s off to my players and coaches for finding a way to come back and win at the end. That’s what matters so we’ve got a lot of improvement to do as everybody that saw the game knows, and that’s what our aim is going to be before we start out in conference play next week.”

On Barrett Trotter’s first start

“Well, the fourth quarter was really good to see. The game was on the line, and we had to take two scores down there with one time out on the board. We squandered two time outs earlier in the half. We went down with one time out and were very cognizant of making sure we were going to manage the clock. He made some clutch throws. Some guys made some clutch catches and did some things with the ball in their hands after the catch mainly Travante Stallworth and Onterio McCalebb when the game was on the line which does not surprise me that it was those two. But, Barrett, I thought had his moments. He is certainly going to see the film and know that he can play much better. I thought there were some receivers open that we could have hit and there were times where he had some undo pressure and that is an offensive line slash back in protection issue. So, overall we won the game. I’m definitely not pleased with a lot of areas of our offense or our defense.”

Is that something you can fix or do they just have to grow into it?

“I think they have to grow up. I think that there are a lot of moving parts in your first game for young guys and we will get better and again, it is going to be a journey for these guys. I think today in one point in the game, we had counted somewhere between 20 and 22 new guys that were playing a pretty significant role on the field, which is a lot of people. But again, it is not an excuse.”

On Chris Brooks’ onside kick that Emory Blake recovered

“On our onside kicks, we always have two designated catchers with him (Emory Blake) being one of them. We don’t know exactly where the ball is going to land, but we have kickers that work it relentlessly in practice. We work it several times a week. Work it all the way through two-a-days. We’ve been doing the same one for three years, and I don’t know off the top of my head our onside kick track record right now, but it is pretty good.”

On Travante Stallworth’s first start

“I’m really proud of Travante. Again, I said earlier in the week, he’s a savvy player. He finds ways to find holes in the defense. Today it was really good to see him do something with the ball in his hands after the catch. I think again he’s had to overcome a lot of things injury-wise, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way he’s come on and again, I thought he was a significant part in helping us win today.”

Were you surprised today at how far off you looked from being able to win a lot of games?

“Obviously, there were times when I really felt like we could have played better as a whole. I’m not going to measure the magnitude of how far off we are. I just know that performance today on offense and defense won’t win us many games. So again as I just told our team, our biggest improvement has got to be between week one and two and two and three. So again, if we are going to win football games in this league, there is going to have to be significant improvement by this time next week.”

How much do you think the defense missed Eltoro Freeman today?

“Without a doubt we are going to be happy to get Eltoro back next week, but that was not the issue.”

Was the problem on defense getting people lined up correctly?

“Well, they were doing a lot of moving and shifting and trading which we felt like they would do that. So, some of it was that. Some of it is we probably weren’t as physical at the point of attack that we needed to be and again, that’s going to be young guys learning how to play out there, and it is going to have to be the older guys getting us lined up. So, it is probably a multitude of issues for as poor of a defensive performance as that was.”

On Michael Dyer coming off the bench and providing a spark

“Again, we feel like running back situation-wise right now, we have the majority of our carries right now will be between Onterio (McCalebb), Michael Dyer and Tre Mason. So, we are going to use them as we see fit and as we need. Don’t read into who is the starter, who’s not. That’s not the deal. Those are the guys that are going to get the carries when we see what the defense is giving us, and we will use those guys and utilize them at the right spots and the right times to do whatever we need to get accomplished. Today, Michael came in and gave us a spark. I think he had a couple of touchdowns in there, but I thought he was trying to run the ball physical and downhill.”

On Tre Mason’s kickoff return

“There is no question about it. Again, going back to one of the strengths of our team is our special teams. Tre has shown an incredible amount of savvy on kickoff returns in the preseason. He was really good at it in high school. He has a lot of courage back there. He doesn’t get rattled with a lot of different things. We felt like he would have a chance to break one. Again, he has a knack for that. A lot of times at that position, that is what it takes.”

Auburn holds final practice for Utah State

2011-09-01T20:13:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn Sports Information

AUBURN — The 19th-ranked Auburn football team spent 75 minutes practicing inside the new indoor facility Thursday as the Tigers moved one step closer to Saturday’s season opener against Utah State.

Auburn touched on all phases, going through offensive and defensive situational drills and special teams work.

At his Tuesday media conference this week, Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said the Tigers have been preparing for a Utah State team that returns 10 starters on offense and six on defense from last season.

“We're really looking forward to a great opening challenge with Utah State and the challenges that they pose,” Chizik said. “This is (head coach) Gary (Andersen)'s third year. He's done a really nice job building the program just the way he wants it. Offensively, they have a lot of returning starters. It's going to be a challenge for our defense. Everything starts with the offensive line, as we know. They have some veteran guys up front, which will be challenging for our young defensive line, as we know. It'll be a good first challenge for us.”

Auburn goes into the season opener with 22 freshmen listed on the three-deep depth chart. Chizik noted the freshmen have earned their spot on the depth chart and will be counted on in virtually any situation on game day.

"The plan is to really play the guys who we think deserve to play, whether it be early in the game or late in the game, whatever the situation calls for, the guys that have worked hard enough and deserve to play and have really earned our trust to play, we're going to put them in whenever we feel like the situation is right,” Chizik said. “We're not holding anything back. You're going to see them on the opening kickoff, you're going to see them on the opening kickoff return, depending on which one we do, you're going to see them throughout the offense and the defense.”

The Tigers will open the 2011 season Sept. 3 vs. Utah State at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with kickoff set for 11 a.m.

Auburn has a 91-25-2 record in season-opening games. Auburn has won 20 of its last 25 openers, including a current streak of four straight wins. The Tigers are one of two teams in the FBS to return a pair of running backs who eclipsed 800 yards last season. Michael Dyer set an AU freshman record by rushing for 1093 yards last season, while Onterio McCalebb rushed for 810 yards in 2010.

F

Warming up some left over "Super Trooper"

2011-09-01T12:00:00.002-05:00

The local media covering Auburn usually get to visit with the Tigers' position coaches Wednesday night after practice.

Here's what wide receivers' coach Trooper Taylor had to say.

Are you excited about the first game?

"It’s almost like Christmas. You get to open up your presents to see
how it’s going to turn out. I just my hope my bike doesn’t have a flat
tire.

"I’m excited to see what type of team we’re going to have and what kind
of identify we’re going to have."

Talk about Travante Stallworth earning a starting spot at receiver.

"He made plays. Players made plays. The kid really pushed himself
coming back from injury. I started him at the very bottom. I tested
him to see if he was going to step up or shut it down. He stepped up.
You’ll see him flop and go to another spot. He’s crafty. He’s smart enough
that he never lets his alignment stop him from doing his assignment.

DeAngelo Benton. He was behind Darvin Adams. Now he's behind Emory Blake. Will he play a lot?

"He will, and the reason why is because at that position that is where
a lot of the balls go. You want to get it to the best two you’ve got,
and nobody is going to play 80 snaps. The good thing about both of
those guys is you’ll look up and both of those guys will be on the
field at the same time. That’s going to be good for us.

"I’ve been proud of him. First of all, he’s stayed healthy so far. The
kid hasn’t been a practice at all. He’s had several things through
camp. At the beginning of camp, he had pink eye. I don’t know if
you’ve had it, but you definitely don’t want to practice football, and
he didn’t miss a single snap. That let me know his toughness is there.
He answers questions like a quarterback now. Before, he only knew what
he had. Now, he’s answering questions across the board on plays we’re
going to run and when we’re going to run them. He gives you that
confidence as a coach and as a play-caller to get him the ball.

"If you watch the kid practice, this kid sprints on and off the field,
and it sent a message to the rest of them. It started out with just
them, now everybody sprints out there now. It just became contagious.
That’s what I like about him. He’s been on a long road. He’s as old as
I am, but he still goes out there and works hard every day."

Quan Bray wasn't listed among your top seven. How is he progressing?

"He’s getting closer. The playing time for him, his job will be a lot
smaller until he proves that he can handle more and more and more. He
better prove himself on special teams. He better prove himself when he
does get his number called that he can make those type of plays and do the
things we need him to do. And I think he will. The kid works really
hard. He’s so competitive that he gets down on himself and you have to
bring him back. You can’t let one play beat you twice. Hopefully, by midway
through this season, he’ll be a guy you can’t keep off the field."

Moseley ready for backup role

2011-08-31T21:11:00.003-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Auburn quarterback Clint Moseley said he has bounced back from the disappointment of losing the starting job to Barrett Trotter.

Moseley was involved in a battle with Trotter that lasted all through spring and most of fall camp before the Tigers named Trotter the starter on Aug. 18.

“I was just kind of blank for two days,” Moseley said. “I wouldn’t say I was upset or mad. I was just like … here. I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t grasp anything. I was just really confused, really just blank.”

Moseley said he eventually accepted the decision and is now trying “to be the best backup in America.”

He and Trotter, who have been best friends, are on good terms again.

“Our relationship was real tough for two days,” Moseley said. “Because what do you say to me if you’re Barrett? He didn’t know what to say? I called up Barrett, told him I’d accept it. He is my best friend no matter what. We’re great. Nothing’s really changed … off the field.”

More situations work

Auburn practiced Wednesday night in preparation for Saturday’s season-opener against Utah State, and coach Gene Chizik liked what he saw.

“I thought tonight was a really crisp practice,” Chizik said. “There was a lot of high energy as you would expect getting close to game time. We worked a lot of situations, which we’ve been spending a lot of time on lately. But overall, focus was really good. And I think we’re getting close to being ready to play.”

Niles won’t play

Auburn defensive line coach Mike Pelton says the Tigers will rotate a lot of players up front in Saturday’s opener, but freshman Jabrien Niles won’t be one of them.
Pelton didn’t give a specific reason, but stated that Niles won’t dress for Saturday’s game.

“Right now, Jabrien Niles is not on our dress squad,” Pelton said. “He’s not dressing for this game. Coach Chizik hasn’t decided what we’re going to do with him yet, but right now he’s not in our rotation. Jabrien is a great kid. He’s going to be a good player at auburn. I saw some great things from him this fall, but right now he’s just not ready to get in there.”

First and second is clear

After ongoing battles at different positions, offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said he’s satisfied he’ll have his best five players on the field on Saturday

“There was enough separation that we didn't have to flip a coin for it,” he said.
“The five guys who earned that job earned them. The five guys who are starting clearly deserve to be our five starters right now. That doesn't mean it can't change at some point. I've been in a lot of seasons where a guy isn't performing well and another guy, maybe a young guy, comes on and beats the guy out and starts Game 4 or Game 5. That could still happen. At this point, I feel very confident that we've got the right five on the field.”

Grimes said Blake Burgess, who lost the starting center job to Reese Dismukes, will be first off the bench at the three interior line positions.

“He'd probably be the first guy in the game right now,” Grimes said.
“That's an important role. It takes a special type of person to be able
to do more than one thing like that. He's smart enough conscientious
enough and reliable enough that I'm completely confident in him
handling that.”

About openers

Auburn is riding a 15-game-winning streak heading into Saturday’s season-opening game against Utah State.
The Tigers are 91-25-2 in season-opening games. Auburn’s 91 season-opening victories is one behind Alabama’s for most in the SEC.

Attacking the WAC

Auburn is 15-0-1 against teams from the Western Athletic Conference. The Tigers have never played Utah State.

Auburn announces basketball schedule

2011-08-31T17:58:00.002-05:00

COURTESY OF AUBURN SPORTS INFORMATION
AUBURN - Auburn announced the men's basketball schedule for the coming season, which is highlighted by participation in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Class and the Big East-SEC Challenge

Auburn has the possibility of playing 19 games against 2011 postseason tournament teams, including nine who played in the NCAA Tournament and 10 in the NIT.

The Tigers have back-to-back games against Big East Conference teams at Seton Hall in Newark’s (N.J.) Prudential Center in the Big East-SEC Challenge on Dec. 2 and vs. South Florida in Auburn Arena on Dec. 14.

Auburn closes out its non-conference schedule on Jan. 4 at Florida State, a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant last season that Auburn defeated 65-60 in Auburn Arena.

Auburn will play seven 2011 postseason opponents at Auburn Arena against NCAA teams Kentucky on Jan. 11 and Georgia on Feb. 1 and NIT teams in McNeese State in the season opener on Nov. 11, Alabama on Feb. 7, Mississippi State on Feb. 18, Ole Miss on Jan. 14 and Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 2.

“Like I said last year, you have to build your schedule to where you think your team or program is in its building stage,” said Auburn coach Tony Barbee. “Obviously last year, we had some contests against some higher quality teams but not an abundance of them. This year, I think you see the natural progression of the team which leads to the natural progression of the schedule. We have a renewed series with Florida State that we start down there. They are a team that should have been in last year’s Final Four, a team that was a Sweet 16 team and has a lot of talented players coming back.

During a one-week span in early January, Auburn plays three straight games against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams at Florida State on Jan. 4, at Vanderbilt in the SEC opener on Jan. 7 and vs. Kentucky in the Tigers’ league home opener on Jan. 11.

Auburn’s other road games against last season’s NCAA Tournament teams are Tennessee on Jan. 28 and Florida on Feb. 21 while the Tigers have the possibility of playing NCAA teams Xavier, Kansas State and Clemson and NIT teams Long Beach State and UTEP in the three-game Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-25 that is televised by ESPN2 and ESPNU. Auburn also plays at NIT teams in Alabama on Feb. 29 and Ole Miss on Feb. 11.

“I’m excited about the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii with an outstanding field of multiple NCAA Tournament teams in the field with Clemson, Xavier and Kansas State,” said Barbee. “You are talking multiple NCAA Tournament teams which is something we aspire to be. To get there, you have to play teams like that so you know where you stand and hopefully come out on top in more than your fair share of them.”

Auburn plays its first four games at home beginning with McNeese State in the season opener on Nov. 11. After the SEC opener at Vanderbilt, the Tigers play three of four games at home in Kentucky, Ole Miss, at LSU and South Carolina.

Auburn is then on the road for three of the next four beginning at Arkansas on Jan. 25, at Tennessee, Georgia and at Mississippi State. The Tigers finish the season alternating home and away games vs. Alabama, at Ole Miss, vs. Mississippi State, at Florida, vs. Arkansas, at Alabama and vs. LSU on CBS in the regular season finale on March 3.

The SEC Tournament is in the New Orleans (La.) Arena March 8-11. At least 21 of Auburn’s game will be televised.

2011-12 AUBURN BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (all times Central)

Nov. 11 McNeese State, 7 pm

Nov. 14 Kennesaw State, 7 pm

Nov. 25 Nicholls State, 7 pm

Nov. 28 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 7 pm

Dec. 2 (1) at Seton Hall (ESPNU), 8 pm

Dec. 14 South Florida, 8 pm

Dec. 17 North Florida, 7 pm

Dec. 19 Florida A&M, 7 pm

Dec. 22 (2) at Hawaii (ESPNU), tba

Dec. 23 (2) Xavier/Long Beach State (ESPN2/ESPNU), 11 pm/1:30 am

Dec. 25 (2) Kansas State/Clemson/UTEP/Southern Illinois (ESPN2/ESPNU), tba

Dec. 30 Georgia Southern, 7 pm

Jan. 2 Bethune-Cookman, 7 pm

Jan. 4 at Florida State, 6 pm

Jan. 7 at Vanderbilt (SECN), 12:30 pm

Jan. 11 Kentucky (SECN), 7 pm

Jan. 14 Ole Miss (SECN), 12:30 pm

Jan. 17 at LSU (ESPNU), 6 pm

Jan. 21 South Carolina (SECN), 12:30 pm

Jan. 25 at Arkansas (CSS), 8 pm

Jan. 28 at Tennessee (ESPN2), tba

Feb. 1 Georgia (SECN), 7 pm

Feb. 4 at Mississippi State (SECN), 3 pm

Feb. 7 Alabama (ESPNU), 8 pm

Feb. 11 at Ole Miss (FSN), 6 pm

Feb. 18 Mississippi State (FSN), 7 pm

Feb. 21 at Florida (ESPNU), 6 pm

Feb. 25 Arkansas (SECN), 3 pm

Feb. 29 at Alabama (SECN), 7 pm

Mar. 3 LSU (CBS), 1 pm

Mar. 8-11 (3) SEC Tournament (SEC Net/ABC), tba

(1) Big East-SEC Challenge (Newark, NJ – Prudential Center)

(2) Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu, HI – Stan Sheriff Center)

(3) SEC Tournament (New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Arena)

* All Times Central

Malzahn says offense ready for opener

2011-08-30T20:54:00.003-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn met with the media following Tuesday night's practice. Here's what he had to say:

How is the offense heading into the opening game?

“It’s been good since we narrowed some things down, started game planning, started getting specific about personnel on certain plays, certain personnel groups. So it has been good."

How much does it help to get the depth chart out there?

“We’ve pretty much known for a awhile about a certain depth chart, but we’re very specific with personnel by formations and things like that. Anytime you start preparing for the first game and narrowing things down it definitely helps. The unique thing about a first game is you’ve got to be ready to make adjustments because you think you have an idea of what you’re going to get, but until you actually get there, usually well into the first quarter, you’ve got to be able to adjust too.”

Talk about Tre Mason as the third tailback

“Well, he made some plays with the ball in his hands early on. Showed that he does have some speed and can make people miss in open spaces. He’s been fairly tough too, for a true freshman. He’ll have a chance to help us this year.”

In an 80-play game, how many times might he tote it?

“Well, he’s behind Michael Dyer and Onterrio McCalebb and those two will definitely get their carries, so it’s hard to say.”

Would you like to see the carries between Dyer and Mccalebb carries even out?

“Well, it just depends on what the defense is giving us and what week it is. The thing about McCalebb, we’ve tried to make him more of an every down back and he has gotten better in every aspect and he’s a veteran guy. He’s got two years under his belt. At the same time, we’re going to ask Mike to do some more things too.”

Those are two of the more veteran guys on the offense. How comfortable are you going into the season with those two backs?

“I think as the offensive coordinator you’re comfiortable with the guys you have information on, that you know how they’re going to react, whether good, bad or inbetween. Those two running backs, Philip Lutzenkirchen, Brandon Moseley, those type guys we know what we’re going to get. So that’s the comfort. The anxiety you have as offensive coordinator is we think we have an idea about the other guys but until you get into those certain situations to know how they’re going to react, that’s the question that’s going through my mind right now.”

How are the running backs coming along as receivers? Progress?

“I think Onterio did, and Michael Dyer, we made a conscious effort in the spring to get better at throwing him the football too. Tre Mason has good hands and then you can throw Gully (Morgan) in there. He catches the football too.”

Tough to watch A.J. Greene with the ankle?

“He’s not 100 percent but you see him getting better and better. He’s going to be a factor. There’s no doubt. We’re going to need his help before the year is out. He’s got three games starting experience too and we felt like he played well in those three games. So he’s one of those guys who is right there. If needed he can be called upon.”

How is Barrett handling game week?

“Well, the first day, I think he handled it very well. He was very attentive. Barrett is a very attentive person anyway. He doesn’t change much, doesn’t get too high or too low. He’s just trying to prepare himself for every situation, asking the questions, watching extra film, which is very comforting for me.”

How do you get young guys ready or do they just have to experience it?

“Yeah, they have to buckle up. They just have to get it done. We recruited those guys and we told them we were willing to play true freshmen, and those guys have to be ready. We’re going to throw them in there and see what happens and we’ll stick with the ones that have the right attitude and handle the right situations and try to get better. They have to be ready.”

Is the excitement level high for you?

“I’m curious how some of them are going to react, there’s no doubt.”

Blakely's appeal denied

2011-08-30T14:59:00.001-05:00

AUBURN - Freshman running back Mike Blakely, a transfer from Florida, has had his appeal for immediate eligibility denied by the NCAA.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said Tuesday that Blakely will redshirt and participate on the scout team.

Auburn releases depth chart

2011-08-29T16:01:00.001-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn has released its depth chart for Saturday's season-opening game against Utah State:

OFFENSE

Quarterback

14 Barrett Trotter (6-2/207/Jr./Birmingham, Ala.)

15 Clint Moseley (6-4/223/So./Leroy, Ala.)

10 Kiehl Frazier (6-2/220/Fr./Springdale, Ark.)

Runningback

23 Onterio McCalebb (5-11/174/Jr./Fort Meade, Ga.)

5 Michael Dyer (5-9/210/So./Little Rock, Ark.)

21 Tre Mason (5-10/190/Fr./Lake Worth, Fla.)

H-Back

43 Philip Lutzenkirchen (6-5/250/Jr./Marietta, Ga.)

11 Brandon Fulse (6-4/238/Fr./Fort Meade, Fla.)

37 Ladarious Phillips (6-0/291/RFr./Roanoke, Ala.)

Wide Receiver

80 Emory Blake (6-2/197/Jr./Austin, Texas)

3 DeAngelo Benton (6-2/203/Jr./Bastrop, La.)

Wide Receiver

9 Quindarius Carr (6-1/185/Sr./Huntsville, Ala.)

1 Trovon Reed (6-0/183/RFr./Thibodaux, La.)

4 Quan Bray (5-10/185/Fr./LaGrange, Ga.)

Wide Receiver

85 Travante Stallworth (5-9/190/Jr./Leesville, La.)

81 C.J. Uzomah (6-4/236/Fr./Suwanee, Ga.)

89 Jaylon Denson (6-3/197/Fr./Hoover, Ala.)

Left Tackle

75 Brandon Mosley (6-6/310/Sr./Jefferson, Ga.)

73 Greg Robinson (6-5/315/Fr./Thibodaux, La.)

Left Guard

79 Jared Cooper (6-4/296/Sr./Brewton, Ala.)

57 Christian Westerman (6-3/280/Fr./Chandler, Ariz.)

Center

50 Reese Dismukes (6-3/300/Fr./Spanish Fort, Ala.)

63 Blake Burgess (6-2/285/So./Vestavia Hills, Ala.)

65 Tunde Fariyike (6-2/290/RFr./Thomaston, Ga.)

Right Guard

71 John Sullen (6-5/333/Jr./Auburn, Ala.)

60 Eric Mack (6-3/315/RFr./St. Matthews. S.C.)

Right Tackle

62 Chad Slade (6-5/308/RFr./Moody, Ala.)

77 A.J. Greene (6-5/295/Sr./Madison, Tenn.)

DEFENSE

Left End

55 Corey Lemonier (6-4/240/So./Hialeah, Fla.)

95 Dee Ford (6-2/245/Jr./Odenville, Ala.)

10 LaDarius Owens (6-2/237/RFr./Bessemer, Ala.)

Tackle (NG)

54 Jeffrey Whitaker (6-2/312/So./Warner Robins, Ga.)

98 Angelo Blackson (6-4/325/Fr./Bear, Del.) --OR--

74 Jamar Travis (6-0/294/Jr./Brewton, Ala.)

Tackle

92 Kenneth Carter (6-4/290/So./Greenville, Ala.)

96 Devaunte Sigler (6-4/275/Fr./Mobile, Ala.) --OR--

90 Gabe Wright (6-3/316/Fr./Columbus, Ga.)

Right End

94 Nosa Eguae (6-3/258/So./Mansfield, Texas)

13 Craig Sanders (6-4/260/So./Clio, Ala.)

52 Justin Delaine (6-5/238/RFr./Linden, Ala.)

Linebacker

35 Jonathan Evans (5-11/225/Jr./Prichard, Ala.)

26 Justin Garrett (6-1/205/Fr./Tucker, Ga.)

Linebacker

5 Jake Holland (6-1/235/So./Pelham, Ala.)

21 Eltoro Freeman (5-11/228/Sr./Alexander City, Ala.)

Linebacker

25 Daren Bates (5-11/205/Jr./Memphis, Tenn.)

58 Harris Gaston (6-2/236/So./Bessemer, Ala.)

Left Cornerback

11 Chris Davis (5-11/188/So./Birmingham, Ala.)

6 Jonathan Mincy (5-10/180/RFr./Decatur, Ga.) --OR--

27 Robernson Therezie (5-9/192/Fr./Miami, Fla.)

Safety

15 Neiko Thorpe (6-3/195/Sr./Tucker, Ga.)

14 Erique Florence (6-1/187/Fr./Valley, Ala.)

20 Drew Cole (5-11/190/Sr./Picayune, Miss.)

Safety

12 Demetruce McNeal (6-2/193/So./College Park, Ga.)

24 Ryan Smith (6-2/208/So./Cordova, Ala.) --OR--

16 Ikeem Means (6-0/205/Jr./Wetumpka, Ala.)

Right Cornerback

22 T’Sharvan Bell (6-0/185/Jr./Kissimmee, Fla.)

19 Ryan White (5-11/192/So./Tallahassee, Fla.)

28 Jonathan Rose (6-2/185/Fr./Leeds, Ala.)

Nickel

22 T’Sharvan Bell (6-0/185/Jr./Kissimmee, Fla.)

3 Jermaine Whitehead (5-11/183/Fr./Greenwood, Miss.)

31 Trent Fisher (6-1/186/RFr./Nashville, Tenn.)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker

36 Cody Parkey (6-0/190/So./Jupiter, Fla.)

29 Chris Brooks (6-1/173/Sr./Huntsville, Ala.)

Punter

30 Steven Clark (6-5/226/So./Kansas City, Mo.)

29 Chris Brooks (6-1/173/Sr./Huntsville, Ala.)

Deep Snapper

61 Josh Harris (6-1/230/Jr./Carrollton, Ga.)

65 Jake Lembke (6-0/234/RFr./New Lenox, Ill.)

Holder

19 Ryan White (5-11/192/So./Tallahassee, Fla.)

29 Chris Brooks (6-1/173/Sr./Huntsville, Ala.)

Punt Returner

1 Trovon Reed (6-0/183/RFr./Thibodaux, La.) --OR--

4 Quan Bray (5-10/185/Fr./LaGrange, Ga.)

Kick Returner

4 Quan Bray (5-10/185/Fr./LaGrange, Ga.) &

23 Onterio McCalebb (5-11/174/Jr./Fort Meade, Ga.)

21 Tre Mason (5-10/190/Fr./Lake Worth, Fla.)

Auburn announces baseball schedule

2011-08-29T12:03:00.004-05:00

Courtesy of Auburn sports information

AUBURN – Auburn announced its baseball schedule on Monday, and the Tigers will play a total of 32 games against teams that advanced to the 2011 NCAA Tournament during the upcoming season.

Of the 32 games against NCAA Tournament participants, 16 will come at Plainsman Park while 21 of them will be played from April 1 through May 19.

“We are anxious to get started and meet the challenge that our 2012 schedule presents,” said Auburn coach John Pawlowski. “We play 34 home games and we face schools from 10 different conferences. This will test our club and the 17 new faces that will be in an Auburn Tiger uniform this year.”

Auburn kicks off the 2012 season on Friday, Feb. 17, when it plays host to Missouri of the Big XII in a three-game series. That is the first of eight home weekend series for Auburn, which includes its tournament from March 2-4 which brings Purdue, Charleston Southern and Southern Miss to Plainsman Park.

Auburn’s other non-conference home weekend brings Belmont, the 2011 A-Sun Tournament champion, in for three games from March 9-11.

The Tigers will travel to Arizona of the Pac-12 for three games in February, playing a single game on Friday, Feb. 24 and a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 25, with all three games being played at Hi Corbett Field, the former spring training facility of the Colorado Rockies.

The fourth annual Capital City Classic takes place on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. Auburn has won the three previous meetings with in-state rival Alabama in the non-conference matchup.

Auburn’s home SEC slate will bring LSU (March 23-25), Mississippi State (March 30-Apr. 1), two-time defending National Champion South Carolina (Apr. 20-22), Tennessee (Apr. 27-29) and 2011 national runner-up Florida (May 17-19) to Plainsman Park.

Auburn will travel to Ole Miss (March 16-18), Alabama (Apr. 6-8), Vanderbilt (Apr. 13-15), Georgia (May 4-6) and Arkansas (May 11-13) in the SEC.

Pawlowski is going into his fourth season at Auburn and has guided the program to a SEC Western Division Championship, back-to-back appearances in the SEC Tournament and a 103-75 (.579) overall record. The program’s 34 SEC wins over the last two seasons are the most over a two-year period for the program since it won 35 in 1999 and 2000, coach Hal Baird’s final two seasons at Auburn.

Auburn works game situation in Sunday practice

2011-08-28T22:01:00.003-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Auburn practiced Sunday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium with an emphasis on specific game situations as the Tigers head into game week for Saturday’s season-opening game with Utah State.

“Tonight we had a practice where we worked a lot of situational things,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said following the workout. “I thought we were a little rusty on some situations where I hoped we’d be a little further along. Overall, mostly mentally, we were pretty good most of the night. We’ve just got to keep repeating all kinds of different situations that could come up during games. I think we’ve still got a lot of work to do there. I thought the effort was good tonight. Again, we’ve got so much polishing to do in this next week as we work on Utah State. Effort good, we just need to be a little bit sharper and I have no doubt we’ll be better Tuesday.”

Chizik said the work in the stadium was important to get the Tigers ready for the opener.

“We know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re going to go out there and there are going to be a lot of big eyes out there in the first game. We know that. We went out there today just to again go through the pre-game ritual and exactly who is going to be where and how it’s going to unfold and things of that nature and put them out there one more time. I think the comfort level, just being used to that environment, the more you can do it, the better.”

Expect freshmen to play early and often

Chizik was asked how many freshmen he thought would play in Saturday’s opener.
“I would say you’re going to be looking at somewhere around the neighborhood of 12 to 15 as a first guess,” he said. “I don’t think that would be uncommon at all.”

Linemen still out

Chizik said redshirt freshman offensive lineman Aubrey Phillips and freshman offensive lineman Ed Christian remain sidelined with injuries.
He offered nothing further regarding their status for the first game.

Utah State QB decision on hold

Like Auburn, Utah State has had a quarterback battle going during fall camp, but the Aggies don’t plan to announce a starter until they play Auburn on Saturday.

“The staff and our football are very comfortable with our quarterback situation,” said Utah State coach Gary Anderson. “Playing a quality opponent like Auburn we believe it is important to gain every advantage we can. Announcing a starting quarterback could possibly be a disadvantage for our football team.”

Utah State will start either junior college transfer Adam Kennedy or freshman Chuckie Keeton.

Kennedy, a 6-5, 218-pound junior, completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 1,767 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, last season for San Joaquin Delta College.

Keeton, 6-2, 185 pounds, completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,389 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior at Cypress Creek High School in Houston. Keeton also rushed for 1,023 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Malzahn talks about Thursday practice

2011-08-25T21:23:00.002-05:00

Auburn offensive coordinator spoke with the media following Thursday's practice. Here's what he had to say.

How is the progress going into game week?

“Well, we had a really attention day in practice. You can tell the urgency. Every day they can tell it’s getting closer to game week. The attitude has been good. We’re rotating the young guys in and trying to get some depth. We’re game planning half the time and half the time worrying about ourself.”

How is the offensive line coming along?

“I think pretty good. Inexperienced. We’re trying to give them a lot of different looks. We’re trying to fine tune. Coach Grimes has really been coaching in detail on the different things. First game, you’re not really sure what you’re going to get, so we’ve got to be prepared for a lot of different things. We’ve really been focused on preparation for a lot of different looks and trying to properly execute.”

Have the quarterbacks settled into their roles?

“They’ve really responded well. Barrett has really taken the leadership role. Clint Moseley is really preparing like he’s the starter too. Great attitude, really attentive. Kiehl Frazier the same way. In meetings, on the field, they’re paying attention. I’ve been very pleased with their effort mentally and physically.”
Emory was saying yesterday that he really thinks pace is going to be a weapon for you guys. Is that something he’s feeling or something you really are pushing?
“I think so. After we get an initial first down, that was been one of our positives and we’re trying to build upon that. There will be definitely times this year when we’ll need to be able to play fast.”

Do you still have a stated number of plays you want to run?

“Yeah, that won’t change. We always want to win the game or run 80. There are certain times the game dictates you can’t run 80. But that’s still our goal as far as our pace goes and number of snaps.”

What are you trying to polish up the last week or so?

“Just trying to get depth. There are going to be young guys on the field. We can’t tell you how many are going to start right now but there are going to be young guys playing. That’s my anxiety, hold onto the football, execution, penalties, the thing that happen from inexperienced teams. That’s my anxiety, but we’re working very hard to be disciplined and to overcome that.”

What's going to be the role of Ladarius Phillips?

“He’ll play some of that H-back. I think he’s improved, much improved from the spring. He’ll have a role and we’ll give him a shot and see what he can do.”

Hard to get a read on Utah State with a change in their defensive format?

“Yes, but like I said, it doesn’t make any difference. The first game of the year, you’re liable to get anything. We do know that they’re very well coached on defense. They’ve got some very good defensive coaches along with their head coach. They’ll have a plan and we’ll have to be able to adjust.”

Almost all the wideouts who played quarterback in high school, was that part of the plan?

“Me and coach Troop, when we first got here, we asked our wide receivers to do a lot of different things, and we believe if you’ve been a quarterback, you understand the game, you understand the coverages, you’re able to adjust. At the same time, we like to have other different people throw the football too. Anytime you have a versatile guy it does nothing but help our offense.”

Do you still show cut ups of (former Tulsa quarterback) Dave Johnson?

“He was very, very coachable and he was machine like in some ways. So at times we use cut ups of him just for teaching.”

Are you still kind of evolving as an offensive coordinator?

“I don’t know. I think that was the second year, so we had a pretty good foundation of what we were doing.”

Chizik talks about Wednesday practice

2011-08-24T22:03:00.003-05:00

Auburn practiced Wednesday night. Here's what Auburn coach Gene Chizik had to say following the workout:

“I thought we had a good practice tonight. Again, we went full pads and worked a good bit of us, again. Worked a little bit of Utah State, again just kind of introducing both sides of the ball. But I thought it was a productive day. I thought that the practice tempo early was a little bit slow, but we really picked it up and finished well. Overall, very productive and we’ve got to continue to get better every day, but we’re starting to narrow the reps and narrow the plan, so I think it’s going to get increasingly easy in terms of game plan and reps. Overall, a very good day.

Has Mike Dyer continued to get better physically?

“He has. He’s healthy. Again, it was at a point in camp where everybody was beat up. Again, there are several other guys who are kind of bouncing back from the same thing, just some bumps and bruises, but yeah, he’s doing well.”

Have you settled on a third tailback yet?

“You know, we’re at a lot of positions right now we’re still rotating a lot of people. One thing that we know that there are just positions on our team where we’re going to have to use a lot of people. So we’re rotating Anthony Morgan in there. Of course Onterio plays it. Michael Dyer plays it. Tre Mason in there as well. We’ve got some guys who can carry the football. Again, the challenge with the young guys is the protection and making sure they are really up on the protections and things of that nature. We’ll continue to work and we feel confident with a few different guys back there.”

You have a lot of former high school quarterbacks (10) on your team. Is there a benefit to that?

“I think so. When you talk about quarterbacks in high school, the one thing they bring to the table, they see a little more of the big picture, depending on what you’re asking them to do. But I think quarterbacks have that kind of full field vision, being able to see a lot of things. I think that again, schematically, they understand the big picture a little bit better than some guys, especially a young guy who played it in high school. So we do have quite a few guys on our team who were former quarterbacks and the thing is we like recruiting those type of guys. It’s different guys at different positions, but the reality of it is they usually have a pretty good grasp of what’s going on, even if the guy ends up being a defensive player. He understands offensively what is happening to him, so those guys, they do they bring a lot to the table.”

Is Jamar Travis starting come on?

“Well, we’re hoping he can help us. He’s still a work in progress and every day we’re trying to push him to be able to play a role with our defense. At our defensive line specifically, that inside position losing all the guys that we did, and a lot of really, really great players there as we know, that strained us a little bit defensively, so that inside defensive tackle position may be a bit of a position by committee. A guy like Jamar Travis, he’s got an opportunity in front of him. He’s gotten better, no question and he’s got to continue to work in that direction, but again he’s fighting every day for a role on our team. I’m proud of what he’s done and he has come on, but he’s got a ways to go.”

Is Jabrien Niles in position to play?

“Right now, possibly. We’re not ruling anybody out. Especially as physical as we know this league is. And as the season wears on and you get into games seven and eight and it becomes such a physically daunting task for those guys in there with all the double teams, they’ve got 600 to 700 pounds on them every snap, so we’re talking a guy who can play anywhere from 10 snaps to 50 snaps. But we’re going to have to get some guys in there who are fresh.”

How are Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter?

“Those salty old veterans that we have who have played half a year? It matters and they are the veterans of the bunch I guess. Here’s the thing: There’s no substitution for the experience they got. Regardless how many plays they did or did not play, they played last year and they pretty much played the whole year. So just understanding the length of the season, the physicality of the game, having to spell some of our guys from last year definitely helped them. I think also from a confidence level as well.”

You got a bit thin at corner last year. More depth this year?

“We did. We got thin in the national championship game. Chris Davis went down on the opening kickoff, so your nickel and dime situations become a challenge, but we’re trying to develop a lot of young guys. There are some young guys who are coming on, but again they don’t have a lot of experience so their experience is game by game. but I think they have made some strides. Chris Davis has really come on as a corner for us. We’re expecting him to play well. He got a lot of experience last year. he has really had a great camp. He has worked extremely hard to be better at this trade. Of course T-Bell, we saw him come on last year and he certainly has not arrived but he has certainly made a lot of strides at that position and knowing we can move him into some nickel and dime situations as well. But the fact of the matter is there are a bunch of freshmen that are going to have to help us out there, so they’re working to get better every day as well, but they’re going to have to play.”

How is Jonathan Mincy coming along?

“Too much inconsistency. There are times where he plays OK. There are times where he plays like a freshman. So he has certainly done some things that look like that’s the way they ought to be done within the structure of the defense and other times he’s out of position and things of that nature. But he’s got to continue to grow up and he’s got to continue to work.”

Tigers start perparation for Utah State

2011-08-23T20:55:00.003-05:00

After a two-day break, Auburn resumed practice on Tuesday. Here's what Auburn coach Gene Chizik had to say following the workout.

“Today I thought we had a good practice. Went full gear and did some good work against each other. Also worked some Utah State for the first time. So we had a good balance in there. Overall, I thought we had a good tempo today. Worked some special teams. Overall, it was a good day.”

How did the guys respond after having a couple of days off?

“It was good. Again, some of the guys were kind of nicked up, bumped and bruised, I thought they were running around a little bit better today. So I think a couple days off helped for sure, but overall there was a little extra pep in their step, so it was a good day.”

Introducing some work on the opponent make it sink in that game is approaching?

“I think it does. I think the reality sets in that, wow, we’re finally after all this three weeks of camp, I think it finally dawns on them that we’re getting ready for a game. Again, as we expected the focus was certainly there tonight. I think the reality has set in. I think a lot of the younger guys are still trying to figure out how to prepare and how the flow of practice goes now when you’re starting to zero in on an opponent. But again, they’re learning and every day we’ll get a little smoother as we go.”

Got your two-deep nailed down?

“We’re getting close. We feel really good by the weekend we will have a really good idea which direction we’re heading. We’re paring it down right now and it’s getting close.”

Did you work scout teams?

“We did.”

How is Craig Sanders coming along?

“Craig is doing really good. He’s one of those guys who just works every day. He really, really wants to be, not just a great player, but a great teammate. Whatever he can do for the team. Special teams, whatever he can do at defensive end. He’s one of those guys you never have to worry about him. He’s always out there working. And he’s gotten better. I’m really proud of the direction he’s going and I think his best days are still ahead of him.”

Reading the tea leaves from Auburn scrimmage

2011-08-20T17:39:00.004-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN - It is Auburn coach Gene Chizik’s preference to speak in generalities and avoid specifics when discussing his football team, particularly in the preseason.

Auburn held its final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, and while generalities were abundant and specifics harder to find, careful reading of the tea leaves unearthed small nuggets of information.

Chizik was asked following the scrimmage(which was closed to the public and to the media) to elaborate on the search for a third tailback to go with regulars Mike Dyer and Onterio McCalebb.

“Everybody that’s eligible to play is in the mix at tailback,” Chizik said. “So we’re counting on all of them to have a role.”

Later in the questioning, Chizik was asked specifically about freshman tailback Tre Mason

Chizik hemmed and hawed a bit before saying: “Most of the guys who we know are going to play, they didn’t get a lot of reps in the scrimmage.”

Tea leaves 1, Chizik 0.

Chizik quickly evened the score, and when it was all said and done, very little hard information about the makeup of this year’s Auburn football team was divulged, even though the Tigers clearly know more than they’re letting on about their two-deep heading into the Sept. 3 season-opener against Utah State.

On a more experienced team, the tea leaves would be easier to read, but the Tigers lost 24 seniors off last year’s national championship team, and there are 54 freshmen or redshirt freshmen on this year’s 105-man fall camp roster.

Of the players who were in the starting lineup for Auburn’s season-opening game last year against Arkansas State, tackle A.J. Greene and tailback Onterio McCalebb return on offense, while defensive back Neiko Thorpe and linebackers Daren Bates and Eltoro Freeman return on defense.

The coaches don’t offer much in the way of helping the media fill out a depth chart, and the players are instructed to follow their lead.

Jeffrey Whitaker, a projected starter at defensive tackle, was asked who stood out among the younger players on the defensive front in Saturday’s scrimmage.

In textbook coach-speak, Whitaker said: “I’d hate to single anybody out, but I think we’re going to be OK up front.”

Still the occasional tea leaves’ moment does occur.

It doesn’t exactly come as a shock, but sophomore Demetruce McNeal, who played in a backup role last season, confirmed that he’ll be a starter at one of the safety positions.

“Right now I'm in the starting role,” McNeal said, in explaining why he didn’t play in Saturday’s scrimmage. “They're trying not to get anybody hurt on the first team and focus on Utah State. They were seeing what the backups could bring to the table for the first game. We were on the sidelines and just coached them a little
bit. We're just trying to make them play better and play faster. That's what it was all about today.”

And if McNeal’s comments about freshman wide receiver Quan Bray are any indication, expect Bray to be a factor for the Tigers this season.

“What I'll say about that kid is that he's electric,” McNeal said. “He's quick. He's
fast. On the offensive side of the ball, he's great. You saw what he can do when he catches the ball. He knows where to go. His eyes are on the end zone every time he touches the ball. You saw it in the scrimmage. You saw how fast he is when he breaks out. He's hard to tackle because he's so quick. He's a great addition to the offense.”

Meanwhile, Chad Slade, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman, sounds hopeful he’ll be in the starting lineup at right tackle when the Tigers open the season.

“I’ve been working with the ones a lot,” said Slade.

Since when?

“Since the start of fall camp,” he said.

Are you a starter?

“I hope so,” Slade said.

At Auburn that’s as close to real as it gets.

Auburn back to business after naming Trotter starter

2011-08-19T20:52:00.003-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – A day after Auburn picked Barrett Trotter as the Tigers’ starting quarterback, ending a battle between he and Clint Moseley that began in the spring, it was business as usual at practice.

“Yeah, it has been normal,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik following Friday’s practice. “I think it was business as usual yesterday and today.”

Trotter said he has felt a little more responsibility since being named the starter.

“I feel more responsible out there when things go wrong,” Trotter said. “I put it on my shoulders. Rather than before, maybe not so much because I wasn’t the starter or whatever the case may be. But definitely just a feeling of more determination and really readiness and preparedness that I’m going to have to have.”

Moseley was visibly upset when speaking with the media Thursday night. Trotter, who is Moseley’s best friend, said the two visited later Thursday night.

“I went to his house last night and talked to him and just hung out for a little bit,” Trotter said. “But I know he’s really disappointed. He competed hard and they kind of drug it out until the last minute, and I know that’s tough for whoever it was going to be that didn’t get the spot. So I know he’s still disappointed, but at the same time, hopefully he can come out of it and do all right.”

Meanwhile, freshman Kiehl Frazier, who was also involved in the competition, is waiting to see what his role on this year’s team will be.

“The coaches haven’t really defined my role yet,” Frazier said. “I don’t know exactly what their plans are for me this year, so I’m just going to go out
there and play every week like I’m the starter, too.”

Tigers will scrimmage today

Auburn will hold its final scrimmage of fall camp today at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“The gist of tomorrow’s scrimmage is again just to try and get some younger guys in there, some guys we feel like still need those live reps,” Chizik said. “There’s no substitute for doing it. We’re going to scrimmage until we feel like they’ve got enough reps to continue to get better at their trade and so don’t know exactly how long it will go, but mainly it’s about trying to get some young guys some more reps.”

Chizik said the Tigers will shift their focus in practice next week to the players who are likely to play in the Sept. 3 season-opener against Utah State.

“Well, there’s no question certainly next week we’re going to start paring things down and giving the reps to the guys who need to be game ready,” Chizik said. “Again, to a certain degree we’re still looking at some guys coming down to the end here. But there also are guys who are going to be playing that we know have to help us and they’ve just got to have reps.”

Burgess getting snaps at guard

Blake Burgess, who is competing with Reese Dismukes for the starting center job, is also getting work at guard.

“That happens, even last year, we had guys that moved from guard to tackle, or we’ll have a new guy come in and so the guards have to move around,” Burgess said. “Coach (Jeff) Grimes always talks about he wants his five starters and a sixth man. And that sixth man has to be able to go in at several different positions so he can move the line around and have his best overall five up next in case somebody gets hurt.”

Trotter, Moseley, Chizik discuss Auburn's QB decision

2011-08-18T21:23:00.005-05:00

By Charles Bennett
AUBURN – Cam Newton’s successor as Auburn’s starting quarterback has been chosen.

It’s redshirt junior Barrett Trotter, who edged out redshirt sophomore Clint Moseley and true freshman Kiehl Frazier in a decision the Tigers elected to announce in a 3:37 p.m. Thursday press release.

Chizik, Trotter and Moseley talked with the media after Thursday evening’s practice.

“As you know, we named a starting quarterback today and it’s Barrett Trotter,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “That’s a tough situation because you’ve got some guys who have worked so hard. There was quite frankly some disappointment in there as you would expect. It’s exactly what you’d expect from guys who compete so hard and want to be great at what they do. But as we really evaluated the whole process and evaluated everything we named Barrett the starter because we feel like that gives us the best chance to win. It’s a great opportunity for him, to write his own story. Again, we feel very confident in his ability to keep pour standards extremely high and win.”

Chizik said Moseley would serve as the Tigers’ backup, followed by Frazier.

“We brought each guy in and told them what our plan was,” Chizik said. “Moseley is going to be the backup. Again, it was just a tight competition. There were so many good things that both of them did. It was that tight. We really had to examine everything and evaluate all the ingredients that come down to being a quarterback in this league. We did that, and we feel really good with our decision.”

Trotter, a 6-2, 206-pound junior from Birmingham, has paid his dues. He’ll make his
first career start on Sept. 3 against Utah State with his degree already in hand.

He’s also the most experienced of Auburn’s quarterbacks, even though that experience is extremely limited. He appeared in six games last season in a reserve role, completing 6-of-9 passes for 64 yards and rushing for 68 yards and one touchdown on five carries.

Trotter said he felt relief at being named the starter after a battle that began in the spring.

He and Moseley exited the spring rated even. Frazier made it a three-way battle when he joined the team for fall practice.

“I’m definitely very excited to be the starter,” Trotter said. “It comes with a lot of responsibility, which is another role I have to take on now. I’m prepared to do that. I’m glad it’s all over. I’m glad it’s behind me and I can get ready for the season. Now my mindset has got to change from trying to win the job, to really leading this team and getting in the end zone every time we get the ball.”
The day was bittersweet for Trotter. He and Moseley are best friends.

(Read the rest of the story in Friday's Anniston Star)

Trotter will start at quarterback

2011-08-18T15:40:00.002-05:00

(Courtesy of Auburn Sports Information)

AUBURN — Auburn junior Barrett Trotter has been named the starting quarterback for the season opener on Sept. 3 against Utah State, head coach Gene Chizik announced Thursday.

“Barrett has worked extremely hard to earn the starting quarterback job at Auburn University,” Chizik said Thursday. “I’m very proud of him for the leadership and hard work he has shown not only during camp, but also during his three years at Auburn. Barrett has a great opportunity to represent and lead this football team moving forward. Barrett understands the huge responsibility that comes with being the starting quarterback at Auburn and we are confident in his ability to lead this team.

“These decisions are extremely tough when dealing with such competitive young men who have a strong desire to excel. Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier worked very hard and it’s been a great competition that will make our young team better. Clint and Kiehl both have a lot of ability and will continue to improve. We look forward to watching their progress as the years go on.”

A native of Birmingham, Trotter appeared in six games as a sophomore in 2010, throwing for 64 yards on 6-of-9 passing. A two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient, Trotter graduated in August 2011 with a degree in communications.

Auburn practices, Dyer's back

2011-08-17T22:06:00.002-05:00

AUBURN – Auburn practiced Wednesday night with an emphasis on goal line situations and third and long.

“I thought we had a really good up-tempo practice tonight,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “Worked a lot of third and long, worked some red zone. Got some good work in those two phases of the game. But I was really pleased with the tempo and the level of focus. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but day-by-day we’re chopping wood and getting better at some things.”

Dyer back at practice

Auburn tailback Mike Dyer was back at practice Wednesday after being out for more than a week.

“It was good to have him back,” Chizik said. “He’s got to get in shape, but he practiced hard, he ran hard. I thought he practiced well.”
Next scrimmage undetermined

Auburn may scrimmage again on Saturday, but Chizik said nothing is definite at this point.

“We’re going to wait and see exactly how Saturday will unfold, based on the health of our team,” Chizik said. “We’re starting to slowly but surely get some guys back, so that will help. Again, we’ll evaluate that as we get closer.”

H-back competition stepping up

Starting tight end/H-back Philip Lutzenkirchen says it’s been interesting watching the competition behind him, both at tight end and H-back.

“They’ve been good,” Lutzenkirchen said. “Brandon’s (Fulse) head is spinning a little bit with all the stuff we’re throwing at him. He’s done a great job. He just needs to continue to make strides if he wants to get on the field. Chris Humphries, another guy who has been working hard, has been doing well. Ladarious (Phillips) has been a little banged up, but he’s back full-go now. Hopefully, he can get caught up on what we’ve been doing.”

Lutzenkirchen said Fulse has been working behind him at tight end also.

Frazier closing the gap

Auburn freshman quarterback Kiehl Frazier says he feels confident he has closed the gap on upperclassmen Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, whether it’s enough to win the starting job is a different story.

“Yeah definitely,” Frazier said. “I think that comes with the territory of coming in and not really knowing and having a clean slate and being here as long as I’ve been here I think I’m definitely a lot closer to those guys than I was.

“I definitely feel more comfortable and it has definitely slowed down a lot just because instead of going out there and having to think about the checks and reads and stuff, I kind of already know it, already programmed. So I just go out there and play, so that helps.”

Back to class

Auburn defensive end Nosa Egua says the return to class has brought a welcome break to the football routine.
“I like the change-up,” he said. “The two weeks of straight football, football, football, just to go to class and study halls and all that type of stuff. Everybody’s back in town. I like the change up. But when you step inside this complex, it’s all football. There’s nothing changed about that.”

2011-08-16T21:45:00.001-05:00

By Charles Bennett

AUBURN – Freshman Kiehl Frazier was considered a longshot to win the starting quarterback job at Auburn this season, but with each passing day, those odds seem to be getting shorter.

Frazier took all the snaps at quarterback during a 30-play scrimmage Tuesday morning at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and even though the focus was admittedly to look at younger players, his continued competition with upperclassmen Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley appears to be anything but over.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was asked if the Tigers’ three contenders at the quarterback position were making it a particularly tough decision.

“I think that’s fair to say,” he said. “Like I said before, that’s a good thing. We’ve got three quality quarterbacks, and they are making it tough. I just told coach (Gene) Chizik we want to be 100 percent sure like we’ve always done since we’ve been here. We understand the time table, we understand it’s getting down to the end. We need to try and make a decision as soon as we can, I’m sure.”

(FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, READ WEDNESDAY'S ANNISTON STAR)

Walk-ons earn scholarships

2011-08-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

AUBURN - Auburn has awarded scholarships to eight walk-on players.

The player are: center Blake Burgess, kicker Chris Brooks, safety Ikeem Means, running back Davis Hooper, H-back Chris Humphries, offensive lineman Aubrey Phillips, linebacker Ashton Richardson and wide receiver Nathan Taylor.

Chizik talks about Sunday practice

2011-08-14T22:33:00.003-05:00

Auburn practiced Sunday evening, after a long afternoon of signing autographs at Fan Day. Here's what Auburn coach Gene Chizik had to say following the evening workout.

(Opening statement)

"It was a long day today. Obviously it was Fan Day, which was tremendous. Don’t know how many were there, but there were a bunch. It was just a great opportunity for us to engage with our fans. And as I’ve said before, we’ve got the greatest fans in the country and they came out today in the masses. It was good for our young guys to see the energy and the passion of our fans for this season, so that was a good thing.

Leading into practice tonight, I thought the energy level was extremely high. They were very focused and obviously we made some mistakes, as expected, but again, their effort and their energy was up there.

Going back to the scrimmage and just discussing that, after getting a chance to look at it, quarterback-wise there’s no separation. All of them did some nice things. Not much separation in the quarterback spot. Defensively, going back and looking at it, really proud of how hard they played. Had some turnovers, which is good. And offensively really got into a rhythm later in the scrimmage when we went with some pace stuff, and we did quite a bit of that and moved the ball well. And so, we’re making progress, there’s no question. I think special teams Saturday we made a lot of headway in identifying some young guys that will be able to play roles or at least we’re hoping they’re in the right direction of helping us in some way. So that was productive. But overall, back to tonight, good practice tonight and it was fun for our kids today at Fan Day."

Will you get it down to two before you name a starter at quarterback or just name one?

"That’s (just name one) what we’re going to do. We’re going to decide on who the starter is when it’s the right time. Again, we’re going to stay on the evaluation process as it is and when we’re ready to do that, we’ll do it."

What was the focus of tonight's practice?

"Going back and cleaning up a lot of things from Saturday was big. Still in the installation phase of putting in things. They can’t get enough reps of doing the same things over and over again, but correcting them and doing them better than the last time we executed the offense or defensive call. But again, very crisp, very energetic, high level of focus practice tonight."

How many starting spots are still open?

"A lot. There’s a lot. Again, that’s the great thing. I’m really enjoying watching our guys compete, because they know there’s still a lot of opportunities out there. And you can see the competition is really getting tight. We’ve got a lot of young guys that it’s about this point in time where they usually get a little better feel for what’s going on. And that was really evident Saturday as well."

How is Corey Lemonier progressing?

"Corey’s had a really great camp. He’s just really got a great first step and quickness. His pass rush has really kind of gone to the next level. At least he’s working in that direction. Got to continue to work on the running game with him and anchoring down that point on the run game, but very pleased with him.

Did you see how how (former Auburn golfer) Jason Dufner finished in the PGA?

“I did not. I did not. I’m not sure how he finished. I know he was leading.”

He lost in a playoff.

“That’s great. That’s a great Auburn guy right there. Good stuff.”

Are the defensive tackles hanging in there?

“I think that’s a good way to put it. I think they weathered it. There’s a lot of moving parts down there and, literally, step-by-step, I think they’ve gotten better. But there’s so much to learn down there. It’s so fast-moving, it’s so physical. The journey for them is long and tough. But once they get it, they’ll have it. And some of those young guys are really coming along.”

It there a harder position?

“No. In my opinion, defensively, no. That’s the hardest position to get a feel for. And the only way you can do it is getting down there and doing it. And all of a sudden you look at camp and you’ve been here 10 days and the physical part, you start getting beat up and you start taking on double teams. There’s a fine line between getting enough rest but making yourself available for the next practice. They’ve got a lot of life lessons from that.”

Anything new on Mike Dyer or A.J. Greene (who have been out with injury).

“No.”

How about (wide receiver) Sammie Coates?

“He’s like anybody else, Mark. He’s beat up, a little banged up, but it’ll probably be a day-by-day situation. We’re keeping an eye on it and hopefully he’ll get back. Obviously the sooner, the better.”

How about Erique Florence?

“Enrique’s one of those young men that always finds a way to be around the ball. He always finds a way to be in the vicinity of the ball, whether it’s get a turnover, create a turnover, get an interception, be there for the tackle. He’s just one of those guys where he has a knack for being around. He has a great field presence and a knack for being around the football.”