Auburn Practice 9-5

[DKW 86 7,431]

http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-foot.../090506aaa.html

Sept. 5, 2006

AUBURN - The fourth-ranked Auburn football team underwent a nearly two hour practice Tuesday at the practice fields behind the Athletic Complex in preparation for its Southeastern Conference opener.

The Tigers will open against Mississippi State Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, Miss. Auburn (1-0 overall, 0-0 SEC) has won five straight over the Bulldogs (0-1, 0-1), including a 43-14 victory in 2004, the last meeting between the teams in Starkville.

On Tuesday, the Tigers focused on special teams at the outset of the workout, then started scout team work. The end of practice saw Auburn in crossover drills followed by field goal work.

"We have had two very good practices this week," Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We practiced yesterday, after we watched the film in the morning, and we gave them Sunday off and then we practiced this morning already. It was a very good practice and our guys are into it. Our scout teams are improving, which is very important for you to have a good football team.

"We were running the plays and defenses of (Mississippi State) and our guys look pretty focused knowing that, going into the SEC, we have eight opportunities to get to Atlanta, and the first one starts this weekend at 11:30 a.m."

On Monday, senior running back Kenny Irons was named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 183 yards and gaining 223 all-purpose yards Saturday against Washington State. He also scored on a 58-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.

Mississippi State lost to South Carolina last Thursday, 15-0, in the first game of the season for SEC teams.

The Tigers remained in the No. 4 slot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Tuesday, earning three first-place votes. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Tigers jumped up two spots to No. 4 with two first-place votes.

Auburn will practice again Wednesday and Thursday before traveling to Starkville on Friday.

Kickoff between the Tigers and Bulldogs is slated for 11:30 a.m. CT. The game will air live on Lincoln Financial Sports.

Quoting Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville

Opening Statement ...

"I thought that, after watching the film several times with our coaches, we made some improvement. We proved a point of what we wanted to do in two-a-days and to start out the season. We were very vanilla on offense. If you look at the film, we didn't do a whole lot. We had a little bit more in the game plan than what we ran in the game, but some things started working, and we just kept with it and we wanted to prove to our team that we could do some things that maybe we didn't do last year on offense.

"Defensively, we played a little bit different team than what we would normally play. We have got to get back to basics now because we are playing a team that's going to run the ball a lot more than what we saw last weekend. I like the intensity and I like the way our guys flew around the football.

"In the kicking game, we made a lot of improvements from last year, but, as you probably read on some things, we weren't real pleased with our punt return team. We will make some adjustments with that and try to get better there. There were no turnovers, and very few penalties in the first game; very pleased with that. If we can continue that, it will make us a much better team. I applaud the officials. I thought that was one of the best games that we've had officiated the other night, on both sides, and it was just a good game for us. It was a good opening night; we got a win behind us and a lot of positive things for a lot of young guys and now it's time to move on.

"We have had two very good practices this week. We practiced yesterday after we watched film in the morning. We gave them Sunday off and then we practiced this morning already. A very good practice and our guys are into it. Our scout teams are improving, which is very important for you to have a good football team. I don't see any drop-off of a sense of urgency or of our guys preparing, even though you go through a whole month and you play a game and sometimes you have a little bit of a letdown. Our guys understand, you know, that one is out of the way and we have got good leadership and we will go on.

"Mississippi State is a much improved team from the last couple of years; I take my hat off to head coach (Sylvester) Croom. He has stuck to his guns and kept running the same things on offense and defense. He did have some bad luck offensively, as we all dread and keep our fingers cross that it doesn't happen, happen to them last Thursday night, losing their quarterback. They have got some guys to fill that position, and they've got some guys that are much improved on the offensive line. They have a young running back. Now we really don't know what to expect out of a scrambling quarterback, other than he probably doesn't know as much of the offense, but they'll condense it down and probably do some thing that we haven't seen. So we will have to prepare for that.

"Defensively it will be one of, if not the best defense we will see in a while. They are very experienced, they have three seniors on the defensive line that really make a lot of plays, they have linebackers that can run, defensive backs that have played a lot before, and again they keep running the same things each year, and it's made them better, and so it is a much improved team.

"It will be a very good, opening game for us in the SEC. It will be their second game, and we are looking forward to the challenge. We have very few injuries; Steve Gandy is making a lot of progress as he goes through rehab. He was running out there on the practice field today, hopefully he will get back to practice soon, but it won't be this week. Other than that, everybody should be healthy and ready to go."

On the 11:30 am kickoff ...

"I think last week the humidity was very high. We all noticed that they did not have as much depth at Washington State as we did. We played probably around 25, maybe a little bit more than that, defensive payers, and they played a lot less than that. And you could tell in the second half it took its toll. You don't know how many people that any team is getting ready to play but I know that for us, and I can only speak for us, that we'll play a lot of players in every game, knowing that if you can keep, on defense, guys from playing over 30-35 plays, and you can play a lot better the entire game, you can keep your focus and concentration. You can play for four quarters, you will be a lot fresher as the game goes, and that's what we try to do. We try to play as many as we possibly can.

"With an 11:30 kickoff, it is going to be hot for both teams. They played at night last week and we played at night. I think practicing in the morning, like this morning was very hot, very humid, I think that could be beneficial because sometimes you would think it's easy for guys to get up and wake up and go play because that is what they practice for, but it's a different routine, getting up at seven in the morning, eating pre-game meal at 7:30 a.m., and it just takes you a while to get your clock running, so to speak. Hopefully, practicing in the mornings will help us play these early games."

On how the Tigers have won 17 of their last 18 SEC games ...

"Players. We have pretty good players and have had pretty good players that played hard. I think the biggest thing is just consistency at what we're doing. We don't do anything special. We have a very good coaching staff that for years believed in what they are doing and we work at it, and they do a good job of convincing our players that if you do it this way, you'll have a chance to win. It has been a good run for us. Hopefully we can keep it going."

On Mississippi State's quarterbacks ...

"Again, Coach Croom has done it the right way. He went in under some tough circumstances, but he was going to put an offense in, which is almost what we run, the west coast offense, with some different variations obviously. But you do the same thing over and over. No matter who they play at quarterback, they are going to continue to teach the same things, because you have 10 other guys you have to change things up for if you go in and change your entire offense for a quarterback. So they are running the ball, they are running a lot of formations like us.

"They do what we call a bunch set and get everyone in there tight, run sweeps, run play action, run a lot of crossing routes. You might change one or two things for the things that quarterback do better, such as this quarterback is a little bit more mobile, he can get outside and runs bootlegs, some sprint-out passes, try to get him out of the pocket, maybe run the ball a little bit more. But when it's all said and done, you are still going to do the things that you want the other players to understand. That's the reason you have backup quarterbacks and third-team quarterbacks. We did the same thing when we lost our quarterback our first year here. You just have to keep doing the same things and hope everyone gets better and the quarterback catches up.

"This is not a sprained ankle for their quarterback. They have to play with these two quarterbacks now for probably most of the rest of the season. You can't just go in and change everything. You have to try to bring them up to the level of the quarterback that left and keep playing hard and hope things work out for you."

On Auburn's offensive line ...

"We'll get better. I think the biggest thing is consistency. We obviously made some wrong line checks during the game and some guys might have made position steps the wrong way. You can always get better. And we had not had a lot of continuity as we all know going into this first game with all of those guys playing, because we had so many injuries.

>"We played, I think two or three other offensive lineman, and we need to continue to do that, but it's good to know that you've got four seniors up there that know that this is their last year. And they want to prove that they can play together. When you're an offensive lineman, it's like a fraternity within a football team. They never get any praise or credit but they do a lot of the hard work, and our guys proved a point Saturday that they are a big part of this football team and with a running back like we have and other guys behind Kenny (Irons), they know they have an opportunity to do something special, so they'll work harder., they'll get better each week. They'll see different challenges. "This will be a better defense that we'll see this week than we saw last week, and it will be a good challenge for them to try to do better than they did. But again we have to open it up a little bit more, diversify. You can't count on running as many as we did when you get in our league, so we've got to take advantage of some other guys on the field. But again those guys take pride in getting the running back over 100 yards every game. I promise you that's one of their goals."

[TigerOne 1,148]

CTT appears to be really on top and in charge of this program. Winning does that, but

there is something different about him this year, he is driven and the team is responding.

[quietfan 233]

But again those guys take pride in getting the running back over 100 yards every game. I promise you that's one of their goals.

Stat, what's our W-L record when a running back has a 100+ yd game? Also, anyone know the national record on consecutive 100 yd games? Heisman dreams, anyone?

[DKW 86 7,431]

The AU Network did a survey a year or so ago and found out that we are almost unbeatable with 150 yards of Rushing.

[Tygerman34 0]

CTT appears to be really on top and in charge of this program. Winning does that, but

there is something different about him this year, he is driven and the team is responding.

After one game, you tell this about him and the team?

[TigerOne 1,148]

CTT appears to be really on top and in charge of this program. Winning does that, but

there is something different about him this year, he is driven and the team is responding.

After one game, you tell this about him and the team?

no this from a year of reading, listening and talking to Auburn people, including CTT.

Am I right, I don't know, it is the impression I get however.. sorry.