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March 16, 2006

AUBURN - The Auburn football team went through a spirited 80-play scripted scrimmage Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, just two days before the Tigers are set to participate in their annual spring game, A-Day.

Senior running back Tre Smith led Auburn with two receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown while junior quarterback Brandon Cox completed 7 of 15 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. The Trussville, Ala., native also ran for a 9-yard score late in the scrimmage.

Cox and Smith connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass that began the scrimmage's scoring.

Brad Lester paced the Tigers' backfield with 48 yards on 10 carries, while Kenny Irons ran the ball eight times for 33 yards. Both Lester and Carl Stewart ran for 1-yard touchdowns.

"It was pretty physical," Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We ran the ball a lot more than we did the last scrimmage. The defense had the upper hand early, and the offense rebounded.

"Tre Smith did real well. Our offensive line, we still have room for improvement. Defensively, we've still got some guys head's spinning, but it was a good day. This was a good scrimmage."

Linebacker Tray Blackmon led Auburn defensively, compiling eight tackles. Walter McFadden and Tez Doolittle, meanwhile, both had six tackles for the Tigers, who finished with four sacks and nine tackles for loss. Patrick Trahan had two sacks and recovered a fumble, and Alonzo Horton had two tackles for loss.

Kevin Sears picked off a pass and ran it back for a 79-yard touchdown while Jerraud Powers and Lorenzo Ferguson each had an interception. Tristan Davis was credited with a pass deflection.

The Tigers were perfect on special teams with John Vaughn, Matt Clark and Tyler DiPace each connecting on four field goals from distances of 44, 43, 37 and 52 yards, respectively.

The Tigers will participate in their 14th practice of the spring Friday with a 45-minute walk through that begins at 4:15 p.m. CT., at the practice fields behind the Athletic Complex. Auburn's annual spring football game, A-Day, will be held March 18 at 1 p.m. (CT) at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

QB Brandon Cox

On the scrimmage...
"I thought it went well. We had another strong start and slowed down a little as the scrimmage progressed. We finished strong, though. We're still making a lot of little mistakes. This was our 13th practice and we have come a long way. We have two more practices left and we need to make progress in both.""

RB Tre Smith

On the progression of the offense...
"I think we have gotten a lot better through the spring. As a group, we have made improvements every day. For the running backs, I thought this was our best scrimmage since I have been here. We all did a good job of handling our assignments."

DB Lorenzo Ferguson

On the defense's performance in the scrimmage...
"I thought we came out and played well. We still have a few of the little things we need to get right. We need to focus more on tackling and not as much on putting big hits on people."

LB Tray Blackmon

On the scrimmage...
"I think today was a better day for the defense. We ran around well out there and executed the plays. I made a couple of tackles. There are some things that we need to work on, but I felt like we got better today."

DE Quentin Groves

On the scrimmage...
"We had some ups and downs out there. The defense started a little sluggish. We need to get in the mindset of starting fast. We picked it up in the middle of the scrimmage. We were a little lackadaisical in the red zone. The offense hurt us on the toss play. We've got to learn to stay at home and not over-pursue."

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