• Jordan-Hare Stadium
• Indoor Facility
• Gameday
• Notes
• Depth
• Guide
• Camps
• Clinic
• Standings
• Archives

April 10, 2010

AUBURN - The Auburn football team held its second scrimmage of spring practice Saturday morning, running approximately 80 plays inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers also spent half an hour of practice concentrating on position drills and special teams, and did more special teams work during halftime of the scrimmage.

Head coach Gene Chizik said that the Tigers' second scrimmage provided a good opportunity for the team to work on a variety of different situations.

"Today was a day where I feel that we went through a lot of different scenarios that helped us," said Chizik. "We had explosive plays on both sides of the ball, meaning some turnovers and some big plays both in the running game and in the passing game. We covered a lot of different situations out there today and it was good for our football team. Overall, we accomplished what we needed to get on film to evaluate guys better this weekend."

While Chizik praised the quarterbacks for their high completion percentage, he was particular pleased with the effort made by the receivers after catching the ball.

"The thing that I liked is our yards after catch," said Chizik. "Wide receivers were really making some guys miss. The defense was tracking the ball hard and obviously offensively you want to make guys miss in space, and some of that went on today. That's good to see because yards after catch are going to be huge."

Chizik also noted that the running game had success at times but was also stopped by the Tiger defense a number of times.

"Today our backs did a nice job hitting some seams," said Chizik. "My suspicion is that it was probably 50-50 today. Our defensive line did a really nice job at times of controlling the line of scrimmage, and there were other times when backs hit some creases and gained some yards."

Auburn will take Sunday off before returning to the practice fields on Monday morning at 9 a.m. The closed practice will be held on the Athletic Complex fields.

All tickets are general admission and can be purchased prior to game day at the Auburn Ticket Office located in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., and on game day beginning at 8 a.m.

Tickets are also now available at Anders Bookstore, Big Blue Bookstore, J&M Bookstore (both locations), Tiger Rags and the University Bookstore.

A free post-game autograph session with Coach Gene Chizik, the Auburn coaching staff and players will be held on Pat Dye Field inside Jordan-Hare Stadium following the game.

AUBURN PLAYER QUOTES

Emory Blake, WR
On his performance today...
"I think I did well. I made plays and blocked well on the perimeter."

On his expectations for A-Day...
"I hope to make some big plays and help my offense win the A-Day game."

On how the offense has fared this spring...
"I think we have done well. We just have to concentrate on not turning the ball over, and focus on the little things and we will be fine."

Mario Fannin, RB
On his performance today...
"I think I did well. In the offense as the whole we made good blocks and the quarterbacks did a great job throwing the ball down field."

On his expectations for A-Day...
"I feel like as an offense we will get better this week and be prepared for Saturday."

On how the offense has fared this spring...
"We have come a long way from last year, but we still have a long way to go. We are still trying to perfect our offense. We just have to make sure we stay focused on the task at hand."

Cameron Newton, QB
On his performance today...
"I did alright. There are some good things I did that I have to make better, and there are some bad things that I have to go in and watch film and get better on them as well."

On his expectations for A-Day...
"My expectation are to just go out there and have fun - seeing the War Eagle Nation and just having a good time."

On how the offense has fared this spring...
"We did alright. It is the day-to-day things to strive for to execute Coach Malzahn's offense."

Antoine Carter, DE
On spring ball...
"We made big strides toward becoming great. This is the time of year where guys are beat up and tired. We are trying to get the guys to keep going. This isn't the time to slow down. It's time to crank it up and keep going."

On the defensive line's performance...
"I always grade the line an `A' for effort. That's all that coach is looking for right now - effort. Everyone is giving good effort. The freshmen are stepping up."

Craig Stevens, LB
On improvements from first scrimmage...
"We have come a long way from the first scrimmage. A lot of guys still weren't in good football shape. At practice you will run four plays and get out. Then you come to a scrimmage and once a 12-play drive gets going, a lot of guys' legs will come out from under them. Today, everyone found that extra energy. In that aspect, we are getting better week-by-week."

On where the team is compared to this time last season...
"The offense is being very productive right now. The defense is getting better. By the time the season gets here, we will be hitting on all cylinders. It's coming on a lot faster. We are light years ahead of where we at this time last year. A lot of the guys are picking up on things a lot easier. I feel like that's going to show later down the road."

On the Auburn linebacker corps...
"We are looking real good. Some of the guys are banged up a little but we are playing through it. Once we get the young guys in and get them right, we will be set."

Demond Washington, DB
On spring ball...
"Everybody knows what job they have to do. This is the time of year you want to go out an impress the coaches - make big plays. The defense did that today. "

More Auburn Football Headlines

More Auburn Headlines

SEC Headlines