Ben Tate might not be the fastest running back on the Auburn roster, an honor that goes to speedy Hargrave Military Academy transfer Onterio McCalebb, but he’s tired of being pigeonholed as the team’s power back.

“Some people always tell me when I run, I never look fast,” Tate said. “I’m like, ‘Really? Well race me.’”

The 5-foot-11, 217-pound Tate ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash when the team was timed before Auburn’s pro day. That’s just as fast as tailback Mario Fannin, who is largely considered by outsiders to be the speedier of the two.

Tate, who puts himself among the fastest players on the team along with defensive backs Walt McFadden, Neiko Thorpe and Harry Adams, thinks it’s his longer stride that makes him look slow.

“Most of the guys on our team think I’m fast,” Tate said. “But everybody else, they be like, ‘I don’t know.’”

Tate ran for 664 rushing yards last season, a disappointing dropoff after he put up 903 yards and eight touchdowns in 2007. So far, he’s drawn strong praise. Running backs coach Curtis Luper thinks he can be a 1,000-yard back. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn likes what he’s seen in the early going.

“He has that physical edge,” Malzahn said, “that mentality that we’re looking for.”

While Tate is quick to point out his speed, he still won’t go up in any direct competition against McCalebb, who was clocked at 4.3 seconds in the 40.

Some other quotes and notes ...

• Malzahn said the team should have the majority of its base offense installed by the end of next week.

• Malzahn, on the offense so far: "We’ve thrown a lot at them. We’re not only throwing a lot at them, we’re throwing a pace at them in that they have to recover. It usually takes a couple of weeks where they can actually recover, and mentally being able to recover for the next play. We’re putting a lot of stress on them. We’re straining them right now. We’ll keep after them."

• Malzahn singled out wide receiver Tim Hawthorne having made a couple of good catches Sunday.

• Tate, on putting last season behind him: "January passed and I was like, 'It's over with. I've got to work harder than I did before.'"

• Fannin was wearing a protective walking boot Sunday. He turned an ankle in practice Saturday and hopes to be back on the field later this week.

• Defensive coordinator Ted Roof singled out junior outside linebacker Craig Stevens for the second straight day. “Funny how it keeps happening, huh?” Roof said. “He’s very coachable. He’s a salty veteran.”

• Add guard Byron Isom to the bulked-up offensive lineman club. The junior is up to 300 pounds, a 15-pound increase from last year. He’d like to be at 305 for the season.

• We got to talk to junior college transfer Eltoro Freeman for the first time today. Very entertaining interview. He talked to us about the non-contact drills, which, if you saw the size of Freeman's biceps, you'd understand why he doesn't like them. "Those backs, they try to shake you and keep running," he said. "When they're supposed to be down, they keep running like they scored a 100-yard touchdown or whatever. But then when you get in full pads, you get a chance to stop that."

• I plan to do a feature on Da Bull at some point, but he said he never wavered on Auburn, even during its down period last year. "When I signed with Auburn University in 2007, I didn't sign with no coaches. (Tommy) Tuberville wasn't on my scholarship, coach (James) Willis wasn't on my scholarship. Auburn University was on my scholarship. So when I didn't qualify, Auburn, they didn't drop me, they still kept in contact, they still kept on encouraging me. When Auburn had a down season, I sat back and thought about that, they were with me when I was down, so I decided to stick with them when they were down. Plus, it's a great place. I wouldn't want to be nowhere else."

• Another good tidbit on Freeman: he wears No. 21 to honor his his football-playing first cousin, Onterio Harrell, a high school teammate of Terrell Owens. Harrell died of cancer at age 24. "Everywhere I go I've been having it," Freeman said. "So that's been a blessing for me."

• Lots of great stuff from McCalebb, which I'm going to turn into a feature for Wednesday's paper. Short version: this kid has persevered through a pretty tough upbringing in Fort Meade, Fla., to get to where he's at, going through a military prep school in Virginia before getting to Auburn. Very impressive. I hope the story can do it justice.