AUBURN, Ala. — Assistant coach Trooper Taylor, who oversees Auburn’s punt return unit, deferred any questions relating to that group to head coach Gene Chizik.

“He’s taken over that,” Taylor said. “As a matter of fact, when that last ball hit the ground (against Furman last week), I saw him coming and I thought I’d go the other way.”

Chizik provided few answers Wednesday about the Tigers’ struggling punt return unit, which ranks 114th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with a 3.8-yard average. He said Auburn will likely decide on a returner by the end of Thursday’s practice.

The Tigers have sought a returner all year. The latest to try, redshirt freshman Philip Pierre-Louis, had two returns for negative yards last week against Furman before muffing a catch inside the Tigers’ 5-yard line. The Paladins recovered and scored a touchdown.

It was Auburn’s sixth fumble/muff this season. Three have led to turnovers.

“It’s an embarrassment to our football team right now,” Taylor said.

Pierre-Louis, Anthony Gulley, Demond Washington and Mario Fannin have all returned punts this year. Quindarius Carr was back there briefly, although he didn’t get a chance to catch the ball.

“I don’t know exactly what direction we’re going to go at this point, but we’ve worked other options,” Chizik said,

“That position, as we’ve experienced this year, is so mental. It’s almost like a baseball batter. ... We’ve obviously, to use that analogy, been in a slump.”

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• Auburn has worked Gulley, a do-all freshman, on defense most of the week at practice to try to shore up its situation at cornerback, a group made thinner with sophomore D’Antoine Hood battling the flu this week. But Gulley will dabble on the offense as well. “He’s obviously an offensive player at heart,” Chizik said. “But again, with our situation (at safety) ... we really have to do that. So he’s been able to get a little bit of the corner concepts.”

• Gulley will serve as a speed sweep option on offense with running back Onterio McCalebb (ankle) still day-to-day with an ankle injury and receiver. Travante Stallworth (knee) out, possibly for the season. Gulley, a wide receiver by trade, scored on touchdown runs of 13 and 50 yards last week as a running back, despite never having played there at the college level. “He’s going to be in that (speed sweep) role,” Chizik said. “How much we use him in that, we’ll see, but he’s definitely able to do it.”

• Stallworth sounds like he'll probably be out for the rest of the season with that knee injury, although Chizik is reticent to come out and say it. "He's doing great," Chizik said. "He's disappointed, as we all are, but he also understands that those things happen. He'll get by and he'll get through the whole injury situation. But mentally right now, I think he's as good as you can expect the guy to be at this point. I think that's where he's at."

• Wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said junior Tim Hawthorne will have an increased role Saturday as a slot receiver. Hawthorne, who entered the summer as a projected No. 1 receiver, hasn’t made much of an impact since breaking his foot in July. He returned after missing only two games but watched as Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery thrived as starters. He caught his first pass last week against Furman for three yards. “The thing about Tim that he’s done is he’s fought through some wraths, mostly mine, with what he had to do on that football field,” Taylor said. “Especially once you’ve been injured, you have to be able to mentally come back from that, as well as physically. He’s made it back. He’s really done a good job.” Hawthorne would split time with tight end Tommy Trott as Auburn’s third receiver.

• Taylor, like offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, has seen his name pop up as a candidate for the Memphis job. (And now the Western Kentucky job, along with a host of other names according to this Yahoo! report.) “It’s flattering. That’s about it,” Taylor said. “To be real honest — and I’ve got questions about that and e-mails and things — the big deal for me is I’m focused on doing what we’re doing right now. There’s always a time and a place for that. My goals are to be a head coach one day, but right now my goal is to help this team become a championship-caliber football team.”

• Chizik commented on the rivalry with Georgia: "Obviously it's a league rivalry, so there's the importance of that — it's another big-time league game. Just over the years I think as history would have it, because there's so many players from the state of Georgia on Auburn's team — you go back years and years — I think that's what's made it such a good rivalry. Our guys, they get that. They know that. We've got quite a few Georgia kids on our roster now and, for recruiting, I think it's really important. All the Georgia recruits that we're recruiting right now I'm sure are going to have their eyes on this game. I don't know that it necessarily determines who gets them, but I think the importance of the game is there and we realize that."

• Georgia might use freshman cornerback Branden Smith as a Wildcat quarterback this week, something Chizik said the team has worked on this week. "What we've seen is that's kind of the trend that develops with everybody," he said. "Tennessee did it with one of their young guys. Georgia did it with Branden. It's something that we certainly prepare for because it's kind of where everybody seems to be going — dabbling with it here and there. He's extremely fast and extremely gifted. He poses some problems for you there in that position. We've definitely worked it and will continue to work it."

• Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen gave high marks to Washington. "He's a big picture guy," Thigpen said. "And I do think the fact that he's played a lot of corner, he understands the fits on everybody else as well. For him, the corner position, you don't have to play in the run-fit. For him now, he's in some fronts that we're in he's like a linebacker. That's a different world for him. But he doesn't shy away from the contact at all and we'll put him in the position to make plays. And he will."

• Washington is not big. But Thigpen said that doesn't stop him from playing that way. "Be careful because he's not a guy that shies away from contact and he runs better than your tight end," Thigpen said. "He's a guy who can cover anybody you put out there on him. You can crack and do all the things that you're going to try to do. But he's not a guy that you can say 'This is the weak link on the football field.' He is not that. He's just a guy that hasn't had the experience yet at that position but he picks on a lot of things very quickly."

• With Hood sick and the cornerbacks in short supply, Thigpen said Auburn might not play much nickel this week.

• Thigpen on safety Daren Bates, whose role has increased a ton with Zac Etheridge out for the season. "Zac Etheridge was Daren's hero and he still is," Thigpen said. "That's the one thing he always relied on. If he had any trouble on the football field, he just looked over there at Zac and Zac would tell him what to do. It's now Demond looking over at Bates and asking him what to do and it's funny Bates is getting an older guy lined up. He's taken a lot of pride in it. He calls Zac on a regular basis and asks him a lot of different questions. He's been in the film room early in the morning time and he stays in evenings to make sure he can get everybody lined up on the field. That's the one thing ole Zac did. He was our quarterback out there. He could get us all lined up and if something happened, he could get it fixed on the football field before it got back to the sidelines. Bates ain't there yet at the position but he at least can get himself lined up and he can get Demond lined up if we're running any kind of stunts."

• Trooper said that freshman DeAngelo Benton getting his first catch Saturday, plus four more for a total of 88 yards was huge from a confidence standpoint. "DeAngelo is totally different now," Taylor said. "I mean, guys it's like he dropped 100 pounds off his back or something because he is totally different. Just the smile on his face. He was frustrated. I told him the worst compliment we could have is potential. That means you haven't done it yet. If you want to make him mad, say 'D-Lo, you've got a lot of potential' and watch his face. Do it from a couple feet away. I learned that myself. He has a lot of pride. I told you guys before, he's what you're looking for. He will rewrite the books before we leave here. I've been around some special ones and he's got IT."

• Benton, by the way, is tied with fellow freshman Emory Blake for the third-most receptions this year by a wide receiver. Both have six catches.

• Taylor seems pretty high on Darvin Adams, aka "Smooth." So is his daughter, Starr. "My daughter, every game on the (Tiger) Walk she's got to find him. She gets on my nerves about Darvin. She even wrote a rap song about Darvin. I said, 'How about rapping on some of that math homework?' She loves 'Smooth.' He is a great kid. He's what you're looking for. When you go out and recruit, you want to find a kid that loves football. He's not the most talented but he loves to play the game. It was just good timing that we matched up at the same time being here. It's good fortune for him."