AUBURN, Ala. — A foggy mist persisted but the rains cleared Sunday, allowing the Auburn football team to move back outside for a full-pad, two-hour workout during its second practice prior to the Outback Bowl.

"Guys got in a couple skirmishes," wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said. "It sounded like football."

The Tigers coaches used the practice to take an extended look at a group of inexperienced players usually stuck on the scout team. Taylor was particularly impressed by three true freshmen that are redshirting this season — running back Dontae Aycock, tight end Robert Cooper and quarterback Clint Moseley.

"I was really good to see those guys get a chance to compete," Taylor said. "Some of them jumped out."

Auburn hopes to work its freshmen and redshirt players extensively during the first week of pre-bowl practices before shifting its focus toward Northwestern.

"This is a very important time for those guys to get some extra work, learning how to play the game and do fundamental work," defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. "Today was a great day for those, I call them the 'Young Tigers,' the "Future Tigers." That's what's big about these next couple days. As we get closer and closer, you start limiting, but right now it's important to get some work with those guys."

Follow the blog on Twitter. And read some more notes ...

• Count Auburn's coaches as those scratching their heads about wide receiver Darvin Adams' omission from the All-SEC teams that were released last week. The sophomore finished with a team-high 48 catches, 855 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was fourth in the SEC in receptions and yards and tied for first in receiving touchdowns. "He’s done a great job for us, I’ll tell you that," offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. "He’s been very solid. He’s played hurt and banged up. A lot of times he’s double-teamed and he’s still found ways to get the ball."

• Ole Miss' Shay Hodge and Georgia's A.J. Green were first-team selections on the Associated Press All-SEC team. The second team consisted of Arkansas' Joe Adams, Florida's Riley Cooper and LSU's Brandon LaFell. Joe Adams, who missed part of the season because of a stroke, finished with 28 catches for 553 yards and seven touchdowns, but he had more name recognition than Darvin coming into the season. "You like to know that that's going to motivate him," Tayor said. "You talk to our strength coach and he says, 'Coach, (Darvin's) been lighting it up out there' as far as doing extra work. Whatever it takes to motivate him."

• The SEC barred Taylor from off-campus recruiting for four months as part of Auburn's penalties for secondary recruiting violations committed during the Big Cat Weekend last May, a restriction that was lifted Nov. 30. Taylor, considered one of the Tigers' top recruiters, contributed in different ways. "I was able to be on the phone," he said. "And let me tell you, if you don't have relationships with your recruits and they're not calling you, you're down by seven anyway."

• Taylor took his assistant head coach title to heart during his time off the road, filling in for head coach Gene Chizik when needed. "Given those duties when the head coach is not around and being able to do that gives you experience so when that opportunity comes, you're ready," said Taylor, who has aspirations of being a head coach someday. "Before I would have been on the road, so I wouldn't have had those kind of deals. So I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. And that was a really good experience for me."

• Auburn held an awards banquet for its players Saturday night. Running back Ben Tate was the big winner, voted by the coaches and players as the Team and Offensive MVP. Defensive lineman Antonio Coleman and linebacker Craig Stevens were co-Defensive MVPs. Place-kicker Wes Byrum won the Special Teams MVP. Coleman and quarterback Chris Todd were honored as team captains.

• Malzahn didn't go much into freshman quarterback Tyrik Rollison's suspension, saying it won't drop him too far behind in terms of the race to be next year's starter. "He got a lot of reps during the year so I wouldn’t say much," Malzahn said.

• I'll be writing about this more extensively later, but Malzahn said he got an extra look today at Moseley and Barrett Trotter, two players who have been limited in reps all season. "Those two guys will get quite a few reps before we leave for the bowl site," Malzahn said. "Both of them did a good job tonight. They’re both eager. They’re hard workers, they pay attention to detail and they want to be good so it was fun to coach those guys tonight."

• Malzahn on Trotter: "We got a chance to work with him in the spring. He’s a competitor. He throws a real tight ball. The ball comes out of his hand really well. He’s a decent runner too and has a lot of leadership qualities."

• Malzahn on Moseley: "He’s more confident. He did a great job on the scout team. He watched film and tried to really simulate the other team’s quarterback. A lot of scout team quarterbacks wouldn’t do that. Coach (Ted) Roof was really bragging on him from week to week. He’s a big strong kid and can throw it a long way."

• Rocker said freshman defensive end Nosa Eguae is one guy he's taking a longer look at this December. Eguae injured his foot before the season and ended up redshirting, but he figured to get a decent amount of playing time before the injury. "Once he got injured, we had to get him well," Rocker said. "Our goal was to make sure he was completely well. We did not want to go into a situation where he re-injures himself: Let's get him well because we think he has a bright future. We feel good about it and he did some good work today, and we'll just keep chipping away."

• Rocker, who spoke to the media for the first time in a couple months, said he thought shutting down Alabama's running game and future Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram was a big confidence booster for the line. "I think those guys built a sense of confidence that, 'We can do something,'" he said. "We're not far away, we just got to keep adding a few couple more pieces to the puzzle and build some confidence. No doubt, they gained confidence as the year went on. But you have to understand, in our league I would say in September everybody throws the ball and November every runs the ball. We got better and better in the latter part against the run."

• Roof gave a quick scouting report of Northwestern's offense: "Very, very versatile. They spread the entire width of the field. If they stay true to tendency, one-third of the game is going to be played with no backs in the backfield. They spread you out and see what you're in and either run it or throw it depending on what you do. They're very efficient. The quarterbacks do a good job of staying alive, moving around in the pocket and making big plays."

• Bart Eddins is looking at this next month as a chance to make a push for a starting job next year. "I do see it as a chance," he said. "I was talking to my dad about it the other day. He just kind of helps me keep everything in perspective saying, 'Right now, you're working toward next year.' So even in these bowl things even when I want to joke around and those kinds of things, I have to take a kind of serious note because a lot of those other guys can joke around but I can't. I've got to do what I can. I've got to prove what I can, that I can come in and be a positive impact on this offense and not be someone that brings it down or just makes it a mediocre offense because we've got an excellent offense."

• Eddins said he got some advice from right tackle Andrew McCain, who went through a similar experience of having to wait several years for his turn before getting an opportunity at consistent playing time. "I will be ready," Eddins said. "You can bank on that."

• Here's another thing I plan to write about in the next few days while there isn't any access to players (they're finishing up finals). Coleman told us the injury that held him back so much during the year was a partially torn tendon in his wrist. It wasn't torn enough to warrant surgery, but he said the blood flow to the wrist is minimal, making for a slow recovery. "I told the guys: 'When I get this cast off, I'm going to show you guys,'" Coleman said. "When I got the cast off, it was a huge relief." Coleman finished the season with 15.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks, tops in the SEC in both categories.

• Coleman thinks his decision to come back for his senior season was a good one. "I know I got out there, laid it on the line and I had fun," he said. "I enjoyed every minute of it. This was the best year I've had since I've been here. It was the greatest year I've had here at Auburn -- being around a coaching staff that's family-oriented."