Just finished up early interviews after the ninth practice of the spring. Here are a few quick notes:
- The quarterbacks continue to rotate during practice. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn didn't say exactly how they were splitting reps but said he'll continue to evaluate the quarterbacks in the upcoming days. There was no indication that that decision would be coming soon. "We want to make sure we get the right guy," Malzahn said.
- Malzahn had good things to say about RB Mario Fannin, who has gotten a lot of reps of late with the first team. Sounds like he's emerging as the No. 1 guy, but again, no decisions have been made. "We'd like him to do well," Malzahn said.
- The team spent half the time doing drills and the other half in scrimmage situations. Auburn is off on Friday, so I can imagine it wanted to maximize what it did today.
- TE Philip Lutzenkirchen missed some practices earlier this spring after taking a hard hit on his head. He's since returned and has been working both as a tight end with his hand on the ground and in a fullback/H-back role in space. He said the latter feels more natural, because that's what he did in high school, but he's making progress in a more traditional tight end role.
- WR DeAngelo Benton caught a touchdown pass in the scrimmage portion of practice today. LB Craig Stevens couldn't remember who threw it (or maybe he just didn't want to tell us).
- We had a nice conversation with Ikeem Means, who has drawn great praise from all the coaches. He turned down scholarship offers from smaller schools like Alabama State, Alabama A&M and Tuskegee to pay his own way at Auburn, which was no small decision. He comes from a single-mom family and has had to take out loans to pay his way through school. I think it's safe to say he's properly motivated for doing well enough to get on scholarship here.
- Don't think Means' success hasn't been lost on coaches, who love to see that kind of success story. "At some places walk-ons think there are too many roadblocks to get to where they need to be," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said, "but I think he provides hope for a lot of kids."
Just finished up early interviews after the ninth practice of the spring. Here are a few quick notes:
1 comment:
Great stuff there Andy, thats the most info on practice that I have seen anywhere. You must be quite the digger to get all that info.
Good to hear Benton is doing well and making plays. He would be a great third option at receiver. Though I think he'll have to wait till T-zac leaves as he'll fit that spot a bit better than the slot we need this year.
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