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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A few observations from Auburn's first practice

We only had a 30-minute viewing period for today's practice (yay, stretching!), but we were able to make a few observations.
  • Auburn has snazzy new Under Armour uniforms, with piping along the shoulders. I doubt this will affect anything on the actual jerseys, but it's something new for the practice field.
  • The Tigers did a few ball disruption drills early in the practice. The cornerbacks practiced stripping the ball away and recovering it. The linebackers did a drill where they ran in place underneath a low tarp, then pounced on a loose ball after a few seconds. Seems like this might be a point of emphasis this August.
  • Only the veterans were on the main practice fields, including the junior college players and freshmen who enrolled last January. The newcomers worked on conditioning drills in the John H. Watson Fieldhouse during the open portion of practice.
  • Sure enough, all the major players seems to be accounted for. Didn't notice any starters not at practice.
  • Lee Ziemba looks big. Or maybe his practice shirt is too small. It was up past his navel like he was Brian Bosworth or something. Nice look.
  • Funny exchange between Cam Newton and wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor. During warmups, many players carry a football, which coaches try to knock away. Taylor unsuccessfully made an attempt at Newton's handle, prompting Newton to say, "I ain't fumbled since '04." Trooper responded, "You ain't had the ball since '04."
  • As the quarterbacks started a new drill, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said, "Cam, every time jump in there first, OK?" It seems like Newton hasn't done anything to lose his No. 1 status since last spring.
I took some video, which I hope to get to as soon as I pound out my stories for the newspaper. (East Coast deadline, represent.) I'll be back with more a little later.

10 comments:

AUBigCat said...

Great job as usual AB!! I like the sleek new look of the site too. Im looking forward to your observations and insights throught the season.

Anonymous said...

Ditto what AUBig Cat said-- Bitter's the best!

Acid Reign said...

.....What a resource! Fun reading. My hometown Auburn beat writer here in Birmingham hasn't had a post since July 20th.

The Edge said...

Is there any chance of new-look jerseys?

AUsome04 said...

I agree. I haven't read that Taylor joke anywhere else. That's some great work AB.

WDR said...

You know we wanted a pic of Ziemba in that Boz tee. Everybody could always use a good laugh

Andy Bitter said...

It wasn't quite like a Box tee, which was just an oversized shirt that was cutoff very high.

This was more of just a very tight practice jersey that didn't cover all of his stomach. Still, it was funny to see.

Sadly, no photo. Maybe somebody else got a shot, though.

LZTiger said...

Andy, I really cannot stand the black socks AU has been wearing since 2003 Cap One Bowl vs. Penn State. Do you know if they will be wearing white socks this season? Thanks.

Andy Bitter said...

Not sure if they'll go with white socks at home. They wore white socks and shoes for the Outback Bowl with their blue uniforms, but I think that might have been a one-time deal.

Found some video of Ziemba's short jersey on the HABOTN. It's at the tail end of Jay G's practice video.

aKaBeasTTT said...

Great coverage man keep it up!