Quarterback Cam Newton put up big numbers, wide receiver Kodi Burns caught two touchdown passes and running back Michael Dyer got his biggest look this August.By most accounts, it was a highly successful night for the offense in Auburn’s third scrimmage, unless, of course, the opinion is coming from the man overseeing the group.
“In my mind right now I’m thinking of the things we didn’t do very good,” Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “And we’re still not there yet. Penalty-wise we’re not there yet. Execution-wise we’re not there. And we’ve got two weeks to fix it.”
Count Malzahn in the minority.
“They jumped out on us,” linebacker Craig Stevens said. “We tried to find a way to respond but we just couldn’t get it done.
“They kind of had a little pace going, hitting a couple plays, screens to the sidelines and getting us gassed. Then they ran it down the middle. We just weren’t focused.”
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We'll break down the rest bullet point style:
- Newton, the No. 1 quarterback, threw three touchdowns passes, two to Burns and one to running back Mario Fannin on a screen play. He also completed a good number of his passes. “I would say he was better than the last scrimmage,” Malzahn said. "There are still a lot of things that we have to correct in the next two weeks. We'll go hard to do that. Like I said, the more that I'm with him, the more I learn about him, and he's starting to understand the expectations of what we need out of our quarterback position. Each scrimmage I see a little bit more understanding, so we'll take it a day at a time and get him ready. "
- Newton thought he did well: “It was just being consistent and getting into a rhythm early. That’s very important in playing quarterback, especially with the type of offense that we run with the bubbles, the slants, the hitches, everything. For me to get very comfortable and settled at my position, that made everything go very smoothly.”
- Burns, a senior who switched to receiver last August, was Newton's favorite target Tuesday. “I’m a full-blown wide receiver now,” he said. “I’ve come into my role. I’ve had a whole spring and whole summer to work. So I feel pretty natural out there.” Burns also stood out on the punt and kick return units as a blocker. “He’s trying to do everything to help us,” head coach Gene Chizik said.
- Dyer, a highly-touted freshman, got 10-15 carries and broke off a couple of long runs, getting his most work in a scrimmage this year. “He broke through the middle and used his speed to get to the second level,” Fannin said. “That pretty much gave our offense some momentum. That’s what we needed from our running game.”
- There were some offensive drawbacks. The team had four penalties and Fannin lost a fumble, which was caused by linebacker Daren Bates.
- Fannin on the fumble, which hasn't been a problem for him this offseason: "I had it in my left arm and it slipped off my brace when I cut back across the field. It slipped off my brace. I didn't get hit. I had to do some up-downs for that one, but it was well worth it. You've got to have good ball protection."
- Interestingly, both Chizik and Malzahn expressed a desire to see their veteran offensive line control the line of scrimmage more. “We saw some signs of life,” Chizik said. “I don’t think we’re there.”
- Malzahn's comment was a little more stinging: “You have four of them back. You would think that would be a plus. But at the same time, you have to go out there and get it done.”
- As for the defense, there remains plenty of room for improvement. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof thought his group missed too many tackles, had poor pursuit angles and gave up too many big plays. “The good news is they’re all correctable,” he said. “And we’ll get that corrected.”
- Roof on the defense: "Across the board, we've got to get better in a hurry. In a hurry."
- Stevens summed up the defense's night well: "You never want to end up on the losing side of a scrimmage. He just wanted us to find a way to overcome adversity when it hits. The season is not going to be all peaches and cream. When adversity hits, we have to find a way to pick up the defense and make plays."
- Zac Etheridge (neck) did not participate, the third time this year the safety sat out of live action at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It's been some cause for concern, since the season is only 17 days away from starting. Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen is not concerned, however. “He’s been throwing his body in there in practice and what-not,” Thigpen said. “I saw him take on a 300-pound guard yesterday, and he went in and didn’t have any reservations about hitting it. So no, I don’t have any reservations. He’s full tilt and he hits people full speed. The scrimmages I’m not worried about. He’s one of those guys who plays the game like a golfer. He plays the game in his head quite a bit.”
- Stevens made it seem like life without Etheridge wouldn't completely blindside the team. "We can always use Zac out there, just from a leadership standpoint. You’ve just got to find a way to move along like last season. You never know what’s going to happen, what a season is going to bring.”
- It was Auburn’s third scrimmage in six days. “It’s been pretty taxing,” Chizik said. “That’s by design.” The Tigers have Wednesday off, because it's the first day of classes.
- Chizik awarded scholarships to three walk-ons — deep snapper Josh Harris, linebacker Wade Christopher and defensive back Woody Parramore. “It was a great thing to see and they earned it,” Chizik said.
- Harris, a junior from Carrollton, Ga., won the long snapping job for field goals, point after attempts and punts last year, duties he’ll have again this season. Christopher, a junior from Vestavia Hills, Ala., made two tackles in six games last year and made the SEC academic honor roll. Parramore, a senior from Montgomery, Ala., made six tackles last year against Louisiana Tech and Furman.
- Chizik and Malzahn said they should have enough scrimmage film to start making decisions at positions up for grabs, like backup quarterback and right tackle. "We’re going to sit down and discuss every position," Chizik said. "I don't know if tomorrow there's a deadline. we're going to just sit down and evaluate where we're at."
5 comments:
AB, why does it seem that there is a perception that Mario is a fumbler?
Well, he fumbled some early in his career. And he had some special teams problems last year.
But it seems like the problem had gone away in the spring and first part of August. Perhaps this was an isolated incident.
I certainly hope so. And our defense this season really needs to start taking the ball away. We've got to get our turnover margin back into strongly positive territory.
Thouroughly thorough, but not redundant. Thanks, AB!
btw, is McCalebb still on the team? Haven't heard him mentioned hardly at all, other than as a kick returner.
He is. I think the coaches are trying to get an idea of whether Dyer can help them a lot this year, though. They know what McCalebb can do, and he'll definitely be a part of the offense.
Picked up a CLE in Auburn last week while in Landscape School at AU. Good coverage. What percent UGA fans do you think buy the CLE?
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