Gene Chizik has come and gone. Here's what he said:
- "We've got our work cut out for us. Just a great challenge again on the road. We'll start again today. We'll start getting better at some things."
- On Jeremiah Masoli: "A lot of the plays you see him as extremely effective is breaking the pocket and getting out in space. He does a lot of things extremely well. He brings a whole other dimension to their offense that makes it challenging to stop."
- Said a lot of the stuff Masoli does is by design, but he can improvise as well. "His athletic ability is the reason he can do those things."
- Chizik on how fast things have turned around: "Haven't really stepped back to think about it, to be honest with you. You can be happy with the result, but you shouldn't at all be satisfied with where we're at."
- On maturity helping being able to cope with being No. 1: "I think it helps. Young guys these days, they hear it. They see it. There's really no way of getting away from it."
- On if opponents raise their game: "I don't think there's any question. We fully expect to get everybody's best shot. ... That's what makes it fun."
- On Mario Fannin: "We're right there with him. We need Mario Fannin to win. I can turn on the film and show you a lot of guys who made mistakes throughout games that no one did notice that were huge. We've all made mistakes."
- Said team is prepared to put another punt returner back there if it needs to.
- On Zac Etheridge: "He's blessed, man. Just the fact that he's sitting here playing in this game is amazing."
- Thinks the offensive line has continued to improve since he called them out before the Clemson game. "When you challenge our guys, as a coach you look for guys to respond. If they don't respond, you have issues."
- "This is going to be a special teams, field position deal Saturday. I really believe that."
- Said he challenged RB Eric Smith to step up his game a couple weeks ago and has seen a step forward. Said he wasn't as physical as he should be and wasn't playing up to his potential. Chizik likes what he adds, though. "I like him because he does dirty work."
- "I enjoy every day I come here. Today's not different from a month ago. I'm just blessed every day to get up and come to work here."
- On breaking into the top 2 in the BCS rankings after not being able to do that in 2004: "Haven't really thought about it."
- On preparing for SEC running games: "It's what you get in the league. It's tough every week."
- On Cam Newton: "I think everybody has to be mindful that he's been in this offense for eight games." Thinks he's had a steady progression. "I think he's made significant strides on being the true leader of the offense. Kind of like his game has evolved, week-by-week he's gotten better. Leadership is an action. It's not a position. I think by his actions, his leadership with this team is out there for everybody to see. He does it by action because of his effort and competitiveness."
Some bonus Newton quotes:
- On his website: "Somebody took some thought into it. I felt good because they did a better job than I could have done. It's bigger than I thought it would be."
- "Every morning I try to pinch myself because I'm in a dream right now."
- Apparently Newton and his team at Blinn JC had to paint the stadium before the spring when he was there. "Times like that keep me humble now."
- "Now I can't even got anywhere without people recognizing me. It's a great feeling, honestly. I can remember going on campus and people weren't looking at me like they're looking at me now."
- Said the Auburn campus is unique in how people treat him.
- "I don't consider myself fast. I just don't want to get caught."
- Said Gus Malzahn is full of motivational stuff like: Great teams embrace the grind. "He's a wise guy and just being around him is a wise person."
- On being No. 1: "It doesn't matter after Week 8 to be No. 1. There's only one week that matters, and that's at the end of the year."
- Said there are things he needs to improve on. Reads, specifically. "There's a lot of things that I get away with that a lot of people don't really see. I'm not satisfied with my performance and I don't think I'll have that game where I'm satisfied."
- On Masoli: "He's an elusive guy. He's a guy that's fun to watch, also. Just what he can do, it's a scare for defenders just looking out on the field."
- On not having a break so far: "Bye week or no bye week: we signed up to play in the SEC. Week-in and week-out, you put your best foot forward."
- On the No. 1 team losing the last three weeks: "If we do our job, you can cut that statistic out."
And that's a wrap.
Gene Chizik has come and gone. Here's what he said:
6 comments:
nice work AB.
Believe those losses by number one teams, where not by colleges atop the BCS standings... but rather to those leading in one or another poll.
Oklahoma was the #1 team in the BCS standings before losing last week...
True. Bama and Ohio State were atop the polls. Oklahoma was at the top of the BCS.
Still No. 1 teams, though.
Either way, I'm with Cam, let's "cut that statistic out."
Nice job as always AB.
somebody must have told cam to stop with the "out the window" lines. those were gold, though.
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