AUBURN, Ala. — Just who will start for Auburn at right guard Saturday at Tennessee remains a mystery.

“You can ask coach (Gene) Chizik,” offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said with a smile Wednesday, knowing reporters had already spoken with Chizik for the last time this week just minutes earlier.

The Tigers have rotated a variety of players at right guard during practice after starter Byron Isom was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules last week.

True freshman John Sullen started in his place against Ball State and held his own.

“(He did) OK for a true freshman,” Grimes said. “That’s a tough job to be in is a true freshman to step in and start. I’ve done it at the last three schools I’ve coached at and every time it’s a challenge because there’s just so much to learn in terms of what to do and how to do it for young guys. Tough spot to be in.”

Auburn has also taken a look at junior Bart Eddins and sophomore Jared Cooper, neither of whom have started a game in their careers. Both have gotten limited playing time in every game this season.

The coaching staff also hasn’t explicitly ruled Isom out for the game. Despite his suspension, he has been allowed to practice this week.

A couple of items before I get to the rest of the notes. I've got a LIVE chat about Auburn football tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT that I would love for you to stop by and join. Here's a link to do so.

You should also follow the blog on Twitter, because it's sweeping the nation. And once you're done with that, read these other notes from Wednesday:

• Ariton, Ala., defensive end Craig Sanders backed out of his commitment to Alabama and verbally committed to Auburn on Wednesday, according to AuburnSports.com. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound four-star recruit committed to the Crimson Tide in May. He is the first recruit in the last six signing classes to switch from Alabama to Auburn. Sanders is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 7 recruit in the state of Alabama and the No. 12 weak-side defensive end in the country. He is Auburn’s 17th commitment for 2010 and the third defensive end in the class.

• Auburn fans expecting to participate in a full-blown Tiger Walk in Knoxville this Saturday will be disappointed. Although fans will still be allowed to greet Auburn players as they get off the bus, Tennessee athletic officials have asked that the band and cheerleaders not participate for safety issues. The visiting team drop-off area is on a hill and in a tight space. “In 2004 when the Tigers played here, we had approximately 5,000 fans show up with the band and the cheerleaders, which was a great atmosphere, but a huge safety issue for the student-athletes, band and cheerleaders and fans because of the tight space,” UT spokesperson Tiffany Carpenter wrote in an e-mail to the Knoxville News Sentinel. “If something had happened to a fan in that area, EMT would not have been able to respond because of the crowd size.”

• Anthony Gulley, Demond Washington and Quindarius Carr have gotten the majority of work as punt returners this week, said wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor, who oversees the group. But Auburn still doesn’t have an answer as to who will return punts Saturday. “Those guys have either got it or they don’t, in my opinion,” special teams coordinator Jay Boulware said. “And I haven’t seen anybody who’s got it as of yet, so we’ll see.” A host of players have spent some time returning punts this week as well, including running backs Mario Fannin, Onterio McCalebb and Eric Smith and wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis.

• Pierre-Louis has not played in a game this year, per Chizik’s discretion, a subject the coach didn’t shed any light on Wednesday. “We just kind of take it day-by-day with him and he’s been out there practicing and working every day,” said Chizik, who did not say whether or not Pierre-Louis would travel to Knoxville.

• Boulware said his returners were still on the field working when he was called in to do an interview with reporters Wednesday. "We've got a coach who works with them every day in practice -- they're out there working right now," Boulware said. "I had to leave, just for a second. They told me I had a stinkin' interview so I came up here. Those guys are working hard."

• Boulware on if PK Wes Byrum's perfect start caught him by surprise. "I don't know that 'surprised' is the right word," he said. "Wes has worked really hard. When I first got here, I wasn't pleased with his production or lack there of in the spring or what I looked and saw on tape last year. We got him out there and worked some things, tried to dress up some things like his followthrough -- I thought his followthrough wasn't very good. He's really worked hard at it, guys. He's really worked hard at it, guys. All the credit goes to Wes. He's doing a good job. He's knocking some field goals through. We work that every single day. We try to get him to be perfect every single day. I've told you guys that before. That's been our big emphasis. He's doing well. Knock on wood. I hope he can continue doing that right now. We're only four games deep. First part of our season. We're only a third of the way through. Let's see how he finishes up."

• Teams are allowed to bring 70 players on the road in SEC play, which creates some problems (although Auburn doesn't have too many scholarship players, so it can't be that big of a problem). "We're pretty far along in that as far as knowing where we're going to go," Chizik said. "It's really coming down to one or two guys that are backups, but right now I think we're in good shape."

• Chizik did say freshman QB Tyrik Rollison will travel for Saturday’s game.

• Grimes said he expects to take at least 10 offensive linemen to the game Saturday. Taylor expects to bring 10 or 11 receivers, including all four of his true freshmen -- DeAngelo Benton, Emory Blake, Travante Stallworth and Anthony Gulley.

• Contrary to reports Sunday, freshman OL Andre Harris did not play near the end of the Ball State game, meaning his redshirt is still in tact. The Auburn sports information staff misidentified Darrell Roseman for Harris.

• Chizik did not comment specifically on if LB Spencer Pybus suffered a setback in his recovery from an August concussion. “We don’t know exactly where that’s at right now,” he said. “It’s just in a situation where time is the only thing that’s going to be the great healer for him.” Pybus, who practiced for the first time in a month and a half last week, has not played in a game this year.

• Grimes wasn't entirely pleased with his line's effort against Ball State, although one of those kind of games pops up every now and then. "I don't know if there's been a particular season where we didn't have that," he said. "I do know, typically the longer I have a group of guys and the longer they kind of buy into the mentality I'm trying to preach to them, the closer they'll get to being the kind of guys that are just warriors and it doesn't matter who you're playing. Certainly, you see it every weekend in college football, there are teams and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose against big underdogs because they don't step out and play the way they're capable of playing. My take on it is you only get 13 opportunities to step out and play in a game on Saturday. You've got a lot of days you've got to practice, a lot of days you've got to run, a lot of days you've got to lift weights and do a whole bunch of other stuff you don't like to do. So when you get an opportunity to step out there under the lights, it shouldn't matter who you're playing. If you're the right kind of person, if you've got the right kind of spirit and if you're a warrior then you'll go to battle regardless of who it is."

• Boulware says the no-name players that have been contributing on special teams are helping a ton, since Auburn doesn't have too much depth across the board. "As I mentioned to some of you guys the other day, coach Chizik calls them 'The Unfamiliar Names.' I call them 'The Others,'" Boulware said. "The other guys that nobody really knows on this football team and they're allowing our team to stay fresh, to be honest with you. They're allowing us an opportunity to rest a Josh Bynes, a Craig Stevens, a Neiko Thorpe. On a thin football team, they're allowing us to play guys that haven't had any snaps in college football until this year."

• We got a lot of stuff from Trooper on his time as an assistant coach at Tennessee under Phil Fulmer, who he called Phillip. That'll start off my story for Friday, so I'll save that until then. But he did recruit safety Eric Berry to the Vols when he was there. This is what he had to say about the All-American: "He's really talented and he's smart. You're not going to get him twice on the same deal. He's going to be physical. I know his ability. He's smart enough to bait a guy and you float one out there and next you thing you know he's running down the sidelines with it. You saw the tackle between him and (Tim) Tebow. He's not going to back down. If Tebow was driving a truck, he'd get in front of it if he thought it would help him win. He doesn't like to lose at anything."

• Taylor doesn't see burning Benton and Blake's redshirts as a waste this year, even if neither of them has caught a pass this year. "There's no substitute for experience -- whether they played 2 plays or 200.," Taylor said. "Just traveling with the team will make them better next year. Being at these stadiums and going into these hostile environment like they're about to see at Tennessee will make them better for the future. I believe those two guys will get more playing time. If the two guys in front of them are playing well, they're not going to get that playing time."

• He also said Blake's had an injury he's been dealing with the last two weeks, otherwise he would have gotten more playing time.

• And lastly, there's this interesting nugget from Trooper about Stallworth: "The kid is struggling because his father is in the military. He's stationed in El Paso. He drove 19 hours to see his kid play. He hadn't seen him play but twice -- including high school -- because he was in Iraq. He's trying to get stationed in Montgomery or someplace closer. Those were things he was dealing with that he and I had to talk. It didn't have anything to do with football, but it was affecting him on the field. He had to get to the point where you leave those things in the dorm where you live when you step between those white lines. That's the beauty of sports. That's the place where all things are equal. Doesn't matter where you're front. Doesn't matter which jersey you wore in high school. When you get here, everybody is Auburn. It's an equalizer. It took him a while to understand that. It's hard. He's a young kid. Obviously, he cares a lot about his father and he'd like him to see him play. He doesn't make mistakes. He hasn't had a missed assignment … I can't tell you the last time he had one, including practice."

I'll be answering questions about Auburn football in a LIVE chat Thursday at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. Here's the link. We've fixed the technical problems that prevented last week's chat from getting underway. I'll go for an hour if I keep getting questions. Hope to see you there.

We just got this update from Auburn sports information about the Tiger Walk outside of Neyland Stadium in Tennessee this Saturday:

"Officials at the University of Tennessee have informed Auburn Athletics that Tiger fans will be allowed to greet the team as they get off the bus, but that the band and cheerleaders may not participate because of safety and crowding concerns in the visiting team drop-off area, which is on a hill in a very tight space."

In a story by Austin Ward of the Knoxville News Sentinel, a Tennessee spokesman gave an explanation.

"In 2004 when the Tigers played here, we had approximately 5,000 fans show up with the band and the cheerleaders, which was a great atmosphere, but a huge safety issue for the student-athletes, band and cheerleaders and fans because of the tight space.

"If something had happened to a fan in that area, EMT would not have been able to respond because of the crowd size."

I've got a new video up. It's got offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, safeties Zac Etheridge and Daren Bates, defensive end Antoine Carter and cornerback Walt McFadden. Enjoy. I'll be back tonight with an update after practice.

And follow the blog on Twitter if you have a chance. It's well worth it for instant updates.

Hey all, I'll be doing my weekly LIVE chat Thursday at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. We've fixed the glitch that prevented last week's from getting underway, so everything should be good. I'll get a link up once it's posted on our Web site. Hope to see you there.

In the meantime, here are a few links as we close out September and look forward to October ...

• Injured Tennessee linebacker Nick Reveiz has a long, hard road ahead of him, and he knows it, writes Dave Hooker of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• Vols WR Gerald Jones is frustrated with his lack of a big role in offense, writes Austin Ward of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• Former tight end Aaron Douglas started his first game at right tackle for Tennessee last week, writes Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times.

• ESPN.com's Pat Forde is back with his weekly Forde Yard Dash. He even touches on Auburn:

• Lesson Four: The quarterbacks in Alabama are just fine. Better than fine, actually. ... Those Auburn fans who derided Chris Todd 11) last season as an overmatched SEC quarterback who was little more than doomed offensive coordinator Tony Franklin's pet have presumably changed their tune. Todd has flourished in Gus Malzahn's version of the spread and ranks sixth nationally in pass efficiency, with 11 touchdowns and one interception.

• Another day, another Tim Tebow update. It's a good thing Florida has a bye this week or the hysteria would be ridiculous.

• Florida's athletics director Jeremy Fowler and coach Urban Meyer were classy in sending a letter to Kentucky thanking the university for how it provided assistance after Tebow's injury, writes Chip Cosby of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

• Alabama's Javier Arenas is still a threat to take it to the house on every punt return, writes Michael Casagrande of the Decatur Daily.

• Georgia knew replacing Knowshon Moreno wasn't going to be easy, but the Bulldogs were hoping for more production, writes David Hale of the Macon Telegraph.

• Southern Cal RB Stafon Johnson won't play again this year, but it appears his career is not over after a freak weightlifting accident, writes Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.

• This Texas Tech story is only made greater by this picture. Of course, the suspended linemen tweeted the news.

• Speaking of Twitter, it's becoming a serious issue in football, with coaches trying to restrict what their players tweet and when when they do it. Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas News weighs in on the subject here.

• Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that even if Boise State runs the table, it shouldn't be given consideration for the national championship game.

• Houston must not celebrate with its fans on the field too often. Lesson No. 1, guys: keep possession of your helmet at all times.

• Here's another piece of advice for defenders: don't field a missed field goal if you don't have to. This high schooler probably won't live this down any time soon.

• Whoops, Missouri. Might want to clear out those athletics department cell phones before you sell them off.

I wrote a story for today's newspaper about Auburn's offense matching up against a Monte Kiffin-coached Tennessee defense. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Gus Malzahn never has been accused of being underprepared. Auburn’s offensive coordinator studies opposing defenses with a fine eye, looking for any kind of deficiency or weak spot to exploit when Saturday rolls around.

In watching film of Tennessee, led by former NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, weaknesses have been hard to find.

“There have been very few, if any,” Malzahn said. “We’re going to have to earn everything we get.”

It will be a battle of wits when Malzahn’s fast-paced Auburn offense matches up with Kiffin’s give-nothing Tennessee defense in Knoxville this Saturday.

Malzahn’s Tigers rank third nationally in total offense (526.3 yards per game) and scoring offense (45.2 points per game). Kiffin’s Vols rank eighth in total defense (233.0 ypg) and 33rd in scoring defense (18.9 ppg).

“It’s going to be a good challenge,” Auburn running back Ben Tate said. “It’s going to be a real test to see where we’re really at. Tennessee is probably going to be one of the best defenses we face all year — if not the best.”

Read the rest here. And follow the blog on Twitter.

AUBURN, Ala. — Defensive end Antoine Carter had a tough time waiting to get back on the field the last few months. The junior had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on April 7, with Dr. James Andrews scoping his knee and anchoring things back in place.

“It was tough, but I made it through and I’m here now,’ Carter said. “That just made me more hungry, made me want to come back. Now I’m like a tiger wanting to get out of a cage.”

Carter played in a game for the first time last Saturday against Ball State, working with the second team and getting in on three tackles. His return is a boost to a line that has basically operated with Antonio Coleman, Michael Goggans and freshman Dee Ford at defensive end the first few weeks.

Carter, who still wears a bulky brace, will face a challenge against a physical Tennessee offensive line that is sure to test the strength of that knee.

“I’ll be confident. ... I think Ol’ Sparky’s going to hold me down,” Carter said, slapping his knee.

Follow the blog on Twitter. Also read some of these other notes ...

• Right guard Byron Isom might be serving a team-imposed suspension, but that doesn’t mean the junior is not practicing. Chizik said Isom, who was not allowed to play in the Tigers’ game against Ball State last week, has been working with the team during practice. Chizik gave no update as to when Isom would be allowed to play in a game again. “If you guys see him out there, he’s going to do all the things that we said that he needs to do to get out there and play,” Chizik said. Freshman John Sullen started in Isom’s place last week. Junior Bart Eddins and sophomore Jared Cooper could get some time there as well this week.

• Anthony Gulley and Demond Washington have been returning punts during practice this week, cornerback Walt McFadden said. Running back Onterio McCalebb said he's been fielding some punts this week as well. "They haven’t named the guy who’s going to be back there yet," McCalebb said.

• McCalebb sounds like he's up to the challenge. "I’ve been wanting to do it since day one," he said. "But they wouldn’t put me back there because I was doing a whole bunch of other stuff."

• Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn doesn't mind scoring on quick drives like the Tigers did last week, when their first four touchdown drives each lasted less than two minutes. "We just take it whatever way it comes," he said. "We were able to make some big plays and we had some short drives and we were able to score some points."

• That kind of quick scoring has been tough on Auburn's defense, which has been on the field a whole lot as a result. The Tigers' opponents have a 32:15 to 27:45 advantage in time of possession this year. "You'd like to do both," Malzahn said of scoring quick and keeping the defense off the field. "You never want to put your defense in a bind. So we do want to speed up the game. We do want to have a lot of plays. So if it works out with time of possession, that's good."

• Malzahn said Auburn has other options at Wildcat if Kodi Burns is injured and can't go. He declined to name anybody specific.

• Auburn has practiced with a silent count during practice to deal with the anticipated crowd noise. "It doesn’t really change anything I do," center Ryan Pugh said. "We just have to practice for the noise. If we get up early you can take the crowd out of it. If not, we’ll play with the crowd and whole time and I’m sure we’ll manage."

• Tennessee's Lane Kiffin sounds like he's intrigued by Malzahn's offense. “There’s so much stuff going on around it,” he said . “I talked to my dad the other night and he said it’s like trying to read a book with someone waving their hand in front of the book — trying to look at it, what’s going on, but you can’t really see it. You can’t really focus because there’s so much misdirection and so much shifting motion.”

• I wrote my story tomorrow about the matchup between Malzahn's offense and Monte Kiffin's Tennessee defense. Here's what Pugh said about Monte's D: "He just does what does. The same stuff he probably did with the Buccaneers. I’m sure it’s just a little more refined, maybe not as complex."

• Wide receiver Darvin Adams on going up against Tennessee's all-world safety Eric Berry: "When it's a big name or a top player, it definitely does get you excited. It shows what you can do or what you can't do."

• Safety Daren Bates respects Berry quite a bit. "I've looked at him on YouTube a couple times. He is a hard hitter, which I like. He comes downhill in coverage. He's a caliber player. I can look up to him as someone I'd like to be like, him and Taylor Mays, the top 2 safeties."

• Bates said head coach Gene Chizik told him to settle down after he got a little too hyped following a tackle last week. "I felt like that game was just a stepping stone for this coming weekend and I was just hyped," he said. "He had to settle me down and told me to celebrate with my teammates next time."

• Tennessee likes to run the ball. Auburn know this. "I think we can be physical with them," Bates said. "We like to be physical. We've got physical players on the d-line and linebackers so I don't think it's going to be a problem. They're playing into our hands, actually. We're going to man up with them and play physical with them."

• Coleman is a leader because he says quotes like this and backs it up: "If you step out on the field in my 11, you're going to be ready."

• Coleman's been wearing a cast on one of his hands. He's not fond of it. "I'm down on the line," he said. "I've got to have my hands. I've got to shoot my hands. I've got to get off blocks. I'm still adjusting to it. I'm messing with the trainers every day, but it's for my own safety and I respect that."

• Coleman hasn't been too thrilled with how the defense has played. "It doesn't sit with me... at all," he said. "We're a much better defense than that. To give up 30 points to Ball State? That's just bad. Like I said before, we can't do that. We're a much better defense than that -- much better unit than that. We're making a lot of small mistakes. Guys not fitting like they're supposed to and leaving guys wide open. You get in the SEC and you can get blown out just like that. We can't go down to Tennessee with that or any of these other games we've got left. It doesn't sit well with me at all. I don't like it."

• Here's how he's dealing with it: "Met in a meeting and I just told them this is not a great thing. Opponents look at us on film and say, 'Ball State hung 30 on these guys.' It makes you look vulnerable on defense. Just talking to the guys, it's a lot of small things. So when a guy is in practice and he misses a fit or misses a tackle, I'm all in his ear. I feel that's my duty to do that just to make us a better team."

• LB Craig Stevens said the stats from the Ball State game are a little deceiving. "We played well," he said. "I don't even remember what quarter they started scoring all those points. I think it's deceiving. We tried to work some young guys in later in the game and later on I think we just pulled off a little bit in the head."

• Stevens on not being ranked: "We talked about it the other week. Sooner or later if we keep winning, they're going to have to show us. We're used to not getting no love around here. Even when we were No. 2, we weren't getting no highlights on SportsCenter. We kind of used to it. I know the older guys are used to it. We used it as motivation, like we always do, just to go out there and keep winning because sooner or later we'll have to get on there. They'll have to show us some kind of love."

Of the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, only three are 4-0 this season and not in either of the Top 25 polls.

You guessed it: Auburn's one of them.

"As long as we keep winning and as long as we stay undefeated, they've got to talk about us sooner or later," cornerback Walt McFadden said.

The other unranked 4-0 schools are South Florida and Wisconsin. Like those two, Auburn remains in the others receiving votes category in both polls, effectively putting it 27th in the Associated Press poll and 28th in the USA Today/Coaches' poll.

But voters have been slow to buy into the Tigers' fast start, probably because of the level of competition (only West Virginia carries any kind of national cache) and location (all four games have been at Jordan-Hare Stadium).

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, who was a staff member on the undefeated 2004 team that was snubbed for the national championship because of its place in the polls, doesn't pay much attention to it.

“I don’t control that and I don’t even have a thought on it," Chizik said. "Week to week we have to win and all that other stuff takes care of itself. I don’t spend a lot of energy on things I have absolutely no control over.”

Nevertheless, Auburn's players think a win in a hostile environment against a big-name school like Tennessee could push the Tigers into the Top 25.

"Yeah, just because there's more publicity on this one," left guard Mike Berry said. "This is the one we actually need to put us in that top 25."

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik is on the podium for his weekly press conference. Here's what he's said:

• "Going to be an exciting week for us. We've got a lot of work to do to be able to travel to Tennessee and win the ballgame."

• "We all know how tough it is to play in Tennessee."

• "It'll be new for us because there are so many players who haven't traveled, period."

• Doesn't know if piping in noise during practice will help with communication Saturday.

• "We're not going to change anything. We're just going to do business as usual."

• Tennessee S Eric Berry is good. "I think you're always cognizant of where he is. He can take a guy out of a game. From a defensive perspective right now, he's one of the guys that if you put him on somebody and chose to have him take someone out of the game, you've got to know that. We'll always know where he is because he is that good of a player and can dominate a game.

• Thinks the wide receivers' success is due largely to Trooper Taylor. "Everybody loves him," Chizik said.

• Has Trooper cranked it up? "I think you get to the level where you can't crank it up any more," Chizik joked.

• Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is "one of the best in the business."

• Everybody will get a look at punt returner. "But we're not kicking the other guys to the curb, either," he said.

• Auburn's not ranked. "I don't control that. I don't even have a thought on it. I don't spend a lot of energy on things that I have no control over."

• Someone brought up Auburn's 2004 circumstance, when it did matter. "We've just got to win week-to-week."

• Chizik said he has not changed his coaching approach on special teams, despite Auburn's struggles.

• No change in S Mike McNeil's status. Chizik didn't say whether he would travel to Tennessee.

• Chizik on the importance of coaching: "The guy's I've got here right now I want to make sure can coach my 9-year-old son."

• Chizik said Monte Kiffin was very kind to him early in his career when he was at Central Florida and eager to learn more from the nearby Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator.
  

• "We've had a whole bunch of scenarios that we've played through and we're 4-0. So I'm happy to see that. But we're still feeling each other out, we're still learning. There are still a lot of things we're going to have to get through together."

• He reluctantly said QB Chris Todd has been better than expected. "We felt (in August) like Chris could be a very good player in this offense. How good? We didn't know, because we never saw him in game day. But I think that he's done some things we expected him to do."

• Onterio McCalebb and Kodi Burns, you guessed it, are day-by-day.

• "I think going to Tennessee to play there is going to be a huge indicator of who were are, not just for this month, but for the rest of the year."

• "If you play well and do win the game, it does catapult you over another hurdle."

• RG Byron Isom has had no change in his status, but Chizik said the lineman is practicing.

It's Tuesday, a day full of Auburn information, but I'm not going to bypass the links. Here they are ...

• Dave Hooker of the Knoxville News Sentinel writes a story about Auburn wide receivers coach, a former Tennessee assistant coach. Here's a tidbit Tigers fans might find interesting about the presumably upwardly mobile coach:

• “They’ve changed a little bit,” Taylor said of his priorities. “Now I’m at the point to where I want to make sure I’m not moving my kids around in high school so I want to be established at a place for the next four or five years where they can set their roots.”

• Despite Jonathan Crompton's struggles, head coach Lane Kiffin doesn't seem to be thinking about a change, writes Austin Ward of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• LB Nick Reveiz is out for the year for the Vols, who are weighing their options for a replacement, writes Mike Strange of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• The Vols lost more than just a linebacker in Reveiz, writes Chris Low of ESPN.com.

• WR Gerald Jones thought an injury his freshman year was difficult to deal with. This year's rough times are getting close to matching that, writes Beth Rucker of the Associated Press.

• Suspended Alabama linebacker Jerrell Harris could make it back by Week 7 for the Crimson Tide, writes Michael Casagrande of the Decatur Daily. That could be big for a defense that just lost Dont'a Hightower for the year.

• Georgia's offensive line was supposed to be a strength this year. Instead, it's been inconsistent, writes David Hale of the Macon Telegraph.

• A former Florida quarterback knows what Tim Tebow is going through right now, writes Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel. Urban Meyer, meanwhile, hopes Tebow will be ready for the LSU game. The Gators have a bye this week.

• Dan Mullen's not a second-guesser, writes Kyle Veazey of the Clarion Ledger. The Bulldogs coach is a first-guesser and wouldn't have called his goal line plays any differently against LSU. Me? I would have run it straight up the middle four times. But what do I know other than running a highly successful dynasty on NCAA '10 on the PlayStation 3.

• ESPN.com's Tim Griffin breaks down the early Heisman Race. No love for Chris Todd, though.

• Scary story here: USC running back Stafon Johnson was in critical but stable condition after dropping a weightlifting bar on his neck during a workout, write Mike Hiserman and Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. Here's a positive update: his chances for a full recovery are good.

• This is interesting from a sports journalism perspective: the University of Colorado has threatened to revoke press passes to Web sites that allow anonymous comments. So far, newspapers are taking heed, not allowing comments. I'd love to see the uproar if Alabama or Auburn tried this.

• Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has banned his players from using Twitter after one of them commented about waiting for a late-arriving Leach at a meeting. Bet if it had been about pirates, Leach wouldn't have minded.

• New York Times "On Language" columnist William Safire died at the age of 79 Sunday. He obviously had an effect on journalists across the country for his attention to the English language, which prompted one of the better briefs ever by The Onion.

I wrote a story for today's newspaper about Auburn going on the road for the first time this year and the different set of circumstances that brings. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Of the players on Auburn’s roster, freshman running back Onterio McCalebb might be the only one who has stepped onto the field at Neyland Stadium in a competitive game.

It was last year. He was at Hargrave Military Academy. Tennessee’s JV squad was the opponent. Suffice to say, the stands weren’t standing room only.

“This is going to be a whole different thing playing in front of 110,000,” McCalebb said.

It will be a new challenge for the Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) this Saturday when they travel to Knoxville to face Tennessee (2-2, 0-1) in front of a different shaded sea of orange.

Because of the unbalanced SEC schedule, it’s Auburn first trip to Neyland Stadium since a 34-10 victory in 2004, meaning no current member of the team has played a major college game there.

“It’s a big atmosphere,” said left guard Mike Berry, who, as one of three Tennessee natives on the roster, has made a few trips to the stadium. “One-hundred ten thousand (fans). It gets real loud.”

To read the rest, click here. Also, be sure to follow the blog on Twitter lest you be deemed uncool by your more hip friends.

CBS has exercised its six-day option for choosing which game to televise on Saturday, Oct. 10, meaning we still don't know when Auburn will play when it travels to Arkansas.

The Tigers-Razorbacks game will will be televised by either CBS at 2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN at 11 a.m. CT, ESPNU at 11:30 a.m. CT or the SEC Network at 11:21 a.m. CT.

The other Oct. 10 games under consideration by the networks include Alabama at Ole Miss, Georgia at Tennessee and Houston at Mississippi State.

The real winners here are the Auburn beat writers, who for once won't be scrambling at deadline to get copy out on time for the presses.

To make up for this lack of news, here's a new video from Sunday night's round of interviews. It's got defensive coordinator Ted Roof, cornerback Walt McFadden, left guard Mike Berry, running back Onterio McCalebb and quarterback Chris Todd. Enjoy.

Happy Monday everyone. Here are some links to make things more bearable today ...

• Tennessee didn't exactly crush Ohio last week, but head coach Lane Kiffin wasn't about making excuses, writes Austin Ward of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• The Vols are trying to find some consistency after a shaky outing against the scrappy Bobcats last weekend, writes Drew Edwards of UTSports.com.

• The Vols' defense took they learned LB Nick Reveiz, a co-captain,will be out for the season, writes Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times.

• Kiffin and Gene Chizik took vastly different approaches to getting their respective programs back in the limelight last offseason, writes John Adams of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

• Alabama looks like it lost linebacker Dont'a Hightower for the season because of a knee injury, writes Michael Casagrande of the Decatur Daily.

• Georgia pulled out a win against Arizona State but has its share of problems, like ranking 115th out of 120 FBS teams in turnover margin, writes David Hale of the Macon Telegraph.

• Everyone can take a deep breath: Tim Tebow is out of the hospital and doing fine, writes Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel. Does it seem like we're treating this like he is a head of state or something? Here's a video of the hit, in case you missed it.

• Just in case you wanted to see how Mississippi State failed to score from the 4-inch line despite a several tries against LSU, here's a video recap. MSU coach Dan Mullen needs to learn that you don't try the jump pass in that situation, writes Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
  

• Auburn continues to move up ESPN.com blogger Chris Low's latest SEC power rankings, jumping up to fifth in the latest release:

• "5. Auburn: The concern with the Tigers (4-0, 1-0) has been their defense. They've been super explosive on offense, but are 10th in the league in scoring defense and total defense. In each of their last three games, they've given up at least 24 points. The equalizer has been their ability to force turnovers. They lead the league with 10 turnovers gained in the first four games. They hit the road for the first time this Saturday against Tennessee."

• He also gave quarterback Chris Todd another helmet sticker for his five-touchdown day.

• Latest bowl projections by ESPN have Auburn going to the Chick-fil-A Bowl or the Music City Bowl.

• Auburn's getting a little more attention in the Associated Press poll, with 25 writers putting the Tigers on their ballots.

• How were some of Saturday's games played in daily newspapers. I'm glad you asked. Here's a link that shows some.

I wrote a story today about Auburn's 4-0 start and whether that means the Tigers are for real. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Gene Chizik has a favorite phrase when things are going either a little too good or too bad in a game, something his Auburn players recite at every opportunity.

He calls those situations impostors.

“Things that show up in the game that look one way but aren’t necessarily so,” Chizik said. “It’s not about a person. It’s about an event or a situation that can appear to make you think one thing and if you let it, then you can go into the tank.”

It begs a larger question as Auburn is now one-third of the way through the season: is the Tigers’ 4-0 start against less-than-stellar competition an impostor?

Auburn will certainly have a better answer after it travels to Neyland Stadium this Saturday night to play Tennessee, the team’s first road game and biggest challenge to date after opening with four straight home games against Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, West Virginia and Ball State, who are a combined 5-9 this year.

“A lot of guys need to grow up,” wide receiver Tim Hawthorne said. “It will be a huge challenge for us up there. That is a hostile environment in Knoxville. Everyone tells us. And we’re going to know it. Hopefully once we get there, we just hope that we’re mentally prepared throughout the week for these guys.”

Read the rest here. And follow the blog on Twitter.

AUBURN, Ala. — When prompted during his weekly Sunday meeting with reporters to talk about looking at new punt returners, Tigers head coach Gene Chizik rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I don’t want to,” he said. “I don’t want to see any of them.”

The Tigers’ season-long struggles in the punt return game continued Saturday night, one of the few lowlights of a 54-30 win against Ball State.

Freshman Anthony Gulley, who got the nod after Mario Fannin and Demond Washington had gaffes earlier this year, muffed a punt in the first quarter, leading to an early Cardinals touchdown. Later in the half, Gulley fielded a punt and returned it one yard before coughing it up. The Tigers managed to recover that loose ball.

“We’ll continue to say the same things every day,” Chizik said. “Somebody’s just got to step up to the plate. I mean, we’re spending a lot of time on it, but they’ve got to do it in a game. ... It’s very, very disheartening that we spend so much time and we still can’t find somebody to catch a ball.”

Chizik said Auburn will consider all options at the position, even throwing some humorous names out there.

“We’ve discussed everybody from my son, who is 9, to Jamar (Travis),” he said, referencing a shaky fair catch made by the freshman defensive tackle on a kickoff late in the game Saturday. “We’re looking for answers right now.”

Wide receiver Quindarius Carr, cornerback Walt McFadden and safety Zac Etheridge are other names that have been mentioned in the past as potential punt returners.

Follow the blog on Twitter. Then read these other notes ...

• Defensive coordinator Ted Roof didn’t give the impression that 6-foot-5, 252-pound Gabe McKenzie would be Auburn’s answer to depth problems at defensive end. The senior played there and at tight end on Saturday. “We’re looking for all hands on deck,” Roof said. “He’s got a great body. If you were to design a football body, that’s what you’d pick. He’s been around a while — a salty old vet. We’re going to keep working him. How far it goes depends on how far we can take him.”

• Roof on freshman safety Daren Bates, who continues to mature by the week. "He took a step forward," he said. "He was more physical. He was more exact with his assignments. Still got a ways to go, but he took a step forward and he was better last night than he was the previous Saturday. Now he's going to have to be better next Saturday than he was last night. He took a step forward. That was a great strip he had on the sack. That was a great strip and Josh (Bynes) recovered and made a big hit over there on the sideline. So that was a step forward for him."

• Two freshmen burned their redshirts Saturday in limited roles — Travis and offensive lineman Andre Harris. Travis, a 6-foot, 308-pound four-star recruit from Brewton, Ala., played on special teams late in the game, making a fair catch on a short kickoff. Roof said several players are ahead of Travis on the interior line, so playing time on the regular defense might be scarce. But he added, “Anything’s possible.” Harris, a 6-foot-3, 325-pound lineman from Lovejoy, Ga., played at tackle late in the fourth quarter.

• Six freshmen have not played this season — running back Dontae Aycock, quarterbacks Tyrik Rollison and Clint Moseley, tight end Robert Cooper, offensive lineman Aubrey Phillips and defensive lineman Nosa Eguae.

• Chizik said a variety of players might have a chance to play right guard after Byron Isom was suspended indefinitely from the team. Freshman John Sullen started there against Ball State, but junior Bart Eddins and sophomore Jared Cooper could get playing time as well

• I'm posting this only for my own sanity, because I've gotten it mixed up today. Sullen is at right guard. Mike Berry has played left guard all season. There was only some confusion because Auburn's official notes package lists Berry as the starting right guard all year, which is not true. I even asked Berry about what it was like to switch to the left side for Ball State and he looked at me like I was from Mars. Deservedly I guess. End of rant.
  

• Berry on Sullen's first start: "It was pretty cool. He stepped in there. He did what he had to do. I think he did a good job. We just told him that we were going to rally behind him. We told him, 'Don't worry about a thing, just get out there and play.'"

• RB Onterio McCalebb came in for an interview today. He didn't seem to be limping at all on his injured right ankle. "I feel a lot better," he said. "I'm going to play Saturday."
  

• WR coach Trooper Taylor used to work in Tennessee, so this week gives him some extra motivation. "The first thing he said today was we have to go in and play hard," McFadden said, "because he's sure they got his name on the tombstones."

• RB Ben Tate had these words of advice for playing against a physical SEC defense: "I just tell him to pop a couple aspirin before the game because it's going to be hard-hitting. I don't know what to tell a guy like that. He's confident in himself. I'll just tell him to focus on the little things and be attentive. And hold on to the ball."

• We got a lot of stuff on the challenges of playing on the road, especially from a communication standpoint on offense. I plan to write that story for Tuesday, so I'll hold those quotes for now.

• The last time Chizik faced off with current Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was the 2006 Rose Bowl, when Texas beat Southern California 41-38 for the national championship. Chizik was the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator while Kiffin was the Trojans’ offensive coordinator. "Obviously when we played them years ago, they were one of the best offenses in the history of college football," Chizik said of USC's offense, which had QB Matt Leinart, RBs Reggie Bush and LenDale White and WR Steve Smith, Patrick Turner and Dwayne Jarrett. "That's how talented they were."

• Did Chizik have a point total in mind for what he wanted to limit them to? "Whatever was lower than how many we scored," Chizik said. "Really and truly. That's really a hard question to answer. It seems like it was centuries ago. I don't know that there was a number you could really try to pin on that offense."

• Lot of quotes today on the Tigers' phrase "Do What We Do." Here's what a few players said it meant to them:

• McFadden: "That basically just a motto for us to let us know we practice this every day. It's something we go over, sudden changes, fumbling, how to get back on the field, turnovers, just being prepared for everything. We do that every day in practice. Do what we do is basically saying don't be shocked if something happened in the game. We already went over this."

• WR Tim Hawthorne: "It means exactly what it means. It's do what we do. Whatever we do, do it to the best of our ability. And we don't have to change a lot of things when you're playing other teams in conference games. You've just got to stick the basics and perfect what we're doing. And do it as good as we can. For the most part, a lot of teams, like I said, they get away from their scheme and we want to keep it as simplified as possible. You never know what coach Malzahn has up his sleeve, but for the most part, we stick to the basics and perfect what we do. And be the best in the country."

• Tate: "Doing whatever the team needs me to do to help get a win. If that's picking up in the pass protections or running for 200 yards or pass blocking so Chris (Todd) can throw for 20 yards … it's whatever I need to do to help the team win."

OK, had a chance to go through these quotes. Here's some more in depth info from what Gene Chizik had to say today (also, follow the blog on Twitter):

• He wasn't completely pleased with Auburn's performance Saturday night, despite the lopsided 54-30 score: "We had sloppy penalties. We had nine penalties in the game. One of them was a pass interference. I just felt like it was a sloppy game. I felt like we were sleepwalking at the beginning somewhat there. At the beginning, our defense plays great, three-and-out, we set the tone and then we turn around and give the ball right back. Then we score 28, 30 points, whatever it was and then we go back to sloppy football. I just -- I didn't like the flow of the game. I just thought it was sloppy. I'm glad that we won and I'm really proud of our team for being able to win a game. There's no question about that. Those games are tough because as I said to somebody earlier in the week, you can only win those games one way and everybody be happy. Really. I'm really happy we won the game but I think a lot of things could have been much cleaner, if you will, executed much cleaner."

• If you think Chizk is upset with the win, think again. "I'm never displeased with a win. Let me clarify that," he said. "I'm never displeased with a win. I just wish that we could have played with more focus. ... I go back and say that I'm very glad to be 4-0. Am I satisfied with the way we played last night? No, I'm not."

• On if true freshman John Sullen is the answer on the offensive line now that Byron Isom is suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules: "It's something we've got a plan for and we're continuously work the plan on a rotation with some guys," Chizik said. "(Bart Eddins) is certainly a guy who's been around a long time and knows a lot about football. He's definitely part of the equation. Jared Cooper is part of the equation. We'll just kind of go day by day on that and see where it goes."

• Chizik thought Sullen handled himself well for his first start. "For the first time, I was really proud of John," Chizik said. "He stepped into a role and he did what we asked him to do. He's a young guy and that's a really hard position to play -- O-line -- when you're a true freshman. I think Ryan Pugh on one side of him really helps because Ryan, he gets the whole picture. Ryan's played a lot of football and he's a coach's son and he just really understands football, so that helps John having Ryan to his left. Overall, very proud of John and really got to give him a lot of credit because he came in there and stuck it in there and played hard and helped us win a game."

• On TE/DE Gabe McKenzie, who played on both sides of the ball last week near the end: "We're just, again, trying to see exactly where Gabe can help our team the most. We'll just kind of take that step by step and see where we go with it. Really proud of Gabe for just being really unselfish and doing the things that we ask him to do."

• DT Jamar Travis and OL Andre Harris both burned their redshirts against Ball State. "We're getting to that point in the year where things happen and we've got to make some tough decisions," Chizik said. "Maybe that decision was not clear or to the point where it is now a month ago. Through some things happening with our team, with some nicks and bruises, we've got to get through the year. Whoever we've got to play to help us win, we're going to do that. I feel like Jamar's helped us on punt and wherever else Jamar can help us to win football games, we've got to play him. We just, numbers-wise we're not where we need to be. If somebody can help us win, we've got to play him."

• Chizik didn't get too bothered by the fact that Ball State scored 30 points last week, much of it coming against Auburn's second- and third-team defense. "Oh yeah, I don't care about all that," he said. "I got to get my guys to the next game. Three or four minutes left in the fourth quarter. When it's a four touchdown lead, we're not worried about stats. We're worried about next week, provided you feel like you have the game under control. With three or four minutes left in the third quarter, we had to start getting some of those guys out of there."

• Chizik said that it's hard to simulate going into a hostile environment like Neyland Stadium. "I think they're going to have to experience it," he said. "Obviously when our offense has the football, crowd noise becomes an issue. But, it's like our defense at home, crowd noise becomes an issue. It's just part of it. You can pipe in the noise in the speakers and the music, you can pipe in all of that. I'm not there yet. I don't know if we'll do that or not. That's something....They just got to be ready to communicate and know that it's going to be really loud and it's going to be another great SEC venue."

• Chizik is high on Tennessee's defense: "Defensive line is big and physical. The linebackers get off blocks. They don't stay blocked. They're very active. They're very sudden. They play great with their hands. They all play very hard. They're really good at what they do."

• Kodi Burns (quad) and Onterio McCalebb (ankle) are, you guessed it, day-by-day. My guess? They'll play Saturday.

• When asked if he'd take a look at different punt returners again, Chizik rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't want to. I don't want to see any of them. Yeah, we just ... yes, we'll continue to say the same things every day.Somebody's just got to step up to the plate. I mean, we're spending a lot of time on it, but they've got to do it in a game. And it's really, really disappointing right now. And we just got out of a team meeting and I told them it's very, very disheartening that we spend so much time and we still can't find somebody to catch a ball."

• Who specifically will he look at? "We've discussed everybody from my son, who is 9, to Jamar (Travis) to catch it twice. We're looking for answers right now."

• Auburn's got a phrase about not buying into impostors, which many of us on the beat didn't quite understand (possibly because some of the players were trying to explain it to us and not doing the best job). Here's Chizik's explanation: "What we talk about impostors are things that show up in the game that look one way but aren't necessarily so. It's not about a person. It's about an event or a situation that can appear to make you think one thing and if you let it, then you can go into the tank and tank it."

• He gave an example: "In the Mississippi State game, an impostor that showed up was that we were up 14-0. Now if we start believing it's going to be that easy or if we start believing that's the way the game's going to unfold. All of a sudden you look up 17 points later and we're down by three. So we talk about those things that go back and forth right now, you've just got to keep playing through those things that aren't necessarily indicative of the way the game is really going to unfold. So we call them impostors. West Virginia it's 14-0 with five minutes after the game starts. So do we really want to believe that? Is that the way the game is going to unfold? So we try to play through what we call impostors. We try to play through those impostors because those things aren't necessarily indicative of the way the rest of the night is going to go. They're not real. You've got to play through those things and get back on track to do what you do and play through them." Everyone got that? Good.

• That's not the only phrase Auburn uses. The team motto is D.W.W.D. -- Do What We Do. "No real origin," Chizik said. "Without getting philosophical, I feel like when you repeatedly do something, you become basically a product … your habits become that. You become a product of that. This is what we do on offense. This is what we do on defense. We're not trying to re-invent the wheel every week. We've just got to get better at what we do and that carries over into games. The game unfolds, we're not playing on one side or the other … that doesn't have anything to do with the calls. We've got to execute it better. We've got to do what we've planned to do. We always say: Plan your work and work your plan. If we're not working the plan night now, we've got to get back on track working the plan the way it's supposed to unfold. It's nothing revolutionary. We just need to do what we do and do it better if we're not playing well. That's what we've done from Day One. We've got to work our plan and we've got to be really good at it. We haven't been really good at it all the time. You can see when we are and you can see when we're not."

• I'll have another update after interviews tonight following practice.

We just finished listening to Gene Chizik speak at his Sunday teleconference. Here are a few quick hits of what he said:

• On the team's 54-30 win against Ball State: "I just felt like it was a sloppy game. I thought we were sleepwalking at the beginning."

• He wasn't a big fan of the nine penalties for 86 yards.

• He later clarified: "I'm never displeased with a win. I just thought we could have played with more focus."

• Yes, Gabe McKenzie played on both sides of the ball last week. Chizik still wasn't sure what his role would be with the team. He has played both tight end and defensive end.
  

• With Byron Isom suspended indefinitely, John Sullen will be an option. The team could also use Bart Eddins and Jared Cooper.

• Yes, that was DT Jamar Travis who caught a kickoff late in the game. And yes, he burned his redshirt to do so. OL Andre Harris also played for the first time, doing so at tackle late in the game.

• Chizik doesn't think there is anything much he can do to prepare the team to go into a hostile environment like Tennessee (ie. pumping music into the loudspeakers during practice to simulate crowd noise). He said it's more something you have to experience as a player. He also said Auburn has silent signals on offense to help communicate when it gets loud.

• When asked if he's looking at punt returners again this week, Chizik rolled his eyes and shook his head: "I don't want to. I don't want to see any of them." He sounded pretty exasperated when talking about the group, disappointed that they put so much time into it and nobody can catch the ball.

• Asked who else he'd be looking at Chizik joked that he would try his son, who is 9, and Travis, a defensive tackle who caught a kickoff twice, once on the initial flight and once after it bounced in the air a little bit.

• Chizik thinks the 2004 game at Tennessee, the last time Auburn played in Knoxville, was a sign that the Tigers could be pretty good that year. The Tigers won 34-10.

• I'll be back with a more comprehensive post later.

Auburn got close to making the polls this week but still resides in the Others Receiving Votes category. The Tigers had the 27th most points in the Associated Press poll and the 28th most in the USA Today/Coaches poll.

Read the entire polls here.

Here's a closer look at the bottom of the AP poll (record in parentheses, followed by total points in poll):

• 20. BYU (3-1), 349
• 21. Ole Miss (2-1), 340
• 22. Michigan (4-0), 271
• 23. Nebraska (3-1), 256
• 24. California (3-1), 206
• 25. Georgia Tech (3-1), 185
• 26. Missouri (4-0), 175
• 27. Auburn (4-0), 171

Here's a closer look at the bottom of the coaches poll (record in parentheses, followed by total points in poll):

• 20. Michigan (4-0), 304
  
• 21. Miami (Fla.) (2-1), 298
  
• 22. BYU (3-1), 298
  
• 23. Missouri (4-0), 295
  
• 24. Nebraska (3-1), 242
  
• 25. Oregon (3-1), 198
  
• 26. Georgia Tech (3-1), 186
• 27. South Florida (4-0), 117
• 28. Auburn (4-0), 103

Follow the blog on Twitter.

Another easy win for Auburn. Here's how tomorrow's story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — The rout everyone anticipated took longer to get underway than expected on a soggy Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Nevertheless, Auburn eventually took care of business in a lopsided 54-30 win against Ball State before an announced crowd of 83,118, getting through September unbeaten for the first time since 2006.

"We didn't always play like we had hoped," Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said. "Obviously there were some really sloppy moments in the game. It didn't look like we were in sync a lot of times. The bottom line is right now we found a way to win again."

Quarterback Chris Todd tied a school record with five touchdown passes to lead Auburn (4-0), which finished with 560 yards of total offense, the third time in four games Gus Malzahn's up-tempo offense has topped the 500-yard mark. After scoring 208 points all of last season, the Tigers have already scored 181 through four games this year.

"We really just had some guys who made some big plays," said Todd, who tied Daniel Cobb's five-touchdown mark that was set against Louisiana Tech in 2001. "We kind of credit that to the entire offense."

Three things to read from Saturday's game:

1. My game story: Late to start, Tigers find way to win again
2. My notes: No-so special teams give AU more problems
3. Some superlatives: A closer look at Auburn's win over Ball State

Make sure to follow the blog on Twitter. Then read some extra stats and notes ...

• Despite the big win, Auburn had a sluggish start. The Tigers trailed 7-0 early on and were tied 7-7 after the first quarter. "You can't let bad quarters get to you and you just need to keep

• your head up," running back Onterio McCalebb said. "We came out with a better game plan and did what we had to do."

• Ball State coach Stan Parrish had some humor in his post-game press conference. The Cardinals gave up a ton of yards in a GMAC Bowl loss a Malzahn-led Tulsa offense last January. "Last year, Gus Malzahn got 600 yards on us, but he only had 560 yards this time," Parrish said. "We allowed too many big plays and you can't play like that."

• Todd's been hot lately. That's nine touchdowns in the last two games for the senior. Auburn had seven touchdown passes all of last year. "I think with each game he's feeling more comfortable with everything that goes with it, as far as reading defenses, protections, what they're giving us, what their different coverages are," Malzahn said. "He made some real good plays tonight."

• Terrell Zachery was his favorite target with five catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Their first hookup, a screen pass that went for 46 yards, gave Auburn a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. The second, a 65-yard bomb over the defense, made it 30-7. "He's a great kid. He works hard," Malzahn said. "He knows one speed and that's full speed. And when a kid like that has a big game, it's a lot of fun for a coach."

• The Tigers did things quickly. The longest of their four first-half touchdown drives was one minute, 50 seconds. "You take them when you can get them at this level," Malzahn said.

• Defensively, the Tigers allowed 260 yards, although much of that came late after Auburn put in its second- and third-stringers. Ball State had only 72 yards of offense at halftime. Auburn continued to be aggressive, forcing two more turnovers, giving the Tigers 12 on the season. "The first group played pretty well with the exception of the first drive of the third quarter. I was disappointed in that," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. "The first half, I thought we played really well. I thought we were much better on third down. We got another defense score so there are a lot of positives."

• Linebacker Josh Bynes added another highlight, shooting through the line and stuffing running back MiQuale Lewis in the end zone for a safety, the first recorded by an individual Auburn defender since 1998.

• We found this out after the game: offensive guard Byron Isom has been suspended indefinitely by Chizik. True freshman John Sullen started at right guard and Mike Berry, who normally plays on the right side, moved to the left. That's one major chink in the offensive line's armor. There aren't many more capable players beyond the five who are currently on the field. Just something to watch the next few weeks.

• There were two injuries of note: QB Kodi Burns suffered a quad injury after taking a helmet to the thigh in the first quarter. He said he'll be back for Tennessee. McCalebb twisted an ankle on a fake punt in the second quarter. He was on the sideline in the second half but did not play. On playing against the Vols, he said: "I don’t have any doubts I’ll be ready."

• Special teams will continue to be a focus this week after another less-than-thrilling performance. Among the lowlights:

• Anthony Gulley muffed one punt (Auburn lost possession) and fumbled another after he made a short return. Quindarius Carr replaced him but didn't get a chance to catch the ball.
• Auburn tried and failed on a fake punt deep in its own territory despite leading 30-7 at the time.
• Morgan Hull kicked a ball out of bounds on a kickoff.
• McCalebb had a 33-yard kick return brought back because of a holding penalty.
• The punt team took a delay of game penalty after shifting around too many times before the snap.
  

• Some stats on offense:

• McCalebb: 8 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD
• RB Ben Tate: 13 carries, 63 yards
• QB Neil Caudle: 1 carry, 52 yards, 1 TD (that's not a typo)
• RB Eric Smith: 7 carries, 47 yards
• WR Darvin Adams: 5 catches, 73 yards, 1 TD
• H-Back Mario Fannin: 3 catches, 55 yards, 1 TD

• Some stats on defense:

• S Daren Bates: 7 tackles, .5 sacks, 1.5 TFL
• Bynes: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR
• CB Neiko Thorpe: 6 tackles
• LB Craig Stevens: 6 tackles, .5 sacks
• DE Dee Ford: 4 tackles, 1 sack

• Despite the win, Chizik was left with little indication of if his team is ready to begin the SEC portion of its schedule in earnest next week with a trip to Knoxville to play Tennessee. "Whether I feel like it or not, that’s where we’re going," he said. "We’ve got to get a lot of things cleaned up. It’s a very young team, and a very thin team, and it’s a good football team we’ll be playing."

You're looking LIVE at the outside of Jordan-Hare Stadium, shortly before a rainstorm moved through the area and soaked the field.

The weather was a big enough of a concern that the game time has been pushed back 30 minutes. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT.

I'll be back with more updates as we get closer to game time.

Also, you would have found this information out literally minutes ago if you followed the blog on Twitter. So follow along. All the cool Auburn fans are doing it.

Some pre-game notes to keep in mind. Auburn ...

• Is seeking a 4-0 start for the third time in the last six seasons.

• Has scored 127 points so far this season, two less than the Tigers scored in their first seven games last year.

• Has scored in every quarter this season, including touchdowns in 11 of 12 quarters.

• Is tied for second in the nation in turnover margin (+2.3), tied for second in interceptions (8) and tied for third in turnovers forced (10).

• Has out-scored its opponents 66-19 in the second half.

• Is 6-0 all-time against current members of the MAC. The Tigers have out-scored MAC schools 238-37 in those games.

• Is 2-0 all-time against Ball State. It won 30-0 in 2001 and 63-3 in 2005.

By the way, there's more weather on the way, according to this map. Could be another soggy night at Jordan-Hare.

• S Drew Cole is on crutches with his left foot in a boot.

Just got a pre-game note sheet with some info:

• Freshman John Sullen will start in place of Byron Isom at left guard. We've heard this is for injury reasons.

• PR/WR Anthony Gulley will wear No. 84 instead of No. 24. Wonder if that means D'Antoine Hood (the original No. 24) will play some this week?

• Two walk-ons were added to the dress list: DB, No. 33 Woody Parramore and WR, No. 41 Xavier Brown.

• Couple of players not dressed: DE Nosa Eguae (foot), S Mike McNeil (leg), LB Spencer Pybus (concussion), G A.J. Greene, G Jorell Bostrom, S Mike Slade, OL Vance Smith.

• Didn't spot Isom on the field during stretching.
  

• DE Antoine Carter is dressed and stretching. He's got a brace on his right knee.