Just finished Gene Chizik's Sunday evening press/teleconference. Here are the highlights. I'll be back with a more comprehensive wrap-up in a bit:

• No. 1 priority this week is avoiding a letdown against a Ball State team that is really struggling right now. "We're going to do what we always do," Chizik said.

• Chizik liked his defense's ability to force turnovers but said the group has a long way to go. The group had plenty of missed tackles and took a number of bad angles to the ball.
  

• They're also bad on third downs right now. West Virginia converted on 10 of 15 third-down opportunities. But Chizik liked how his team hung in there. "We stuck in there," Chizik said. "We're making good things happen."

• On RB Eric Smith: "He's a football player." Chizik was very complimentary, pointing out Smith's ability to go in and make a tackle on a kickoff or make a catch streaking down the field when needed. Whatever Smith did during his three-week absence from the team after being arrested, it must have been mighty impressive.

• Auburn got stuffed on the run, but the passing game picked up the slack. "Every week we're not going to be able to run the ball," Chizik said.

• Chizik praised Anthony Gulley for his role in the punt return game Saturday, which, as you know, has not been impressive this year. He cited Gulley's baseball background as being a help.

• TE Tommy Trott didn't practice that much last week because of an injured knee, but that it was more important for Auburn to give him some rest than to have him run a route in practice he's already done 105 times.

• I'll be back with more later.