Auburn didn't practice Sunday night after busing through the night back from Oxford, Miss. But the players did enjoy an optional Halloween costume contest that was judged by the coaches' wives.

Running back Mario Fannin was the winner for his interesting take on former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Dominique Wilkins, a costume complete with an Afro, fake teeth and some excessive padding under the jersey.

Quarterback Cam Newton joined the fun, dressing in a fairy outfit. He had a wand, slippers, halo and, yes, a dress.

“It was crazy,” defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker said. “Just seeing 6-6, 250 in a dress, that was scary, man. That was scary.”

Pictures of Newton went up on the Internet quickly. How long does Whitaker they’ll follow him around?

“Forever,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to make sure of that.”

Defensive end Corey Lemonier swore the best costume was by Bart Eddins, who could best be described (as friend of the blog David Morrison said) as a saucy cowboy.

(Dave has a good rundown of all the costumes here, by the way).

Auburn's run atop the Bowl Championship Series rankings was a short one.

Despite beating Ole Miss 51-31, the Tigers dropped to No. 2 in the latest BCS rankings behind Oregon, which got a boost in the computer rankings after beating Southern California on Saturday.

Auburn went from .0302 points ahead to .0178 points behind Oregon in the rankings, which were released Sunday evening.

The Tigers jumped Boise State to No. 2 in the two polls that matter -- the coaches' and Harris polls -- and still held the top spot in the computer rankings.

But Oregon made up ground in the computer rankings. The Ducks, who are No. 1 in the two human polls, moved from eighth to second in the computer rankings.

TCU moved ahead of Boise State for the No. 3 spot. Utah was fifth and Alabama sixth.

With limited bodies in the secondary, Auburn burned the redshirt on cornerback Ryan White against Ole Miss on Saturday. Head coach Gene Chizik said the Tigers didn't have any other choice.

"Two weeks ago, we had to make the decision to play him," Chizik said. "We had to take him out of the redshirt, which we didn’t want to do. But we’re at that place and time where we have no choice."

Auburn brought only four cornerbacks to Oxford: Neiko Thorpe, Demond Washington, Chris Davis and White.

T'Sharvan Bell has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem. Anthony Morgan is "banged up."

White was the next option. The true freshman got a late start in August after trying his hand at quarterback the first two weeks of two-a-days. He spent all season on the scout team, mimicking option quarterbacks whenever the Tigers would face one.

Auburn began gearing him up for special teams work during LSU week. White didn't make his debut until Ole Miss, however.

"Against LSU, all of a sudden it was ‘Wow, I’m redshirting, now I’ve got to go play,’" Chizik said. "That’s pretty eye-opening for a young guy. We’re trying to bring him along in practice every day so he gets a little less of a ‘wow’ factor for him when he gets in there.”

White got in as a cornerback with the reserves late in the game.

"At the end of the day, it was ‘Man, I’ve got a chance to help the team win,'" Chizik said. "That’s the ultimate goal for all of us: we want to win. And he understands that’s his role that he’s got to serve on the team.”

Chizik said Auburn's depth situation isn't too much different than last year.

'It’s just that this time last year it would have been a walk-on. Now it’s a true freshman," he said. "We don’t like to do that to the best of our ability, but we have to do what we have to do."

Auburn has now played 16 true freshmen this year. Ten are currently redshirting.

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Some other longer notes and quotes from today's teleconference:

• Chizik likes how Auburn has handled the BCS hubbub: "I think our coaches have really done a good job of carrying on day-to-day as they usually do. I think our players have really done a good job of shielding themselves from all the outside opinions and things of that nature and really tried to be a one-day-at-a-time team. And I just feel like that has happened to the best of our ability. And Saturday, again, we had to go and play an extremely tough road game, and I thought they focused and played well and kind of blocked out all the outside possible distractions."

• Auburn could drop to No. 2 in the BCS rankings this week (although ESPN's Brad Edwards said it will remain No. 1). Want to guess if Chizik cares about this? "No. We've just got to keep doing our part," he said. "I don't really have the energy for it, to be honest with you. I'm just trying to get better every day along with the rest of our team. Our job is to keep winning. None of that is in our control. We're playing to the best of our ability, we're coaching to the best of our ability. If we weren't doing that, then I'd have a concern. But as long as they're playing to the best of their ability in terms of effort and how they're being coached and we're doing the things that need to as coaches to win, that's what I look at every day."

• No news on the status of TE Philip Lutzenkirchen, who changed into street clothes during the Ole Miss game at one point. Chizik didn't give any specifics on what was bothering the sophomore. "He's just beat up like everybody else," he said.

• Lots of stuff on Washington today. I think I'm doing my Tuesday story on him, but here's a good quote by Chizik about him: "Demond wants the challenges. He likes to be challenged. That’s why he’s so good on kickoffs. He’s a competitor. He wants the ball. He wants you to throw at him. I think Demond’s, probably over the last couple weeks, become a better football player. He’s become more productive.”

• Chizik gave some kudos to defensive tackle Zach Clayton for running down an Ole Miss running back down the sideline and making a tackle Saturday. "It's unbelievable," Chizik said. "Iit's phenomenal. It's just great effort. There's another guy who doesn't get near the recognition week in, week out he deserves. He's been a real force for us, I think, down there inside."

• Daren Bates didn't travel. Jonathan Evans filled in and made five tackles, including a half-tackle for a loss. Eltoro Freeman got some time too. "I thought they filled in fine," Chizik said. "I don't think there was a whole noticeable drop-off in my opinion."

• Chizik said quarterback Cam Newton has some things to improve on. Namely: tackling. "We're still evaluating that. We're going to do some extra drills Tuesday to make sure that he's got the proper body position," Chizik joked. "He's got to be a little more athletic when he makes catches, too. He was way too close on (to the sideline) on that. We've got to work on that."

• Is there anything else Newton can do right now? "If we did, he could probably do all the above," he said. "He's that good of an athlete. Right now, we're going to limit it to handing off, running, throwing and now catching."

Gene Chizik has arrived. Here's what he has had to say:

• "It was great to finish up the month of October, which was an extremely difficult month on our schedule."

• On handling the BCS distractions: "I think our players have done a good job of shielding themselves from outside distractions."

• Said teh team doesn't decide ahead of time how much Cam Newton will run. "The plans don't always unfold the way you think they will on gameday."

• On UT-Chattanooga only being able to practice 16 hours a week (APR result): "That basically cuts out a day of practice. I can imagine it's fairly challenging. I don't really have the energy to think about it."

• On TE Philip Lutzenkirchen: "I don't really have a whole lot of information that will be helpful right now." Said he was "beat up."

• Auburn gave up a big run early. "I assess everything on how we did after that." Said the defense got the jet sweep under control. "I thought they responded well."

• On Demond Wasington: "He's got a good feel for it right now. And we're blocking it better. If he hits one of those seams, he's got a chance to go."

• On the BCS: "I don't really have the energy for it, to be honest with you. Our job is to keep winning."

• Singled out Demond and Mike Dyer as having a great game. O-line too. Kodi Burns as a blocker on the perimeter.

• Liked the kickoffs they're getting from Cody Parkey and Wes Byrum.

• On DB Ryan White playing: "Simply by bodies two weeks ago, we had to have the decision to play him." Didn't want to take the redshirt off. "We were at a place and time where we didn't have a choice."

• Auburn only brought four cornerbacks to the game. White was No. 4. Antony Morgan is "banged up."

• Said depth situation is not too different than last year. "This time last year it would have been a walk-on. This year it's a true freshman."

• On the secondary: "They're fighting. They're battling."

• Credited Demond's pick at the 2 as a huge momentum shift. "Demond likes the challenges."

• On yesterday's road Tiger Walk: "It was off the chart."

• On autograph seekers: "There are going to some that don't have their heart in the right place, but most of them do."

• Thought DEs Michael Goggans and Corey Lemonier played with great effort.

• On DE Zach Clayton chasing a running back down for a tackle 25 yards down the field: "Phenomenal. It's unbelievable." Said Clayton still doesn't get enough recognition.

• Said Jonathan Evans filled in fine for LB Daren Bates. "I didn't think there was a noticeable dropoff."

• On Newton: "We just have to limit him to handing it off, throwing, running and, now, catching."

• "This week is about Auburn." Said they're going to look back at the last month and re-evaluate the team.

• On this week's game against UT-Chattanooga, a lower division team: "We will tell them the expectation is to win. And if we do what we should do in the name of improving as a team, then we should have a chance to win the game."

And that's a wrap.

1. Oregon (92), 8-0, 2,823 points, LW: 1

2. Auburn (10), 9-0, 2,683 points, LW: 3

3. Boise State (12), 7-0, 2,635 points, LW: 2

4. TCU, 9-0, 2,529 points, LW: 4

5. Alabama, 7-1, 2,346 points, LW: 6

1. Oregon (49), 8-0, 1,487 points, LW: 1

2. Boise State (7), 7-0 1,403 points, LW: 2

3. Auburn (2), 9-0 1,396 points, LW: 3

4. TCU (2), 9-0, 1396 points, LW: 4

5. Alabama, 7-1, 1,228 points, LW: 6

An easy looking win for Auburn tonight, which looked like it answered some of its critics. Here's how tomorrow's game story starts:

OXFORD, Miss. — The Bowl Championship Series' No. 1 team certainly looked the part Saturday night.

Auburn showed no letdown in a 51-31 win at Ole Miss, six days after rising to the top spot in the BCS rankings for the first time in school history.

The Tigers (9-0, 6-0 SEC) avoided the top-ranked curse, doing what Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma couldn't in the last three weeks — win a conference road game with a No. 1 ranking next to their school's name.

"We plugged our ears to the media when it came to every week the No. 1 team has fallen short of a victory," quarterback Cam Newton said.

On a day when Michigan State and Missouri fell from the ranks of the unbeatens, Auburn had no such trouble, building an insurmountable lead to silence the 61,474 in attendance at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the fifth largest crowd in Ole Miss history.

Newton showed off his passing chops (and his potential as a 6-foot-6 receiver), the Tigers scored on a number of explosive plays and the defense did a serviceable job of containing Rebels quarterback Jeremiah Masoli in a runaway win that should silence some of Auburn's critics.

"I don't know what they're going to see when they watch us," head coach Gene Chizik said. "But we've got a good football team."

Let's go through the rest bullet style, shall we?

• Auburn finished with 572 yards of offense and 51 points, the most it has ever scored against Ole Miss. "For us, that's not much of a shock," Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. "It probably is for the outside world."

• It didn't do it in typical fashion. Ole Miss sold out to stop Newton from running the ball. He threw it at will instead. The Heisman Trophy candidate threw for 188 of his 209 yards in the first half. Newton completed a season-high 18 of 24 passes, spreading the ball around. Often forgotten receivers Darvin Adams, Emory Blake and Terrell Zachery combined for 16 catches, 189 yards and two touchdowns. "I think it is good, because I hear a lot of people say that we're a one-dimensional team and all we can do is run the ball," Blake said. "But we're aware we have talent on the perimeter and we know what our ability is."

• Newton played a new role, too: receiver. He had a nifty 20-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone on a ball thrown by Kodi Burns. How good of a receiver could the 6-foot-6 Newton be if he was a full-time receiver. "Really good," Malzahn deadpanned. "No doubt. Coach Troop is always like, 'He can come in my room' Naw. Naw."

• Blake had a good take on Newton's catch too: "He's 6-6. He better come down with the ball."

• Once Auburn established the pass, it put the game away with the run. The Tigers got 203 of their 343 yards in the second half, topping the 300-yard mark for the fifth straight SEC game. "You rush for the yards that we rush for in this league, your offensive line has to be doing some great things," Malzahn said.

• Freshman tailback Mike Dyer continued to establish himself as the Tigers' go-to back, rushing 21 times for a career-high 180 yards and a touchdown. "Mike seemed to be the catalyst tonight," Chizik said. Dyer has 723 rushing yards this year, the third most for a freshman in Auburn history. Bo Jackson had 829 in 1982 and Travis Tidwell had 772 in 1946.

• A big night for Demond Washington. First he came up with a momentum-shifting interception on the Auburn 2-yard line after the Tigers handed the Rebels great field position with a fumble. It was 17-14 Auburn at the time and halted Ole Miss completely. "It was huge," Chizik said. "There was no question about it. We knew they were going to throw the ball up to some of their taller receivers. They tried to get Demond matched up on a 6-foot-4 guy, and they threw the ball up.

• Washington added to his night with a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown with 2½ left before halftime to make it 31-17. He broke Tristan Davis' 2006 single-season school record for kickoff return yardage in the process.

• The Tigers took a 34-17 lead into halftime getting a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Demond Washington and a 35-yard field goal from Wes Byrum in the final 2½ minutes. "I couldn’t keep my feet," said Washington, who slipped on two returns that looked like they could have gone for big yardage. "It was there all night, but I couldn’t keep my feet. I kept telling coach, ‘Go back to it, go back to it.’ He said keep your feet this time, and I said I will."

• Defensively, the Tigers allowed 31 points — the sixth time they have allowed 24 or more in a game this year — but that number is slightly misleading. Ole Miss running back Jeff Scott scored on an 83-yard run on the game's second play. And the Rebels scored on a long touchdown drive late in the game against Auburn's second- and third-stringers.

• In between, the Tigers played some pretty good defense. Although they didn't have a sack, they generally corralled Masoli, who threw for 189 yards and a touchdown but was limited to 29 rushing yards on 14 carries. Auburn stepped up big in the third quarter, holding Ole Miss to zero yards on six plays right after halftime. The Tigers scored 10 points on those two possessions to put the game out of reach at 44-17.

• I'm not sure what the status of TE Philip Lutzenkirchen is. He was in street clothes by the end of the game. Not sure exactly when he left.

• Safety Zac Etheridge and running back Rodney Scott had a chance to meet at the post-game prayer circle, a nice capper to their story. Etheridge's family was there as well. "It’s been a tough week for me to really prepare for this game,” Etheridge said. “You start reflecting on a lot of stuff. But I overcame it, we’re 9-0, so I’m happy.”

• Your offensive leaders (not previously mentioned):

• RB Onterio McCalebb: 9 carries, 99 yards (68-yard TD run)
• Newton: 11 carries, 45 yards
• Adams: 6 catches, 75 yards, TD
• Blake: 5 catches, 50 yards
• Zachery: 5 catches, 54 yards, TD
• Burns: 2 catches, 20 yards, 1-1 passing, 20 yards, TD
  
• Third-down conversions: 9-for-13
  

• Your defensive leaders:

• CB Neiko Thorpe: 7 tackles
• Washington: 6 cakles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup
• S Mike McNeil: 6 tackles
• LB Jonathan Evans: 5 tackles, .5 TFL
• DT Nick Fairley: 4 tackles, 1 TFL
• Ole Miss third-down conversions: 6 of 14
  
• TOP: Auburn 33:14, Ole Miss 26:46
  

• One last thought: the win puts Auburn a step closer to its goal of winning the SEC West and possibly more. The Tigers have at least one backer on the Ole Miss sideline. After the game, a Rebels assistant approached Newton with a simple request: "Go win it all."

OXFORD, Miss. — The Bowl Championship Series' No. 1 team looks the part after one half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Auburn has a 34-17 lead against Ole Miss after 30 minutes thanks to Cam Newton's passing and a number of explosive plays.

Newton, the SEC's rushing leader, hasn't run much, but he has completed 15 of 21 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kodi Burns out of the Wildcat formation.

Darvin Adams has six catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Emory Blake has five catches for 86 yards. The Tigers have 348 yards of offense.

Ole Miss scored first, getting an 83-yard touchdown run from Jeff Scott on the second play of the game.

Auburn answered with Burns' touchdown pass to Newton and went ahead on a 68-yard touchdown run by Onterio McCalebb.

The Rebels tied it at 14 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Masoli to Markeith Summers, but it was almost all Auburn the rest of the half.

Wes Byrum's 25-yard field goal made it 17-14 before Demond Washington picked off a Masoli pass at the Tigers' own 2-yard line. Auburn drove 98 yards, getting a 24-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Adams to finish the drive.

After an Ole Miss field goal, Washington broke free for a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the second of his career.

After a fourth-down stop in Rebels territory, Byrum made a 35-yard field goal just before halftime to make it 34-17.

You're looking LIVE at Jerry Hollingsworth Field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. It doesn't look like much from the outside but it's a pretty nice stadium once you get inside, as you can see from the above picture.

We're here early in anticipation of a tackle football game that will take place later tonight between the Auburn Tigers and Ole Miss Rebel Landshark Black Bears presented by Hotty and Toddy. Should be an entertaining game.

Personally, I would have chosen Rebel Alliance leader Admiral Ackbar as the school's mascot. He would have fit perfectly into the theme of this game ("IT'S A TRAP!").

As usual, we'll be blogging as the game gets closer with any pertinent information. If you have checked out my game advance, click here to do so. It's about Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who has been a Cam Newton-lite this year.

You can also follow the blog on Twitter for quick information and in-game musings. Tweet at me if you've got any questions. I usually check often throughout the game.

Here's some pre-game minutia you might care to know:

• Ole Miss has requested to wear white uniforms, which means Auburn will be in its usual home blue. But the Rebels are still calling for fans to wear blue to the game. This is weird, but it is true.

• Auburn leads the series 25-9.

• Auburn had won seven straight games in Oxford before Mississippi won in 2008.

• The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 SEC) are No. 1 in the BCS rankings for the first time in school history.
• Auburn is ranked third in the Associated Press and coaches polls, its highest ranking since No. 2 in 2006.

• The Tigers are the only team in the AP Top 25 that has four wins against ranked teams. Only Wisconsin has beaten as many as two.

• Auburn is fourth nationally in rushing offense (303.3 ypg), 10th in total offense (486.8 ypg) and 11th in scoring offense (38.6 ppg).

• Ole Miss has allowed 32.0 point per game, 12th in the SEC.

• Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who leads the SEC with 1,077 rushing yards, is the only player in school history to rush for at least 170 yards in four straight SEC games.
• Newton leads the nation with 14 rushing touchdowns and 27 combined passing and rushing touchdowns.

• Ole Miss averages 211.1 rushing yards per game, third in the league. But Auburn has been stingy against the run. The Tigers are third in the league in rushing defense, allowing 103.4 yards a game.

• Auburn has allowed 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime this season.

• Tigers DT Nick Fairley leads the SEC and is third nationally with 17 tackles for loss. Auburn is 14th nationally as a team, averaging 7.5 tackles for loss per game.

• The Rebels are 0-6 all-time against the nation’s top team.

• Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has five wins against teams ranked in the top five, including a 50-48 triple-overtime victory at No. 1 LSU while with Arkansas in 2007. In all five games, Nutt’s team was unranked.

• Rebels QB Masoli is one of four quarterbacks nationally to average at least 50 rushing yards and 180 passing yards per game. He's averaged 57.1 rushing yards and 180.0 passing yards per game this year.

• Ole Miss has allowed seven sacks this year, fewest in the SEC. It ranks 17th nationally.

• The line is Auburn by 7.
  

UPDATE, 2:18 p.m.: Ole Miss has just passed out 3D glasses at every press box seat. It appears there are also 3D glasses on every seat in the stadium. On the back: "Comin' at ya at the end of the first half!" I'm intrigued.

UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: No sign of LB Daren Bates (shoulder) or CB T'Sharvan Bell (hamstring) in the pre-game prayer circle. Judging by his tweets, Bates did not make the trip. Bell I don't know about.

UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: Apparently Ole Miss has gone with red uniforms today, not white. Not sure why it was imperative that Auburn wear blue. Maybe it's an election thing: blue vs. red.

UPDATE, 4:09 p.m.: Bates and Bell aren't in the pre-game stretching. Looks like they're not here.

UPDATE, 4:49 p.m.: Lineup changes: Jonathan Evans will start at OLB in place of Bates. Mike Dyer will start instead of Mario Fannin.

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m.: And the great uniform debate is over. Ole Miss is wearing all-gray to honor the 1960 national championship team. According to a sheet passed out, it is "believed to be the first time the Ole Miss football team has worn a jersey that was not red, white or blue."

The blog didn't fare so well at the craps tables in Tunica, Miss.. But before we lost our shirt, we filed this game advance about Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and how Auburn will have a tall task trying to contain him tonight. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn’s defense is well aware of the danger a dual-threat quarterback can present. It sees one of the best in practice every day.

That doesn’t make tonight’s matchup against Ole Miss' Jeremiah Masoli any easier.

The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 SEC) will try to keep their No. 1 Bowl Championship Series ranking at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium by corralling Masoli, a smaller but still-dangerous version of Cam Newton.

“He’s the most athletic quarterback we’ve faced,” Auburn safeties coach Tommy Thigpen said.

Although the Rebels (3-4, 1-3 SEC) have struggled to win this year, it can’t be pinned on Masoli.

The 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior has thrown for 1,260 yards and 10 touchdowns and has added another 400 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in his first year at Ole Miss.

Read the full thing here. And follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook.

AUBURN, Ala. — As Onterio McCalebb raced down the field on his 70-yard, game-winning touchdown run against LSU, Auburn’s wide receivers picked themselves up off the ground behind the play, satisfied with the role they had in it.

Emory Blake chipped a linebacker, Kodi Burns picked up a cornerback while Terrell Zachery buried another 15 yards downfield, springing McCalebb to the perimeter, virtually untouched.

“We knew we were a big part of that play and we made that play spring like it did,” Blake said. “We take a lot of pride in blocking on the perimeter.”

The offensive line has gotten the bulk of credit for the Tigers’ rushing success, and rightfully so, but the blocking by Auburn’s wide receivers has played a major role in helping the team turn itself into a rushing juggernaut.

“The guys have bought in,” Auburn wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said. “They’re doing a great job. And they understand with the backs and the quarterback we have, if you get them on the perimeter, they have the chance to score.”

I put together a video from Wednesday's interview with assistant coaches. It's got wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor, offensive line coach Jeff Grimes and safeties coach Tommy Thigpen. Enjoy.

And join Thursday's live chat at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik didn’t say whether or not injured linebacker Daren Bates would play at Ole Miss or not. But it doesn’t sound promising.

Chizik said Bates, who missed the second half against LSU after injuring his right shoulder with an awkward fall, has done “not much” at practice this week.

The sophomore was seen yesterday with his right arm in a sling.

“We’re continuing to obviously try to get him healthy,” Chizik said.

Bates, a converted safety, is third on the team with 40 tackles. He is from Memphis but played his senior year at Olive Branch (Miss.) High School, which is a little more than an hour from Ole Miss’ Oxford campus.

“He’ll be disappointed if he misses any games,” Chizik said. “He’s a competitor and he loves to play. So we’ll just kind of keep monitoring that.”

Sophomore Jonathan Evans (strong-side) and junior Eltoro Freeman (weak-side) are potential replacements for Bates as Auburn’s third linebacker. Evans had three tackles last week, getting in on part of a TFL. Freeman didn’t make a tackle in limited playing time.

Senior Craig Stevens can play both the weak- and strong-side positions, giving the Tigers flexibility in their lineup.

“It’s almost been a three-man rotation,” Chizik said.

Follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook. And join Thursday's live chat at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. I'll have a link up tomorrow.

Here are some more notes and quotes from Wednesday's interviews:

• Chizik said cornerback T’Sharvan Bell (hamstring) will be a gametime decision. Bell didn’t dress out last week.

• Auburn faced bad field position all afternoon against LSU, pinned inside its own 2-yard line by three different punts. Wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said there was only one occasion when punt returner Quindarius Carr should have fielded the ball. “He shouldn’t have caught any of them but the first one,” Taylor said. “We went punt safe and he was told the most important thing was to field it and we have to have the ball at the end of that play.”

• Carr, who is averaging 6.8 yards per return this year, eighth in the SEC, didn’t field a single punt against LSU. Taylor’s rule of thumb? “Anything that hits inside the 10, he’s told not to catch,” he said.

• Auburn stuck with two safeties in its base defense for all of the LSU game: Zac Etheridge was in his usual starting spot, while Mike McNeil played exclusively in place of the injured Aairon Savage. McNeil finished with five tackles. “He did a pretty good job last week playing with a lot more confidence,” safeties coach Tommy Thigpen said. “With playing so much more now he has stepped up his play. He’s in there in the morning, looking at tape and when you come back there in the afternoon, he’s asking all the right questions, taking notes.”

• Walk-on Ikeem Means, the next safety on the depth chart, plays on the nickel package. Thigpen realizes the need to get the backups up to speed on the regular defense. “They are one play away,” he said. “Savage’s was just a freak (injury). He got hit from behind, got clipped, and in one play he was done. It could happen to Zac. It could happen to Mike. So my challenge to all of them is to be ready when your number is called.”

• Thigpen said Savage is doing well after having surgery for a broken bone in his right ankle. “What we keep telling him is he might be back before the Alabama game,” Thigpen said. “Definitely for the bowl game.”

• Count Thigpen as someone incredibly impressed by the ability of Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. "He’s the most athletic quarterback we’ve faced," Thigpen said. "We thought (Jordan) Jefferson last week was pretty good as far as escaping the pocket and getting out in the open. But (Masoli) is the best I’ve seen as far as a guy who can avoid the sacks, fake like he’s going to throw it and tuck it down and run it. Believe it or not, he’s probably more accurate when he’s on the run than when he’s in the pocket.”

• Masoli can draw defenses in with his running. "What usually happens, when he gets out one time for a 25-yard gain, guys drop shorter and all of sudden the ball gets thrown behind you," Thigpen said. "Sometimes just looking at it you can get mesmerized and the next thing you know there are two or three receivers behind you. So you’ve got to keep your focus on making sure you don’t stare at the quarterback so those guys don’t come up. He does a tremendous job of getting out and taking something that looks like it’s going to be a four or five-yard gain and the next thing you know it’s 45 yards. So we’ve just got to try and bottle him up best way we can.”

• Offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said his team will have its work cut for itself with Ole Miss' defensive tackles, led by Jerrell Powe. "They do present a challenge because they’ve got several guys in there who can play; and they do a good job of rotating guys in," Grimes said. "They play hard. They’re not just big guys who fill a gap and don’t make plays. They make plays. They get off of blocks. There are some guys who are just big and eat up blocks and let the linebackers make plays. These guys aren’t that way. They’re agile, too, and play hard."

• Grimes liked the 440 rushing yards Auburn had against LSU, but he was extremely satisfied with how the Tigers did it. "But there is something different about lining up and saying, 'Here we come and we’re going to keep on coming until you stop it,'" he said. "There’s something very enjoyable about that."

• Auburn hasn't had a bye week, which has led to the typical bumps and bruises at this time of year. Grimes said he hasn't seen it affecting anybody, though. "I think when you’re winning and you’re able to have some success, it’s a whole lot easier," he said.

• Nor does he think the Tigers will have a problem with motivation now that they are the No. 1 team in the BCS rankings. "We’re not in a position that some other teams have been in in past years where they’ve been up in the hunt every year," he said. "This is a bunch of guys who have to fight and scratch and claw and go through a lot of ugly parts to get to this point. I think, and I hope, they appreciate it and they’re not going to grow complacent and give in because they’ve been to that other place of disappointment. Now, they have a chance to really do something."

• Trooper said it starts with the head coach: "He really is on top of it. Even with things that happen to other teams, he’ll cut the tape off, or if something happens to another conference team or one that may be in the top five or No. 1, he’ll show it to our team to make them see, ‘Here are the different things that have happened. Just like it happened to them – if you allow it to – it can happen to you.’ I think he does a great job because they’re visual learners. They can see it happening to a team they respect and think, ‘Whoa. This team was able to beat them and we better be on our P’s and Q’s.’"

• LOTS of stuff about Auburn's wide receivers blocking, which I think I'll turn into a story for Friday's paper. So I'll hold most of that material for then, but here's a sample of how Taylor makes it an emphasis during practice: "If you wait until after practice, or try to do it pre-practice, it’s not in the body of practice, so it’s not as important in their mind," he said. "I always try to make time in individual periods to start off with blocking. The guys have bought in."

• Auburn occasionally catches a movie on Friday nights before being sequestered in the hotel room in Montgomery. One reporter made the assumption that the players don't usually go watch something like "The Bridges of Madison County," quickly realizing how dated the reference was. "Hasn't that passed by?" Chizik said, playing along. "That's been a while. But when we go to the movies, we give them options."

• And lastly, the word is that Ole Miss will wear white on Saturday and has asked Auburn to wear its blue jerseys, according to AuburnUndercover.com.
  

Light night for interviews, so I stuck with offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn for the entirety of this one. Enjoy.

Mario Fannin jogged off the field against LSU shortly after his third quarter fumble and made a bee-line toward Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

The running back’s message? “Give me another chance. Don’t give up on me.”

“That’s always good to hear,” Malzahn said.

Auburn is trying to stick with the senior, who has lost three fumbles this year and was fortunate not to lose another on a goal line run against Arkansas that was ruled a touchdown.

Past fumbles could be partially blamed on a shoulder injury that’s now better. Not the one Saturday.

Fannin’s latest came at a crucial juncture against LSU, near midfield after Auburn had worked itself out of bad field position.

“Our offense’s goal each week is to not turn the ball over,” Malzahn said. “He’s got to find a way to hold on to the ball and to help us win.”

Despite the fumble, the Tigers went back to Fannin for a third-down carry late in the game.
Fannin ranks fourth on the team in rushing yards (253), third in receptions (13) and fourth in receiving yards (142).

“We need Mario to win,” head coach Gene Chizik said. “There’s no question about that.”

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Then read these other notes from (the few) late interviews that we had tonight:

• Auburn practiced in shorts and shoulder pads Tuesday, which is usually the most physical day of work it has during the week. “We hadn’t had an off week,” Malzahn said. “We still got after it a little bit. Last week was a very physical game, and we’re going to have another physical game. We just tried to take a little bit of the beating off of them.”

• "It was a long grind, especially the last two weeks with two big games," TE Philip Lutzenkirchen said. "I think coach Chizik realized that and we needed a little bit of a break. It didn’t harm our intensity or our focus."

• More praise for RB Eric Smith from Malzahn, who agreed with Chizik's assessment that the junior hadn't played up to his potential until just recently. "Eric is a real smart, savvy player," Malzahn said. "He understands the game, he can make adjustments real well. He does a lot of the dirty work for us. Doesn't get the ball, but does a lot of things the casual observer, you know, it kind of goes unnoticed. But he really is very valuable to us."

• A lot of talk out there about how some opponent is going to spring some new, exotic defense on Auburn that it hasn't seen, but Malzahn said the Tigers have seen pretty much everything. "We've seen blitz, we've seen man, we've seen zone, a lot of different things," he said. "What's good at this point is we've seen things so we can adjust if that happens. Some teams have done just a little bit of everything. We have veteran guys and that's been a really big positive this year. Our guys understand more of what their responsibilities are and what the defense is giving us. They're able to come back and give us some good information and be able to adjust a lot of times on their own out there."

• Malzahn's assessment of Ole Miss' defense: "They can run. They really run to the ball well, they gang tackle. Their interior defensive linemen are extremely talented, physical and fast. They do a good job. They do a good job with their scheme."

• RB Mike Dyer has made strides in the non-running parts of his game. Malzahn said he's understanding protections and checkdowns more now. "Obviously, he's very talented with the ball in his hands, but he's becoming a complete back," Malzahn said. "That comes with time. He's had enough reps. He's not a freshman anymore. I feel like he's getting in a comfort zone as far as the other things he has to do without the ball."

• Malzahn likes his offenses to be split about evenly running and throwing the ball. But Auburn has skewed much more to the running side this year. The Tigers have a 72/28 split in favor of rushing plays, with 62 percent of their yards coming on the ground. "We could throw it a lot more," Malzahn said. "Our receivers, we have a lot of confidence in those guys. We have a lot of confidence in Cam in throwing the football. It's just a matter of when you're running it effectively we'd like to keep running it as long as we're successful doing it. There will be a game where we'll need to rely on the pass. We work on the pass all the time."

• The lean toward running the ball means a lot more blocking for receivers. "I wouldn’t say boring," wide receiver Emory Blake said. "Every wide receiver wants to catch the ball. That’s what wide receivers do. But right now, running the ball is helping us win games and that’s the most important thing, and we’re going to block our butt off on the perimeter no matter what, so blocking on the perimeter is a big part and that helped us win last week."

• Blake took a lot of pride in seeing Onterio McCalebb (who he called, O-Dog) break the game-winning touchdowns. "I remember turning to T-Zach and we celebrated together because we knew we were a big part of that play and we made that play spring like it did," he said. "It feels good, and we take a lot of pride in blocking on the perimeter."

• Blake on the team's No. 1 BCS rankings:"It feels kind of weird right now, because you’re there, but you’re not really there for good. We know we’ve got to keep playing.”

• Lutzenkirchen on a No. 1 team losing the last three weeks: "It’s just one of those things we realize the No. 1 team has gone down and it’s on our mind just for the fact we’re not going to let it happen to us."

I put together a video from today's interviews. It's got quarterback Cam Newton (from a distance, unfortunately), right guard Byron Isom and left tackle Lee Ziemba. Enjoy.

I'll be back with more later.

It's been less than a year since quarterback Cam Newton was at Blinn Community College, trying to get his once-promising career back on track.

With all the Heisman buzz surrounding him now that he's helped lead Auburn to an 8-0 start and the No. 1 spot in the BCS rankings, he's having a hard time believing it's all true.

"Every morning I try and pinch myself because I’m in a dream right now," he said. "I can’t even imagine."

Newton can't walk through campus without getting all sorts of attention, a far cry from his time at Blinn in Brenham, Texas.

"The times at Blinn where if I go to Walmart or if I go get some groceries, I would just look at that as if I was just a regular citizen," he said. "Now I can’t even go anywhere that someone doesn’t recognize me.

"That can either be a good thing or a bad thing in some instances, but I never let that get to me or interfere with me as a person because that doesn’t make me or break
me.”

Newton loves the vibe on around town.

"When you walk on campus, you can just feel the love of every single one," he said. "Whether it’s taking a picture or saying ‘War Eagle’ going to class, there is something just special about this campus that I really like and really admire about everybody on this campus. They make you feel special and there is more to it than just football. It’s something bigger.”

As for the official website the school created for him on the athletics page, Newton has seen it.

"I got a chance to glance on it but somehow or another I can’t look at it for real on my phone," he said. "Somebody put some thought into it. I felt kind of good because they did a better job than I could’ve done. It’s bigger than I ever thought it could be."

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Here are some more notes and quotes from the early round of interviews:

• It's no secret Auburn will be a target now that it has a No. 1 before its name in the BCS rankings. "I don’t think there’s any question," Chizik said. "Everybody reads it, everybody sees it and everybody hears it. We fully expect to get everybody’s best shot, not that we didn’t four weeks ago. I think that just simply from the media that surrounds the reality of it, you continue to get everybody’s best shot and we fully expect that. That’s what makes it fun.”

• LT Lee Ziemba said at this point, losing doesn't even enter Auburn's mind. "You don’t think about losing at all. You think about what you can do to win the next game, "he said. "And that’s it. You don’t think about down the road. You can’t. You’ve got to think about one game at a time. That’s how we’ve got here, and that’s how we’ve got to continue."

• Three straight No. 1 teams have lost. Auburn would like to end that streak. "If we do our job, you can cut that statistic out," Newton said. "We feel that our coaches do an excellent job in preparing us for our game so we won’t have the coaches to blame because they’re going to do their job. It’s going to be up to us as players to be able to come in and know their weaknesses and know what they’re good at and be able to attack them from every single direction.”

• Five weeks after challenging the group to be more physical, Chizik followed up on his comments during the o-line's position meeting last Tuesday. "I went in there and told them, for us to win, you have to continue to improve, and you’re much better than you were a month ago, but you’re what makes it go," Chizik said. "So that’s where it starts."

• Chizik was complimentary of the line's play. Since the public challenge, the Tigers have rushed for 300 or more yards in all four of its SEC games, including 440 last Saturday against LSU, the league's top rushing defense. "Coach Chizik, for those who don't know, he doesn't toss around compliments very often," Ziemba said. "Very rarely. For him to come into our meeting and steal five minutes and tell us how good of a job we're doing meant the world to me and to the rest of the guys."

• What was his new message? "Little guys will follow the big guys," Ziemba said. "So it just starts with us."

• Chizik thinks Ole Miss QB Jeremiah Masoli is similar to Newton in some ways. "Well I think they both can give you a lot of problems just by their abilities to make things happen maybe when something isn’t necessarily there," he said. "He brings definitely a dimension to the team that’s two-fold, and his athletic ability is the reason he’s able to do those things."

• Newton said he hasn't been clocked in the 40-yard dash at Auburn. "I wouldn’t consider myself fast, I just consider myself not being able to get caught," he said. "I just don’t want to get caught because that’s going to be the biggest topic on the sideline, ‘Man you got caught.’ I just hate getting caught in the open field. That would be shameful of me.”

• It's been eight straight weeks for Auburn, with three more on the schedule before a bye. "(Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn) used to always say, ‘Embrace the grind,'" Newton said. "This was leading upon two-a-days and he used to always say ‘The moment can never be too big for an athlete to be able to perform.’ There are countless quotes that ol’ Gus Malzahn has in his vernacular. He just keeps spitting them out back to back. He is a wise guy, and just being around him can make you a wise person. He’s just saying that just because he was always saying ‘Great teams embrace the grind.’ You just can’t come out here and expect on Saturday just to practice or play well because it starts on the first day or whenever the installation is for the next team, and you have to love that.”

• Newton said his play hasn't been perfect. "There are a lot of things that I get away with that a lot of people really don’t see, and I just can’t get lax in my ability to get myself out of trouble," he said. "I still have to make the reads and whatnot."

• Ziemba was bummed he didn't get into the play where Auburn moved Mike Dyer in the pile for about five yards after the play appeared done. "I'm kind of ashamed of this," he said. "I blocked my backer pretty good. And then I see the pile behind me and I just kind of watched it, because I really couldn't do anything. I couldn't grab the pile and pull it forward. And I didn't want to get a personal foul and make it all for naught, so I kind of sat there and watched everybody else get involved."

• At least Ziemba's guy didn't get in the play. "Yeah, he didn't get involved either," he said. "That's the main part of it."

• Ziemba admitted he's not the best trash talker. "Back when I was a freshman, I remember Tyronne Green – he plays for the Chargers – he would have to back me up because I’d get all tongue-twisted," he said. "I’m not good at talking crap, talking smack. I would just be like kind of ‘Uh, yeah, shut up.’ And he’d have to come in there and like help me out with some of that and back me up. I remember that kind of stuff. And all the guys make fun of me because I’m not very good at talking smack. I’ve improved, I think. I’ve got some go-to lines.”

• It's another part of his game Ziemba has honed. "I’ve gotten a lot better since then," he said with a laugh. "A lot better, I’d have to say. The guys don’t think so, but I do.”

• Who's the best trash talker on the team? "I don’t know," Ziemba said. "Looks like our defense does a lot of it."

• One more Newton tale from Blinn. He remembered the spring of 2009, when Blinn coach Brad Franchione made the team paint the stadium. "And it wasn’t like the paint brushes you get at Home Depot, these were like the sample ones," he said. "You had to keep dipping it like three times. It was bad."

• Newton said it's part of what kept him humble while at Blinn. "I can revert back to that and remember where I came from," he said. "It was during the time that I had just gotten there maybe a month, month and a half and I was like, ‘Man, a couple of months ago I was drinking Gatorade looking at NFL prospects. Now I’m looking at guys that aren’t even in the same league as my little brother.’ I still keep up with those guys to this day and they are genuine guys."

• Despite Mario Fannin's fumbling problems, Chizik said the Tigers aren't giving up onthe running back. "We’re right there with him," Chizik said. "We need Mario to win. There’s no question about that. We’re right there with him. I could turn on the film and show you a lot of guys that have made mistakes throughout the games that no one did notice, but they were huge. That’s our whole team. We’ve all made those mistakes and we’re sticking with our guys.”

• Chizik said Auburn stresses ball security as much as it can. "Coach (Curtis) Luper continues to work it with all the running backs all the time from the time they get out there and stretch to the time they leave the field," Chizik said. "Again, it’s just something we’ll continue to stress andhopefully we’ll have a better result."

• Although Quindarius Carr hasn't done much in the punting game, Chizik doesn't anticipate making any major changes back there.

• Lots of feel good stuff about Zac Etheridge nearly a year after his scary neck injury a year ago against Ole Miss. "He’s blessed," Chizik said. "A year ago now was a very hard time for everybody, for him, for his family, for our team. Just the fact that he’s sitting here playing in this game is amazing. I’m in amazement when I really step back and think about that day. He’s very blessed, he knows he is and it’s just going to be somewhat of a little bit of an emotional deal for him possibly. I don’t know, we haven’t really talked about it. I know he knows how lucky he is, and I’m sure he’s not going to forget that."

• Ole Miss' Jesse Grandy had an 82-yard kick return for a touchdown last year against Auburn. Chizik is well aware. "When you have somebody that good at what they do, that’s where it really becomes a huge point of emphasis for us for all of our coverage units," he said. "I think it’s going to be a huge special teams game."

• Another player who got challenged a couple weeks ago? RB Eric Smith. "A couple of weeks ago I didn’t think he was playing near up to the potential that he should be," Chizik said. "And we challenged him a couple of weeks ago and I think we’ve seen a significant change in the way he’s played."

• Chizik likes Smith because "he does dirty work. He knows that’s his job. It’s not always glamorous or glorious, but it’s what we have to do to be successful offensively with what his role is in our run game and in our protections."

• Chizik was asked if he is enjoying this moment (presumably being undefeated and No. 1 in the BCS) because it doesn't happen to often. "I enjoy every day I come here," he said. "Today is no different to me than a month ago. Not one bit. I did the same things this morning I did one month ago. I’ll do the same things this afternoon I did eight weeks ago. I’ll do the same thing tonight I did seven weeks ago. I’m just blessed to be able to get up every day and come to work here. Other than that, nothing’s changed."

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.

Today's newspaper story is about defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who is going to get some national award consideration himself at the end of the season: