Grant Dayton gave up one run in seven strong innings as Auburn won the finale of a weekend series against No. 23 Alabama on Sunday 7-1.

I wrote a story for today's newspaper about DT Mike Blanc, who is of Haitian descent. Naturally, January's earthquake in Haiti hit close to home for the senior. Here's how the story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — For days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti in January, Mike Blanc waited anxiously for word from his father.

Blanc, a senior defensive tackle for Auburn, was born in South Florida, but his heritage is in Haiti. His mother left the island country around 30 years ago, and his father lives in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, not far from the epicenter of the quake.

The damage to the impoverished country was staggering. The Haitian government estimated more than 200,000 died with many thousands more injured. Close to a million people were left homeless in the aftermath of one of the most destructive natural disasters in recent memory.

“During that time, it was sad,” Blanc said. “Something like that that you have no total control of, you’ve just got to pray and trust in God and that’s what I did.”

A three-run seventh lifted No. 23 Alabama to a 6-5 victory against Auburn in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, giving the Crimson Tide wins in the first two games of the weekend series.

AUBURN, Ala. -- Wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis made some plays in Saturday's scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium but was seen on crutches later in the day after suffering what is believed to be a knee injury, according to the Auburn Sports Blog. The severity is unknown.

Nevertheless, the sophomore wide receiver appears to be getting back in the staff’s good graces.

“He’s worked his way back out of the doghouse and he’s on the field, and that’s been exciting to see,” wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said. “Because you want to see a kid bounce back. He’s come light years from where he was last year.”

Pierre-Louis missed all of 2008 after suffering a knee injury on the opening kickoff of the season.

He returned last spring but struggled to gain a foothold with the new staff. He briefly left the team to deal with personal issues last August and did not return to the field until the Tennessee game as a punt returner.

He finished the year with 11 punt returns for a 4.5-yard average but didn’t catch a single pass.

Although the condition of Pierre-Louis’ knee remains something to monitor, Taylor has been encouraged by what he’s seen this spring from the diminutive receiver, especially from a blocking standpoint.

“I’d rather say ‘Whoa,’ than ‘Sic ’em,’” Taylor said. “And he’s one that you have to pull back and not throw in there.”

Some other notes and quotes from Saturday's scrimmage:

• Taylor also said Quindarius Carr made a big catch, only to commit a "boneheaded" penalty by jumping offsides right afterward.

• As I wrote earlier, the quarterback field appears as though it will be narrowed soon. That said, the quarterbacks remain in the dark about when the race will be narrowed, even though they know it’s coming. “You’ve got to make do when you’re in there,” Cam Newton said. “I’m really not even worried about it. I’m really just trying to go out there and prove to my team — prove to myself, first and foremost — that I’m capable of running this offense.”

• Newton led the most drives of the day and threw a touchdown pass, although he lost a fumble when Antoine Carter knocked it out of his hands.

• Newton is still adjusting to the tempo of the offense. "Oh man, (offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's) going to get after it. That's probably one of the hardest things to adjust to, when you make a big play you kind of want to jog, jog, jog. But not with Malzahn. Coach Malzahn wants you to get down there and run the next play. You kind of see it from the defense, how they were lagging and they were tired. "

• Interesting comment here by Newton that speaks well of Auburn's skill players: "I'm just trying to get it into the playmakers' hands. The one thing about this team right here, we've got a lot of playmakers. The teams that I'm used to being on, I have to make the plays. I'm lucky to be on this team because the guys make it real easy for me."

• Senior left guard Bart Eddins, who has battled knee injuries his entire career, was on crutches and had one of his knees in a brace Saturday. Eddins had been working with the first team in place of projected starter Mike Berry, who is not participating in spring drills after undergoing offseason knee surgery.

• Neil Caudle sounds confident about his ability to run the offense, especially since he's been through this process, with this coaching staff, before. "I know which reads to make, where to line everybody up and what everybody's supposed to do," he said. "That makes the game slow down a lot. It's not even close to where we were last year. Last year at this time, we were lost. We didn't know exactly what we're doing. This year we know what to do and we can go out there and make plays. Go faster, get more snaps. When you go faster, you don't have to worry about putting guys in certain places. You worry about what you're doing and you just go out there and do it."

• Caudle said he thinks Auburn will get the ball to sophomore WR Emory Blake more this year. "He's got tremendous talent," Caudle said. "It's fun to get the ball in his hands, because you know he can score whenever he gets the ball." Blake, true to form, caught a touchdown pass Saturday.

• This is not coming from a coach, but you get the sense that Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley will be the two quarterbacks who's reps will be lowered in upcoming weeks. Moseley commented Saturday about adjusting to the pace of a live scrimmage vs. his work on the scout team last year. "I don't think you ever get completely used to the pace," he said. "Even if you're running as max as you can, he's still telling you to run it, run it. It's definitely something to adjust to, especially coming from scout team, you know, trying to get the defense a look to getting out there and running the plays as fast as possible, it's a huge change and it's something I'm steadily getting used to today."

• Moseley led one long drive Saturday and was proud of the fact that he didn't turn the ball over at all.

• A number of players rotated in at left guard in Eddins’ absence, with sophomore John Sullen getting some time with the ones. Sullen started one game last year as a true freshman. Andrew Parmer, Jared Cooper and Blake Burgess also worked at left guard in the scrimmage. “At that position, we’ve got to continue to develop some depth,” head coach Gene Chizik said.

• From the sounds of it, the offense wore the defense down with its tempo. Malzahn said the pace of the offense was "better than probably any time it was last year." Some defenders took notes. "The tempo was fast. It was off the charts, but that's what we expect from a Malzahn offense," linebacker Josh Bynes said. "You don't get that really in the SEC. But defensively we need to get better, even when we're tired, our body language shows. We've got to get better at open field tackling and getting off blocks and making plays, things like that."

Here's a video from today's round of interviews. It's got head coach Gene Chizik, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, quarterbacks Cam Newton and Neil Caudle and wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor answering questions following Auburn's first full scrimmage of the spring.

Enjoy.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn thinks he's seen enough out of his quarterbacks to start narrowing down the four-man field.

"There's a good chance," he said after Saturday's scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium. "That was the plan. In my mind there are some things that stood out and we'll be able to watch the film a little bit and we'll be able to answer that question a little more thorough. But that is the plan."

The Tigers' four quarterbacks -- Cam Newton, Neil Caudle, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley -- had been splitting reps evenly throughout the spring.

Saturday, Malzahn put some quarterbacks in more than others, in order to let them get a rhythm as the Tigers increased the tempo of their scrimmage.

Malzahn declined to go into specifics of who might get elevated in the rotation or when that decision might come, but he said it's coming soon.

"We're going to watch the film and we're going to have some real good information to start putting the pieces of the puzzle in place," Malzahn said.

Here are some other quick notes from today's closed scrimmage:

• None of the quarterbacks said they had a feel for where they stand in the race, nor do they know when the field will be whittled.

• Newton threw a touchdown pass. He didn't have an interception but fumbled the ball. Antoine Carter knocked it out.

• Emory Blake caught a touchdown pass.

• Bart Eddins was on crutches and had a wrap on his knee. With Mike Berry also out for the spring, Auburn worked a variety of players at left guard Saturday, including Andrew Parmer, Jared Cooper, Blake Burgess and John Sullen. "That's just kind of where we're at," head coach Gene Chizik said.

• Chizik said the run defense was improved Saturday. That was a problem area last week during practice at the stadium. "Defensively, up the gut and things like that, we were getting in the gaps, but outside on the perimeter, we have to get better at that," linebacker Josh Bynes said.

• He said the team might have a more firm depth chart in the coming weeks. It all depends on how things look to him on film.

• Wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said Philip Pierre-Louis had a good day, and that the receiver has worked his way out of the "doghouse."

I'll have some more and hopefully a video in a little bit.

I wrote a story for today's newspaper about Nosa Eguae and Dee Ford. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn defensive linemen Nosa Eguae and Dee Ford had very different experiences during their first year on the Plains.

The former watched from the sidelines, his foot in a protective boot most of the season; the latter was thrown into the fire, inexperienced and undersized.

The Tigers are counting on much more in year two, hoping the duo can provide much-needed depth at defensive end, a position weakened by the graduation of SEC sacks leader Antonio Coleman.

“We just have to get them better even faster,” Auburn defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. “I feel good about them right now.”

AUBURN, Ala. — A little less than a year after suffering a broken leg that cost him all of last season, Auburn safety Mike McNeil is still not fully recovered.

“I think Mike is a work in progress still,” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik conceded Friday, despite declaring McNeil, for all intents and purposes, close to 100 percent.

McNeil, a junior expected to be in the mix for a starting safety spot along with Aairon Savage and Zac Etheridge, broke his leg during a scrimmage at this time last year.

At the time, coaches were pleased that the prognosis was a “clean break” of McNeil’s leg and not ligament damage to his knee. But McNeil never got on the field last year, despite returning to the practice field late in the season.

This spring, despite participating fully in all of Auburn’s 11-on-11 and contact drills, McNeil hasn’t quite gotten back to where he was.

“He’s still struggling a little bit with the leg, but there are days when he’s real fresh and he shows a lot of burst,” safeties coach Tommy Thigpen said.

McNeil still has a noticeable limp, which becomes more evident in the latter part of practices when he’s fatigued, Thigpen said. Nevertheless, Thigpen expects McNeil to be completely ready by the time next season starts.

“I think it’s right on track,” Thigpen said. “Again, we’ve got so much time between now and game day. I think every day that he’s out there, he gains more and more confidence on it. ... As he keeps running and keeps running, it’s a fatigue thing more than anything else. So for him, he’s just got to learn how to push through it and get himself mentally tough.”

Some more notes and quotes from Friday's practice:

• For the second time this spring, Thigpen praised the play of Ikeem Means, a walk-on safety from Wetumpka, Ala. “He probably reminds me of (Daren) Bates, except with a little more burst,” Thigpen said. The 6-foot, 204-pound sophomore played almost exclusively on special teams last season but has made plays on the regular defense this spring. Thigpen thinks today’s scrimmage will be a good measuring stick for Means. “It’ll be interesting, because if he does exactly what he’s been doing in practice and be able to execute, he’ll be competing for some starting time,” Thigpen said.

• There was a lot of talk today about Mike McNeil's recovery. Here's Thigpen's take on Savage as he comes back from an Achilles' injury: "Savo, the first day when we went out, there were a lot of question marks. Does he have a burst? Can he run? But now, in practice four or five, he's shown that. So I'm really pleased. Savo has a real good football IQ. He picks up on concepts as fast as Zac Etheridge . When guys are that way, if he can get himself in a position where he runs with burst and with speed and low pad level, I really believe that Savo will be able to help us."

• Thigpen has liked what he's seen in his group this spring. As mentioned earlier, Means is doing well. Thigpen said Drew Cole plays as hard as anybody on every play. It should be a better situation than the end of last year, when Auburn's starting safeties were a true freshman in Bates and a converted cornerback in Demond Washington. "It'll be a lot better than it was last year, considering last year we lost all those guys during the season, playing guys who have never played the position," Thigpen said. "You're mixing and matching, but it's better now, because you've got guys who actually play the position, understand the concepts, understand exactly what we're looking for as far as being able to transition from one coverage to the next."

• Chizik said no leader has emerged between junior college transfers Roszell Gayden and Brandon Mosley for the starting right tackle spot. "It’s a great competition," Chizik said. "It’s a great competition at that spot. They’re both really playing hard, they’re both really trying, they’re both really doing a great job. They’re both going to help us this year, I believe."

• Chizik, on the level of hitting this spring vs. last year: "I think the level of intensity, I like where we are now if you compare that to last year. I think our intensity level out there, our energy level is higher more consistently."

• Whoever loses out at right tackle won't necessarily just be a backup. "They’re both talented guys," Chizik said. "They could backup at guard. They could be at different places. We’re always going to try and find our seven best offensive linemen. Sometimes you have to tweak a guy and put a guy at guard or put a guy at tackle but you want your seven best players. You’d love to have 10 or 11 but right now we’re trying to get our best seven. Whoever is No. 6 or No. 7, they’re going to have to be able to play something else."

• Jessel Curry and Craig Sanders both graduated early from high school to enroll at Auburn in January. I'd like to get an interview with Sanders before I write a story on both of them, but Chizik said this about early high school enrollees Friday: "We embrace the guys that are willing to do that and want to do that. We don’t push anybody to do that. The more people that do that, the better for selfish reasons, for us. But we don’t push that issue. If that’s kind of where they are in their life and that’s what they want to do we would love for that to happen but we don’t push that. Those guys where already on track. Before we started recruiting them, that was their plan. A lot of young guys do have enough foresight a year or so in advance to be able to plan for that. We certainly think it helps."

• If you haven't yet, check out the video in the post below. It's got Mike Blanc talking about the Haiti earthquake in January. Blanc is of Haitian descent. He was born in South Florida (his mother moved to the United States 30 years ago), but his father and relatives still live in Haiti. The video is better for these quotes, but here they are typed out anyway:

(On the situation in Haiti)
"Oh yeah, man. My father currently lives there. A lot of my family and the thing about it, my family is from the area where it happened, the capital Port au Prince. So my dad was affected. We went like after the earthquake hit, we went three or four days without hearing a word from anybody, my father, anybody. During that time, it was like sad but I met with brother Chette (team chaplain Chette Williams) and Chette knew my situation. A lot of people were supporting me and I knew it was going to be OK. Something like that that you have no total control of, you've just got to pray and trust in God and that's what I did."

(How difficult was it watching the images on TV?)
"It was hurtful, man. Especially to see all those kids out there and just to see my mom, too, man. My mom was like really broken down into tears. Just to see how devastated my mom was and knowing I have family there too. It was just really tough. I know before the earthquake happened ... my family, when you're a family that comes from Haiti and you make it here to the United States, you do your best to help the family that's still there. My mom and I sent clothes, money and to see that happen...they were already in a position where they didn't have that much. Now this happened. It was a hard time."

(Have you ever been to Haiti?)
"I haven't been. My mom put me on the phone with my relatives. They're like 'Hey Mike, how are you doing? We're hearing all this stuff about you and we're waiting to see you.' I'm like 'I'm fittin' to come, I'm fittin' to come.' It really got harder when I got here because we don't get that much time. I was like 'Man.' My mom is getting my passport so I can visit my family down in Haiti."

(Do they know you play football?)
"Yeah, now. They know now. After disaster and everything, my dad was there and my dad is telling them 'My son is doing this, doing that, he's trying to make the family proud. So yeah, my family they know now."

I've put together a video from today's round of interviews. It starts with head coach Gene Chizik and safeties coach Tommy Thipgen answering questions after Auburn's sixth practice this spring.

It ends with defensive tackle Mike Blanc, who is of Haitian descent, talking about January's devastating earthquake in Haiti and how it affected his family.

Auburn plans to scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium tomorrow, with the intent of doing more 11-on-11 drills than it did in the same situation last week.

"We'll see how far we've progressed in seven days," head coach Gene Chizik said.

The Tigers will stretch and do some positional drills before spending the majority of time in 11-on-11 situations, with some special teams mixed in.

The practice could be important in narrowing the quarterback field. Four quarterbacks -- Cam Newton, Neil Caudle, Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley -- have split reps evenly the first six practices.

Auburn coaches want to whittle that list down, but they have not set a definitive timetable for doing so.

"I don't know if that's where we'll be," Chizik said. "We could be at that point. It strictly depends on how the scrimmage unfolds. Who produces. Who really shows flashes of what we're asking them to do versus who doesn't. And if we're to that point, then we can reduce it now, and if not, we'll continue on.

"Obviously the quicker that we can shave down the reps and shave down who's at 1, 2, 3, etc., the better, but we're in no rush to do that. We're going to do that when it fits."

Some other quick notes:

• Chizik acknowledged that safety Mike McNeil is still "a work in progress" as he works his way back from a broken leg suffered last spring in a scrimmage. McNeil has had a noticeable limp in practice and struggles physically sometimes in the latter part of practices, safeties coach Tommy Thipgen said.

• LG Bart Eddins is dealing with an injury right now. Not sure of the severity. "He's going to be OK," Chizik said. Eddins, a senior, has worked in place of Mike Berry, who is out this spring following offseason knee surgery.

• No leader has emerged in the battle for the right tackle job between Roszell Gayden and Brandon Mosley. Chizik said the team's goal is to identify it's best seven linemen to be ready for the season.

• Thigpen said sophomore walk-on Ikeem Means (Wetumpka, Ala.) continues to impress at safety this spring. He said if Means plays in the scrimmage as well as he has performed in practice, he could compete for some starting time. "He probably reminds me of (Daren) Bates, except with a little more burst," Thigpen said.
  

• We also talked to DT Mike Blanc, whose is of Haitian descent and whose father was there when an earthquake devastated the country in January. Blanc's father is all right, and Blanc, who didn't have contact with his father for several days, is in good spirits now. I'll have more on this in a full story I plan to write soon.

I'll be back with a full practice report later this afternoon.