Auburn doubled up Arkansas State tonight, 52-26. Here's how tomorrow's game story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Cam Newton's long-awaited return to the Southeastern Conference couldn't have gone much better.

Newton, who hadn't played in an SEC game since the 2008 opener for Florida, dabbled in a bit of everything in his unveiling Saturday night as No. 22 Auburn beat Arkansas State 52-26 in the season opener.

The junior college transfer dazzled a Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd of 83,441 with a big, accurate arm and nimble feet, accounting for 357 total yards and five touchdowns — three in the air and two on the ground.

"Being his first football game, I couldn't be prouder of what he did," Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said.

Newton showed all the abilities that made him the top-ranked junior college quarterback recruit last year, completing 9 of 14 passes for 186 yards and running 15 times for 171 more. He broke the school's 36-year-old single-game quarterback rushing record of 160, set by Phil Gargis against Georgia in 1974.

"He was a little bit more mobile this game than I've ever seen," Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes said. "You get him in practice, they blow the whistle real fast. To finally see them not blow the whistle and let him run, I think it was amazing today."

• What's the deal with Craig Stevens and Jonathon Mincy, you ask? They're suspended, although Chizik wouldn't just come out and say as much. "As I've said many times, we hold our guys to a certain standard of excellence," Chizik said. "And that's on the field, that's off the field. And if they're not living up to that certain standard right now, then I've got tough decisions that I have to make. ... As I said last year and I've said many times, as long as those guys are wearing the Auburn uniform, they're doing right. And if you see him again and he's dressed out in an Auburn uniform, he will have proved to us that he's lived up to our standards."

• If this sounds familiar, it's because he used the same line for Eric Smith and Byron Isom last year as well.

• No word on how long either will be out or whether they will be allowed to practice, although using last season's suspensions as a barometer. Smith missed one game. Isom missed two.

• Newton's 71-yard TD run in the third quarter? It was a busted play. "Onterio (McCalebb) was teasing me about it," Newton said, "saying 'I would have taken it for 71 yards.'"

• Not the best night for the defense in certain spots. Arkansas State gained 366 yards, 323 of which came through the air. Quarterback Ryan Aplin completed 28 of 42 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. "It was a little bit difficult with a new offensive coordinator, trying to figure out what he did at a different school versus what he would do now with different types of personnel," Chizik said. "That became a little challenging."

• There were some bright spots, though. Auburn held Arkansas State to 43 rushing yards on 35 carries. The Tigers had four sacks and limited the Red Wolves to 5-for-19 on third downs. "Today was the first game, and I'm not going to say it was first-game jitters," Bynes said, "but all I can say is we have some things we need to work on."

• Aairon Savage looked like he enjoyed being back on the field after missing two years with injuries. He had five of his seven tackles in the first quarter. "Every time he came off, I was like, 'Dang boy, you're around the ball,'" fellow safety Zac Etheridge said. "And he was just being Aairon like he was when he left. He ain't lost a step."

• The Tigers' leading tackler? Daren Bates with 10, seven of which were solo. That's a good sign for someone playing his first game at outside linebacker.

• Didn't notice this until now but I probably should have: DE Antoine "Hot" Carter had 3.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. Not a bad AC impersonation there.

• DT Nick Fairley added 1.5 sacks. Auburn had 10 TFLs on the night.

• Auburn's 608 yards were more than it had in every game last year except for Furman. "Coach Malzahn always tell us, when they try to stop something, do something different," wide receiver Darvin Adams said. "I think the coaches did a great job of calling the plays tonight."

• Weird split for the running backs. Michael Dyer had 14 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. McCalebb had nine carries for 76 yards. Meanwhile, supposed No. 1 back Mario Fannin had only three carries for 14 yards.

• During one five-minute span in the third quarter, Auburn fumbled three times. One was overturned by replay. Not what Chizik liked to see. "When you go into league play, we are not good enough to beat anybody doing that," he said.

• Quindarius Carr had a nice opener, catching two long passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also returned five punts for 47 yards, not dropping a single one. "I have not bought stock in him yet, but I am going to tell you it has gone up," Chizik said, misusing a stock market analogy. "I think he is growing up, and I think he is becoming a better football player."

• Your true freshman count? 12 — Dyer, HB Shaun Kitchens, WR Antonio Goodwin, DT Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter, DE Corey Lemonier and Craig Sanders, LB Jessel Curry, S Demetruce McNeal and Ryan Smith, CB Chris Davis and PK Cody Parkey.

• No Trovon Reed (bruised kneecap), although he was dressed and looked like he could have gone if Auburn needed him.

• We'll end things with a Chizik quote: "I think you enjoy tonight. No question, wins are hard to come by. You are going to look up at some scores tonight from some people and be shocked for sure of teams that you would think arguably would beat somebody and didn't. Every win is great. Every win is hard, but they do not have to be satisfied with the way that we won. Everybody ought to be happy that we won, but I don't think there is anybody in our locker room that was satisfied with how we won because everybody knows there is so much room for improvement. I think that is fair."

Cam Newton has been as good as advertised. The Auburn quarterback accounted for four touchdowns in the first half -- two passing, two rushing -- as the Tigers went to the locker room with a 35-16 lead.

Newton, a junior college transfer, dabbled in a bit of everything. He was accurate with his passes, going 6-for-9 for 100 yards. He had touchdown throws of 36 yards to Mario Fannin and 49 yards to Quindarius Carr.

But that's not all. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound signal caller ran nine times for 147 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went 71 yards.

Auburn had 377 yards of total offense in the first half.

It's not all good news. The Tigers, who are playing without linebacker Craig Stevens, gave up 231 yards to Arkansas State's up-tempo offense. ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin is 19-for-25 for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Linebacker Craig Stevens will not play in Auburn's season opener against Arkansas State.

The senior from Tallahassee, Fla., was scratched as a starter and was not with the team for pre-game warmups. No reason was given for his absence, although rumors have swirled the previous two days that he would not play in the opener.

Eltoro Freeman will start in his place at strong-side linebacker.

Stevens, a preseason second-team All-SEC pick who is on the watch list for the Butkus and Bronko Nagurski awards, had started 26 straight games.

The 6-foot-3, 229-pound outside linebacker was Auburn's co-defensive MVP last year after finishing second on the team with 95 tackles. He also had eight tackles for a loss and two sacks.

Freshman cornerback Jonathon Mincy, who is listed on the two-deep, is also out for undisclosed reasons.

It's a little more than two and a half hours until kickoff here at Jordan-Hare Stadium and I've arrived to a mostly empty press box. How early is it? There's not even any food out yet. What is this, communist Russia?

Anyway, this will be the spot for all pre-game observations and notes. If something important happens, I'll probably tweet it first. So be sure to follow the blog on Twitter. I'll be putting up a lot of pertinent info from the stat packet regarding this matchup and will make observations as the teams take the field for their pre-game routines.

This will probably be the best scenario to see if any of the rumors are true about some Auburn players regarding their status for this game. I'll keep you up to date with that.

Not much too different about the inside of the stadium other than a blue AU logo at midfield (Auburn had orange last year but wanted it to be more noticeable this year on TV and "pop" off the screen as Senior Associate AD for External Affairs Scott Carr told one of my colleagues.) It does look a little bolder, I will say that.

A couple other pre-game links in case you missed them:

• My season advance, which looks at how SEC coaches fare in Year 2.
• A blog post going position-by-position to see who has the edge between Auburn and Arkansas State.

Now for some pre-game minutia:

• Auburn is 90-25-2 in season openers. It is one victory behind Alabama for the most among SEC schools. The Tigers have won 19 of their last 24 to open the season, including four straight.

• Auburn is 14-0 against current members of the Sun Belt.

• The Tigers, who are No. 22 in the preseason AP poll, are ranked to start the season for seventh time in the last eight years.

• Auburn has a winning record in September in 26 of the last 28 seasons.

• The Tigers are 19-4 in night games since 2000.

• That stat that keeps on ticking: Auburn has won 56 straight games when scoring 30 or more points in a game. That dates back to a 56-49 four-overtime loss to Georgia in 1996.

• This was incorrect in my capsule today, so I'll fix it here: 'Auburn’s offensive line, which features seniors Lee Ziemba, Mike Berry, Ryan Pugh and Byron Isom, has combined for 108 career starts, second most in the SEC.

• Arkansas State is 1-46-3 all-time against current members of the SEC. The lone victory was a 10-0 game against Ole Miss in 1915.

• The Red Wolves were picked to finish third in the Sun Belt by the coaches.

• Ninth-year Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts is 0-10 against Top 25 opponents.

• The average margin of defeat is 28.7 points.

• But the Red Wolves have had some close ones. They lost at No. 13 Iowa 24-21 last year, and took No. 4 Texas to the wire to start the 2007 season, losing just 21-13.

• Arkansas State: DT Bryan Hall is the preseason Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year after having nine TFLs and two sacks last year.

• And lastly, the most interesting stat in my opinion: Auburn averaged 33.3 points and 431.8 yards per game last season. Arkansas State boasts a defense that has ranked No. 1 or 2 in the Sun Belt in each of the last four seasons.

Back with more as it happens.

UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: I did not see LB Craig Stevens during the Tiger Walk or during the pre-game prayer at midfield. Keep in mind that nobody had their uniforms on, so it's hard to tell a lot of the players apart, but I'm pretty sure I could have picked Stevens out.

Not sure about Jonathon Mincy. He's relatively new and we've only talked to him once, so I don't think I would recognize him at this point anyway.

UPDATE 5:01 p.m.: Big news: Auburn has white shoes this year with knee-high white socks. Not the black ones with black socks like previous years at home.

UPDATE 5:16 p.m.: Some roster updates: WR Trovon Reed (knee) is dressed out. So is WR Antonio Goodwin. So is CB Demond Washington, who had been rumored to have suffered an injury. Apparently not.

UPDATE 5:25 p.m.: The rumors appear as though they might be true. LB Craig Stevens and CB Jonathon Mincy are not on the field during pre-game stretching drills.

UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: Stevens looks like he's out. He's nowhere to be found and Eltoro Freeman was just announced as the starting linebacker in his spot. Linebackers are Josh Bynes, Daren Bates and Freeman.

It's finally game day. Here's how today's advance starts.

AUBURN, Ala. — Josh Bynes is adamant he’s not joking.

The Auburn linebacker, whose enthusiasm in media settings is unparalleled, has extremely high hopes for this year’s team — SEC championship hopes.

“We feel it, not just from the media but we feel it within ourselves, that we don’t see anything less than an SEC championship year,” he said. “The confidence is just going to keep building up.”

Is confidence or craziness? Looking at how SEC coaches have fared in their second year suggests it might be more the former.

Read the whole thing here. Also, follow the blog on Twitter and be a fan on Facebook.

Here's a closer look at how some current SEC coaches fared in their second year compared to their first:

SEC coach - Year 1 --> Year 2

• Mark Richt, Georgia - 8-4 (2001) --> 13-1, Sugar Bowl
• Urban Meyer, Florida - 9-3 (2005) --> 13-1, National title game
• Les Miles, LSU - 11-2 (2005) --> 11-2, Sugar Bowl
• Steve Spurrier, South Carolina --> 705 (2005) - 8-5, Liberty Bowl
• Nick Saban, Alabama - 7-6 (2007) --> 12-2, Sugar Bowl
• Houston Nutt, Ole Miss - 9-4 (2007) --> 9-4, Cotton Bowl
• Bobby Petrino, Arkansas - 5-7 (2008) --> 8-5, Liberty Bowl

Only one more day until everyone gets to see some actual live football. It's about time. This preseason stuff wears on you. There's a limit to how much you can write without having seen the finished product on the field.

We'll break down the matchups in this post. As usual, there's never a great way to do this. To compare both teams' wide receivers, for instance, seems silly, because they won't match up against each other on the field. But things get confusing when you try to compare matchups. Who do you put up against one team's running backs? The linebackers?

For the time being, I'll compare the teams by positions (QB vs. QB), just to give a sense of who has more talent (spoiler: it's Auburn). But I might switch this up as the season goes on. I'm open to suggestions if anybody has them.

Arkansas State at No. 22 Auburn

• Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium
• When: Saturday, 7 p.m. ET
• TV: Fox Sports Net

Quarterbacks

Cam Newton is the new kid on the block, but he's got plenty of natural talent. He put up video game numbers at Blinn (Texas) Community College, throwing for 2,833 yards and 22 touchdowns and running for 655 yards and 16 more scores. He hasn't played in the SEC in a minute, but things should come back quickly. ASU sophomore Ryan Aplin threw for 889 yards in nine games last year, completing 65.3 percent of his passes. But he's getting used to a new offense too. Edge: Auburn.

Running backs

Mario Fannin is the starter, but Onterio McCalebb and Michael Dyer will get plenty of touches in the opener. That gives the Tigers plenty of fresh options and a variety of styles to throw at the Red Wolves. The only one missing is a true bruising back, with Ladarious Phillips out with an ankle injury (although Eric Smith can move from H-back if needed). Arkansas State lost last year's leading rusher, Reggie Arnold, to graduation. The next highest total on the team, other than Aplin, was junior Derek Lawson, who finished with 244 yards. Edge: Auburn.

Wide receivers/tight ends

Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery combined for 86 catches, 1,474 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, not bad for a 1-2 punch. They're both back, and the Tigers are excited about the prospects of youngster Trovon Reed (if he can go). They also like what they've seen from converted quarterback Kodi Burns, who has had a full year to work as a receiver now. Arkansas State lost its top five pass catchers from a year ago. Trevor Stockemer, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, is the leading returner, having caught 16 passes for 347 yards last season, although junior college transfer Dwayne Frampton is intriguing. Edge: Auburn.

Offensive line

The strength of Auburn's offense, four seniors -- Lee Ziemba, Mike Berry, Ryan Pugh and Byron Isom -- have combined to make 127 starts in their careers. They paved the way for the Tigers to run for 212.0 yard per game on the ground last season, the 13th best mark nationally. Arkansas State is experienced up front. All five of their linemen are seniors, four of them being fifth-year players. And right tackle Derek Newton was a second-team All-Sun Belt pick last year. Unfortunately, they don't quite stack up to Auburn's group. Edge: Auburn.

Defensive line

Auburn's group is both old and young, with four seniors and a junior starting and three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman on the two-deep. Antoine Carter hopes to be the disruptive force that Antonio Coleman was last year, but the Tigers need better play from their tackles, especially at stopping the run. Arkansas State has to replace Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and Buffalo Bills draft pick Alex Carrington, who had 14.5 TFLs and 9 sacks last year. But three others starters are back. DT Bryan Hall, the SBC preseason Defensive Player of the Year, finished with 9 TFLs last season. The group was 30th nationally against the run. Edge: Arkansas State.

Linebackers

Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens are the rocks on Auburn's defense, having made 48 combined career starts. Both are up for essentially every national preseason linebacker award there is. Converted safety Daren Bates could shore up the Tigers' third LB spot, although Eltoro Freeman, if he can shake of a case of turf toe, could be a factor too. For Arkansas State, Demario Davis is a preseason All-SBC pick after making 80 tackles last year. He leads a talented group that returns three starters, a reason the Red Wolves finished first in the Sun Belt last season in total defense. Edge: Auburn.

Secondary

Auburn welcomes a host of injured safeties back to the field, with Zac Etheridge (neck) and Aairon Savage (knee, Achilles') starting and Mike McNeil (leg) as a backup. That allowed Demond Washington to move back to his natural position at cornerback, along with potential breakout player Neiko Thorpe. This could be a talented group in the injured players return to form and a reliable third cornerback emerges. The Red Wolves return strong safety Kelcie McCray (58 tackles, 4 INT, 3 FR) but will have to make up for losing both starting cornerbacks from last year. Edge: Auburn.

Kicker/punter

The only way place-kicker Wes Byrum can improve this year is to be perfect. Punter Ryan Shoemaker, meanwhile, hopes he can regain his 2007 form, when he was a second-team All-SEC pick. Arkansas State's kickers aren't as clear-cut. The depth chart lists true freshmen Bobby Zalud and Brian Davis or sophomore Brandon Parker as the kicker. None have kicked a field goal in a college game before. Punter Neely Sullivent is new too. Edge: Auburn.

Return specialists

Washington emerged as a home run threat last year on kick returns, taking one to the house against Georgia. McCalebb is another speed threat who seems like he's capable of breaking a big one at any moment. Quindarius Carr is likely the top option at punt returner. If he can catch the ball, it'll be a radical improvement from last year. Arkansas State has two new kick returners, Frampton and Tausean Holmes. Neither returned kicks last year. Frampton, a junior college transfer from Los Angeles Harbor College, is also the new guy on punt returns. He was a Junior College All-American. Edge: Auburn.

Coaches

Things are looking up in Gene Chizik's second year. The entire coaching staff is back and, from all indications, things have been running smoothly this August. Chizik did a good job of getting his team up for home games. Auburn was 6-2 at Jordan-Hare last year. Arkansas State's Steve Roberts has made the team competitive since moving up from the I-AA ranks, but he struggled last year to a 4-8 record with what was considered one of his most talented teams. Edge: Auburn.

Prediction

Auburn is the better team and should be able to handle this one easily. Arkansas State has a good defense, but I'm not sure it can keep up with the Tigers for a full game. And while the Red Wolves' up-tempo offense might catch some of their conference opponents off guard, it's nothing new to Auburn's defense, which sees it every day in practice. Final score: Auburn 45, Arkansas State 20.

All we have are the embers ... wait, that's another blog's line. All we have is a chat replay.

Went for a solid 71 minutes today with an endless stream of questions, the best participation yet for one of these things. Thanks to all for joining and I apologize if I didn't get to your question. I'll try the next time.

Speaking of which, I'll be doing these on Thursdays throughout the season. (Except next week, which will probably be on Wednesday.) The 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT time slot seems to work pretty well, so we'll aim for that in the future.

Here's a video from today's round of interviews with the coaches. It's got head coach Gene Chizik, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, offensive line coach Jeff Grimes and running backs coach Curtis Luper. Enjoy.

And be sure to stop by tomorrow's live chat at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.

Watching film of Arkansas State’s veteran offensive line let Auburn freshman Jeffrey Whitaker know what kind of physical game is in store for him Saturday.

“They know how to play some ball,” the defensive tackle said. “They don’t mind hitting you in the mouth.”

It’ll be an interesting way for Auburn’s group of freshmen defensive linemen to get initiated to the college game.

Arkansas State starts five senior offensive linemen, four of which are fifth-year players, including second-team All-Sun Belt pick Derek Newton at right tackle.

“They’ve got a pretty good nucleus there,” Auburn defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. “I have no doubt we’re going to have our hands full with those guys. When you watch them on film, they’re sound, they get a hat for everybody and they’re well coached.”

While Auburn’s starting defensive front is comprised of seniors Antoine Carter, Michael Goggans and Zach Clayton and junior Nick Fairley, their backups are green.

In addition to Whitaker, true freshmen Corey Lemonier, Craig Sanders (pictured above) and Kenneth Carter should get substantial playing time. Redshirt freshman Nosa Eguae will also be making his first appearance in a college game.

“Hey, they’re going to have to play,” Rocker said. “I don’t know when. All I want is that they’re prepared and ready to do what they need to do when they go out there.

“The biggest thing is to understand that you’re going to make mistakes. Just play hard, and after that we can adjust and overcome the mistakes.

Follow the blog on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook.

Also, I plan to have a live chat tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. As soon as I get a link for it, I will tweet it and put it on the blog. So come prepared with all your Auburn questions.

Here are some other notes and quotes from Wednesday's round of interviews, with injury updates abound:

• Wide receiver Trovon Reed (bruised kneecap) will be a gametime decision. “He’s really kind of in a situation where we’re just trying to get a full day’s work and work him into that role,” head coach Gene Chizik said. “Right now I don’t know if he’s quite there but he’s getting better.”

• Chizik said linebacker Eltoro Freeman (turf toe) is getting closer to playing. “He’s been running around the last few days and he’s getting there,” Chizik said.

• Fullback Ladarious Phillips (ankle) is still a week or two from returning, running backs coach Curtis Luper said. “You just never know with the type of injury that he has,” Luper said. “He is 300 pounds and it will probably take him a little longer than it would (Onterio) McCalebb to get healthy with a similar injury.”

• Coaches are giving offensive tackle Roszell Gayden (knee) some more time to see if he can play this year. “How much he helps us this year, I’m not sure,” offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said.

• Still doesn't sound good for DL Derrick Lykes. "Derrick is not going to be back anytime soon that we're expecting," Chizik said. "We're going to take it day by day with him as well. He's not going to be returning to the lineup anytime soon."

• No word on whether DE Joel Bonomolo will play in the opener. "Bonomolo suffered that little injury earlier in camp," Rocker said, "so I think that before this year’s over with ain’t no doubt he’ll contributing in some form or fashion."

• Rocker thinks Clayton has made a big improvement, especially when it comes to speaking up. The soft-spoken senior is helping the young guys come along. "My first year here, I probably got two words out of him," Rocker said. "Right now I”m up to 50, so I’m doing good. You always wonder about the guys, are they really listening to you? Now, I’ve got Goggans, I’ve got Carter coaching, saying, 'This is how you do it.' That’s been a big help to those young guys."

• Chizik had some good things to say about Whitaker, who is an instant media favorite for the he handles himself in interviews. The freshman hasn't had an easy life. His mom passed away a few years ago and he's had to deal with some trying circumstances. "He is one of those kids that you just feel like you have to have in your program," Chizik said. "He's everything that Auburn stands for, he's everything that we stand for, he's a great young man."

• Luper said there is not a set rotation for how he’ll use his three options, Mario Fannin, McCalebb and Michael Dyer, in the opener. “Obviously, we think all three of the tailbacks can make plays, so they’ll all touch it,” he said. “But it depends on how the game’s going, who gets what.”

• Fannin, a senior, is the No. 1 back, although Luper isn’t sure yet if he’s a workhorse back. “I don’t know right now if we have a guy like Ben Tate who can handled 20 carries a game for 10 consecutive games,” Luper said. “But that’s not a prerequisite. We’ll split the carries.”

• McCalebb, a sophomore who struggled with an ankle injury last year, brings a speed element “People have not been talking about him for obvious reasons, because Mario is moving to tailback and Mike is in, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was the best of the bunch,” Luper said.

• Dyer, ESPN’s top-ranked freshman running back, is another dynamic runner Auburn fans are eager to see. “Oh, he’s been excited,” Luper said. “Probably have to slow him down a bit on Saturday. That’s generally the way it is for guys that haven’t played before. So we settle him down, he’ll be fine.”

• Grimes seemed pleased with how A.J. Greene has proceeded since being named the starting right tackle last week. "He’s a really humble kid," Grimes said. "When I first told him that he’d be a starter, I pulled him inn and told him he’d be the starter, I asked if he was ready, he said, 'I’ve got to get a whole lot better.’ I said, 'Do you have any question if you’re ready to play?’ He said, 'No, coach I don’t.’ And I said, 'Good, neither do I.’ He got this big smile on his face. To me, it just said that he had the right attitude. He felt like he needed to keep getting better, but he felt confident. I think he’ll play that way."

• Grimes didn't say whether or not he'll stick with just five linemen in Saturday's opener. "I never want to give a concrete answer to that for a couple of reasons: One, you never know what’s going to happen in a game in terms of injuries or somebody is playing very poorly. You always want to have the option of playing someone else without feeling like it’s a major deal. the other reason I don’t think it’s ever bad for everybody to feel there’s a possibility that somebody could come in and take some of your snaps away. I think we’ll start off with the first five. I see those guys playing the majority of the time unless something happens."

• It's been a physical camp, but Chizik and Co. have tailed back som eon the contact of late. "I feel like we've been very prudent on how we've proceeded in the last week or so," he said. "That was the plan, the plan was to back off and obviously let them be fresh as they can be at gametime. It was in the plan and I think right now they're in pretty good shape. They've got to get a lot of rest in the next 72 hours. It's on them now."

• Chizik said the contact in the opener could be shocking to some of the newcomers. "I don't think that you can really imagine it until you get down to game day and see it and do it," he said. "I really believe even the speed of game day changes from the speed of practice. Especially down there for offensive and defensive linemen, that's just a whole new world. In high school they're used to being bigger than everybody and now they're in many cases smaller than everybody. It's a complete learning experience and it's an on-the-job deal. No other way you can get used to it."

• Rocker agreed. In fact, he said the Tiger Walk is exhausting enough to take some life out of the players. "They end really playing two games," he said. "Walking down Tiger Walk, that’s a game. That’s going to take something out of them right there because of the energy and the crowd. Some of them have seen it; now they’re actually participating in it. So now you got to come in the locker room and gather all that emotion and now say, all right it’s time to put it in action. ... And then it’s walking on that field and you look up and see that upper deck and you’re like, 'Whoah.' And then all of a sudden that eagle come out, it’s a different perspective. It’s definitely something they’re going to have to overcome, but that’s the dream we all have is playing in the SEC in college football."

Gene Chizik knows Cam Newton is a different style of quarterback than Chris Todd, and Auburn will adjust its offense accordingly.

Chizik admitted during Wednesday's teleconference that there are challenges with easing a new quarterback into a system, but he thinks the Tigers can cater their play-calling to better suit Newton, a transfer from Blinn (Texas) Community College.

"He poses a little bit different problems for defenses than maybe our quarterback did last year," Chizik said. "And everybody's good in different ways.

"It's challenging for a quarterback in this system, but we're going to try to play to Cameron's strengths and every game plan will be centered around that in terms of us being a productive offense. But he's done well. We're proud of what he's done."

Newton, who ran for 655 yards and 16 touchdowns at Blinn, is more mobile than Todd, another junior college transfer who shook a disastrous, injury-plagued 2008 season to throw for a school record 22 touchdown passes last year.

But Todd had a big advantage heading into his senior season.

"What (Cam) doesn't have that our quarterback had last year is being able to go out on game day and be a starting quarterback in this league," Chizik said. "So that's the only unknown with him right now. He's got to get out there and produce and execute the offense."

Some other notes from Chizik's short portion on the teleconference:

• On Saturday's opponent Arkansas State, a team that gave Iowa and Texas some tough games in the last few years: "This is going to be a tough battle for us. I know they run an offense similar to ours in terms of pace. Defensively, they're arguably one of the tops in the league every year."

• Auburn plays at Mississippi State on a Thursday next week, which means a short turnaround. Chizik said the team's focus remains on Arkansas State. "The quick turnaround obviously is challenging, but we're focused on one game at a time. and when we hit that week, all our efforts will go into planning and preparing for them, which will be a tough game for us."

• A lot of questions about non-conference scheduling today, which apparently led to a lively exchange between a New York Times reporter and MSU coach Dan Mullen. Chizik has high regard for the SEC slate, but said Auburn likes to play challenging non-conference games too. "We'll play anybody on our non-conference it it's the right fit," he said. "We don't have any preconceived notions about, do we want an easy one or a tough one. We want what is the best fit for our schedule."