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re: Fall Camp Has Ended - The season is upon us
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:20 am to The Nino
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:20 am to The Nino
quote:
PHILLIP MARSHALL: PLAYERS MOVE ON, BUT THEY WON'T FORGET
Aug. 1, 2013
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn football players were in a joyful mood Thursday. It was reporting day, the sort of unofficial beginning of another football season.
Before much longer, they'll be beaten and bruised, worn down by the grind of preseason camp. But on this day, muscles built and hardened through through summer workouts with strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell weren't yet sore. No ankles had been twisted, no egos bruised.
Friday afternoon, they'll take the field with first-year head coach Gus Malzahn and his staff. And it will begin.
Even as players expressed their optimism for what is to come, they remembered what it was like just eight months ago when they trudged off the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, embarrassed by a 49-0 loss and a 3-9 record. They vowed then not to forget, and they haven't.
"We're not going to forget last year," junior wide receiver Quan Bray said. "That's motivation for us to keep grinding and do the things we do every day. We're ready. We're very hungry. We have some things to show."
Senior linebacker Jake Holland said the harsh reality of what happened in the fall of 2012 will long be part of those he experienced it. But remembering doesn't have to be a burden. And Holland, like his teammates, vows it won't be.
"We can put it behind us, but we can't forget it," Holland said. "It definitely fuels the fire for this year as far as moving forward and getting better."
How many games can this Auburn team win? How good can it be? Auburn players believe they know, but no one really knows. No one knows who will break out and who will take a step back, who will be injured and who won't.
Every season, even those that end with national championships, has an element of luck - good or bad. There is injury luck and schedule luck. And then there is just plain, old luck. If Kyle Parker had not overthrown - by inches - a wide-open receiver in overtime, Cam Newton and Auburn would have lost to Clemson in 2010 and almost certainly would not have won a national championship.
But none of that mattered Thursday as another Auburn football team prepared to go to work.
Someone asked Bray if he thought this Auburn team would go to a bowl game. His eyes flashed.
"Bowl game?" he said. "We are shooting for the national championship. (Going) 3-9 last year doesn't mean anything to us. We've worked hard to be national champs right now. We know we've worked hard. We are just trying to get the best results for what we've put in."
3
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:24 am to joeyb147
One day closer.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:25 am to joeyb147
quote:
Auburn rings bell for practice
Strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell’s bell rang often this summer, and Auburn football players cheered.
Russell, who joined first-year coach Gus Malzahn’s staff last December, put a bell in the locker room. When a player achieved a personal record, he was allowed to ring the bell.
"It’s awesome,” senior linebacker Jake Holland said. “When somebody rings a bell, it really fuels the emotions in the weight room. Everybody gets pumped up and cheers everybody on. It makes it more of a unit instead of just one guy getting better.”
— Phillip Marshall
quote:
Moving fast in that weight room
Eguae said he's ready for football practice to start Friday after a summer with Russell.
"It was really intense in the weight room," Eguae said. "Everybody was really flying. We were always moving."
Eguae pronounced the team was in "great shape."
"The competition was with yourself, and you were competing against other guys."
Eguae said he checks in at 269 after adding six pounds of muscle.
Eguae said the team isn't dwelling on last year's 3-9 record, "but we definitely have in the back of our minds." Eguae said he'd use last season as motivation for this year.
"We can't wait until Aug. 31" and the opener against Washington State.
— Charles Goldberg
quote:
Newcomers make big impression at QB
Junior college transfer Nick Marshall and freshman Jeremy Johnson, Bray said, have been impressive throughout the summer.
“Both of them have good, solid arms, big frames, athleticism,” Bray said. “It’ll be a run, definitely.”
Bray said four quarterbacks competing for the job does not pose a problem for receivers.
“We try to get the feel for all of them,” Bray said. “We’re not going to know who the guy is until he’s the guy. We just try to catch every ball that is thrown to us.”
— Phillip Marshall
quote:
Summer camp
Punter Steven Clark and place-kicker Cody Parkey attended the Kohl's kicking camp in Wisconsin over the summer. A lot of other kickers did, too.
Clark averaged 39.8 yards per punt last year. More importantly, he dropped 15 punts inside the 20 and only five of his 70 punts were returned.
"I've always been able to get the ball high. I'm working on being able to control the distance based upon the situation. I'm just getting more comfortable with all aspects in the kicking game," Clark said.
—Charles Goldberg
quote:
Big test coming for Auburn freshmen
Junior wide receiver Quan Bray said Wednesday he has been impressed by freshmen Tony Stevens, Dominic Walker and Marcus Davis. But he said they will experience something very different as preseason camp begins Friday.
“I tell them to just get mentally prepared,” Bray said. “It’s going to be a grind. It’s still a grind for me, and I’ve been here a couple of years.”
Keeping up with the pace of head coach Gus Malzahn’s offense, Bray said, is a major test for players who were in high school just three months ago.
“It’s definitely hard,” Bray said. “My freshman year running Malzahn’s offense and everything going so fast, you have to get your mind right. Definitely.”
Holland said the challenge goes deeper than the physical demands on the field.
“Living on your own, having to go by a schedule every day, it’s different,” Holland said. “If you have guys ahead of you who can kind of show you the ropes, it makes a lot of difference.”
Holland said he welcomes playing that role for freshman Cameron Toney.
“Cameron and I are good friends,” Holland said. “I’m looking forward to kind of teaching him what I know. I’m looking forward to this camp and seeing what he has to offer.”
— Phillip Marshall
quote:
Holland working to reclaim his job
Holland had a trying spring. He had a class in building science, his major, that could not be changed. He missed some practice and meeting time, and redshirt freshman Kris Frost moved ahead of him at middle linebacker.
Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson says the job remains wide open.
“It was my last spring, and it was a lot to handle,” Holland said. “I feel like I handled it well. Going into the fall, I have some competition. I’m looking forward to that, and getting my job back.”
Holland said the notion that college football players aren’t also serious students if far off base.
“That’s so untrue,” Holland said. “What we are here for is to get a degree first. From Day 1, I decided to get a good one. It’s difficult to handle with time schedules and things like that. I just put in a lot of hard work and get through it.”
— Phillip Marshall
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:28 am to joeyb147
quote:
PRESSURE DEFENSE: AUBURN'S KEN CARTER READY TO HELP
AUBURN, Ala. -- Ken Carter has played 29 games over the last three seasons at defensive tackle. He'll open fall practice Friday as a defensive end.
Welcome to Auburn, where new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson has brought in his 4-2-5 defense and moved his players around with the intent of finding more interceptions and sacks.
The Tigers were lacking in both departments last season, so Carter was moved from defensive tackle to defensive end in the spring. Will he stay there? He just wants to play.
"I'm whatever they want me to be right now," Carter says. "Right now, I'm at defensive end. I'm going to make the best of everything.
"I'm very excited. I've been dedicated."
Auburn figures it has an established pass rusher in Dee Ford, but Johnson says one isn't enough. Enter Carter?
"If you only have one, they can pick on him," Johnson said over the summer. "We certainly need one to develop on the opposite side, and we need our tackles to become pass rushers, too.
"I don't know if we can generate a dynamic pass rush without blitzing."
The competition at defensive end will be interesting. The Tigers must replace their only drafted player -- DE Corey Lemonier -- and spring practice ended with a nebulous depth chart of ands-and-ors that had Ford backed up by Craig Sanders at one spot; and Carter and Nosa Eguae at the other. But two of Auburn's high-profile recruits -- Carl Lawson and Elijah Daniel -- are defensive ends, and they impressed during summer workouts.
"They have great skill. They have potential to be some of the best players coming through Auburn," Carter said.
Craig Sanders, Keymiya Harrell and Justin DeLaine could be factors as well.
Carter says he'll welcome the help.
"We're going to need pretty much everybody on the defensive line, a great rotation," he said.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:29 am to joeyb147
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:30 am to joeyb147
Holland's jimmies are rustled. Maybe that's a good thing.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 8:40 am to joeyb147
quote:
Every season, even those that end with national championships, has an element of luck - good or bad. There is injury luck and schedule luck. And then there is just plain, old luck. If Kyle Parker had not overthrown - by inches - a wide-open receiver in overtime, Cam Newton and Auburn would have lost to Clemson in 2010 and almost certainly would not have won a national championship.
If the rest of the season had played out like it did after the Clemson game (provided we lose in OT), 9-0 with a blowout in the SECCG and the nation's best player/Heisman winner, I think we could've snuck into the BCSNCG... no way the Mountain West's TCU makes it in over us, IMO.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 10:51 am to joeyb147
quote:
Auburn players excited about experience, possibilities in Gus Malzahn's offense
AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense, both the scheme and the players, have taken a little bit of criticism in recent weeks, but on the eve of the Tigers' reporting day, Auburn's offensive players can't wait to get started.
Only one year removed from running Gus Malzahn's offense in 2011, Auburn has plenty of pieces back who either played for or were recruited by Malzahn, offering some familiarity heading into the installation.
And that should help as Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee install the playbook.
"I think it’s huge because watching film and looking at a playbook is one thing, but having people that have played in the offense and been in the offense that can help you fine-tune the little things, especially with someone as meticulous and Malzahn and Lashlee, I think that pays dividends," tight end C.J. Uzomah said.
Malzahn is famously detail-oriented, demanding that everything from where a player lines up in a formation to where a receiver runs his route is exactly the same every time, right down to within a hair's breadth of the yard.
All of that detail can make picking up the scheme difficult at first, but the veterans who went through the spring now know Malzahn's details and spent the summer teaching them to the Tigers' large group of newcomers on offense.
On top of that, everything has to happen at a breakneck pace.
"In the spring, we were going so fast, we thought we were going as fast as we could, but they kept pushing us to go faster and faster than we thought possible," Prosch said.
Now, the system comes second nature, and both Prosch and Uzomah are excited about the possibilities for improvement after a disastrous offensive performance last season.
"I think guys love it, especially offensively," Prosch said. "The first week of spring, was a tough week, because not only is it hard getting the play from the sideline, but also, conditioning-wise, because they stress fast-pace. ... Our guys are used to it now, and I think it’s going to be a huge advantage for us this year.”
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:21 pm to joeyb147
Auburn players successfully reshape bodies in offseason (list of notable weight changes)
LINK
Biggest losers
DL Ben Bradley, SO, 288 (-33*)
OL Kyle Bolstad, RS FR, 262 pounds (-18)
OL Shane Callahan, RS FR, 275 (-15)
QB Kiehl Frazier, JR, 224 (-12)
OL Avery Young, RS FR, 304 (-10)
DB Demetruce McNeal, SR, 185 (-9)
Biggest gainers
DE Keymiya Harrell, SO, 247 (+15)
FB Jay Prosch, SR, 258 (+11)
RB Tre Mason, JR, 205 (+9)
DB Jonathon Mincy, JR, 200 (+9)
DB Jonathan Jones, SO, 180 (+8)
DB Jordan Spriggs, JR, 207 (+8)
* Bradley is listed at 295 on Auburn's official roster
LINK
Biggest losers
DL Ben Bradley, SO, 288 (-33*)
OL Kyle Bolstad, RS FR, 262 pounds (-18)
OL Shane Callahan, RS FR, 275 (-15)
QB Kiehl Frazier, JR, 224 (-12)
OL Avery Young, RS FR, 304 (-10)
DB Demetruce McNeal, SR, 185 (-9)
Biggest gainers
DE Keymiya Harrell, SO, 247 (+15)
FB Jay Prosch, SR, 258 (+11)
RB Tre Mason, JR, 205 (+9)
DB Jonathon Mincy, JR, 200 (+9)
DB Jonathan Jones, SO, 180 (+8)
DB Jordan Spriggs, JR, 207 (+8)
* Bradley is listed at 295 on Auburn's official roster
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:22 pm to atlau
quote:As if he needed to any lose weight...
DB Demetruce McNeal, SR, 185 (-9)
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:33 pm to atlau
Why is Callahan losing so much weight?
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:34 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
Young is a big boy.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:55 pm to atlau
quote:
FB Jay Prosch, SR, 258 (+11)
May kill someone
Posted on 8/2/13 at 12:59 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
FB Jay Prosch, SR, 258 (+11)
May kill someone
Yeah, I am not sure how that dude is packing on more weight. He was all muscle as it was and not very tall. They may need to stock up on stretchers at JHS.
This post was edited on 8/2/13 at 1:00 pm
Posted on 8/2/13 at 1:01 pm to chadau79
quote:
Why is Callahan losing so much weight?
AIDs
Posted on 8/2/13 at 1:43 pm to atlau
Cute
Posted on 8/2/13 at 1:55 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
Nothing cute about AIDS 
Posted on 8/2/13 at 2:29 pm to joeyb147
quote:
“That’s so untrue,” Holland said. “What we are here for is to get a degree first. From Day 1, I decided to get a good one. It’s difficult to handle with time schedules and things like that. I just put in a lot of hard work and get through it.”
At least he knows what his future will hold. Maybe he'll be a team leader, that's about the best we can hope for. He just isn't gifted enough to play LB in the SEC.
Posted on 8/2/13 at 2:30 pm to atlau
quote:
Why is Callahan losing so much weight?
AIDs
Zing?
Posted on 8/2/13 at 2:34 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
FB Jay Prosch, SR, 258 (+11)
May kill someone
I can't wait to see him wreck some of Wazzu's defenders. Those guys are in for some pain.
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