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Auburn Tigers Scrimmage Update – August 12

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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Jan 2, 2014; Irvine, CA, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn during practice for the BCS National Championship against the Florida State Seminoles at UC Irvine. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The Auburn Tigers scrimmaged for about 50 plays Tuesday, which was a “good evaluation,” according to head coach Gus Malzahn. But, Nick Marshall did not see any live reps during scrimmage periods. That does not mean the quarterback isn’t working, however.

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“He’s getting everything he needs,” Malzahn said, likely referring to the rest of the practice session – and every other practice for that matter. “We know what we have with him. Then, at the same time, we want to figure out the other quarterback situation, too.”

The “other quarterback situation,” of course, refers to the signal caller that will be the first to take the field for the Tigers to start the 2014 season, since Marshall has been designated as a non-starter in week one. The most likely player to fill the role is sophomore Jeremy Johnson – but nothing is official yet. Johnson did get reps in the scrimmage, as did two other quarterbacks.

“We need the quarterbacks making great decisions,” Malzahn said when asked about Johnson. “Knowing what to do, when to do it, how to do it: that’s part of playing the quarterback position. We have high expectations for Jeremy. He played last year. He went through spring. He’s getting a lot of reps in fall camp.”

Malzahn emphasized that Marshall saw action in the third down-and-long period of practice, which was an area of emphasis on Tuesday. The third down period allowed the Tigers to stress both pass rushing and pass protection – two areas of concern at this point of fall camp because of injuries suffered along the offensive and defensive lines.

Another area of emphasis for the scrimmage was special teams, and Malzahn mentioned that the special teams units were able to take quite a few live reps – an important factor when evaluating specialists.

“It’s always different when you got live bodies coming at you,” Malzahn said. “Some people react in a good way. Some people react in not-so-good way. It’s just feeling that real pressure of having people around, that’s close to being blocked and everything that goes with that.”

“We need the quarterbacks making great decisions,” Malzahn said when asked about Johnson. “Knowing what to do, when to do it, how to do it: that’s part of playing the quarterback position. We have high expectations for Jeremy.”

Malzahn continued, and pointed out something that is often overlooked when discussing special teams practice – particularly now that there is a punting competition in camp.

“That’s what this day was for, primarily special teams,” Malzahn continued. “But at the same time, who can block for the punt? Who can cover and make a tackle? Who can return one? It was a really good time to evaluate our guys.”

The media is obviously curious as to who will be the full-time punter, but every time a team punts, there are ten other positions that must be considered.

Today’s live practice sessions allowed the coaches to evaluate the gunners that will be on the outside covering the punt, the players charged will holding up the opponent’s rush, and the personal protector that will be responsible for making the calls at the line of scrimmage.

And of course, as Malzahn mentioned, who can catch and return a punt? It’s a lot harder than it looks, you know.

“It’s getting to that point we’ve got to identify the guys we feel like can help us, not just offensively and defensively, but special teams. You have to mesh all of that together when you’re thinking through personnel,” Malzahn said earlier.

As the question and answer session continued, as has become an unfortunate trend, the topics turned to injury. Malzahn discussed the fact that fullback Gage Batten will be out for the foreseeable future.

“I can’t say right now he’s done for the season,” Malzahn said, but a coach is unlikely to phrase anything that way unless it appears likely.

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    • The loss of Batten opens the door for another player to step up into a larger role. Malzahn mentioned Patrick Young, Chris Laye, Hunter Wood, Kyle Sitzler, and Jakell Mitchell as all getting reps at fullback.

    The coach was asked about true freshman Kamryn Pettway, but Malzahn replied that Pettway has been working only at tailback. The media also asked Malzahn about other freshmen and younger players.

    “I’m not going to name names right now,” Malzahn said. “But there are probably four or five specifically on defense, four or five specifically on offense, and they’re all new guys.”

    Malzahn said that he wanted to wait until he saw the film from practice and the scrimmage before he singled out anyone in particular. The Tigers have an off day tomorrow, though the coaching staff will meet and plan the next two days of practice. And, before long, preparations will turn to Arkansas.

    You can view the press conference here.

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