« on: December 20, 2010, 08:12:20 AM »
It's back to regular routine at practice for Auburn, even with a national title on the line
Published: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 8:05 AM Updated: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 8:29 AM
Charles Goldberg
AUBURN -- Auburn returned to football practice Saturday on a soccer field, of all places; didn't look particularly sharp after a two-week layoff and tried to find a way to balance all that surrounds playing for a national championship.
Coach Gene Chizik had no problem with any of it.
"I thought we had a lot of energy today," Chizik said.
But it was certainly different for a team that will play Oregon for the national championship Jan. 10. Auburn practiced on its soccer field, probably for the first time ever, because the regular practice fields have been plowed under as the Tigers begin to build their bigger indoor facility.
Auburn's other practice options: The field at the track or Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Chizik said damp conditions meant the footing wasn't great at the soccer field. Chizik's take on all of it: Ignore the distractions.
"That's the thing: our routine is normal. We haven't really changed anything practice schedule-wise, meeting scheduling-wise,'' Chizik said. "We've done everything exactly as we've done previously. I'm not sure it'll have any bearing. If we have to practice in the parking lot, we'll practice out there. They handled it well tonight."
Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said Sunday's work was designed to get the Tigers back to practice.
Monday, "we'll come back and focus on Oregon."
Linebacker Josh Bynes said Auburn is trying to avoid the hype.
"It's not like, 'Oh dang. The national championship. Oh, wow,''' Bynes said. "We're more like, it's the next game, it's the next team on the map and we know we're going to have to defeat. We're 60 minutes away from being crowned national champions. But we have to play ball first."
The Tigers had to come back to Earth to even get to the soccer fields.
Quarterback Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley returned with two of the game's most prestigious rewards -- the Heisman and Lombardi. Chizik returned with a national coach of the year award. Malzahn was named the national assistant coach of the year, and almost was named the Vanderbilt head coach.
Chizik said Newton has handled his many distractions well.
"I've got to give him a lot of credit. It has been a whirlwind, ever since the championship game,'' Chizik said. "It's been 7 to 10 days of basically traveling the world. He's accepted a lot of awards, which he earned. I think he's handled everything great. He's handled the fact that he got these awards and gave credit where credit is due, and that is the rest of his team.
"He's handled himself as an Auburn man exactly the way we would like him to. I think he's handled himself with his teammates, coming back here and just being one of the guys. I think he appreciates being that. And the team appreciates him being who he's been for 13 weeks. He hasn't changed a lick, and I think he handled everything very well.
"The whirlwind's over. I think he's ready to get back into football, ready to get back with his team."
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/12/its_back_to_regular_routine_at.html
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