Tuberville Challenges Players

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Tuberville challenges Auburn players as spring practice ends with scrimmage under lights
Posted by Phillip Marshall, The Huntsville Times April 02, 2008 11:24 PM

When Wednesday night's scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium was over, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville challenged his players to live up to what he sees as championship potential.
"This group has a great opportunity," Tuberville said. "It depends on the next few months, how hard they want to work to get to Atlanta and win in Atlanta. A lot of teams out there have a lot of talent. This could be a good group if they come together and continue to get better and come back and have a positive two-a-days."

Auburn's offense scored seven touchdowns and got two Wesley Byrum field goals, including a 53-yarder, but the No. 1 defense more than held its own.

Here's how head coach Tommy Tuberville saw it:

On quarterbacks Kodi Burns and Chris Todd

"I was really proud of Kodi Burns. He is very much improved. I like the way he ran the offense. That's what you look for in a spring game like this in terms of a scrimmage at the end, to see what kind of control the quarterbacks have, especially in a new offense. Chris did, too. Both of them looked very comfortable. I thought Kodi got the ball down the field a lot better. He was moving in the pocket well, looking a lot more comfortable. Chris' arm still isn't as strong as it will be. He has a chance now to get it rested and healthy. He knows what he's doing. I'm anxious to see him get 100 percent healthy."

On the defense

"I thought the first-team defense basically won most of the time. We moved them around and played a little more aggressive. Offensively, we ran the ball a little bit. It slowed the defense down some. Defensively, we run well and we have a lot of speed. Tray Blackmon looks like the Tray Blackmon we recruited out of high school, running hard, running through people and very physical. It's the first time he's been healthy this amount of practices.


 
"Sen'Derrick Marks is a special player. He really looked good. He's a leader, too. The guy that has made more improvement than most on defense is probably Michael Goggans. He's really stepping up. I thought it went well on both sides."

On the offense

"One guy we need to play well for us is James Swinton. James is getting much better catching the ball, getting a lot more comfortable. Rod Smith showed up a couple of times tonight. The thing about this offense is you have to make runs after the catch. We started the last couple of scrimmages making a few more of those. The offensive line protected better than the first scrimmage or two."

Rhoads says defense played 'really hard'

First-year defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said he was delighted with the effort in the scrimmage. He wasn't always delighted with the results.

"We really played hard, but we didn't tackle as well as we have the last couple of times we've scrimmaged and we did some things that weren't smart," Rhoads said. "I think they were so conscious of playing hard and working not to get fatigued and play every snap, they did some things that to me are uncharacteristic of our football team from an intelligence standpoint."

Furr shows versatility

Freshman DeRon Furr lined up at both quarterback and wide receiver Wednesday night. He did not wear an orange no-contact jersey like the other quarterbacks.

"(Offensive coordinator Tony Franklin) told me just to go out there and make some plays," Furr said. "That's what I tried to do."

At quarterback, Furr completed 2-of-3 passes for 59 yards. He threw a 42-yard touchdown pas to Charles Olatunji.

Furr said he wasn't sure what he would do if faced with the choice of redshirting at quarterback or trying his hand at wide receiver for at least one season to get early playing time.

"Right now, I'm going to try to go through the rest of the summer. I'll be able to answer your question after that."

Goggans happy on defense

Sophomore Michael Goggans arrived at Auburn from Benjamin Russell High School planning to play tight end. But he moved to defense last season, and he's gald he did. His coaches view him as a rising star.

"I love playing defense," Goggans said. I love playing for Coach Rhoads and Coach (Terry) Price. I still take short steps like a tight end sometimes, but I'm getting better at that and just coming up and playing physical."

Goggans said playing behind Sen'Derrick Marks last season was a learning experience.

"He taught me a lot," Goggans said. "I just followed some of his footsteps. I'm just going out there and being physical."

Tristan goes the distance

Tristan Davis got just two carries Wednesday, but those were enough to show a flash of game-breaking ability. Davis took a handoff and broke a couple of tackles. Once he was in the open field, it was over. He showed teh speed that made him the nation's leading kickoff returner in 2006.

Last August, Davis suffered a broken toe. He broke a bone in his foot against Florida. The toe was stepped on again early in sprig practice.

"It was good he got hit several times, had to run on it, had to cut on it, knowing he could play with it," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. Hopefully, next year will be his year. It's his turn to have a little luck go his way.

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