More Cass, MORE Kris and Other News and Notes

[Snaggletiger]

copy to the pasta Dothan Eagle

AUBURN-- Behind closed doors in Auburn’s coaching office, peace has been kept.

Auburn linebackers Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost have sat with coach Gene Chizik, getting an education on how things work in college football. Most young players don’t just walk into a program and play, even when talent isn’t an issue. At linebacker – a thinking man’s position – there is a learning curve.

It doesn’t take much for frustration to build.

“I've explained to them before this week – and actually in weeks past – that they've got to continue to work to improve,” Chizik said. “Trust is the main issue. We know they're talented. We know they can make plays when they get out on the field. They've got to be able to line up right, they've got to be able to run the right pressures, got to be in the right pass coverages.”

The responsibility on Auburn linebackers is immense. This week, Chizik said he believes the youngsters are ready for it.

Serving different purposes, McKinzy and Frost will get their chance Saturday when Auburn travels to Vanderbilt.

The Commodores run the football frequently and well. Against big, physical offenses, linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen said McKinzy and Frost give Auburn’s defense good matchups.

“You’ll see a bigger role,” Thigpen said. “We’re making a commitment to somehow get those guys on the football field.”

Thigpen said McKinzy hasn’t quite earned the starting spot over junior Jake Holland, but “that kid has earned a chance to play for us at Auburn.” At weak side linebacker, Thigpen said Frost will play 15 to 20 snaps Saturday – just enough to give Auburn leading tackler Daren Bates more rest than he’s gotten this season.

“He’s on the field every single play,” Thigpen said of Bates. “If we keep him out there, at some point he’s going to get hurt. So we need to take some of those reps off of him. He don’t need to be playing 85, 90 plays in a game.”

Thigpen made it clear that McKinzy and Frost are not being handed more playing time out of necessity. Both have earned it, he said.

In the past two weeks, Thigpen has seen McKinzy and Frost turn a corner.

Thigpen said he’ll arrive at the athletics complex in the morning, and they’ll already be in the film room. He’ll enter his office, and they’ll be inside writing plays on the whiteboard.

“Their studying has gone up,” Thigpen said. “Their production on the practice field has gone up. They’ve taken a lot of interest as far as coming in and studying tape and getting their alignments down, and it’s been showing up on the field.

“They’ve been growing up, and it’s been fun to watch them.”

It’s news fans have been waiting to hear for a long time.

As Auburn’s linebackers have routinely struggled this season – particularly in the middle – more and more have grown disgruntled, wondering where the Tigers highly recruited underclassmen are at when they’re not on the field.

Frost said he’s been in the film room.

“The more we get in the film room outside of practice and meetings, the better we'll be,” Frost said. “The more time you put in, the more you'll get out of it. Just like coach says, you always get what you deserve and what you earn. We're just putting in all the time we can. We feel like we're getting better, both of us. We talk all the time, and we're both in the film room at the same time, as well as all the other linebackers.”

Frost said he’s struggled adjusting to the speed of the college game. It’s been an ongoing battle since spring practice. Even in August camp, Frost admitted he wasn’t quite ready to play.

Now, he feels comfortable.

“Just adapting the speed of college – that's what I feel like I'm doing better with now,” Frost said. “I'm feeling really confident, and so are the rest of the guys. The more we work, the more we work outside of practice, getting in the film room, that's the better we'll be.

“All I'm really focused on is getting better, and if that opportunity comes, it comes. That's how Cassanova was. All he was worried about was getting better every day – getting in the film room. That's the same thing with me.”

Chizik unconcerned with Pat Dye's comments: Auburn offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler does not believe his quarterbacks heard comments former Tigers coach Pat Dye said on a radio show earlier this week regarding how he has yet to see them “be a man.”

Dye stressed the need for Auburn quarterbacks Clint Moseley or Kiehl Frazier to “step up” in the fourth quarter, when the Tigers have been outscored 62-3.

“I don’t think those guys ever heard those comments whatsoever,” Loeffler said. “Pat Dye, he’s a legend around here, and he’s able to give his opinion. I don’t think our kids, particularly the quarterbacks, didn’t read into that whatsoever. They never mentioned it to me whatsoever.”

Quarterbacks were not the only topic Dye touched.

Speaking on the Paul Finebaum show Monday, Dye said he believed Auburn would lose the remainder of its SEC games this season – starting Saturday at Vanderbilt. The Tigers also have home games against Texas A&M and Georgia and a road trip to Tuscaloosa left on the schedule.

On Tuesday, Auburn coach Gene Chizik said he was not concerned with what Dye thought.

“Coach Dye was a tremendous football coach, and I’ve got a lot of respect for coach Dye – without question,” Chizik said. “I can’t spend a lot of time and energy in deliberation about whether what somebody said – whether it was coach Dye or whether it was an alum from 1968 that nobody knows who he or she is – I don’t have an opinion on that, because my day, when I walk through the door, consists of my coaches and my players and the direction we’re headed.”

McNeal, Whitehead ‘ascending’ players: Auburn defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said the Tigers safeties have turned into a strength for his defense.

After starting 12 of 13 games last year, junior Demetruce McNeal started this season on the sideline. He has since earned a starting spot, and he ranks second on the team with 52 tackles and five tackles for loss.

Jermaine Whitehead is a class younger, and also a first-year starter. The sophomore ranks third on Auburn’s defense with 50 tackles and has recorded one sack.

"They do some things that most fans wouldn't see in a game in respects to even some coverage things that they do,” VanGorder said. “… I'm feeling better about them. They both need to get better, and they both want to get better, but those two are ascending in my mind."

Searching for more production from Lemonier: With Auburn’s pass rush thwarted in recent weeks, VanGorder said the Tigers must get more production from their defensive line.

Auburn only has three sacks in the past two weeks. All three came from linebackers, two from senior Daren Bates.

Part of the problem up front has been an injury to junior defensive end Dee Ford, which limited his playing time against Arkansas and forced him to miss the trip Saturday to Ole Miss. VanGorder said fellow starting defensive end Corey Lemonier also must play better.

Lemonier had no tackles and just one quarterback hit Saturday at Ole Miss.

“Corey's got to be more productive,” VanGorder said. “That's the bottom line, and of course, without Dee Ford right now, another defensive end that can rush the passer. Dee and Corey are different than the other guys in respects to where they are in pass rush, and it's got to be a lot better. They know it."

 

 

[dallaswareagle]

“I've explained to them before this week – and actually in weeks past – that they've got to continue to work to improve,” Chizik said. “Trust is the main issue. We know they're talented. We know they can make plays when they get out on the field. They've got to be able to line up right, they've got to be able to run the right pressures, got to be in the right pass coverages.”

Yea, because this has been happening all season up to this point.