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Auburn notebook: Gene Chizik schedules fourth scrimmage of the fall as Tigers evaluate players
Published: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 8:48 PM     Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 9:46 PM
 Charles Goldberg -- The Birmingham News
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There are certainly no shortage of scrimmages on Auburn's preseason schedule this August.

The Tigers have scheduled yet another one -- the fourth in an 11-day span -- in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday as they continue to try to determine how they're going to fill out their depth chart.



Auburn coach Gene Chizik watches special teams drill Thursday (Birmingham News, Hal Yeager)
Coach Gene Chizik said he needs them to evaluate talent and to give his 30 newcomers the feel for the game. Saturday will be an important stop along the way.

"From that point, we'll be two weeks out, and we can narrow things down,'' he said after Thursday's practice.

Some more notes from Thursday:

**Auburn returned to the practice field after taking Wednesday off for the first day of classes. (The earlier practice video we posted is here.)

"There was a lot of teaching today,'' Chizik said. "Today was a productive day."

The coaching staff spent Wednesday in meetings to determine the pecking order at each position, and which freshmen would likely help. Chizik didn't reveal any of those secrets.

"I can't say we've got it narrowed down and we're `there,''' he said. "We've got to continue to evaluate guys.''

**Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said he has an idea how things will work out, but "we want to give everybody a chance.''

**Malzahn said the scrimmages are "very beneficial'' for new quarterback Cam Newton.

"We're throwing a lot of things at him,'' he said. "It's really good to see how he reacts."

**On freshman Shaun Kitchens, a potential H-back:

"He's a big athletic guy. He's one of those guys who have a chance to help,'' Malzahn said.

**The right tackle position is down to Brandon Mosley, A.J. Greene and John Sullen.

Before naming the starter, Malzahn said, "we want one more scrimmage to be completely sure.''

Roszell Gayden is now the backup left tackle. He's been slowed by an injury.

**Malzahn also said practices are beginning to make the transition to game preparation.

**Chizik said he wasn't sure how junior college defensive end Joel Bonomolo will fit in. Bonomolo was the last player to report this summer.

"We're still evaluating him. He's a little dinged up right now,'' he said.

**After giving up 82 points in Tuesday night's scrimmage, defensive coordinator Ted Roof said his defense "was much better" Thursday.

"There was better attention to detail,'' he said.

Roof said he's installing his defense "at a pretty rapid pace right now."

"I know we're ahead of where we were last year, but we haven't played a game to prove it,'' he said.

Roof said his freshmen are making strides, and singled out linebacker LaDarius Owens.

**On injured linebacker Eltoro Freeman:

"He's had an absolutely fantastic camp,'' Roof said.

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