"The most fun I've ever had playing football..."

[Ogre]

Good article:

Chizik makes opening statement on The Plains
COLUMN BY BRAD ZIMANEK • SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

AUBURN -- Gene Chizik has been the guy in the hot seat from the beginning. Every one it seems questioned his qualifications because of a dubious 5-19 record at Iowa State the last two years.

ESPN listed Louisiana Tech as an upset special over Auburn in the season opener.

Even the Opelika-Auburn News had a cartoon of a tiger checking out Chizik under the microscope.

Upon further examination, Chizik came off looking pretty good Saturday.

He recorded his first victory as Auburn's head coach with a 37-13 win over Louisiana Tech with a record-breaking offensive attack and the Tigers' usual relentless defense.

That's a pretty good start.

"It's great to win your opening game," Chizik said. "It was certainly one of our goals to win the opening game. I have weight on my shoulders for every game. We have put a lot into this. The kids have put a lot into this. So every game is important, but again it was great to win the first game."

Chizik said he had a few pregame jitters but not anything out of the ordinary.

He said his emotions were peaked after going through the Tiger Walk.

"Our fans are the greatest fans in the country," Chizik said. "I know every head coach probably says that but I'm going to tell you something . . . that Tiger Walk as I said before, when you get through it if you are not fired up, you are in a coma. . . . They fired our team up."

But in pregame warm-ups Chizik said one of the reasons he felt composed was because of the team's preparation heading into the game. That's a sentiment echoed by several players afterward.

"He prepared us so well for the game," junior center Ryan Pugh said. "He even told us that I know it's hard to trust someone who you never played for before. We can trust him now."

Pugh said even the atmosphere on the sideline was much different than last season.

He said he couldn't count how many times defensive coordinator Ted Roof came over to the offensive groups to fire them up. Or offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn making his way into the defensive huddles on the sideline to do the same.

"That happened with all the coaches," Pugh said. "It was such a difference."

Chizik didn't stop there.

In the final moments, Pugh said Chizik came over and thanked every player.

"It's something I've never seen before," Pugh said.

The players returned the favor by giving Chizik the game ball.

"He prepared us so well," junior Kodi Burns said. "All we had to do was execute."

That's a far cry from Chizik's head-coaching debut -- which probably seems like eons ago to him.

On Aug. 30, 2007, his Cyclones lost 23-14 to lightly regarded Kent State before a crowd of 47,313 in Ames, Iowa. At the time, Chizik said: "There were a lot of first game blunders. No one area was to blame. We have to work through this as coaches. There are a lot of things we have to work through that are correctable. It's a very hard way to start the season."

That couldn't be further from the truth this time around.

A record-setting night: 556 yards of offense, two backs with more than 100 yards, the reject quarterback Chris Todd completing a school-record 93-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Zachary and a defense that excelled with a few first-time starters and depth the strength of tissue paper at several spots.

"This is the most fun I've ever had playing football," Pugh said.

For one night, for the man in the hot seat, that has to be music to his ears.

Link

[Pell City Tiger]

Awesome! I loved the emotion on the sideline last night.

[Townhallsavoy]

Our players were much more hyped up.  I've never seen them that nuts.  Although, I will admit that I said "settle the fuck down" a few times last night.  It was just La Tech. 

But seriously, we've got a good thing going...as long as no serious injuries occur....