News of the day, 9/5

Hey everyone. Auburn practices late this afternoon. I'll be updating a few times during the day, so check back for the freshest information available.

Thanks, as always, for taking another scrumptious dose of the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net.

LB Tray Blackmon (ankle), S Aairon Savage (ankle) and CB Jae Wilhite (hamstring) returned to practice on Wednesday and are expected to play against South Florida. K Wes Byrum remains hobbled by a troublesome ankle. Tommy Tuberville said junior Zach Kutch will kick if Byrum isn't able to play.

Several fans have asked me recently (ie this morning at the gym) about the real story behind Mario Fannin's zero carries against Kansas State. I really don't think conspiracy theories are necessary here. We talked with Mario on Monday and he seemed at peace with it all. He acknolwedged that blocking isn't his best skill. Ben Tate and Carl Stewart, the team's best blocking backs, still couldn't dilute the pressure being placed on Brandon Cox the other night. It could have been worse with Fannin in there. I've told you all for weeks that Fannin is a good player. He is. He'll get his chance soon. Auburn knows it can't run Ben Tate every down. He's not that kind of back.

I didn't have room to use this quote in today's story about Brandon Cox, but you need to see it. I found it so odd. I asked Tuberville for his thoughts about Cox's mental errors from the KSU game. What does he do? Cites Cox's 4-INT game against Georgia Tech in 2005. That was 24 starts ago.

He's made mental errors before. We all go back to his first start against Georgia Tech. He made a few there. Brandon is not going to be perfect. No quarterback is. You have to have a few people step up around you sometimes. This time, he had the defense and kicking game step up and get us out of the hole which we dug for ourselves on offense. We aren't going to be able to live like that all of the time. Last year, it caught up with us in two games, and if we don't improve, then it will catch up with us again.

Steven Ensminger's decision to leave Auburn is a good one. He's a good player. I mean that. He looked just as good as Neil Caudle during the spring, and there's no doubt in my mind that Ensminger can be a good college quarterback somewhere. Not at Auburn. Kodi Burns and (perhaps to a lesser degree) Neil Caudle are the next guys in line.

From the "Why does anyone care?" file comes a list of former South Florida students.
*Terry Bolea a.k.a. Hulk Hogan
*Lauren Hutton, actress and old-school hottie. This cannot be argued. Also a Chi-O, which adds luster to her resume.
*Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Cardinals manager (graduate)
*Gallagher, comic with the annoying watermelon act (graduate)
*Mark Consuelos, who played Mateo Santos on "All My Children." Don't ask me how I know. Now he's Mr. Kelly Ripa. He's also a fan of Chelsea F.C., which makes me regret even putting him on this list. (graduate)

American Idol star Taylor Hicks, a former Auburn student, will perform at halftime of the Mississippi State game on Sept. 15. He won the show's fifth season in 2006. I can't say I've ever heard a single song of his -- or seen a complete episode of the show -- but I'm sure a lot of Auburn fans appreciate Hicks' genius.