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10.02.2007

News of the day, 10/2

Hey everyone. It's the second day of the week, so you know what that means: "Tuesdays with Tommy." I'm sure he'll have plenty to say at his 1 p.m. press conference. Make it an emphasis to ease back after 1:45 to see what Tuberville says about the issues of the day.

I was researching Vanderbilt yesterday for late-week stories. That's a pretty good team. In a position-by-position breakdown, I gave VU the advantage at WR and LB. I could have gone with QB as well, but a normal Brandon Cox is a tad better. Vanderbilt is excellent along the defensive front as well. With Quentin Groves out, I thought about giving Vandy the check there. Really, though, Quentin has been the third-best lineman behind Antonio Coleman and Sen'Derrick Marks. Maybe fourth behind Pat Sims. Auburn got the check.

Anyway, beating the Commodores isn't an easy task anymore. I told you last week that Auburn was going to play well down there. Now I'm telling you: Vanderbilt is going to play tough at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

I know. I said no more prognostications. I failed. So it goes.

Here is your weekly "Tuesdays with Tommy" excerpts:

*On seeing famous kicker Al Del Greco in the audience: "Hey, Al. How are you doing?"

*On moving forward: "The challenge in front of us is to get over that game Saturday."

*On practice today: "We didn't have a great practice, so we did a few things to get their attention."

*On needing to improve: "We didn't play a great game. We played a good game. If we had played a great game, it wouldn't have come down to the end like that."

*On injuries:
"It's getting pretty serious with the injuries. It's hard to improve when you don't have guys out there in practice. This is a team sport. Guys don't just come out there for a couple of days during the week and be ready to play. We don't have the depth we had earlier in the year."

*On Vanderbilt: "They've had some bad luck. It looks like the luck is changing to their way."

*On Bradley Lester: "He won't start. He'll have a role to play. This is the first game of the season for him. First games are tough because you're usually not in playing shape even though he has been practicing a lot."

*On his team's recipe for success: "We've won around here with kicking and defense for a long time."

(EDIT: Auburn led the SEC in scoring during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.)

*On Rod Smith: "We didn't throw the ball to Rod nearly as much as we should have during the first couple of games."

*On DE Sen'Derrick Marks: "He probably could play linebacker. He couldn't play on the outside, but he could play in the middle. He has a tremendous attitude."

*On the South Florida loss: "We should have won that game."

*On the "interfering with a catch" call during the Florida game. Auburn submitted a formal inquiry into that decision on Sunday: "I usually hear back on Tuesdays, but I haven't gotten (an answer) back yet. I'm sure I'll get a long explanation on that one. I'm anxious to see what they say."

*On his behavior following the call: "I didn't realize how far out on the field I was."

*On not recruiting former Alabama Player of the Year Chris Nickson, Vanderbilt's top quarterback and native of Brundidge: "We weren't looking for that kind of quarterback at that time."

(EDIT: Auburn began recruiting Kodi Burns less than a year later.)

Tuberville created a itty-bitty dose of buzz during the press conference by saying there could be "one or two" changes along the offensive line this week. As Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story: LT Ryan Pugh is really a C by trade, so coaches want to give Pugh some time at center. That means King Dunlap might have a chance to run with the second-team offense this weekend. That's the big change.

14 Comments:

Blogger asdasdasd said...

How come there are 2 #18's on the team... Wes and Burns.?

8:07 AM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

Teams can have duplicates provided those players aren't on the field concurrently.

Me? I'd make all my legit players wear their own number.

8:12 AM  
Blogger NOLA said...

What No. would you pick, Mr. Tate? And where's the Q&A with Powers the masses are dying for?

1:59 PM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

I'd wear 4. Or 55. That's what my wife wore in college.

I haven't had a chance for a long sitdown with No. 8 lately. He's pretty popular now that he's moved beyond Decatur. He's national. Or at least regional.

2:02 PM  
Blogger CPF said...

I'd be No. 2. You all know why..

And a Q&A with Gilbert is what the masses really want.

3:01 PM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

Zach Gilbert. There's a name I haven't heard in a while...

3:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Tate,
What do you have against Zach Gilbert? Something wrong with a hard-working kid doing his best and earning a scholarship? You sportswriters are so synical.

8:03 PM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

He is a good kid. No. 22. Reminiscent of Tre Smith -- tough, gritty kid making his way.

8:04 PM  
Blogger asdasdasd said...

I noticed the comment on why AU never looked to get Vandy QB (ALA palyer of the year). AUburn cant recruit any QB it seemed. I recall the GA QB a couple years ago who wanted to go to AU since his parents area ALUM so he just goes and beats AU at AU. Forgot his name at this second. I wish AUburn would get some 5 star QB somehow. Tuberville's recruiting abilities I hear about ?? I havent been to impressed.

12:16 AM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

Oh, I think they recruit pretty well overall. You're thinking of David Greene. He's the UGA kid whose parents were AU alums. I think his sister was attending AU when Greene was quarterback at Georgia.

Anyway, you can win em all. I mis-evaluate people all the time. I don't want to be duplicitous...

7:56 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Jay,
In regards to your "edit" on Auburn recruiting Burns but not Nickson - I think that was Tommy's polite way of saying they didn't think he could play QB at Auburn (which a lot of other schools must have thought because he is now playing at Vanderbilt).

His arm strength and physical build was nowhere in the same ballpark as Kodi Burns' was in high school.

9:15 AM  
Blogger Jay G. Tate said...

Nickson and Burns are the same kinds of quarterback. To say Auburn wasn't looking for that kind of quarterback at that point is a humorous comment to me.

You think Chris Nickson isn't good enough to play at Auburn? Seriously?

9:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From the NCAA rule book... (I'm not sure we "impeded the opportunity to catch", but the rule states that when in doubt, it's interference.)

SECTION 4. Opportunity to Catch a Kick
Interference With Opportunity
ARTICLE 1. A player of the receiving team within the boundary lines
attempting to catch a kick, and so located that he could have caught a free
kick or a scrimmage kick that is beyond the neutral zone, must be given an
unimpeded opportunity to catch the kick (A.R. 6-3-1-III, A.R. 6-4-1-V and
A.R. 6-4-1-X).
a. This protection terminates when the kick touches the ground or is
muffed by any player of Team B beyond the neutral zone (Rule 6-5-1-a)
(A.R. 6-4-1-IV).
b. If interference with a potential receiver is the result of a player being
blocked by an opponent, it is not a foul.
FR-92 RULE 6-4 / KICKS
c. It is an interference foul if the kicking team contacts the potential
receiver before, or simultaneous to, his first touching the ball (A.R. 6-4-
1-II, III, VII and IX). When in question, it is an interference foul.
PENALTY—For foul between the goal lines: Receiving team’s ball,
first down, 15 yards beyond the spot of the foul for an
interference foul [S33].

10:33 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Jay,
I'm saying that if you could tell 3 years ago that an undersized quarterback with a pretty weak arm in high school - that had only offers to play QB from Vanderbilt and some other very small schools -would be a good SEC quarterback then you are the man.

Kodi Burns was at least twice the prospect that Chris Nickson was coming out of high school (look at offers, recruiting stars, game film, whatever). I doubt Tubs wanted to say that the week we are playing Nickson.

Nickson has turned into a pretty good quarterback - but I've watched him play several times and he has nowhere near the potential that Burns does in terms of arm strength and body strength.

Not saying I guarantee Burns will be better - but you have to play the odds.

12:35 PM  

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