News of the day, 3/25

Hey everyone. It was a cold morning out there on the turf, though I'm not complaining. I was wearing my Russian bomber hat, a cashmere scarf and some gloves my gal snagged for me at the dollar store. I was ready.

Let's get to business.

First, though, I'd like to thank you for making this the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net.

The football team held a two-hour workout this morning. The most memorable thing I saw were some pretty vigorous post-practice (punishment) drills required of all defensive players. They held an extended fumble drill and did some other not-so-fun things ... all with DC Paul Rhoads barking less-than-encouraging words.

``There were signs of rust that were certainly expected," Rhoads said. ``In our profession, you just don't tolerate it, though, whether you expect it or not."

TB Ben Tate was back on the field, in full pads, for the first time all spring. He's been out with separate issues with his ankle and hamstring. Counter to earlier reports that suggested Tate won't participate in A-Day, Tate said: "Of course I'm going to scrimmage. I feel good. I'm not going to pass that up."

Tate said he was 95% back from his injuries. OC Tony Franklin disagreed.

``He didn't look back to me. I thought he just kind of ran through the motions, and was just there," Franklin said. ``I was glad to see him, but he's nowhere close to being back as far as I'm concerned. Maybe he will be. Hopefully he'll be able to get some reps by the time we get to Saturday, but he didn't look like the guy I saw in the bowl game."

More hard times for QB Neil Caudle, who was seen Tuesday signaling plays from the sideline. Franklin said he has decided to concentrate on Kodi Burns and Chris Todd during these final five practices. Franklin said Caudle will "be a great backup for them." So it goes.

Maybe Caudle can play baseball.

There was a change on the defensive depth chart. Aairon Savage bumped Walt McFadden out of the top spot at one of the cornerback positions.

``I thought Aairon was advancing a little faster than Walt and wanted to see him compete with the ones, both with our guys and against our guys," Rhoads said.

QB DeRon Furr resumed throwing drills on Tuesday for the first time in nearly three weeks. The freshman injured his throwing shoulder during Auburn's first spring scrimmage. Franklin said Furr has no chance to play this fall because he can't anticipate. That's not a surprise considering Furr is supposed to be in high school right now. He enrolled a semester early.

A few temporary adjustments were made along the offensive front today. Here's the list:

Ryan Pugh: RT ---> C
Big Snacks Berry: C ---> RT
Andrew McCain: second RT ---> first RT

Assistant coach Hugh Nall said the changes were made only to help those players add secondary positions to their skill set. Pugh absolutely will be back at tackle this fall. Berry said he'd prefer to play tackle. I don't know if that will happen.

Below you'll find today's ledger from the one-on-one line drills. I want to note that OG Bart Eddins did a really nice job today of not leaning. He was in great position, paid closer attention to leveraging defenders with his body and, as you'll see below, the results were positive.

Mike Goggans (49) vs. Jared Cooper (79) -- 49, E, 49
Zach Clayton (98) vs. Kyle Coulahan (58) -- 58, 98
Luke Farmar (64) vs. Coulahan (58) -- 58
Mike Blanc (93) vs. Ryan Pugh (50) -- E, 93 **overpowered with the bull rush**
Sen'Derrick Marks (94) vs. Bart Eddins (53) -- 53, 53 **moved his feet instead of lunging**
AJ Greene (90) vs. Big Snacks Berry (66) -- 66, 66, E

Ryan Burse (97) vs. Lee Ziemba (73) -- 73, 73, 73. **easy**
Marks (94) vs. Tyronne Green (71) -- 71 (pushed him inside), 94, 71
Blanc (93) vs. Jason Bosley (68) -- 68, 68 **good leverage beats Blanc every time**
Clayton (98) vs. Byron Isom (57) -- 98 (great inside swim move), 57, 98
Antoine Carter (45) vs. Andrew McCain (75) -- E, 45, 45