Football talk, 10/29

Here are some (at least mildly) interesting things I've heard lately.

• K Wes Byrum on if he feels pressure because the offense doesn't score touchdowns: "A little bit. When we're not putting a lot of points up and you go out there, they need the three points. We need it. We're not getting the ball in the end zone as much and when they fight and get me in range and I don't make it it's kind of tough. It's just something I've got to deal with."
  
  
• Tommy Tuberville on the possibility of not being bowl-eligible: "You can’t worry about all of that, you just keep worrying about getting better. We’re a better team now than we were three weeks ago. I think our offense is much improved and they have a lot of room for improvement and we’ll get better with each practice. I told the team on Sunday and I’ll tell them every day, ‘We want to get better every day in practice.’ That’s the only thing that we can handle. Don’t worry about wins and losses or who we play, whether it’s on television or whether you’re bowl-eligible. None of that stuff is going to make a difference."
  
  
• LB Chris Evans on being worried about making a bowl game: "You could say that. Coach (Paul) Rhoads just said do like we've done in teh past, just be consistent. The small things we did in the first four games, then it fell off a lot."
  
  
• Evans on the defense's apparent lack of energy: "I would't say we didn't have energy. It's not like we're out of shape. We've got to start playing with a sense of urgency in the second half like we do in the first half, because we come out strong in the first half."
  
  
• TB Mario Fannin on if he noticed West Virginia's defense making adjustments: "I have no idea."
  
  
• Fannin on if he's heard from Ole Miss' Patrick Trahan, a former Auburn player: "I think some guys have. I haven't, but I'm pretty sure he'll be calling pretty soon."
  
  
• Assistant coach Don Dunn on why West Virginia was so effective: "They probably had better quickness and speed than we realized. We didn't do a good job of getting where we needed to be and we missed some tackles. That's basically what happened in the second half. I think we panicked a little bit."
  
  
• Dunn on DT Zach Clayton, who has played all our positions along the defensive front this season: "It's invaluable. We don't have anyone else. We would've had to move a linebacker or bring a kid up off of redshirt and we don't want to do that. It's been a blessing, to be honest with you, that he can do that."

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

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