Thursday Night LIVE

Hey everyone. We're listening to Tiger Talk, coach Gene Chizik's weekly radio show, and watching Colorado @ West Virgina on ESPN.

Please stand and sing.


COLORADO -- 24


WEST VIRGINIA -- 35

Final


TIGER TALK TIDBITS

• Kevin from Panama City wants to know how Onterio McCalebb is doing: ``He's fine. He's practicing and the whole deal. We didn't want to chance anything with him. We just played him in the first half. He's good to go."
  
  
• Mark from Alex City wants to know why the Wildcat offense isn't named after Auburn: ``Gus has been calling it the Wildcat ever since high school."
  
  
• On Gus vs. Monte Kiffin: ``Monte is one of the best at his trade in America. He's proved that year in and year out. He hasn't changed -- he's as good as it gets. Gus has done a great job wherever he's been. It should be fun."
  
  
• Roy from Atmore wants to know if Auburn is going to throw a hail mary: ``We'll run it and throw it. We'll do a little of both."
  
  
• Tommy on the road wants to know about the defense and why Auburn defenders don't seem to handle their job each play. Oh, and they don't tackle well: We didn't play (the zone read) very well. We worked it in practice this week and we feel much better defending it. There have been some glaring open-field misses. We'll be a better tackling team over time. We've got a lot of young guys out there. We've got to be better at tackling. You see them get better as the weeks go on."
  
  
• Michael from Muscle Shoals, who is at work, wants to thank CGC for hiring Trooper Taylor .. and if he has a Trooper Towel: ``That's a great question. You're 100 percent right, man. His enthusiasm is very infectious. We're so happy he's here. He has done a phenomenal job of coaching our receivers. He's been great for Auburn. He's been good for our players. I have a whole closet full of his towels."
  
  
• Mike from Montgomery wants to know about PPL and ... he actually thinks Chizik will discuss recruits: ``Phillip has worked hard to get back into the mix. He's worked hard at it. He's made progress. This week, I think, he picked his game up. If he keeps working, he'll have a chance to work his way into the lineup."
  
  
• Benjamin in Chelsea wants to know what administrators can do to keep good coaches employed at Auburn: ``My first objective what you said -- I want to keep these coaches around. Jay Jacobs, he understands that fully. There are opportunities out there that are going to show up. They want to be head coaches. They want to be coordinators. They want to follow the same path I took. To the best of my ability, though, I'm going to keep this staff in tact."
  
  
• Christy from Haleyville ... had no question. She wants Auburn to whup Tennessee.
  
  
• Clyde wants CGC to know how much he loves CGC ... and Auburn. ``Thanks for a lot of great comments."
  
  
• Jonathan in Tuscaloosa wants to know about Jay Wisner and Tommy Trott and how important their blocking has been to the Tigers' early-season success: ``I am so glad you said that. It's awesome that you've noticed that. (Wisner) threw a huge block on one of those screen passes. These guys have done a good job of blocking downfield each game. They show up. Tommy is a really good football player. He's been through a lot of ups and down with injuries."
  
  
• Donald from Birmingham, who thinks Chizik is a class act, wants to know how CGC gets the team mentally prepared to play on the road ... and he wants to know if CGC scabs ideas from Tommy Tuberville: ``Playing on the road, to be honest with you, it's really unique. These are uncharted waters. We're trying to prepare as usual. We don't change what we do. You can overcome all the things that aren't good. There are going to be some bad times and there won't be 87,000 of your fans behind you. I believe it's about how you prepare during the week. I don't know that there's techniques. It's preparation and the mental aspects. I need to know where we are coming out of this road game ... and so do all of our coaches."
  
  
• Steve in Birmingham wants to know why the defense is "awful". Steve's elderly mother thought Auburn was playing with tear-away jerseys. Steve also reports that Ted Roof "does nothing for me": ``There are a lot of places where we're not as good as we want to be. Ted has done a great job. He's done a good job eveywhere he's been as a coordinator."
  
  
• Lisa from Montgomery wants to know where fans can meet the team in Knoxville: ``We're probably going to get in tomorrow. We'll keep it on central time. We'll get in around 5:30ish. That's the plan."
  
  
• William from Birmingham wants to know about Gabe McKenzie's defensive career: ``He'll play a little bit of defense. He's doing a good job of learning both (offense and defense). We felt like last week would be a good week to get him some defensive snaps. He did a good job."
  
  
• Randy from Clanton wants to know: ... nothing. No question.
  
  
• Shawn from Arab wants to know about how Malzahn's offense will work against Kiffin: ``That's a great defense we're playing against. They're really, really well-coached. To move the ball against this defense, we'll have to play our best game of the year -- by far."
  
  
• Jeremy from somewhere wants to know about Neil Caudle, who he believed was awesome against Ball State: ``I was really proud of Neil. he has gotten better every week. He has a comfort level with this offense. He's comfortable with the offense. He needs to keep coming on."
  
  
• On keys to this game: ``Turnovers and penalties. There's going to be a lot of noise when our offense is out there. We can't turn it over. We need to get some turnovers. And we need the kicking game."
  
  
• "War Eagle."
  
  
• That's a wrap.