Florida coach Urban Meyer steps down

Hey everyone. This isn't Auburn-related, but you need to know about it.

Florida coach Urban Meyer announced this afternoon that his team's Jan. 1 game against Cincinnati will be his final as head coach.

This ESPN report says the decision is health-related.

I'll post more as it becomes available.

Players are en route

Hey everyone. Though the magic of Twitter, we know that Auburn players have been making their way to Tampa today.

Guard Byron Isom used his travel stipend to buy a first-class ticket from Atlanta to Tampa. He arrived this morning.

Wideout Terrell Zachery (and a few others) bummed a ride with tight end Gabe McKenzie. They drove through Tallahassee and arrived in Tampa around 2:30 p.m. CST.

Walt McFadden drove north from his pad in Pompano, Fla. He arrived around 3:30.

The Tigers still are arriving at the Hyatt Regency. The players' first official function is tonight when they're invited to attend a Tampa Bay Lightning game. Auburn begins practice tomorrow around 10:15 a.m.

SCHEDULE NOTE: The HABOTN Reporting Team will be making its way toward Tampa on Sunday.

Former Auburn commitment makes good

Hey everyone. I was watching the Ohio-Marshall game and cheering for the Bobcats. Fellow Auburn hack Andrew Gribble is an OU grad and I've taken a liking to Frank Solich's team. Gritty kids.

They just lost to Marshall. The game was sealed when MU cornerback DeQuan Bembry intercepted a pass with less than one minute remaining. Does that name sound familiar?

It should! Bembry committed to Auburn during the autumn of 2006. Auburn then cooled on him, he decided to look elsewhere and found a home at Marshall.

Found that interesting.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday

Hey everyone. Christmas morning has ended, which means I now can post on the HABOTN without guilt.

I hope you have a swell day. At least it's not raining.

My big gift was a Wilson Evolution basketball, indoor ball, real leather, necessary because the YMCA people choose to spend annual fees on new centers in different parts of town. That means the Bell Road branch gets neglected. Do I sound bitter?

Anyway, my ball is awesome. Thanks, Santa!

McCalebb's numbers tell the story

Hey everyone. Merry Christmas Eve to all you HOTTIES out there.

I'm doing a little work this evening amid the rain. Well, I'm not in the rain. I'd rather be in the snow ...

With rain falling around central Alabama, I am working on a little piece about your favorite rail-thin tailback. He wears No. 23. His name is Onterio.

So he plays the first four games of the season. He feels great.
LOU TECH, 22-148, 1 TD
MS STATE, 16-114, 1 TD
WEST VIR, 8-20, 0 TD
BALL STA, 8-83, 1 TD
---------------------
54-365, 6.75 ypc, 3 TDs

... then he gets hurt on a fake punt. It's his left ankle.
U. TENNE, 13-51, 0 TD
U. ARKAN, 6-23, 1 TD
U. KENTU, 7-22, 0 TD
LA STATE, 3-3, 0 TD
---------------------
29-99, 3.4 ypc, 1 TD

... then he sits out two games and regains his ability to cut.
U. GEORG, 11-60, 0 TD
U. ALABA, 5-23, 0 TD
---------------------
16-83, 5.18 ypc, 0 TD

SUMMARY: A healthy McCalebb is a very good tailback.

Have a nice day.

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Thigpen talking with Florida?

The fine peeps at footballcoachscoop.com, who have been right almost every time in situations I can verify personally, are saying assistant coach Tommy Thigpen has interviewed at Florida for a job as safeties coach.

Is it true? I'll call Thig, but don't expect to hear anything substantive about this until the Outback Bowl stuff gets into swing on Dec. 26 or 27.

For those who don't know, Thigpen is a critical (central?) component of the Tigers' recruiting enterprise. He's a main contact for most big-name prospects and I'm certain that Gene Chizik would work to keep Thigpen on the Plains if it came to that. More money? A new Pez dispenser? A bigger coaching role? You name it.

Back to the note from footballcoachscoop.com, I think I know who will get that job if it comes down to Thig and Willie Martinez. I'd say one resume is significantly thicker than the other.

**Thanks to Jet for his assistance here.

(BONUS) Radio Appearance in progress

Hey everyone. I am participating in my weekly segment on SuperSport 930 out of Jackson, Miss., in a bit. That extravaganza began around 9:05 a.m. CST.

We have discussed health care, soccer, Brittany Murphy, sweaters, Rick Stansbury, Meo Stansbury, single life and other stuff. And that was just the first segment.

Be there or be rectangular.

ASU at Auburn men

Hey everyone. Welcome to Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, where a crowd of approximately 1,200 is watching this puppy live.


FINAL
Auburn wins, 94-78.

FOURTH TIMEOUT @ 3:29, 2nd half
Auburn leads, 80-67. Still pretty lackluster. Auburn is better in transition and has connected on a few more shots. That's the difference. Neither of these teams are very good. Just being real with you.

SECOND TIMEOUT @ 11:51, 2nd half
Auburn leads, 62-53. Well, the Hornets are shooting well now. They have hit threes on three consecutive possessions. Auburn's transition defense is all out of sorts. You have to think the Tigers will pull this one out ... but that doesn't mean they're good. Yucky.

FIRST TIMEOUT @ 14:36, 2nd half
Auburn leads, 56-41. Tay Waller has eight points this half already. ASU has eight. I'll say this about Waller: He's the worst bad-shot shooter I've ever seen. He's always leaning one way or the other. It's cringe-worthy stuff -- but he connects on a lot of them. I don't know how he does it.

STATS OF NOTE
*Alabama State hit 2-of-14 from long range. Yummy.

*Auburn hit 15-of-18 from the free-throw line.

*Alabama State has 12 offensive rebounds. Auburn has one.

*27 fouls called.


HALFTIME
Auburn leads, 46-33. Awful basketball.

FOURTH TIMEOUT @ 3:54, 1st half
Auburn leads, 36-21. Auburn is playing better in transition, slicing through a confused ASU defense for easy baskets or free throws. It's pretty simple. The Hornets can't shoot at all from the three-point range. Can't wait to see those numbers. They are stinky.

THIRD TIMEOUT @ 7:28, 1st half
Auburn leads, 27-20. Twenty fouls have been called. It's ugly basketball. Auburn looks better in transition and, honestly, all the ASU fouls give even a terrible three-throw shooting team a chance.

SECOND TIMEOUT @ 11:39, 1st half
Auburn leads, 18-12. Horrible basketball. Both teams are taking awkward shots (ASU's are worse) and committing silly fouls. There have been 15 fouls called already. Sloppy all the way around.

FIRST TIMEOUT @ 15:52, 1st half
Game tied at 8. Sloppy. Auburn already has fought over a ball and lost it out of bounds, allowed two awful offensive rebounds and basically seems tired. I don't know why. Long way to go here, though. ASU is probably sloppier, but they're hitting some shots.

YOUR AUBURN STARTERS:
PG -- Speed Reed, also known as Dewayne, of Houston, Texas
SG -- Frankie Sullivan of Uniontown, Ala.
"SF" -- Tay Waller of rural Georgia
"PF" -- Lucas Hargrove of South Carolina
C -- Johnnie Lett of Mobile, Ala.

Your Auburn update, 12/21

Hey everyone. Auburn's final legit home practice has ended. Some stuff was discussed. Let's talk about it.

• Reserve fullbacks John Douglas and Jason King (a walk-on) were arrested separately on suspicion of DUI recently. Douglas was arrested on Dec. 5. King was arrested last weekend.
  
  Gene Chizik said the players have practiced "some," but said they will not be available for the Outback Bowl. Neither player has accrued meaningful statistics this season.
  
  ``Without going into detail of circumstances, they have been suspended from our football team at this point," he said.
  
  
• The so-called recruiting "dead period" began Sunday morning and runs to January 1. Coaching staffs are banned from face-to-face contact and are permitted one phone call per week to prospects.
  
  ``I think we’re sitting about as good as we can be sitting with most of the guys we have left out there that we’re recruiting," Chizik said. ``It’s a period of time where they get a little reprieve and a little break from all this but we’re going to continue to recruit them hard within the rules, whatever we’re allowed to do with our one phone call a week."
  
  
• Auburn coaches will take Dec. 24 and 25 off before re-convening in Tampa on the 26th. `` It’s family time and they need a break," Chizik said. ``We all need a break."
  
  

Basketball roundup

Hey everyone. The Auburn men lost to Sam Houston State this afternoon at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.

You read that correctly.

The Bearkats hit 58 percent of their shots from the field, including a 15-of-28 performance from three-point range. Forward Gilberto Clavell scored 34 points.

``It's obviously a frustrating game," Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. ``They came in here and just punched us in the face, and we didn't respond. Offensively, they were so good. Clavell just manhandled us. He absolutely hammered us, and we didn't have any answer for him."

Auburn's record fell to 5-6.

AUBURN WOMEN: Nell Fortner's Tigers were far more successful Sunday, earning a 71-50 win at South Alabama. Center KeKe Carrier continued her remarkable emergence with 23 points.

The Tigers are 8-3.

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.