2011 college football preview

The Anniston Star

S u n d a y , a u g u S t 2 8 , 2 0 1 1

College football preview

Counting

SEC, pagE 4 alabama, pagE 10 JSU, pagE 22 aUbUrn, pagE 32

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Sunday, August 28, 2011 The Anniston Star

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The Anniston Star Sunday, August 28, 2011

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S C h e d u L e


Here they go ... yet again

Southeastern

ConferenCe

A look AT THe

2011 SeASoN

Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/file

4


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By Mike HugueninRivals.com

Forgive the rest of the college football world if they’re a little sick of hearing about this: An SEC team has won each of the past five national titles.

SEC fans, of course, continue to revel in the accomplishment, telling everyone who will listen how great their conference is and will continue to be.

Bad news for folks not associated with the SEC: There are two legit national title contenders in the league this season.

Auburn won the 2010 title, and the Tigers were the only one of the recent SEC national titlists to open the sea-son outside the top 10. The other four Florida in 2006, LSU in ‘07, Florida in ‘08 and Alabama in ‘09 opened in the top seven in The Associated Press poll and the top eight in the coaches’ poll. None were No. 1, though.

This season, the league’s top two contenders, Alabama and LSU, are second and fourth, respectively, in the coaches’ poll. In all, seven league teams are in the top 25.

Once again, the West is the stron-

gest division in the league. Four West Division teams Alabama and LSU, along with Arkansas and Auburn are in the preseason top 25. Every team in the East lost at least four games last sea-son, and all but South Carolina lost at least five; it wouldn’t be a shock if that happened again.

There are two new coaches in the league, both in the East. Will Mus-champ, a Georgia alum who had been Texas’ defensive coordinator, is the new Florida coach, while James Frank-lin, who had been offensive coordina-tor at Maryland, is Vanderbilt’s new leader.

On the field, think of this season as the year of the running back in the SEC. Every league team except Arkan-sas and Kentucky has a legitimate hope of having a 1,000-yard rusher. Con-versely, this is not a league with a lot of proven quarterbacks or wide receivers.

The league will get a chance to prove its strength early. Two of the sea-son’s biggest non-conference games involve SEC teams in the first week of the season: Boise State vs. Georgia in Atlanta and LSU vs. Oregon in Arling-ton, Texas.

Chances are the SEC will get a chance to prove its strength in the final game of the season, too.

Please see SeC ❙ Page 6

League even tougher to stop with 2 contenders

Chris Carlson/Associated Press/File

Alabama’s Marcell Dareus helped lead the Tide to its national title in 2009. With the No. 2 preseason ranking, Alabama is looking for another championship run.


• TEAM THAT WILL SUR-PRISE: Florida. If the Gators get competent quarterback play from John Brantley and that’s a big “if,” considering his perfor-mance last season, they will fin-ish second in the East and con-tend for the division title. The defense could be quite good, and there is speed galore on that side of the ball. The offense is the question. We’ll find out more about Charlie Weis’ coaching acumen this season, consider-ing what he has to work with on offense.

• TEAM THAT WILL DISAP-POINT: Auburn. “Disappoint” is a relative term. The Tigers won the national title last season, but

won’t get a sniff of the BCS this season because they lost too much talent. Losing Newton is bad enough. But Auburn also lost the nation’s best defensive line-man (Nick Fairley), three of its top four receivers, four-fifths of the offensive line, three-fourths of the defensive line, the two best linebackers, three starting defen-sive backs and maybe the best clutch kicker in school history. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Auburn finished fifth in the West.

• TOUGHEST SCHEDULE: LSU. The Tigers play Oregon in the opener at a neutral site, travel to West Virginia and also have to play Mississippi State, Tennes-see and Alabama on the road.

There are some positives: LSU doesn’t have to play Georgia or South Carolina and gets Florida and Arkansas at home. All in all, though, LSU will have earned its good record if it wins 11 or 12 games.

• EASIEST SCHEDULE: Mis-sissippi State. The non-confer-ence schedule is such that the Bulldogs are a lock to go 4-0 in those contests, which means that to get to a bowl, the Bulldogs only have to win two league games. The toughest league games (Ala-bama, South Carolina and LSU) are in Starkville. There are road trips to Auburn and Georgia, but both of those come in the first five weeks of the season.

• BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER: South Carolina WR Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery emerged as one of the nation’s best wide receiv-ers as a sophomore last season, catching 88 passes for 1,517 yards and nine TDs. While it’s true he benefits from playing in the same offense as star TB Marcus Lattimore, Jeffery is ham-pered by not playing with a consistent quarterback. No matter: Jeffery is going to put up great stats again this season for the Gamecocks, then almost certainly head off to the NFL.

• BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Alabama SS Mark Barron. Barron is a big-play guy from his strong safety position. He is heading into his third season as a starter, and he led the Tide with 75 tackles last season. He also had three interceptions and six pass breakups. Barron is a key part of what should be the nation’s best secondary this season.

• BREAKOUT OFFENSIVE STAR: Alabama TB Trent Rich-ardson. Think back to 2009, when Alabama was counting on a former backup to take up the slack at tailback. All Mark Ingram did was win the Heisman and help the Tide win the national title. It’s not unrealistic to expect the same thing from Richard-son this season. He has rushed for 1,451 yards and 14 TDs in his first two seasons and easily could match those totals this season. Richardson attended the same high school as Emmitt Smith in Pensacola (Fla.) Escambia and can start making a name for himself this fall.

• BREAKOUT DEFENSIVE STAR: LSU E Sam Montgomery. If Montgomery is as good as we think he is, he’ll flirt with 10 sacks and provide the Tigers’ defensive front with a playmaker off the edge. T Drake Nevis was LSU’s big-play lineman last sea-son, but he’s now in the NFL. Montgomery still is a bit raw when it comes to defending the run, but he has all the tools to be a top-flight pass rusher. If he puts everything together this season, LSU’s defense will come close to matching last season’s success.

• MOST OVERRATED PLAYER: LSU WR Rueben Randle. For a five-star talent coming out of high school, Randle sure hasn’t done much. Yes, you certainly can place some of the blame on poor quarterback play; LSU hasn’t really had a good quarter-back since Randle arrived in campus. Still, in two seasons, he has just 46 total touches. Perhaps this will be his breakout sea-son.

• COACH ON THE HOTTEST SEAT: Georgia’s Mark Richt. Richt is coming off the first losing record of his tenure, and some of the natives are mighty restless. The Bulldogs have lost 12 games in the past two seasons; the last time that happened was in 1995-96. In addition, last season’s seven losses were the most for the Bulldogs since 1990. The SEC East looks as down as it has been since the league went to the division format in 1992, and folks will know early if this Bull-dogs team has what it takes to chal-lenge for the division title: They open with Boise State in Atlanta on Sept. 3, then play host to South Carolina in a huge division showdown the next weekend.

• BEST COACHING STAFF: Ala-bama. Nick Saban may rub some people the wrong way, but the guy is a good coach and he has a great staff. Both his coordinators Jim McElwain on offense and Kirby Smart on defense are in line to be head coaches sooner rather than later, and he also has some of the best position coaches around in Burton Burns (running backs) and Sal Sunseri (linebackers).

• BEST OFFENSIVE COORDINA-TOR: Auburn’s Gus Malzahn. His “marriage” with QB Cameron New-ton last season produced one of the most magical statistical seasons in college football history, and with all the big stats came a national title. Don’t expect those types of numbers with Newton gone, but Malzahn’s track record at Tulsa and with Auburn in 2009 shows he will wring the utmost from the talent he has on hand.

• BEST DEFENSIVE COORDINA-TOR: South Carolina’s Ellis Johnson. Johnson never seems to get the credit he deserves, though he annually over-sees some of the best defenses in the nation despite having less-than-elite talent. He places a big emphasis on shutting down the run, yet still fields aggressive, attacking units.

• BEST POSITION COACH: Ala-bama RB coach Burton Burns. Burns is a former Nebraska fullback under Tom Osborne, so it’s no surprise his backs run hard and play tough. He’s also a former Tommy Bowden assis-tant at Tulane and Clemson, and at those two schools and at Alabama, he has coached some of the best running backs in each school’s history. Watch for Tide TB Trent Richardson to make a huge impact this fall.

THE OTHER STUFF

PREDICTED FINISH

EAST DIVISION1. South Carolina2. Florida3. Georgia4. Tennessee5. Kentucky6. Vanderbilt

WEST DIVISION1. Alabama2. LSU3. Arkansas4. Auburn’5. Mississippi State6. Ole Miss

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WINNER:

Alabama

THE COACHES THE PLAYERS

Frederick Breedon/Associated Press/File

South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (1) caught 88 passes for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns as a sopho-more last season. The Gamecocks are predicted to finish first in the SEC East.


7


Baylor sent out promotional trading cards asking members of the media to ‘keep your eye on third’ playing off the school’s third generation of Robert Griffins. Griffin, a quarterback, was sixth in the nation last season in total offense, averaging 318.15 yards per game.

Northwestern is going to the source with its campaign for quarterback Dan Persa. The school had a billboard announcing its campaign for Persa placed in Bristol, Conn., the home of ESPN. Obviously hoping that someone will take notice on their way in to work.

The school has also put up billboards all over Chicago as well as establishing a social media push. A website featuring their slogan, ‘Persastrong’ is up and run-ning as well as special hashtags for Twit-ter users to follow the latest information about the senior quarterback.

Hawaii is doing a similar online blitz for quarterback Bryant Moniz, establish-ing a Facebook page for his Heisman campaign.

In years past, schools would send out anything from notebooks to CDs pro-moting their candidates for Heisman. However, with tougher economic times comes more of a push toward online campaigns.

“I think the economy will affect things,” Chris Huston said.

“Because of the economy, you are going to see less physical collateral going out, I think you will see more of the Inter-net variety: websites, Facebook pages, twitter accounts, all that kind of stuff.”

Huston runs HeismanPundit.com,

one of the leading websites looking at the Heisman Trophy race.

Campaigns are mainly constructed by schools looking to increase their brand image as well as promote a candidate who isn’t necessarily on the mainstream media’s radar.

“There are a few schools that have an already established brand in producing Heisman candidates so maybe they don’t need so much of a preseason push, but some of the smaller schools, the ones that aren’t used to being discussed, it makes more sense for them to let people know that, ‘Hey, don’t overlook this guy just because he plays for Hawaii or plays for Baylor,’” Huston said.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is a preseason favorite for the award, but the school isn’t putting together a cam-paign for its star junior.

But does a campaign really work?In 2001, Oregon put up a billboard in

Times Square, promoting quarterback Joey Harrington for Heisman. Renam-ing him, ‘Joey Heisman,’ the Ducks were hoping to build a brand identity.

Harrington finished fourth in the Heisman race that season.

“I think the billboard in Times Square worked really well because people talked about it,” Huston said. “You can almost trace the rise of the modern Oregon pro-gram to that billboard. It was a symbol of their reaching out away from the West Coast and becoming a national pro-gram.”

ESPN college football analyst Des-mond Howard doesn’t think the extra attention helps that much.

“I can’t remember a campaign like that really helping a Heisman Trophy winner win it,” Howard said. The former Michigan wide receiver knows a thing or two about the Heisman. He captured the award in 1991.

For the players involved in the cam-paign, the extra attention means the team itself is doing well.

“It makes you feel good because you know the Heisman is a team award,” Grif-fin said.

“Anybody to label you as a Heisman contender just means that your team is doing good things.”

Oklahoma State has promoted its top two stars in quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Black-mon. The school has created a campaign called Weeden2Blackmon that features a Facebook page as well as a Twitter pres-ence.

While a Heisman campaign isn’t for everyone, like the award itself, just being nominated is sort of an honor.

“I think a school should back a can-didate. It’s the least they can do consid-ering how hard the players work and how much revenue they are bringing into the school,” Huston said.

“You can almost trace the rise of the modern Oregon program to that billboard. It was a symbol of their reaching out away from the West Coast and becoming a national program.”

— Chris Huston, HeismanPundit.com

Heisman campaigns not just for big namesBy Matt Murschel

Orlando Sentinel

When you think of possible Heisman Trophy candidates this season, you think of names like Andrew Luck, LaMichael James, and Kellen Moore.

But how about Robert Griffin III, Bryant Moniz or Dan Persa?

All three aren’t necessarily households names, but their schools hope that will change thanks in part to several campaigns started this offseason promoting their stars.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press/File

Northwestern has already started a 2011 Heisman campaign for quarterback Dan Persa. The school put up billboards and started a website for Persa.


9

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Alabama

Crimson Tide

A look AT The

2011 SeASoN


o? No. This is time for

‘D’ to shine


By Michael [email protected]

TUSCALOOSA

The balance of power shifts yet again.

A year after hinging expectations on future NFL talent on offense, expectations of an Ala-bama run at a national title hinge more on the experience on defense. Future draft picks Mark Barron, Dont’a Hightower and Courtney Upshaw headline the roles held by Mark Ingram, Julio

Jones and Greg McElroy in 2010.The offense of a year ago couldn’t live up to the consensus No. 1

preseason rankings, though. The defense of 2009 was the lynchpin of a 14-0 run to the BCS

title. Those expectations return after restocking the shelves last fall.“We can be great. I honestly think we could be better than the ’09

defense,” linebacker Nico Johnson said. “We still got a lot of work to do, but I seriously think that. When we’re out there at practice, it makes everything more easy for linebackers, linemen, because we’ve got so much experience. We don’t know what our best is going to be. We just gonna shoot for that this year.”

Still, the attention of spring and summer was focused on the glamour position on offense.

If Tide is to notch No. 14 it’ll be done with defense

Kent Gidley/University of Alabama

Mark Barron goes through drills at a recent practice. With all the potential NFL first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball, it’s clearly the Tide’s strength.

Please see alaBaMa ❙ Page 12

11

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Replacing two-year starting quarter-back Greg McElroy gained intrigue as the competition between AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims appears to be without a lead-er heading into the opener. Coach Nick Saban even stopped releasing statistics from preseason scrimmages to quell out-side analysis of the two young passers.

With the Sept. 3 season opener against Kent State fast approaching, Saban said there was no reason to pick a winner.

“It’s not out of the question that both have roles on our team in some kind of way,” Saban said after the second of the two scrimmages on Aug. 20. “I know that’s sort of not what everybody wants to hear, but both of those guys have done a good

job in what we’ve asked them to do. Both of them have developed nicely. Both of them have consistently made plays.”

The offensive line protecting McCar-ron and Sims returns mostly intact. Just left tackle James Carpenter departed, but the one job opening is causing more of a shift. Two-year starting right guard Barrett Jones is the leader to replace the first-round draft pick while sophomore Anthony Steen appears to be the man in Jones’ old spot.

The guys they’ve been blocking in practice carry just as many questions as the new quarterbacks.

Alabama’s defensive line — the strength of the 2009 title team — doesn’t have the same star power as in the past. Nose guard Josh Chapman won’t have Marcell Dareus on his hip anymore, so the power of the front must come from

another source like junior college trans-fers Quinton Dial or Jesse Williams.

Improving the pass rush falls heav-ily on the shoulder of Upshaw, a cross between a linebacker and defensive end who had five sacks in the final two games of 2010. Jones said blocking him in prac-tice is no treat.

“It’s a challenge. The best rushers in any league are guys who can beat you with speed and power,” Jones said. “The thing about Courtney is he is the perfect hybrid of speed and power. He’s so fast off the edge, and he can beat you with a speed rush. But the second you kind of soft set him so you set back and handle that speed rush, he’ll just run right over you.

“So he really is an extremely difficult guy to block and we’re looking for him to have a great year.”

On top of it all, the Alabama football

team comprehends its role in a commu-nity and state still recovering from the deadly April tornado outbreak.

After helping with the physical labor of rebuilding Tuscaloosa, the players are ready to provide a distraction for those still dealing with the effects of April 27.

“I’m already a motivated person to begin with and then to finish the way I did last year, that’s more motivation,” Barron said. “And then with the tornado thing, I see a lot of people depending on us more even than what they did simply because they lost a lot and they’re looking for us to give them something to take pride in by winning.

“That’s something I want to help them with.”

Michael Casagrande covers University of Alabama sports for The Star. Follow him on Twitter @UARollTide_Star

AlAbAmAContinued from Page 11

Gary Cosby Jr./Decatur Daily/File

Alabama’s C.J. Mosley and Courtney Upshaw bring down Auburn’s Emory Blake in the 2010 Iron Bowl. Upshaw returna as a star on the Tide’s defense.


13

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Cyrus Kouandjio Linebacker • 6-6, 322, Fr.

By all accounts Kouandjio is having a standout performance in camp and definitely is looking at some serious playing time. If he lives up to the hype, he’ll most likely be a monster. And after the all the drama Kouand-jio had with his recruitment between Alabama and Auburn, he’d better. Worst-case senario at this point is that he is just an OK offensive tackle who’ll eventually start for a few years.

Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix Linebacker • 6-1, 203, Fr.

It’ll be hard for a true freshman to nab a starting spot anywhere for the Tide, especially on defense, but Clinton-Dix had an impressive camp and could see some significant playing time for Alabama in certain formations. The No. 1 rated safety in the nation according to scout.com and rivals.com, Clinton-Dix will at least provide solid talented depth for when Barron and Lester need breathers.

Vinnie Sunseri Linebacker • 6-0, 217, Fr.

Sunseri had a standout A-Day game and will see the field enough to make an impact for Alabama in the secondary at safety or even linebacker depending on the defensive forma-tion.

Vinnie, son of Alabama linebackers coach Sal Sunseri, enrolled early and should press for playing time after having a solid spring and summer.

Trey Depriest Linebacker • 6-2, 242, Fr.

The linebacker prospect the Tide snagged from Ohio State has earned lots of praise on his intensity from Alabama coach Nick Saban after enrolling early. Depriest, like most incoming freshmen, has loads of talent ahead of him on the depth chart, but Depriest could still see plenty of on-field time at inside line-backer.

5MVP CanDiDaTeS

Trent RichardsonRunning back • 5-11, 224, Jr.

Richardson got a glimpse of what it was like to be the main man in Alabama’s offense for two games at the beginning of last season and he didn’t disappoint. Now he gets to try again but without first-round draft picks Julio Jones and Mark Ingram. He does, however, have the benefit of a veteran offensive line to run behind. Alabama’s season will go as far as Richardson’s legs will carry it. Stumble and he will shoulder all the blame. But anyone who has seen him run knows he doesn’t go down easy.

Courtney UpshawLinebacker • 6-2, 265, Sr.

Alabama didn’t attack the passer as much as they would have liked in 2010, but if Upshaw can play like he did against Michigan State in the 2011 Capitol One Bowl all season, it shouldn’t be a problem. One of two big veteran leaders of Alabama’s front seven, Upshaw gives the Tide a relent-less pass rush that will be key to mak-ing stops on defense.

Dont’a HightowerLinebacker • 6-4, 260, Jr.

If Upshaw will be key to Alabama’s pass rush, Hightower will be instrumental in stopping the run. Finally fully healthy, Alabama will need him to fulfill his potential and step up as a leader on Alabama’s veteran defense. Both Hight-ower and Upshaw are likely first-round draft picks and Bednarik Award finalists granted they stay healthy, and their importance can’t be overstated.

Mark BarronSafety • 6-2, 218 Sr.

An injury to Barron likely cost Alabama the 2010 Iron Bowl, but also likely kept him out of the NFL draft. If Barron stays healthy and keeps producing, it might not be a bad trade for the Tide — and Barron will likely get to keep his first-round spot in the draft.

If Alabama’s defense has a soft spot, it’s at corner. So, safeties Barron, who led the team in tackles, and Rob-ert Lester, who led the team in inter-ceptions, will have to play solid.

Barrett JonesOffensive lineman • 6-5, 311, Jr.

The anchor of Alabama’s veteran offensive line, Jones is not only the top lineman in Tuscaloosa, but probably the whole SEC. He’s the leader of an offensive line that has two first-team preseason All-SEC picks and two more on the second team. If Alabama hopes to score points, they’ll need Jones to keep the defense away from Richardson and whoever ends up starting at QB.

TOP: Trent Penny; ABOVE: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

Trent Richardson, top, and Dont’a Hightower are among top players to potentially earn MVP honors.

4exCiTing newCoMeRS

14


TUSCALOOSA — D.J. Fluker doesn’t typically fly under the radar.

At 6-foot-6, 335 pounds, the Ala-bama offensive lineman’s been in the glare of the spotlight since he arrived in Tuscaloosa. He was, after all, No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation as a high school senior in 2008.

Now entering his second season as a starter, all the focus is trained on the other bookend of the offensive line. Fluker’s job at right tackle appears secure while Barrett Jones makes the move to left tackle with freshman Cyrus Kouandjio making his case for early playing time.

Should Kouandjio crack the start-ing five, the shuffled deck on the line could threaten jobs. Fluker should be safe, though. After dealing with a groin injury midway through last season, the Foley product is confident about his second go-round.

“I’m a whole new person this year,” he said. “I understand the offense.

I understand the tackle position. I understand the plays. I understand the defense. I’m like a whole new person.”

A little hard work before last season made him a fraction of the person he was a year earlier.

Fluker dropped about 75 pounds between arriving with high expecta-tions and his first career start last Sep-tember.

He’s settled in at 335 pounds and moving much better than he did two years ago. Projections said Fluker was the next Andre Smith at left tackle. The right side, however, became his home on the line.

Offensive coordinator Jim McEl-wain doesn’t expect that’ll change.

“I think it’s one of those deals where he has become fairly comfortable at that spot, and right now it’s not as much as which tackle as it is which five guys are going to work together the best,” McElwain said.

— Michael Casagrande

2 0 1 1 A l A B A M A C r I M S O N T I D E

Fluker skinnier, more confident

P r O J E C T E D T w O - D E E P C H A r T

OFFENSE DEFENSE

Beth Hall/Associated Press/File

Alabama offensvie lineman D.J. Fluker, far right, should have a secure spot as the starting right tackle in his second season with the Tide.

DeFenSive enD

92 Damion Square 6-3, 285, Jr.

54 Jesse williams 6-4, 319, Jr.

DeFenSive enD

90 Quinton Dial 6-6, 294, Jr.,

49 Ed Stinson 6-4, 279, So.

nOSe gUArD

99 Josh Chapman 6-1, 310, Sr.

54 Jesse williams 6-4, 319, Jr.

LinebACker

5 Jerrell Harris 6-3, 242, Sr.

19 Jonathan Atchison 6-3, 240, So.

LinebACker

41 Courtney Upshaw 6-2, 265, Sr.

42 Adrian Hubbard 6-6, 237, Fr.,

LinebACker

30 Dont’a Hightower 6-4, 260, Jr.

36 Chris Jordan 6-3, 240, Sr.

LinebACker

35 Nico Johnson 6-3, 245, Jr.

32 C.J. Mosley 6-2, 234, So.

COrnerbACk

21 Dre Kirkpatrick 6-3, 192, Jr.

9 Phelon Jones 5-11, 199, Sr.

COrnerbACk

24 DeQuan Menzie 6-0, 198, Sr.

28 Dee Milliner 6-1, 196, So.

SAFeTy

4 Mark Barron 6-2, 218, Sr.

29 will lowery 5-10, 188, Sr.

SAFeTy

37 robert lester 6-2, 210, Jr.

29 will lowery 5-10, 188, Sr.

WiDe reCeiver

15 Darius Hanks 6-0, 185, Sr.

2 DeAndrew white 6-0, 181, Fr.

TighT enD

89 Michael williams 6-6, 269, Jr.

84 Brian Vogler 6-7, 252, Fr.

LeFT TACkLe

75 Barrett Jones 6-5, 311, Jr.

71 Cyrus Kouandjio 6-6, 322, Fr.

LeFT gUArD

65 Chance warmack 6-3, 320, Jr.

52 Alfred McCullough 6-2, 311, Sr.

CenTer

73 william Vlachos 6-1, 294, Sr.

63 Kellen williams 6-3, 307, So.

righT gUArD

61 Anthony Steen 6-3, 303, So.

67 J. Boswell 6-5, 300, Sr.

righT TACkLe

76 D.J. Fluker 6-6, 335, So.

79 Austin Shepherd 6-5, 321, Fr.

h-bACk

17 Brad Smelley 6-3, 229, Sr.

87 Chris Underwood 6-4, 243, Sr.

WiDe reCeiver

4 Marquis Maze 5-10, 180, Sr.

11 Brandon Gibson 6-2, 194, Sr.

QUArTerbACk

10 AJ McCarron 6-4, 205, So.

14 Phillip Sims 6-2, 212, Fr.

rUnning bACk

3 Trent richardson 5-11, 224, Jr.

42 Eddie lacy 6-0, 220, So.


QuarterbackWhoever turns out to be the starter

— whether it’s AJ McCarron or Phillip Sims — really doesn’t have to step in and be a star for the Crimson Tide.

With a defense as good as the Tide’s promises to be and a rushing attack keyed by the likes of Trent Richardson, Alabama just needs a game manager, a la Jay Barker in 1992.

With as secretive as the race has been, it makes one wonder: Is the race really that close or is mastermind Nick Saban using the quarterback race as a carrot to dangle in front of the media to dis-tract from something? (What else? Who knows.)

Bottom line is this: Whoever the quar-terback turns out to be, he won’t need to win that many games, he’ll only need to ensure that he doesn’t lose any to keep Alabama in the picture for its 14th national championship.

At Penn State, Sept. 10 Second game of the year, a still very

green quarterback — A.J. McCarron or Phillip Sims — will have to go into Happy Valley and bring home a win. No easy task, even if Penn State isn’t hav-ing a great year. If their linebackers can get enough pressure to force whoever is the starting signal caller into a mis-take, things could get bad quickly for Alabama.

LSU, Nov. 5 Les Miles might prefer the way the

grass tastes at Tiger Stadium, but he likes wins over Alabama anywhere, and he’s no stranger to Bryant-Denny. Any problems the Tigers might have at quar-terback should be settled by the time November rolls around and like most

years recently this game will most likely decide the SEC West.

Arkansas, Sept. 24 Alabama’s secondary will face it’s

first major test against the Razorbacks. Arkansas will have no reason not to come into Tuscaloosa undefeated with three games under their belt to work out any kinks Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson might have with the Hog’s offense. If Alabama’s cornerbacks can keep Arkansas’ skilled receiving corps locked down, they shouldn’t have to worry too much on the ground after an unfortunate season-ending injury to talented running back Knile Davis.

At Auburn, Nov. 26 It’ll be late in the year, enough

time for Auburn’s young team to be

hardened enough to shock Alabama. Anytime Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is calling plays, the Tigers are going to be a threat for an upset. Especially if the Tigers are given a last-minute chance to derail an undefeated title run.

At Mississippi State, Nov. 12 With all the talk about Alabama, LSU

and Arkansas competing to go to Atlan-ta this year, people may be overlooking the most dangerous team in the SEC, the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen has built an impressive foundation, and with the right influx of talent, similar to what Auburn had in 2010, the Bulldogs could find themselves on the winning side of more than a few upsets this year.

5MUSt-See coNteStS

4key offeNSive AreAS thAt MUSt ProdUce

Wide receiver You’re going to be hard-pressed to

find a faster player on Alabama’s squad than Marquis Maze (pictured right). But for the first time, the speedster is going to be running routes in the opponents secondary without the advantage of first-round draft pick Julio Jones drawing double and sometimes even triple cover-age. Darius Hanks will be sitting out the first two games for an extra season of eligibility, so someone in Alabama’s receiving corps is going to have to step up if the Tide expects to take pressure off the running game.

tight end Having a good receiving tight end

can do wonders for an offense. Hav-ing someone catching passes that’s as big as Michael Williams, who is 6-foot-6, 269 pounds, can create plenty of trouble for defenses. Throw enough his way over the middle and the linebackers will focus on him and draw attention away from receiv-ers Maze and Hanks who will be

trying to step up after the departure of Julio. A good receiving tight end also makes defensive coordinators think twice about the

blitz as linebackers have to stay at home to keep safeties from having to deal with a what is basically a left tackle carrying the ball. All said and done, without Julio, Williams could be a big, and big-time target for a fresh quarterback.

Barrett JonesJones has been a great

utility player for the tide for the past two years, his ver-satility at guard, tackle and

even center gives Alabama an advantage when it comes to arranging its vet-eran offensive line. Jones got the most votes in the SEC Media days preseason

poll for offensive lineman and will be key if Alabama expects to push its opponents

around in the trenches like they

did in 2009.

— Bobby BozemanABOVE: Kent Gidley/U. of Alabama

LEFT: Trent Penny/The Anniston Star


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GP Att Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G

Mark Ingram 11 158 875 5.5 13 54 79.5

T. Richardson 11 112 700 6.2 6 65 63.6

Eddie Lacy 12 56 406 7.2 6 62 33.8

Demetrius Goode 6 34 140 4.1 1 15 23.3

Julio Jones 13 8 135 16.9 2 56 10.4

Jalston Fowler 11 14 111 7.9 1 36 10.1

Marquis Maze 13 3 15 5.0 0 7 1.2

Ben Howell 1 5 11 2.2 0 6 11.0

Nick Tinker 1 4 9 2.2 0 3 9.0

Darius Hanks 13 2 7 3.5 0 6 0.5

A.J. McCarron 13 6 -10 -1.7 0 4 -0.8

Greg McElroy 13 60 -12 -0.2 1 17 -0.9

Total 13 467 2378 5.1 30 65 182.9

Opponents 13 435 1432 3.3 6 59 110.2

RusHING

s T A T I s T I C A L L E A D E R s

GP Effic C-A-I Yards TD Avg/G

Greg McElroy 13 169.0 222-313-5 2987 20 229.8

A.J. McCarron 13 151.2 30-48-0 389 3 29.9

Marquis Maze 13 589.6 1-1-0 19 1 1.5

Total 13 167.8 253-362-5 3395 24 261.2

Opponents 13 103.6 192-367-22 2291 12 176.2

GP No. Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G

Julio Jones 13 78 1133 14.5 7 68 87.2

Marquis Maze 13 38 557 14.7 3 48 42.8

Darius Hanks 13 32 456 14.2 3 51 35.1

Preston Dial 13 25 264 10.6 3 24 20.3

T. Richardson 11 23 266 11.6 4 85 24.2

Mark Ingram 11 21 282 13.4 1 78 25.6

M. Williams 13 8 100 12.5 1 32 7.7

Earl Alexander 13 7 90 12.9 0 28 6.9

Brad smelley 13 6 55 9.2 0 13 4.2

Brandon Gibson 12 4 39 9.8 0 18 3.2

Kevin Norwood 13 3 56 18.7 1 36 4.3

Chris underwood 13 3 36 12.0 1 28 2.8

Kenny Bell 10 2 26 13.0 0 18 2.6

Eddie Lacy 12 2 18 9.0 0 15 1.5

Demetrius Goode 6 1 17 17.0 0 17 2.8

Total 13 253 3395 13.4 24 85 261.2

Opponents 13 192 2291 11.9 12 75 176.2

PAssING

RECEIvING

UA OPP sCORING ......................................................464 176 Points Per Game ........................................35.7 13.5 FIRsT DOWNs ..............................................287 198 Rushing .......................................................126 85 Passing ........................................................151 99 Penalty ..........................................................10 14 RusHING YARDAGE .................................2378 1432 Yards gained rushing ................................2630 1777 Yards lost rushing .......................................252 345 Rushing Attempts .......................................467 435 Average Per Rush .........................................5.1 3.3 Average Per Game ...................................182.9 110.2 TDs Rushing .................................................30 6 PAssING YARDAGE ...................................3395 2291 Comp-Att-Int ...................................253-362-5 192-367-22 Average Per Pass ..........................................9.4 6.2 Average Per Catch .....................................13.4 11.9 Average Per Game ...................................261.2 176.2 TDs Passing ...................................................24 12 TOTAL OFFENsE .......................................5773 3723 Total Plays ...................................................829 802 Average Per Play ..........................................7.0 4.6 Average Per Game ...................................444.1 286.4 KICK RETuRNs: #-Yards ........................ 40-986 76-1628 PuNT RETuRNs: #-Yards ...................... 28-349 10-64 INT RETuRNs: #-Yards .......................... 22-239 5-13 KICK RETuRN AvERAGE ...........................24.6 21.4 PuNT RETuRN AvERAGE ..........................12.5 6.4 INT RETuRN AvERAGE .............................10.9 2.6 FuMBLEs-LOsT ......................................... 20-9 19-4 PENALTIEs-Yards ................................... 66-490 72-575 Average Per Game .....................................37.7 44.2 PuNTs-Yards ........................................ 41-1607 73-3098 Average Per Punt .......................................39.2 42.4 Net punt average .......................................36.2 36.3 TIME OF POssEssION/Game .................30:46 29:14 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................... 67/150 65/191 3rd-Down Pct ............................................45% 34% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ........................ 10/15 15/23 4th-Down Pct .............................................67% 65% sACKs BY-Yards ...................................... 27-177 32-165 MIsC YARDs .....................................................0 0 TOuCHDOWNs sCORED .............................58 19 FIELD GOALs-ATTEMPTs ...................... 19-25 14-17 ON-sIDE KICKs ............................................ 0-0 1-1 RED-ZONE sCOREs ......................(48-57) 84% (20-31) 65% RED-ZONE TOuCHDOWNs .........(36-57) 63% (10-31) 32% PAT-ATTEMPTs ..............................(57-58) 98% (18-18) 100% ATTENDANCE ........................................712747 394267 Games/Avg Per Game ...................... 7/101821 5/78853 Neutral site Games ........................................... 1/61519

TEAM sTATs


19

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When different isn’t welcomed

Jacksonville State

GAMECOCKS

A look AT The

2011 SeASoN


By Al [email protected]

JACKSONVILLE

Consistency is the key to success in any program, and it’s that element that will define a football season that starts with so much promise for Jacksonville State.

The Gamecocks, preseason favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference and top 10 in both major preseason polls, own the

best in-conference winning percentage of any team in its Football Championship Subdivision league in the coun-try since joining the OVC in 2003. But there have been times they’ve left their fan base to wonder if the team and that record are one and the same.

Even when the Gamecocks went undefeated through the first two months of last season — streaking to an 8-0 start that included a dramatic upset of Ole Miss and had them on the verge of being the No. 1 team in the country on their level — there were elements of inconsistency that left coach Jack Crowe to admit he “never knew the team in the way I needed to know a team that had a chance to be special.”

Each of their first four wins came down to the last play or

Gamecocks, Crowe see

consistency as key to realizing ultimate

team goalsStephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File

JSU’s LaRay Williams’ two-point conversion against Ole Miss helped to put JSU the map. It’s up to this year’s team to stay there.Please see Jsu ❙ Page 25

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UT Martin, Sept. 1OK, so it’s the opener, but for the Gamecocks, it’s

much more than a first game. It may be their most important opener since moving to Division I. It’s an OVC game, so if they don’t win, they’ll be playing catch-up for an automatic playoff berth the rest of the year.

They haven’t opened the season against a confer-ence opponent since 1979 and haven’t opened with a conference foe at home since 1972.

At Murray State, Oct. 1This game could be wild. The Gamecocks will play their power game, while

the Racers will come with an offense that will have them throwing it all over the yard.

It was fun last year when the Hatch Attack was new and had JSU down 14-0 in the first 13 minutes. The teams combined for 74 points and nearly 800 yards of offense, not counting the long special teams TDs they each produced.

At Kentucky, Oct. 22After nearly upsetting Florida State in 2009 and beat-

ing Ole Miss last year, every time JSU plays up now, folks will keep an eye on the crawl on the bottom of their TV screens.

If the Gamecocks pull off another upset this year, the SEC teams already contracted for the next four years might start looking for a way out, and the Gamecocks might never get another big-money game.

Tennessee Tech, Oct. 29A revenge game

if ever there was one, and at home-coming no less.

The Gamecocks had a collapse for the ages last year, giving up 28 points in the final 11:33 to lose 35-24. It still bothers them to this day the way they let the game, the conference cham-pionship and a high seed in the playoffs slip through their fin-gers because, as one assistant coach put it, they simply lost their composure.

At Tennessee State, Nov. 19If the Gamecocks do what they expect, this game, the

regular-season finale, will seal the OVC title. There’s another reason they’ll anticipate this game.

Players like to play in big stadiums, and the Tigers play in an NFL park. Even though the teams have played in the same league since 2003, because of quirks in the OVC schedule, the Gamecocks haven’t played at LP Field since 2005.

5MUST-See cONTeSTS Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File


25

closing seconds, and even though they continued to win, the successes weren’t satisfying. Eventually, it would prove to be their downfall.

As much as the wins manifested them-selves early, the losses manifested them-selves late. As it turned out, if the Game-cocks hadn’t beaten Southeast Missouri in the final 15 seconds on Senior Day, they would have lost their last four games of the year — and that includes the collapse they had in the final 12 minutes at Tennes-see Tech that cost them the OVC title.

“We’ve got to find a consistency of performance,” Crowe said. “When you look back over last year, which you put up against other years, we have just not had the consistency it takes to distinguish yourself.”

And that’s on both sides of the ball. To Crowe, the most well-played football game is something that goes 24-21 — with the Gamecocks getting the 24, of course.

And their record over the years bears it out. Since joining the OVC, in games JSU scores 24 points or more, its record is 54-8. The mark swings to 6-22 when scoring 23 points or fewer.

When the Gamecocks give up 21 or more, their record is 19-25. At 29 points-plus, it’s 4-18. When they hold teams below 20 points, they’re 41-5.

There are several instances during Crowe’s tenure where the Gamecocks would play several games in a row hold-ing opponents to 17 points or fewer, then somebody would put together a 35- or 44-point game against them.

That’s going to happen sometimes, when an opponent’s style just lends itself to a high-scoring affair. The key is not being surprised by it.

“You go over 28 points, I think you’ve exposed yourself,” Crowe said. “We’ve got to make the 21 number real for us. Not that we can’t hold somebody under 21, but you start going over that with any con-sistency, you’re just asking to get beat.”

If giving up 28 points in a game is bad, then how about 28 in a quarter? That’s what the Gamecocks did last year at Ten-nessee Tech, and it still bothers them to this day.

They blew a 17-point lead, giving up 28 points in the final 11:33 and, the Ole Miss win notwithstanding, had to keep their fingers crossed for a favorable draw in the playoffs.

Much of the confidence the Game-cocks carry into the season is tied to a stout defense, anchored by a front four potentially as good as any in the country, and the presence of a veteran quarter-

back.Three of the front four — Co-Preseason

Player of the Year Monte Lewis, defensive end Jamison Wadley and hybrid bandit end Rodney Garrott — are preseason All-OVC picks. The other is nose DiMetrio Tyson, a converted defensive end.

The Gamecocks recorded only 14 sacks last year — 7.5 from the front four — but with the emphasis of the defense shifting from the lineback-ers to the front, their “Four Forcemen” have the chance to flourish, and those numbers are likely to meet the increased but undis-closed expectations.

“With those four, if they can stay healthy, we can be pretty danged salty,” new defensive coordinator Chris Boone said.

Marques Ivory returns for his fourth year with the team and second as the full-time starting quarterback, some 40 pounds slimmer than the version that finished the 2010 season. The decrease in weight will increase his mobility; the maturity factor has long been there.

Ivory is surrounded by a veteran group of receivers and a running game bolstered by Georgia transfer Washaun Ealey. And, of course, Coty Blanchard, the hero of the Ole Miss win, returns to provide a change of pace to Ivory after playing baseball in the spring.

The only question is the development of the offensive line, which Crowe said “has to have a com-plete rebirth.” The unit suffered a major blow early in camp when tackle Odie Rush, their only pick on the preseason All-OVC offense, broke his leg. He is expected back at some point in the season.

The start JSU got off to last year was among the best in school history. How much of it can be tied directly to the Ole Miss win is open to

debate.Garrott said beating Ole Miss “helped

us, but I don’t think losing to them would have hurt us,” because a loss to a bigger program was expected from the outside. Crowe said the season’s success “would

probably have been unlikely” had they not won all the close games early.

Of course, the Gamecocks couldn’t have gone 8-0 without winning that first game — duh — but they were anticipat-ing being strong enough to beat the teams on their own level that remained, just like they did in 2009 after they got past Geor-gia Tech and Florida State.

But it was never easy. After beating Ole Miss, they needed a long touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to beat Chattanooga, a sharp-eyed official’s favorable ruling in overtime to hold off upstart Georgia State and Brooks Robinson’s interception with two seconds left to survive at Eastern Illinois.

The only real easy ones they had all year were a 24-0 win over Tennessee State and a 56-3 rout of Austin Peay that took them to 8-0 right before their open week.

One thing the close wins did do for them was instill a confidence they could win in the fourth quarter. Five years ear-lier, they started the season with three straight last-minute losses and struggled to finish 6-5.

If anything, last year’s travails served to raise the questions about the valid-ity of the record. Having gone through the spring and seen his players respond, Crowe said he has none of those ques-tions this year. In fact, he’s more comfort-able with this team than he has been with any in a long time.

“I know more about this team than any team I’ve ever coached here and more about this team than any team I’ve coached as a head coach, more of what’s in the minds and hearts of these guys than any team I’ve ever been head coach of,” he said. “I think there’s ingrained in this group of players a mentality that is rare. There’s a thread of confidence that I expect to lead to consistency.”

The players even admitted the big start last year had them getting ahead of the game. Having good teams denied a play-off berth in 2008 by the selection process and in 2009 by NCAA academic sanctions, they talked of making a national cham-pionship run throughout the season and thought of conference titles and playoff games before anything was a sure thing.

Having learned that lesson, even with higher expectations, the Gamecocks aren’t saying national championship game or bust this year. Not publicly at least.

“We kind of did that last year and that was a mistake,” Ivory said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll get the things we’re supposed to get.”

Al Muskewitz covers Jacksonville State sports for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577. Follow him on Twitter @JSUSports_Star

JSUContinued from Page 23

Trent Penny/The Anniston Star

Jacksonville State’s running game should be bolstered with the transfer of Washaun Ealey, formerly a Georgia running back.

“There’s a thread of

confidence that I expect

to lead to consistency.”

— Jack Crowe, JSU coach


Split End

4 James Shaw 6-0, 190, Sr.

1 Trey Smith 6-5, 220, So.

lEft tacklE

56 Tarik Milner 6-3, 280, Fr.

76 Tristian Hardin 6-6, 291, Fr.

lEft guard

65 Matt Jones 6-3, 305, Sr.

73 Colt Kennedy 6-6, 300, So.

cEntEr

62 Max Holcombe 6-3, 271, Fr.

64 Preston Hatcher 6-4, 290, Fr.

right guard

67 Michael Ellis 6-2, 285, Sr.

70 Ricky Clemons 6-5, 288, So.

right tacklE

69 Tori Mobley 6-3, 280, Jr.

68 Taylor Johnstone 6-3, 295, So.

tight End

81 Justin Howard 6-3, 235, So.

84 Denzell Cheeks 6-6, 215, Jr.

flankEr

16 Alan Bonner 5-11, 168, Jr.

6 Kevyn Cooper 6-1, 197, Jr.

QuartErback

12 Marques Ivory 6-1, 235, Sr.

11 Coty Blanchard 6-0, 185, So.

a-back

7 Washaun Ealey 5-11, 215, Jr.

8 Rashod Byers 5-8, 170, Fr.

b-back

3 Calvin Middleton 5-11, 220, Sr.

32 DeMarcus James 5-10, 220, Fr.

cornErback

20 A.J. Davis 6-0, 183, Sr.

38 Francis Duncan 5-11, 167, Jr.

frEE SafEty

18 Robert Gray 5-11, 195, So.

9 Jason Horton 6-0, 202, Sr.

28 Keginald Harris 6-3, 200, Jr.

Strong-SidE linEbackEr

24 Nick Johnson 5-11, 185, Jr.

47 James Powell 6-1, 210, So.

MiddlE linEbackEr

35 Clarence Jackson 6-2, 220, So.

45 Brannon Byrd 6-2, 243, Sr.

WEak-SidE linEbackEr

51 Rashad Smith 6-1, 210, So.

48 Ben Endress 6-1, 200, Fr.

dEfEnSivE End

90 Monte Lewis 6-3, 251, Sr.

53 Marquis George 6-4, 242, Sr.

noSE guard

96 DiMetrio Tyson 6-2, 275, Jr.

92 Barry Stafford 6-0, 295, Fr.

78 Caleb Lawrence 6-0, 270, Fr.

dEfEnSivE tacklE

93 Jamison Wadley 6-3, 282, Sr.

99 Sean Watson 6-2, 290, Fr.

bandit

49 Rodney Garrott 6-1, 255, Sr.

43 Tanner Robertson 6-3, 225, Jr.

Strong SafEty

14 Brooks Robinson 6-2, 201, Jr.

15 Pierre Warren 6-1, 195, Fr.

cornErback

2 Jawaan Booker 5-11, 180, Sr.

38 Francis Duncan 5-11, 167, Jr.

JackSonvillE — You say there’s just not enough hours in the day to manage all that’s on your plate? Con-sider all the balls Jamison Wadley has to keep in the air.

As a dedicated husband, father, student and teacher — in addition to being a Division I college football play-er on a team with national aspirations — Wadley doesn’t have time to slow down, let alone stop.

He rises before the milkman and, depending on the time of year, drives 30 minutes to Jacksonville for work-outs, goes back home to help get his 3-year-old ready for preschool so his wife can get ready for work and then it’s off to do his student-teaching. At the end of the school day, he goes to practice with the Gamecocks, returning home just in time to eat and see his little one off to bed.

“It’s just a lifestyle, kind of how I’ve lived,” he said. “I’ve lived back and forth, here and there, my whole life. It is what it is.”

Outsiders might not understand Wadley’s demanding schedule, but the JSU players and coaches marvel at and appreciate the way he manages to keep it all together.

“He was a grown man when he was 12 years old,” JSU coach Jack Crowe said.

And Wadley, a senior preseason All-OVC pick at defensive tackle, appreci-ates their understanding. The structure football brings has helped him master personal responsibility and time man-agement.

“They’ve helped me out a lot,” he said of the coaches. “I probably wouldn’t be able to do it anywhere else if they weren’t that understanding.

“But at the same time, they’re understanding because when I’m out here I’m busting my tail for them. ... I’ve been very accountable for them since I’ve been here, so I guess in return and in respect for what I’ve done for them, they’ve always helped me out.”

It also helps to have a supportive family. Wadley met his wife Jessica while he was a freshman in high school and they married in 2007. Daughter

Cali was born during his first year at JSU, and the family is expecting anoth-er in February.

During the season, Jessica and Cali are at all the home games. They were in the stands during last week’s open scrimmage, with Cali bouncing around the field when it was over in her JSU cheerleader outfit.

Wadley has a big “Cali” tattoo scripted on his left bicep, and when he starts feeling down, he looks at it for inspiration.

“My little girl, she’s a huge fan of football,” he said. “She wouldn’t know what to do without it, I don’t guess. She’s there, and she’s loud and cheer-ing the whole time every game.

“That’s really neat that she has the chance to see me do what I do. Not many people can say that their kids got to watch them play football period, and she actually understands. They’re memories I’m sure she’ll have for the rest of her life.”

Wadley figures it’ll get easier in time. In the meantime, he will continue to keep finding ways to keep all the balls in the air.

“I don’t really worry about it right now,” he said. “Sometimes you want free time, but I know it’s all going to pay off some day. I’ll have free time eventu-ally. It’ll come one day.”

— Al Muskewitz

2 0 1 1 J A C K S O N V I L L E S T A T E G A M E C O C K S

Wadley a family, football man

O F F I C I A L D E P T H C H A R T

OFFENSE DEFENSE

Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File


Washaun EaleyRunning back • 5-11, 215 Jr.

When Ealey transferred in from Geor-gia, the Gamecocks figured their problem of finding a back who could control the game was solved. Ealey led the Bulldogs in rushing each of his two years there, but left feeling underappreciated in the offense. That should be no problem here. The Gamecocks won’t mind giving it to him 20 or more times a game. Kentucky fans certainly will remember him; Ealey ran for five TDs against the Wildcats last year.

Marques IvoryQuarterback • 6-1, 235 Sr.

The ultimatum was laid down at the end of last season: Lose the weight or lose the starting job. Ivory has dropped nearly 40 pounds since the end of the season, and that should translate to more mobility. It’s not like he’s going to pull it down and run at the drop of the hat, but being lighter will give him a better chance to escape when plays break down.

Calvin MiddletonRunning back • 5-11, 220 Sr.

If MVP truly means “most valu-able,” Middleton (pictured right) could be the guy no matter what he does statistically this season — and he’s been the team’s leading rusher the last two seasons. He’s often been referred to as the glue for what the Game-cocks want to get done. He’s pow-erful enough to be a fullback, tough on the goal line, effec-tive enough to run it as a lone tailback and can catch the ball.

Monte LewisDefensive end • 6-3, 251 Sr.

He’s the OVC’s co-Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, what more needs be said? Lewis (pictured above) was a force last year, recording 34 tackles and four sacks, but with the emphasis of new coordinator Chris Boone’s defense shifting from the lineback-ers to the defensive front this year, look for those number to skyrocket.

Coty BlanchardQuarterback/Punter • 6-0, 180 So.

Blanchard energizes the crowd when-ever he enters the game, but the Game-

cocks offense did become a little too predictable when he was inserted as the year wore on. That’s expected to change this year with

a year of experience and bet-ter understanding of the

offense, even if he didn’t go through the spring.

Plus, he allows the Gamecocks to fill

another roster spot in his dual role as punter, which opens the possibility for some gad-

getry on special teams.

5MVP CandIdatEs

Photos by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

27

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GP Att Net Avg TD Long Avg/G

Calvin Middleton 9 118 514 4.4 7 32 57.1

Jamal Young 10 72 468 6.5 4 76 46.8

Darius Barksdale 12 100 389 3.9 1 22 32.4

Coty Blanchard 12 58 289 5.0 2 46 24.1

Alphonso Freeney 12 36 207 5.8 4 30 17.2

Marques Ivory 12 59 118 2.0 2 26 9.8

Richard Freelon 6 16 31 1.9 0 7 5.2

James Shaw 12 11 18 1.6 0 23 1.5

Cole Doolittle 11 1 8 8.0 0 8 0.7

Lequintez Reynolds 8 1 2 2.0 0 2 0.2

TEAM 11 10 -40 -4.0 0 0 -3.6

Total 12 482 2004 4.2 20 76 167.0

Opponents 12 465 1938 4.2 23 48 161.5

RuShING

S T A T I S T I C A L L E A D E R S

GP Effic C-A-I Yards TD Avg/G

Marques Ivory 12 133.1 181-309-9 2248 18 187.3

Coty Blanchard 12 181.1 27-41-2 296 8 24.7

Thomas Darrah 1 383.6 3-3-0 62 1 62.0

TEAM 11 0.0 0-1-0 0 0 0.0

Total 12 140.4 211-354-11 2606 27 217.2

Opponents 12 123.0 198-339-10 2373 12 197.8

GP No. Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G

Jeffrey Cameron 12 39 728 18.7 5 65 60.7

John houston Whiddon 12 27 281 10.4 0 21 23.4

James Shaw 12 25 316 12.6 6 72 26.3

Jamal Young 10 22 174 7.9 4 34 17.4

La’Ray Williams 10 19 196 10.3 1 26 19.6

Alan Bonner 12 17 245 14.4 5 30 20.4

Kevyn Cooper 12 13 225 17.3 2 40 18.8

Justin howard 10 12 157 13.1 1 22 15.7

Cory Freeman 12 12 100 8.3 1 13 8.3

Calvin Middleton 9 11 85 7.7 0 15 9.4

Alphonso Freeney 12 6 41 6.8 0 19 3.4

Denzel Cheeks 10 4 21 5.2 2 7 2.1

Richard Freelon 6 2 26 13.0 0 21 4.3

Darius Barksdale 12 2 11 5.5 0 6 0.9

Total 12 211 2606 12.4 27 72 217.2

Opponents 12 198 2373 12.0 12 76 197.8

PASSING

RECEIvING

JSU OPP SCORING ......................................................386 300 Points Per Game ........................................32.2 25.0 FIRST DOWNS ..............................................239 238 Rushing .......................................................109 103 Passing ........................................................116 116 Penalty ..........................................................14 19 RuShING YARDAGE .................................2004 1938 Yards gained rushing ................................2310 2256 Yards lost rushing .......................................306 318 Rushing Attempts .......................................482 465 Average Per Rush .........................................4.2 4.2 Average Per Game ...................................167.0 161.5 TDs Rushing .................................................20 23 PASSING YARDAGE ...................................2606 2373 Comp-Att-Int .................................211-354-11 198-339-10 Average Per Pass ..........................................7.4 7.0 Average Per Catch .....................................12.4 12.0 Average Per Game ...................................217.2 197.8 TDs Passing ...................................................27 12 TOTAL OFFENSE .......................................4610 4311 Total Plays ...................................................836 804 Average Per Play ..........................................5.5 5.4 Average Per Game ...................................384.2 359.2 KICK RETuRNS: #-Yards ...................... 51-1171 60-1249 PuNT RETuRNS: #-Yards ...................... 32-353 10-124 INT RETuRNS: #-Yards .......................... 10-183 11-87 KICK RETuRN AvERAGE ...........................23.0 20.8 PuNT RETuRN AvERAGE ..........................11.0 12.4 INT RETuRN AvERAGE .............................18.3 7.9 FuMBLES-LOST ......................................... 24-7 20-8 PENALTIES-Yards ................................... 76-673 65-520 Average Per Game .....................................56.1 43.3 PuNTS-Yards ........................................ 46-1798 56-2200 Average Per Punt .......................................39.1 39.3 Net punt average .......................................35.5 31.6 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .................31:57 29:18 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................... 76/171 62/158 3rd-Down Pct ............................................44% 39% 4Th-DOWN Conversions ........................ 11/19 7/22 4th-Down Pct .............................................58% 32% SACKS BY-Yards ........................................ 14-97 9-58 MISC YARDS .....................................................0 7 TOuChDOWNS SCORED .............................49 39 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS ...................... 15-22 10-17 ON-SIDE KICKS ............................................ 1-1 2-2 RED-ZONE SCORES ......................(48-56) 86% (34-44) 77% RED-ZONE TOuChDOWNS .........(37-56) 66% (27-44) 61% PAT-ATTEMPTS ..............................(41-44) 93% (34-35) 97% ATTENDANCE ........................................103977 87996 Games/Avg Per Game ........................ 6/17330 6/14666 Neutral Site Games ........................................... 0/0

TEAM STATS


Jerry SlotaFullback/Tight end • 6-3, 220 So.

Slota was a highly regarded high school quarterback who originally signed with Colorado then transferred to JUCO when the Buffs wanted him to play another position and flourished there as well. He won’t be a quarterback at JSU — at least not this year — but he’s willing to play anywhere. His versatility gives the Gamecocks numerous options in the offense. There’s even talk that his best NFL shot is as a linebacker.

Trey SmithWide Receiver • 6-5, 220 Jr.

A transfer from Western Michi-gan, he’s the new John Houston Whid-don, a reliable possession receiver who can keep the chains moving. He caught 12 balls in the spring game for 120 yards and two touchdowns. The key to that success might be how quickly he and Coty Blanchard meld as a combination, since they didn’t work with each other in the spring.

DiMetrio TysonDefensive lineman • 6-2, 275, Jr.

Currently the least-known of the Gamecocks’ front four, but maybe

not for long. When they needed a nose, the coaching staff took the next best defensive end they had, moved him inside and now have a potential all-star. If Tyson ever gets to feeling lost between the two preseason All-

OVC picks on the D-line, he can relate to stories from position coach Davern Williams, who flourished in his

playing days at Troy between future All-Pros Demarcus Ware and Osi Umeniyora.

Clarence JacksonLinebacker • 6-2, 220 So.

A transfer from Ole Miss, Jackson (pictured left) has embraced his second chance after he got boot-

ed from the Rebels for a series of missteps. The coaches acknowledge he’s a better player than the Gamecocks could have gotten in the normal recruiting process. He played in four games for Ole Miss last year, including the season open-ing loss to JSU, and was pegged as a starter this

year before being dismissed.

DeMarcus JamesRunning back • 5-10, 220 Fr.

One of many true freshmen who could play a major role this season, owing to the depth of the signing class not any limitations of the roster, James has made one of the biggest impacts in training camp. He was a runner-up for

Alabama Mr. Football last year and brings a combination of strength and speed that plays well among veteran backs Washaun Ealey and Calvin Middleton. He

rushed for nearly 7,000 yards in high school.

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Tigers not giving up their swagger

Auburn

TIGERS

A look AT The

2011 SeASoN


By Charles [email protected]

AUBURN

Auburn lost 16 starters and 23 seniors off last year’s national championship team.

What the Tigers did not lose was their swagger.

“Same thing you saw last year,” said Auburn junior cor-

nerback T’Sharvan Bell when asked about the Tigers’ expectations. “Our goal is the same. We want to win it all. Our goal is to go to Atlanta (for the SEC championship) and do this all over again.

“It’s as realistic as it can be. We’re not going to accept anything but that.”

Realistic? It’d be hard to find a pigskin pundit that would say it’s so, but maybe the Tigers are simply too young to know better. After all, Auburn begins this sea-son with 51 true or redshirt freshman on its 105-man fall roster, and 10 scholarship seniors, three of whom are former walk-ons.

And just maybe Auburn’s coaching staff is working the youth angle to its advantage.

Rather than lower expectations, Auburn’s coaches

Plenty of faces may change for the Tigers, but their approach remains the same

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL FEVERCOMES ALIVE IN THE FALL

With nearly half of its roster either true or

redshirt freshman, Auburn coach Gene Chizik will

earn his pay-check this

season.

Stephen Gross/The Star

33


are raising them.“As far as our staff goes, we’re not using any

excuses for anything,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “We’ve got to coach these young guys up, and if they become the guys that we’ve got to play — whether it’s 10-15 or 20 true fresh-men out there — that’s who we’ll play with. We’ll have to do the best coaching job since we’ve been here.”

During fall practice, freshman center Reese Dismukes confided that offensive line coach Jeff Grimes told his charges that they have a chance to be better than last year’s group that included four seniors and was arguably the best offensive line in the nation.

“Yeah, it’s setting the bar high,” Grimes said. “But if I didn’t take that approach, what would they think of me as their coach? So the thought that I tried to share with them — there’s actu-ally a Scripture verse in First Timothy that says: Don’t let anyone look down on you because of your youth.

“… We’re a young group, we’re an inexperi-enced group. But that doesn’t mean we have to take a back seat to anybody.”

To get an understanding of how the Tigers wound up with so few seniors, it’s necessary to look at the recruiting class of 2008, the last for former coach Tommy Tuberville and the group that would be this year’s fourth-year seniors.

Of Auburn’s 28 signees in a class ranked No. 20 by Rivals.com and No. 18 by Scout.com, five remain on the team.

Reserve defensive back Drew Cole and starting safety Neiko Thorpe are the only fourth-year scholarship seniors. Starting quar-terback Barrett Trotter is a redshirt junior, as are Bell and running back Onterio McCalebb.

Wide receiver Darvin Adams left for the NFL after last season, and wide receiver Derek Winter, who graduated early, elected not to return for his final year of eligibility.

Three of the signees never made it into school, and there were three junior college players in that class who have completed their eligibility.

That leaves 15 players who transferred, were dismissed, or left the program for other reasons.

Most of the attrition involving those 15 occurred during the transition from Tuberville to Chizik.

That leaves an experience gap and a leader-ship gap that will have to be filled by younger players.

From a talent standpoint, the Tigers are fortunate to be working with back-to-back recruiting classes ranked in the top five in the nation.

By necessity, many of those players will play.

“We did not recruit our freshmen to watch,” Chizik said. “We didn’t recruit them to observe

everybody else play. We recruit them to come in here and play.

“Not to one of them are we saying, ̀ Look, you’re redshirted until you prove you can play.’ It’s the opposite. It’s, ̀ You can play until we feel like there’s no way, and then we’ll redshirt you.’ That’s how we see it, and that’s how we have to see it right now with the numbers we have.”

It also means some players unaccustomed to leadership roles are stepping up by necessity.

Sophomore Nosa Eguae has become a team leader on the defensive line, and Bell has fol-lowed suit in the secondary.

On offense, Trotter, tight end Philip Lut-zenkirchen and tailbacks Michael Dyer and McCalebb are all trying to show the younger players the way it should be done.

Trotter, Lutzenkirchen and McCalebb are all juniors. Dyer is a sophomore.

“It’s kind of weird,” McCalebb said. “I never thought it would come to a point like this, where I’m having people look up to me and ask me questions about the offense and stuff like that.”

While expectations among Auburn’s play-ers and staff are high for the coming season, they’re anything but high outside the pro-gram. Auburn was picked to finish fifth in the six-team SEC West in a preseason poll of the league’s media.

“If I’m not mistaken, this time last year, nobody used ‘Auburn’ and ‘championship’ in the same sentence,” Chizik said. “So that’s what makes college football so great. Every-body’s got opinions and everybody loves this time of year to predict who’s going to do what. So that’s all good. I don’t have the time or ener-gy to worry about it.”

And then there’s Bell, who draws motiva-tion from low expectations from outside the program.

“You just take that, put it into what you eat in the morning,” Bell said. “I already put it into my breakfast, lunch and dinner. It just fires me up. Every day at practice, I have a lot of energy, I’m always flying around. September third (when the Tigers open the season against Utah State), it’ll be the same thing.”

Charles Bennett covers Auburn University sports for The Star. Follow him on Twitter @AUTigers_Star

AuburnContinued from Page 33

“We did not recruit our freshmen to watch.”

— Gene Chizik, Auburn coach


With so many freshman on the roster, Michael Dyer may be able to help. He’s only one year removed from being a freshman himself.


35

(256)241-3242

August 20th through the Playoffs

8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

1419 Hamric Drive East • Suite 201 Oxford, Alabama 36203

Saturday Sports Injury Clinic

Michael DyerRunning back • 5-9, 210 So.

Tailback Mike Dyer is capable of put-ting up MVP-type numbers. The only reason to pause comes to the offensive line. Last year the unit — arguably the best in the country — opened massive holes, doing as much to bring Auburn its third Heisman Trophy winner as Cam Newton did himself.

Dyer was at his best in last year’s BCS title game when he earned MVP honors in Auburn’s 22-19 victory over Oregon. By the end of the year, it could be looked at as merely a prelude.

Trovon Reed Wide receiver • 6-1, 183 Redshirt Fr.

If there’s a longshot in this bunch, it’s definetly Reed. But if he stays healthy, the only reason that he wouldn’t be in the dis-cussion at the end of the season would be him. He should get enough opportunities to put up big numbers in receiving, run-ning the Wildcat offense and in the return game. The Tigers are definitely counting on him.

5MVP canDiDaTesT’sharvan Bell Cornerback • 6-0, 180 Jr.

Bell is the Tigers’ top cornerback, and if Neiko Thorpe doesn’t lead the Tigers in inter-ceptions, look for Bell to do it. In addition to being solid in coverage, Bell has a nose for the football. He picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown in the SEC Championship game against South Carolina.

emory BlakeWide receiver • 6-2, 197 Jr.

He’s is the Tigers’ top returning receiv-er, and it would not be a shock to see Blake (pictured below) catching 60-plus passes to go with a dozen or more touchdowns. He definitely looms as Auburn’s best wide receiver and among the best big-play play-ers on offense.

Barrett TrotterQuarterback • 6-2, 207 Jr.

Quarterbacks always rate a big shot at being the MVP, and Trotter will be no exception. A redshirt junior, he knows the offense inside and out. Despite Auburn’s overall inexperience, expect the offense to once again put up big numbers. As the trigger-man, Trotter will be in for a lot of the credit.



AUBURN — While much of the attention during Auburn’s fall camp centered on position battles ranging from starting quarterback to third-string tailback, the heir apparent to one of the most important positions on the team has gone about his business relatively unnoticed.

Sophomore Cody Parkey will assume place-kicking duties for the defending national champions, taking over from the most prolific kicker in Auburn history.

Wes Byrum holds nearly every school kicking record of note, includ-ing career records for most points kicking (363), field goals made (60) and

the single-season

record

for accuracy (93.8) set in 2009 when he made 15 of 16 field goals.

In addition, Byrum kicked the game-winning field goal in Auburn’s 22-19 BCS title game victory over Oregon.

Parkey, who handled some of the kickoff duties last season, said he learned a lot from Byrum.

“I really appreciate him showing me the ropes and now it’s my turn,” he said. “He showed me a lot to work on.

“I feel like I’m really focused and have gotten better through spring and summer. I feel like I’m a lot better than I was last year, and I’m prepared.”

Parkey brings excellent credentials to the job.

He was ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN.com and Rivals coming out of Jupiter (Fla.) High. As a senior, he

made nine of 12 field goals — his

three misses all came from out-

side 49 yards.Special teams’ coor-

dinator Jay Boulware said Par-key has had a solid fall camp.

“He’s been pretty good,” he said. “He started off a little sluggish for whatever reason. We weren’t kicking nearly as well in the stadium as we were on the practice field. The stadium has a different wind factor element. The wind kind of swirls in there a little bit. In the last scrimmage, he was pretty solid, right on. The last few days, he’s made all his kicks. That’s what we want.”

As for the pressure of following the school’s all-time leading scorer, Parkey says he can handle it.

“I don’t really look at it as pres-sure,” he said. “I want to be able to

make my own legacy and make a name for myself.

“It’s going to be hard to follow a kicker like Wes Byrum as good

as he was, but I want to try to do as well if not better.”

— Charles Bennett

Wide RecieveR

80 Emory Blake 6-1, 197, Jr.

3 DeAngelo Benton 6-2, 203, Jr.

Left tAckLe

75 Brandon Mosley 6-6, 303, Sr.

77 A.J. Greene 6-5, 309, Sr.

Left gUARd

79 Jared Cooper 6-4, 300, Sr.

60 Eric Mack 6-3, 332, Rfr.

ceNteR

63 Blake Burgess 6-2, 281, So.

50 Reese Dismukes 6-3, 300, Fr.

Right gUARd

71 John Sullen 6-6, 336, Jr.

65 Tunde Fariyike 6-2, 307 , Rfr.

Right tAckLe

62 Chad Slade 6-5, 329, Rfr.

78 Aubrey Phillips 6-5, 348, Rfr.

tight eNd

43 Philip Lutzenkirchen 6-4, 264, Jr.

11 Brandon Fulse 6-5, 245, Fr.

Wide RecieveR

1 Trovon Reed 6-0, 185, Rfr.

9 Quindarius Carr 6-1, 184, Sr.

QUARteRBAck

14 Barrett Trotter 6-2, 206, Jr.

15 Clint Moseley 6-3, 224, So.

tAiLBAck

5 Michael Dyer 5-9, 207, So.

23 Onterio McCalebb 5-10, 170, Jr.

fULLBAck

40 Chris Humphries 6-2, 225, Sr.

37 Ladarious Phillips 6-0, 293, Rfr.

kickeR

36 Cody Parkey 6-0, 193, So.

29 Chandler Brooks 6-0, 180, Sr.

defeNsive eNd

94 Nosa Eguae 6-2, 261, So.

13 Craig Sanders 6-4, 257, So.

defeNsive tAckLe

54 Jeffrey Whitaker 6-3, 310, So.

93 Jabrian Niles 6-3, 260, Fr.

defeNsive tAckLe

92 Kenneth Carter 6-5, 287, So.

90 Gabe Wright 6-4, 310, Fr.

defeNsive eNd

55 Corey Lemonier 6-4, 234, So.

95 Dee Ford 6-4, 229, Jr.

stRoNg-side LiNeBAckeR

25 Daren Bates 5-11, 207, Jr.

38 Jawara White 6-1, 244, Rfr.

MiddLe LiNeBAckeR

5 Jake Holland 6-0, 234, So.

21 Eltoro Freeman 5-11, 226, Sr.

WeAk-side LiNeBAckeR

35 Jonathan Evans 5-11, 232, Jr.

58 Harris Gaston 6-1, 241, So.

coRNeRBAck

22 T’Sharvan Bell 6-0, 180, Jr.

19 Ryan White 5-10, 195, So.

stRoNg sAfety

12 Demetruce McNeal 6-1, 187, So.

16 Ikeem Means 6-0, 209, Jr.

fRee sAfety

15 Nieko Thorpe 6-2, 185, Sr.

24 Ryan Smith 6-1, 200, So.

coRNeRBAck

11 Chris Davis 5-10, 183, So.

6 Jonathan Mincy 5-10, 187, Rfr.

PUNteR

30 Steven Clark 6-5, 231, So.

29 Chandler Brooks 6-0, 180, Sr.

2 0 1 1 A u B u R N T I G E R S

Parkey kicking it under the radar

P R O J E C T E D T W O - D E E P C H A R T

OFFENSE DEFENSE


3games that could go

either way

mississippi state (sept. 10)Auburn had to battle to emerge

with a vicitory last season in Starkville, and the Bulldogs are expected to be much improved this season. MSU didn’t win any friends in Auburn because of their role in the Cam Newton investigation. The intensity should be high on both sides.

at clemson. (sept. 17)The first road test of the season

comes against a non-conference opponent, and a victory get could Auburn off and running to another big season. Clemson came the clos-est to any team on the schedule to

beating Auburn last season, losing in overtime after a wide receiver dropped a game-winning touch-down pass and the place kicker missed a chip shot field goal to extend overtime.

at south carolina. (oct. 1) The early-season games will

go a long way toward determining whether the Tigers can keep pace with the rest of the league. This rare road trip to Williams-Brice Stadium sets up a rematch of last year’s SEC Championship game, and the Gamecocks figure to put up much more of a fight in this one.

tre masonRunning back • 5-10, 190

Auburn’s quest for a third tailback to compliment the duo of Mike Dyer and Onterio McCalebb may end here. Mason has a rare combina-tion of speed and power and could become a major factor in the back-field by the season’s midpoint.

Quan Bray Athlete • 5-10, 185

He’s worked through a host of personal issues, including the death of his mother, to emerge as one of Auburn’s best wide receivers. He also is capable of playing running back and has gotten a look at quarterback in the Wildcat formation.

reese dismukes Center • 6-3, 316

If Dismukes doesn’t wind up as the Tigers’ starting center, he’ll be a close second to Blake Burgess. If he’s not the starter, look for him to be first off the bench when the Tigers need a sub up front as he’s seen work at guard, as well.

Kiehl Frazier Quarterback • 6-2, 220

In the race to replace Heis-man Trophy winner Cam Newton, nobody excited the Auburn fan-base like Frazier. Despite being a true freshman dealing with Gus Malzahn’s complicated offense, he stayed in the hunt well into the fall. Although he finished third behind Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, don’t slap a redshirt on him just yet.

Rated one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, he is the Tigers’ quarterback of the future.

— Charles Bennett

4FaBulous Freshman

5players auBurn needs to shineAt various times phillip lutzenkirch-

en will find himself lining up at tight end, wide receiver and H-back. He proved to be a big weapon for the Tigers last season, particularly in the redzone. In additio to being a go-to receiver, the Tigers will need his blocking skills, as well.

neiko thorpe moved from cornerback to safety in one of Auburn’s most signifi-cant position changes of the offseason. He’ll have to show he has the vision and the range to play the position, and if he plays up to expectations look for him to lead the Tigers in tackles and intercep-tions.

mike dyer rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman and stamped himself as one of the best tailbacks in a league stocked with great runners. Auburn needs Dyer to build on last year, and in par-ticular, to get those tough yards running between the tackles.

nosa eguae, a rare returning starter for the Tigers, will be counted on to be a leader on this team, even though he’s just a sophomore. Eguae, pictured above, should be able to handle the leadership demands without much problem, and should provide steady if not spectacular play at defensive end.

Auburn quarterback Barrett trot-ter won the starting job late in fall camp after a prolonged battle with Clint Mose-ley. The Tigers aren’t expecting Cam Newton-numbers, but Trotter will have to show he can manage the game and lead the offense on point-producing drives. Moseley and freshman Kiehl Fra-zier are waiting in the wings.



GP Att Net Avg TD Long Avg/G

Cam Newton 14 264 1473 5.6 20 71 105.2

Michael Dyer 14 182 1093 6.0 5 38 78.1

Onterio McCalebb 14 95 810 8.5 9 70 57.9

Mario Fannin 13 61 395 6.5 5 42 30.4

Terrell Zachery 14 11 71 6.5 0 31 5.1

Barrett Trotter 6 5 68 13.6 1 34 11.3

Davis Hooper 4 12 37 3.1 0 6 9.2

Neil Caudle 14 2 22 11.0 0 35 1.6

Kodi Burns 14 6 10 1.7 1 4 0.7

Trovon Reed 1 2 8 4.0 0 6 8.0

Clint Moseley 1 2 8 4.0 0 5 8.0

Total 14 652 3987 6.1 41 71 284.8

Opponents 14 448 1527 3.4 16 83 109.1

RusHiNG

s T A T i s T i C A L L e A D e R s

GP effic Cmp-Att-int Yds TD Avg/G

Cam Newton 14 182.05 185-280-7 2854 30 203.9

Barrett Trotter 6 126.40 6-9-0 64 0 10.7

Kodi Burns 14 176.56 2-5-0 42 1 3.0

Neil Caudle 14 452.80 1-1-0 42 0 3.0

Total 14 180.56 194-296-7 3002 31 214.4

Opponents 14 133.67 325-515-12 3630 25 259.3

GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G

Darvin Adams 14 52 963 18.5 7 62 68.8

Terrell Zachery 14 43 605 14.1 4 80 43.2

emory Blake 14 33 554 16.8 8 94 39.6

Mario Fannin 13 17 173 10.2 2 38 13.3

Philip Lutzenkirchen 13 15 185 12.3 5 39 14.2

Kodi Burns 14 11 177 16.1 1 35 12.6

Onterio McCalebb 14 7 86 12.3 1 23 6.1

eric smith 14 5 49 9.8 0 14 3.5

Quindarius Carr 14 3 103 34.3 2 48 7.4

Derek Winter 14 3 44 14.7 0 16 3.1

Cam Newton 14 2 42 21.0 1 22 3.0

Deangelo Benton 9 1 15 15.0 0 15 1.7

Michael Dyer 14 1 9 9.0 0 9 0.6

shaun Kitchens 8 1 -3 -3.0 0 0 -0.4

Total 14 194 3002 15.5 31 94 214.4

Opponents 14 325 3630 11.2 25 81 259.3

PAssiNG

ReCeiviNG

Au OPPsCORiNG .......................................................577 337 Points Per Game ..........................................41.2 24.1FiRsT DOWNs ...............................................344 299 Rushing .........................................................202 104 Passing ..........................................................126 167 Penalty ............................................................16 28RusHiNG YARDAGe ...................................3987 1527 Yards gained rushing ..................................4297 1888 Yards lost rushing .........................................310 361 Rushing Attempts .........................................652 448 Average Per Rush ...........................................6.1 3.4 Average Per Game .....................................284.8 109.1 TDs Rushing ...................................................41 16PAssiNG YARDAGe ....................................3002 3630 Comp-Att-int .......................................94-296-7 325-515-12 Average Per Pass ..........................................10.1 7.0 Average Per Catch ........................................15.5 11.2 Average Per Game .....................................214.4 259.3 TDs Passing .................................................... 31 25TOTAL OFFeNse .........................................6989 5157 Total Plays .....................................................948 963 Average Per Play ............................................7.4 5.4 Average Per Game .....................................499.2 368.4KiCK ReTuRNs: #-Yards. ...................... 63-1482 90-1772PuNT ReTuRNs: #-Yards ........................ 22-136 11-50iNT ReTuRNs: #-Yards .............................. 12-95 7-45KiCK ReTuRN AveRAGe ............................23.5 19.7PuNT ReTuRN AveRAGe .............................6.2 4.5iNT ReTuRN AveRAGe .................................7.9 6.4FuMBLes-LOsT ........................................ 20-10 21-10PeNALTies-Yards .................................... 79-745 69-565 Average Per Game .......................................53.2 40.4PuNTs-Yards .......................................... 42-1590 66-2665 Average Per Punt .........................................37.9 40.4 Net punt average .........................................35.2 36.8TiMe OF POssessiON/Game ...................29:18 30:423RD-DOWN Conversions ....................... 86/162 68/183 3rd-Down Pct...............................................53% 37%4TH-DOWN Conversions ............................. 5/8 13/26 4th-Down Pct ...............................................62% 50%sACKs BY-Yards ....................................... 35-211 23-152MisC YARDs ......................................................0 -20TOuCHDOWNs sCOReD ..............................75 42FieLD GOALs-ATTeMPTs ....................... 17-22 14-18ON-siDe KiCKs ............................................. 1-1 2-2ReD-ZONe sCORes ........................(57-66) 86% (38-45) 84%ReD-ZONe TOuCHDOWNs ..........(44-66) 67% (27-45) 60%PAT-ATTeMPTs ...............................(74-75) 99% (37-39) 95%ATTeNDANCe .........................................688692 288877 Games/Avg Per Game .......................... 8/86086 4/72219 Neutral site Games ............................................. 2/77202

TeAM sTATs


Trovon ReedWide receiver • 6-0, 183 RS Fr.

Despite being one of Auburn’s most highly touted freshmen a year ago, Reed wound up red-shirting last in 2010.

With the hits the Tigers’ took with graduation, it’s time for him to live up to his hype. And more than just Auburn fans are planning for it; the coach-ing staff plans to put the ball in his hands a lot.

Look for him to start at wide receiver, play quarterback in the Wildcat formation and return punts and kicks.5playeRs you

don’T know now ... buT will Reed

Chad sladeOffensive lineman • 6-5, 320 RS Fr.

Before signing with the Tigers out of Moody, Slade didn’t have many big-time offers to go along with his three-star rating and the one from the Tigers.

But Auburn offensive line coach Jeff Grimes must have saw something.

The redshirt freshman has followed an excellent spring with an excellent fall, and will probably wind up in the starting line-up at right tackle. He has a chance to make himself a fixture for years to come.

ladarious phillipsFullback • 6-0, 291 RS Fr.

Injuries kept the former Handley standout and familiar name to Anniston Star readers out of print much of last sea-son. For a time, Phillips more or less fell off the radar, but that could be by the Auburn coaching staff’s design.

We’ve got a gut feeling Phillips could emerge as an effective blocker at fullback/H-back. And don’t let his big fool you — the monster has soft hands and could make some catches out of the backfield.

Jeffrey whitaker Defensive tackle • 6-4, 312 So.

With his tounge planted firmly in his cheek, Auburn coach Gene Chizik called Whitaker one of a group of “salty old veter-ans.” And relatively speaking, his half-year of experience is looking at those who’ll play behind him.

Whitaker (pictured, above right) is all Auburn has got, but he’s not bad. Whitaker is already emerging as a leader on defense, even though he’s only a sophomore.

Cody parkey Kicker • 6-0, 190 So.

There’s a clever phrase with a kicker and having big shoes to fill, but we won’t try it. But it is the case.

He’ll be replacing the school’s all-time leading scorer, Wes Byrum. Parkey’s got the resume as one of the most highly rated kickers in the nation in high school, and he handled some of the kickoff duties last season while serving as an understudy to Byrum.

With Auburn’s offense learning and growing, the Tigers could find themselves in some close games in the fourth quarter, and that would put Parkey in the spotlight.

39

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