What we learned from third scrimmage

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What we learned from Auburn’s third scrimmage

By Giana Han

5-6 minutes

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Two weeks before its season opener, Auburn held its last scrimmage focused on evaluation over game prep.

Saturday’s scrimmage was preceded by a “solid week of practice” where the Tigers worked on getting in shape for game situations, coach Gus Malzahn said.

During the scrimmage, which was the third of fall camp, the Tigers focused on “situations,” with a lot of two-minute scenarios, a live punt and punt return and a live kickoff and kickoff return. The actual scrimmage lasted around 60 plays, and Malzahn said they were pretty balanced between runs and passes.

Unlike previous weeks, the coaches sent out mostly their ones and twos. With the season quickly approaching, Auburn wanted to use the scrimmage to answer some questions, like solidifying what the starting offensive line looked like, offensive coordinator Chad Morris said Thursday.

When reflecting on the scrimmage, Malzahn said one thing stood out to him, and it was concerning. Despite sending out the ones and twos, they had more penalties than in the other two scrimmages combined.

“We’ve got to get that cleaned up,” Malzahn said.

Malzahn is also concerned that Auburn had two more players test positive with 10 players who had to sit out for COVID-related issues. Five of them were starters.

The first game, a home match against Kentucky, is only two weeks away – and preparation starts tomorrow. Here are more notes about where Auburn is at after the third scrimmage:

-- Although there were too many penalties, there weren’t any turnovers. In the last scrimmage, the offense had three turnovers, but it cleaned that up over the past week. Now, it just has to cut back on the pre-snap penalties.

-- While Auburn played more ones and twos Saturday, it cut back on running back Shaun Shivers' touches. Shivers has had a “great camp” and is playing at a “high level,” Malzahn said, with the biggest play in the previous scrimmage. Instead, running backs coach Cadillac Williams gave four other running backs more touches.

“I didn’t look at the numbers, but it was pretty close to spread out as far as the other four were concerned and getting reps today,” Malzahn said. “That was by design to see who steps up for that position.”

-- The offensive line, which is replacing four starters, continues to get better every day, Malzahn said. It’s had to deal with “a couple injuries, a couple guys out during this time,” but now it’s time to make decisions about the depth chart.

Austin Troxell and Alec Jackson have been battling at left tackle. Brandon Council, who can play any of the five positions, has been competing with Tashawn Manning, among others, for left guard. Nick Brahms, the only returner, said he has been spending all his time at center with Jalil Irvin looking like the most likely candidate for his backup. Manning and Keiondre Jones look like they’re fighting for the top spot on Brahms' right while Brodarious Hamm said he’s been taking most of his snaps at right tackle.

"After this scrimmage, it’s going to be, ‘OK, here are the pieces to the puzzle. We’ve got two weeks to prepare,’ Malzahn said. “I know the offensive staff is talking about that this week, breaking down the film and looking to see what that looks like.”

-- Beyond Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove, Auburn’s top returning wide receivers, Shedrick Jackson is looking good. Jackson looks like he came out of his sophomore season, where he played in nine games, with a lot of confidence. Freshmen Kobe Hudson and Ze’Vian Capers have also held their own while practicing with the ones.

“Coach (Kodi) Burns feels like he’s got quality depth there and he’s trying to get those young guys as many reps as they can,” Malzahn said.

-- Auburn plans to practice in the stadium again next Saturday. Jordan-Hare had new LED lights installed since last season, and Malzahn said they’re still getting used to them. They will also have pumped in crowd noise, something that might be played on game days when the stadium is only 20 percent full. Malzahn said they’re still figuring that out. They don’t know if next Saturday will be a full on scrimmage or if they’ll just walk through situations.

“We’ve still got work to do, so I have not decided exactly what that’s gonna like, but it’ll be good,” Malzahn said.