Auburn adjusts to ‘the new normal’

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Auburn adjusts to ‘the new normal’ in final Jordan-Hare dress rehearsal

• Justin Lee1
• Sep 19, 2020 Updated 9 hrs ago

• 0

 

 

 

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn talks to the Auburn football team after practice in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 12. Auburn returns to Jordan-Hare for one more stadium practice today before real game action next Saturday.

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

 

 

 

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Auburn is walking into Jordan-Hare Stadium to take one last look around today — before gameday changes completely.

The Tigers are now one week away from the start of pandemic play, and from kickoff with Kentucky next Saturday in front of limited fans and a long list of changes to protocol which make college football even possible in the era of COVID-19.

Gus Malzahn wants his team to adjust the best it can. Stadiums will be allowed to pump in artificial crowd noise in this virus-effected season, and he wants his players to hear it.

Jordan-Hare also had new LED lights installed this offseason, and he wants his players to see it.

 

Most importantly, finally one week from kickoff, he surely wants his players to feel it.

 

“We’ll go to the stadium and do some special situation things and it’ll be under the lights and we’re going to turn the crowd noise on and all that,” — he said — “and get used to the new normal as far as that goes.”

 

Auburn plays Kentucky on Sept. 26 at 11 a.m.

The Tigers went through a “very solid” week of practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Malzahn reported on Friday, turning their attention to Kentucky preparation during workouts before the final dress rehearsal this fall in the stadium.

 

 

Auburn has been taking to Jordan-Hare for scrimmages on Saturdays as part of its fall camp, crammed together in a preseason unlike any other given the fact that the team didn’t go through spring practices this year.

Today marks Auburn’s last Saturday practice in the stadium before the real deal.

“It’ll be different,” Malzahn said.

Jordan-Hare’s new LED lights were installed over the summer, giving the stadium a modern upgrade that the school board of trustees said was needed after bulbs for the old system fell out of production.

“I know there’s a couple opponents on the road that have similar lighting systems, so we’re going to pump in some crowd noise, so that’ll be happening this year too,” Malzahn said. “Our guys will understand what that will be like, how loud it will be for our defense at home and our offense on the road.”

 

 

Malzahn reported that the team had no new positives come up from team-wide COVID-19 testing this week. Eight players are still away from the team in isolation per protocol after previous exposure to the virus, but Malzahn said Auburn expects them all back Tuesday for the start of game-week practice.

After Auburn’s opener with Kentucky, the Tigers play at Georgia in just the second game of the season

Sure enough, the real deal is coming soon for Auburn football on Saturdays.

“The veteran guys that we know what we’re getting, I think that’s what you’ve got to hang your hat on early,” Malzahn said. “It’s just a matter of not going through spring. We did have an extended fall camp, which is great. And we’ve done more scrimmaging in fall camp than we’ve ever done. So we do have good information. But, just — each team is different.

 

“How the team is going react — I do think that we’ve got a lot of character on this team; I think we’ve got really good leadership on this team — but it’s just the unknown of getting out there and doing it. But I do like our team. I like our staff. I’m excited to watch our guys.”