Stallworth’s status unknown after 2nd-quarter injury

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Freshman Travante Stallworth, who had seen his role in the Auburn offense increase over the past few weeks, suffered an apparent right ankle/foot injury on kickoff coverage in the first half Saturday.

Stallworth, who had taken over some of the speed sweep responsibilities during Onterio McCalebb’s ankle-related absence, came up lame on a second-quarter kickoff after a tackle attempt. He tried to walk off on his own power but needed assistance to make it to the sidelines.

Stallworth was then taken to the locker room and did not return to the sidelines for the second half.

On his only carry of the game, Stallworth gained 16 yards and picked up a first down. Of his five carries this season, four have picked up first downs.

Coach Gene Chizik had no update on Stallworth’s status but said he’d probably know more by today.

Luper leads team out of tunnel
For the first time all season, running backs coach Curtis Luper was able to jog onto the field with the rest of the team.

He made sure it was one of Auburn’s most memorable on-field entrances of the season.

Luper, who coaches from the press box with cornerbacks coach Phillip Lolley, stormed out of the South end zone tunnel first Saturday, waving an American flag in honor of Veteran’s Day.

“We just thought it was appropriate,” Chizik said.

Luper served as an air-traffic controller with the U.S. Army from 1988-92. During his tenure, he spent eight months combined at Fort McClellan in Anniston and Fort Rucker near Enterprise.

Approximately 300 military personnel from Fort Benning (Ga.) were in attendance Saturday.

Chizik said the team welcomed members of the Armed Forces into its practices last week, “just as a recognition and celebration for what those guys do for our country.”

Patch work
In honor of injured safety Zac Etheridge, Auburn players and coaches will wear white wristbands, embroidered with a navy No. 4, on their left arms.

Etheridge tore ligaments in his neck and cracked his C5 vertebra last week against Ole Miss. He is out for the season and has an uncertain future in football.

Some players, like freshman safety Daren Bates, went beyond the wristband. Bates wrote “Zac” on his right arm.

“I just wanted to show that I talked to him last night, show him that I love him and I still want to be out there with him,” Bates said.

Moving on up
Tailback Ben Tate continued his upward ascent through the Auburn record books, moving up two spots to 13th all-time for rushing yards in a single season.

Tate’s 75 yards gave him 1,142 on the season. He currently sits with 3,102 for his career, ranking him fifth all-time and putting him 266 behind Joe Cribbs (1976-79).

Defensive end Antonio Coleman’s sack in the first quarter gave him 21 for his career, which tied him for third all-time with Tracy Rocker (1985-88) and Craig Ogletree (1986-89).

Up-and-down day for Pierre-Louis
Philip Pierre Louis’ struggles on punt returns came to a head in the third quarter Saturday.

Attempting to corral a Trent Hawk punt over his shoulders inside the Tigers’ 5-yard line, Pierre-Louis never got two hands on the ball. His momentum carried him away from it, and Furman’s Julian Hicks was there to pounce on it.

The Paladins scored a touchdown on the very next play.

Pierre-Louis didn’t lose his job, though. He returned all of Furman’s punts and kicks in the second half, finishing with 24 return yards on five run-backs. He added 63 yards on three kickoffs, including a 34-yarder.

Pierre-Louis joined Anthony Gulley in the secondary for part of the second half as well. Chizik said Pierre-Louis was out there simply for depth purposes and does not have a future at the position.

She’s the winner
Christian Becraft, a Huntsville native, was named Auburn’s 2009 Homecoming queen at halftime.

The four other finalists were Grace Anthony (Vestavia Hills), Kimmery Henderson (Enterprise), Grace Ann Sooter (Homewood) and Abby Womack (Mountain Brook).

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

What they’re saying after Auburn 63, Ole Miss 31

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Well, that was pretty much expected.

Auburn was bent on going up big early and not, for any reason, playing its workhorses in the second half.

Mission accomplished.

Let’s hear/read what they had to say.

Gene Chizik

(On his commitment to playing the reserves)
“I was committed to going with young guys and letting them play. That was really indicative of how football games go. They have to play through those times. You have to keep them out there and let them play.“

DeAngelo Benton

(On his big game)
“I feel like can’t nobody stop me now. I got my confidence all the way up now so ... you’re all going to see a lot of me.“

Anthony Gulley

(On his big day)
“It was fun. It was my first career touchdown in college. It was fun. I was happy.“

Daren Bates

(On why he wrote ‘Zac’ on his arm)
“I just wanted to show that I talked to him last night, show him that I love him and I still want to be out there with him.“

Antonio Coleman

(On tying his coach, Tracy Rocker, on Auburn’s all-time sack list)
“I don’t care.“

Ted Roof

(On being able to play a lot of young guys)
“We certainly got a lot of people in there. There’s no question about that. Our first group did a fantastic job in the first half. Zero yards rushing, 59 total, 0-for-7 on third downs. The second half, we played a lot of different combinations of folks. We got a chance to play a lot of people, and that’s a wonderful thing.“

Chris Todd

(On Senior Day)
“It’s a special day to come to school here. I was able in the summer to graduate and get a degree from here. I think that was very important. Being able to reach this point in the season is just very special.“

Gus Malzahn

(On DeAngelo Benton’s performance)
“DeAngelo came on for us, and I think that will really help him. He’s got confidence. All he needed was a game like this. And Emory Blake is the same way. Both of those guys got some catches, and it was real good to see that. That will help us.“

Demond Washington

(On his comfort level at safety)
“I’m always—anytime I’m on the field, I’m comfortable. I beat myself up a lot. I don’t like missing tackles. I don’t like missing assignments. I’ll have to practice a little bit harder.“

Furman coach Bobby Lamb

(On Auburn)
“We obviously could not stop Auburn in the first half, their pace of the offense gave us trouble even though we worked on it all week in practice. They were hitting on all cylinders and they were very difficult to defend.“

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

“The Pick” and other excruciating details about Furman-Auburn

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What’s a Paladin? Auburn goes up early, plays a bunch of reserves and cruises to a 48-10 victory.

This is supposed to be Homecoming, right? Ya know, the game that no one shows up to.

Well, judging by the traffic scene heading into Jordan-Hare Stadium today, there will, in fact, be fans in the seats to watch the Auburn Tigers take on hated Furman.

Shocking, we know.

Here’s some minutiae.

****Dictionary.com has three definitions for “paladin.“
1. any one of the 12 legendary peers or knightly champions in attendance on Charlemagne.
2. any knightly or heroic champion.
3. any determined advocate or defender of a noble cause.

****Yes, these teams have played before. Auburn leads the series 3-0, surrendering just 6 points in the three meetings. The last time these teams played was in 1956, when the Tigers rolled to a 41-0 victory.

****The Tigers are good on Homecoming. That’s expected when you’re shelling out big bucks to your opponent. They’ve won 17 straight, which is the longest streak in school history.

****Go back 34 years, and the Tigers are 31-2-1.

****The last Homecoming loss came at the hands of Southwest Louisiana in 1991, a shocking 24-17 loss. That marked two straight Homecoming losses, as the Tigers fell to Southern Miss, 13-12, in 1990.

****The Tigers have 11 scoring drives this season that have taken less than one minute and 10 of those ended with touchdowns.

****Auburn had held three of its last five opponents to less than 25 percent on third-down conversions.

****Wes Byrum is tied for fourth nationally in field goal percentage (92.9) among kickers who have attempted at least 10 field goals.

****This is the first game of the season that won’t be nationally televised.

****Here’s your Homecoming court. Grace Anthony, Christian Becraft, Kimmey Henderson, Grace Ann Sooter and Abby Womack.

****Overall, this is the 96th observance of Homecoming and the 83rd football game. The Tigers are 68-8-5 overall.

****Hey, it’s November! The Tigers are 214-166-21 overall. Go back 16 games, and the Tigers are 11-5.

****Wikipedia time! Here are three facts we gathered—err, copy and pasted—from Furman’s Wiki page.

- Furman is the oldest, largest and most selective private institution in South Carolina and is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States. Founded in 1826, Furman enrolls approximately 2,550 undergraduate and 525 graduate students on its 750 acre campus.
- Furman was ranked No. 15 in the Washington Monthly’s Top US Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings based on its production of research valuable to society and its commitment to national service. Furman has been ranked No.4 in U.S. News Best Undergraduate Research Programs along with MIT, Stanford and Michigan.
- Furman University students are required to have a meal plan and freshmen are required to have an unlimited meal plan. The main dining facility is in the Daniel Hall. Paladin food court offers Chick-Fil-A, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Pan Geos. Furman also has a dining facility named Tower Cafe; there students can get coffee from Starbucks.

Who’s got the edge? Furman or Auburn?

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If you need this blog post for reassurance, you don’t have much faith in your Auburn Tigers.

QUARTERBACKS
Jordan Sorrells has been consistent all season and Chris Forcier is emerging as a weapon off the bench, but a confident Chris Todd trumps both of them handily.
Edge: Auburn

RUNNING BACKS
Ben Tate is 133 yards from matching his preseason goal of rushing for 1,200 yards. He might reach that by the third quarter.
Edge: Auburn

RECEIVERS
Terrell Zachery has given Todd a reason to feel safe throwing to him down the field, no matter how many corners are riding his back.
Edge: Auburn

OFFENSIVE LINE
This Tigers’ unit seems to become more and more dominant when Todd or Tate break off a big play.
Edge: Auburn

DEFENSIVE LINE
Has there ever been a more drastic one-week improvement from an area on the Tigers than the resurgence this group had last week? All of a sudden, Antoine Carter and Antonio Coleman are wreaking havoc in opponents’ backfields.
Edge: Auburn

LINEBACKERS
Finally, Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens should be able to get some rest today.
Edge: Auburn

SECONDARY
The Paladins have Max from “Two-a-Days.” Auburn has two largely inexperienced safeties but a couple of lockdown corners.
Edge: Auburn

SPECIAL TEAMS
Not even against the Paladins will the Tigers win this category.
Edge: Furman

COACHES
Bobby Lamb has done a lot in his seven years with the Paladins. With last week’s win, Gene Chizik has put himself back in contention for SEC Coach of the Year.
Edge: Auburn

OVERALL
The Paladins know the drill. Show up, play hard, go home with a big check. All the pressure is on Auburn to put them away before the second quarter.
Edge: Auburn

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

Dyer, one of the nation’s top RBs, commits to Auburn

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Little Rock five-star running back Michael Dyer, considered the nation’s No. 1 running back by ESPN/Scouts Inc., pledged his commitment to Auburn for the 2010 season today, according to a bevy of recruiting sites.

Those would be: AuburnSports.com, AuburnUndercover.com and AUTigers.com.

Dyer was recruited by pretty much every big school in the country, but had narrowed his choices down to Auburn, Tennessee and Arkansas. He told AuburnSports.com that he’ll talk to the Auburn coaching staff about whether or not he should still go on official visits to those schools.

Dyer, 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, has 7,566 rushing yards and 74 touchdowns in his high school career.

He is the Tigers’ 20th commitment for the 2010 class and the first running back.