AU FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Isom also adds weight in offseason

Byron Isom continued through the rotating door of beefed-up offensive linemen Sunday, as the junior guard said he added about 15 pounds to his 6-foot-3 frame.

Isom said he now weighs in at 300 pounds and hopes to gain five more by the end of the season.

“It’s just a lot more power coming off (the ball),” Isom said. “I feel a lot better. It hasn’t really slowed me down or anything like that.”

Isom is one of just nine offensive linemen in camp this spring. Gus Malzahn has preached that he wants his linemen to be conditioned, yet big enough to push defensive linemen around in his run-heavy offense.

“It makes it a lot tougher,” Isom said. “I think the tackles — we get four reps every team period — they were getting about six or eight.
They’re pretty tired today, but it gets them ready.”

Isom said he thinks all of Auburn’s offensive linemen have put on some kind of weight except Mike Berry, who is “already big enough.”

“We want a physical, hard, downhill edge, so we definitely don’t want our guys losing weight who don’t need to lose weight,” Malzahn said. “We want them to be as big and strong as they can, and keep their athleticism.”

Fannin hurt
Mario Fannin “turned” his right ankle during practice Saturday and did not practice Sunday.

Fannin, who was wearing a boot up to his knee Sunday, said the injury wasn’t anything serious and planned to be back in two to three days.

What’s in a number?
Junior-college transfer Eltoro Freeman has had his eyes on No. 21 ever since he signed with Auburn in 2007.

Freeman has worn the peculiar number — for a linebacker — ever since the ninth grade. His cousin, Onterio Harrell, wore the number before he died of cancer at the age of 24.

“It means a lot to me,” Freeman said. “Everywhere I go I’ve been having it. So that’s been a blessing for me.”

Malzahn OK with highs, lows — for now
Malzahn said he has been patient to a degree with the growing pains that come with installing his offense, but the deadline for sympathy is the end of next week.

By then, “we’ll have the majority of our base stuff in and we ought to executing a lot better,” Malzahn said.

Auburn went through 11-on-11 drills for the second day Sunday. Though frustrated by a number of sloppy turnovers, Malzahn pointed out wide receiver Tim Hawthorne and running back Ben Tate as the standout players of the day.

“We made some really good plays and we really looked bad,” Malzahn said. “The focus going into next week is eliminating those bad plays. We’re really conscious with ball security and protecting the football. There were a number of instances where we didn’t do that today.”

Stevens continues to impress
Linebacker Craig Stevens, for the second consecutive day, received praise from defensive coordinator Ted Roof.

“Funny how it keeps happening, huh?” Roof said. “He’s very coachable. He’s a salty veteran, is what he is. He’s becoming more physical each and every day.”

Stevens, a junior, played in all 12 games last season and recorded 54 tackles. Along with Josh Bynes and Spencer Pybus, Stevens is running with the first-team defense on the strong side, Roof said Saturday.

“I’m glad to be behind a guy like that,” Freeman said. “He just seems to do everything right. So when he’s in, I just sit back and get mental reps from him and when I go in and I come back to the sideline, he tells me what I did wrong.”

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