Auburn Football First Scrimmage Impressions: New Players Stepping up

The Saturday scrimmage brought some real progress into focus. Auburn fans can look forward to some firming up of the depth chart and narrowing down in the quarterback competition. Most of the news out of the Saturday scrimmage and week two of spring practice is very positive.

First and most important is the defensive line. The defense looked good against the rush in the Saturday scrimmage. Antoine Carter was able to strip the ball from a quarterback and cause a fumble.

Quarterback Competition

Cameron Newton threw a touchdown pass and lost a forced fumble. He led five drives in the scrimmage.

Barret Trotter threw a touchdown pass and one interception. He led three drives in the scrimmage.

Neil Caudle had one interception. He led three drives in the scrimmage.

Clint Moseley led two drives with no interceptions or touchdowns.

Receivers

Philip Pierre Louis has performed well this spring and this was noted by the staff. He had more plays in the Saturday scrimmage than anyone before being forced out with an apparent knee injury.

Quindarius Carr is proving to be very dependable.

Terell Zachery had a good day.

Emory Blake had a good day and a long 30-yard touchdown pass.

Running Backs

Onterio McCalebb proved how fast he was once again. He is really tough to handle on the perimeter. He ripped off a couple of long runs, one of 40 yards.

Mario Fannin did well including one 30-yard run.

Defensive Backs

Blake Poole had an interception.

Ikeem Means had an interception.

Defensive Ends

Antoine Carter had a forced fumble.

Offensive Line

Bart Eddins was out and on crutches Saturday.

Coaching Staff

Coach Trooper Taylor spoke highly of the receiving corps's blocking. There was not a dropped pass in the scrimmage.

Coach Gene Chizik spoke highly of the convincing number of impact plays by the offense. He also noted the improvement in the run defense, and mentioned the good job of forcing turnovers.

Coach Ted Roof declined to point out any individual efforts.

Coach Gus Malzhan said he is now ready to narrow the quarterback competition.

Web Tour of Saturday's Scrimmage

Here are some other interviews and analysis from around the web concerning Saturday’s scrimmage.

Some Notes of Interest

First it is very clear that the Auburn offense is very good and improving.

The receiving corps is no longer a two-man show.

The running back situation is better than in 2009.

The quarterback situation is better than 2009.

Auburn’s defensive backfield has the potential to be very good

Auburn’s defensive line is good and getting better every day.

The Auburn staff is pleased with the progress of the offense and defense.

Wrap-up

I think Auburn fans can assume the overall report card on this initial scrimmage was very good indeed. There are certainly areas to work on, but there are so many areas where improvement is already obvious.