SEC Football Previews: Counting on continuity

All systems go for Tigers in Chizik’s second season

In his second season at Auburn, Coach Gene Chizik has the Tigers poised to challenge Alabama and Arkansas in the SEC West.
In his second season at Auburn, Coach Gene Chizik has the Tigers poised to challenge Alabama and Arkansas in the SEC West.

Ninth in a series previewing SEC football teams

— The hiring of Gene Chizik at Auburn in the winter of 2008-2009 drew yawns, if not derision, in many quarters of the SEC and befuddlement in some quarters of the Auburn nation.

A season into his regime, Chizik appears to have the Tigers poised for a push toward the top of the SEC West, where two of the past three BCS national champions reside.

Auburn improved by three victories in 2009, gave eventual national champion Alabama a big scare in the season finale and defeated Northwestern 38-35 in a surprise appearance in the Outback Bowl, one of the most entertaining games of the last postseason.

Auburn and Arkansas are seen by some as the most serious threats to Alabama’s defense of back-to-back West titles.

“Now that we’ve got a year under our belts with this coaching staff, our goal is to go from good to great,” said senior offensive tackle Lee Ziemba of Rogers. “We certainly have an opportunity to do that.”

Camden’s Tommy Tuberville was 85-40 in 10 years at Auburn, but a trouble spot during his tenure was a revolving door for his coordinators.

Tuberville was gone after 2008, the year in which he removed first-year offensive coordinator Tony Franklin in the middle of a 5-7 season. Franklin was Tuberville’s fifth offensive coordinator.

Chizik, a former Tigers defensive coordinator under Tuberville, made a point at SEC media days last week to reinforce the notion that returning his entire staff intact was a big deal.

“It was extremely important for me to give some continuity to our football players with having the same coaching staff,” Chizik said.

“Rather than spending time worrying about terminology or blocking schemes, we have a chance to perfect what we’ve already learned,” Ziemba said. “... It’s the first time in my college career I’ve run the same scheme two years in a row.”

Auburn was clearly more superior on offense than on defense last season with former Arkansas assistant Gus Malzahn calling the shots.

The Tigers ranked 16th nationally in total offense with an average of 431.7 yards per game and 17th in scoring with 33.3 points per game. While starting quarterback Chris Todd and top running back Ben Tate are gone from that unit, the Tigers bring back four returning starters on the line, receivers Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery and veteran experienced backs Mario Fannin and Onterio McCalebb.

Auburn will try to set the tempo with its offense, which is capable of a nohuddle, hurry-up style or a more grind-it-out approach. With its array of skill-position standouts, the Tigers could challenge Arkansas for having the best offense in the SEC in 2010.

“We’re extremely explosive,” Ziemba said. “We can be as good as we want to be.”

The biggest key for Auburn will be its quarterback play, where transfer Cameron Newton beat out Neil Caudle and others in the spring. Newton, 6-6, 250 pounds, has the tools to hurt defenses with his arm and his legs.

Newton originally signed with Florida out of College Park, Ga., but he threw only 10 passes behind Tim Tebow in 2007. He injured an ankle the following season, then was arrested for possessing a stolen laptop - the charges were eventually dropped after he completed a pre-trial diversion program - and wound upat Blinn (Texas) College, which he directed to the NJCAA national title in 2009.

Now Newton stands poised to make the biggest splash of any newcomer in the SEC.

“He’s an explosive player,” McCalebb told SI.com’s Andy Staples. “He does a lot of things that’ll help us out in the long run. He’ll perform well in front of a crowd.”

Chizik said Newton has done everything asked of him at Auburn.

“You can just see Cameron physically when he walks through the door, you know he’s a very athletic, very talented young man,” Chizik said. “He wants to be a great football player. ... As we’ve told him, I’ve told everybody else, he’s got to get on the field now and deliver.”

The Auburn defense, affected by injuries last season, gave up an average of 374 yards per game to rank 11th in the conference and68th nationally. The Tigers’ rush defense was especially vulnerable, giving up 156.1 yards per game to rank 78th in the country.

Chizik returns eight starters on that side of the ball, including a veteran linebacking corps of Josh Bynes, Craig Stevens and Eltoro Freeman. The Tigers are expected to be markedly better on defense.

“If you go to our defense right now, there was a lot of pressure put on our defense,” Chizik said. “So we’ve had to go back and really kind of re-evaluate. We’ve re-evaluated everything that we need to try to become a more effective defense, taking all things into consideration.”

Chizik made no predictions, but he claimed the Tigers are up to the task of challenging SEC powers Alabama and Florida.

“We’re going to continue to fight every week in the league no matter who we’re playing,” he said. “But the league is challenging itself. That’s from top to bottom.”

NEXT Ole Miss About the Tigers LAST YEAR 8-5, 3-5 (tied for 4th in SEC West) RETURNING STARTERS Offense 7, defense 8 SURE THING Offensive line, linebacker UNSURE THING Quarterback, defensive line OFFENSIVE MVP LT Lee Ziemba DEFENSIVE MVP MLB Josh Bynes SEC TITLE SCENARIO The Tigers showed they can be explosive offensively in the debut season of Coach Gene Chizik and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and their offensive line returns nearly intact. If Cam Newton takes off quickly at quarterback, the Tigers could be a handful for anyone. Defensively, the back seven will be very experienced, but the unit will have to make tremendous strides after allowing 20 or more points in the final 12 games for Auburn to be a serious contender.

Sports, Pages 19 on 07/30/2010

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