March 17, 2007

A-DAY AWARDS
Michael Goggans, DE; Mark Dorminey Defensive Player MVP Award Brandon Cox, QB; Lionel James Offensive MVP Award Matthew Motley, H; Lewis Colbert Specialty MVP Award

Bill Beckwith Crowd Estimate Award
Charles Goldberg, Birmingham News (31,112) A-Day Attendance, 31,757

QUOTING HEAD COACH Tommy Tuberville
"Today was a good day. It was a long day for the coaches. We had close to 500 recruits and their parents and high school coaches here today. That is what a lot of this day is about. We had most of our signees here, along with their parents. It was good to see them and get them together and top it all off with a scrimmage.

I thought the scrimmage was good. There were several things we were looking at, including the offensive line and getting more consistency there. We also were looking at the number one offense and being able to move the ball more consistently. We didn"t do a whole lot defensively. We didn"t play most of our players. It was good to see that we could move the ball and do so with consistency. The weather wasn"t real conducive, wind-wise, for throwing the football but I though Brandon [Cox] did a good job. Our receivers caught the ball well and I am really pleased with that. We made some progress in that area. We limited what the defense could do. We got good penetration. I thought the pass-rush was good. But again we tied their hands a little bit.

I was disappointed in the second offensive group. We didn"t move it quite as good and we were not making good decisions at quarterback. It is not bad sometimes to throw the ball away. It seems like we tried to force things and we turned the ball over. We have to find a number two quarterback that is going to make better decisions. That is what today is about. The running backs ran hard.

It looks like Ben Tate has a high ankle sprain and hopefully he will have an opportunity to get back on the field next Wednesday. He was the only player who had any kind of significant injury.

We don"t have a lot of experience in the kicking game. This wasn"t a good day for kickers or punters because of the wind blowing. We have to be a lot better than what we were. We didn"t do a whole lot in the kicking game but it was a good day. I think we scored a lot more points today than we have in a few years. I think we have more weapons on offense that Al [Borges] has the ability to use. The first and second group offensive line has improved. The tight ends are going to be one of our strengths. Prechae Rodriquez had a good day. We have to have more than one receiver out there, like with Courtney Taylor last year, catching the ball. We have to have numerous guys catching the ball and making progress. We will come back next week and hopefully have a good practice and finish up strong.

(On Brandon Cox)
"Brandon needed a strong spring; he didn"t have a great fall. He struggled at times with his athletic ability and getting outside with his injury. He has a stronger arm and has gotten better every year. What I like about Brandon is that he makes good decisions. He doesn"t turn the ball over a whole lot. Today he threw the deep ball well and moved the offense. We have made a lot of progress with Brandon. He has room for improvement but if he stays healthy he will be one of the best quarterbacks in the country."

(On the second string quarterback)
"That is what we were going into the scrimmage looking at. Blake Field is further along mentally than Neil Caudle and Steven Ensminger. Neil and Steven have improved this spring but tend to make a few more mistakes mentally than what Blake does. I think it is going to be pretty close between these three guys. Next Wednesday we are going to have some team drills in the stadium, so hopefully one of the guys will pull ahead. We are going to make that a report card, a final semester grade, for our backup quarterback to step up. We are going to give one of them an opportunity to step up and maybe name one of them the number two going into the final part of the off-season. That might change in two-a-days, but I sure would like to have a number two coming out of next Wednesday"s practice."

(On the wide receivers)
"Quarterbacks get confidence in their receivers. Brandon knows that Rod Smith is going to run the routes and their timing has been good. Rod can catch it and run after the catch. Both of those guys have communicated well this spring. We have been looking at more than just one receiver; Prechae Rodriguez and Robert Dunn are guys that need to step up. It is unfortunate for Tim Hawthorne being in the accident and he is fortunate to be here. We are glad that he is. Missing the past five or six days is going to set him back a little bit."

(On Montez Billings)
"Montez had his best day in his two years here. He is a big receiver that can get open in the middle of the field. His problem is being able to catch crossing routes and full speed routes. He has been inconsistent with running routes, but he has been here two years now. He is going to have to be a factor for us. If you need six receivers going into the season, we are counting on him being one of the six. Today he took a step forward of making a better showing for himself. He has a lot of room for improvement. We have guys that can get the job done but this is a hard offense to learn in terms of running routes and changing routes when the play is called. We are looking for more consistency out of all these guys. We don"t have any superstars but hopefully we will have five or six guys that will be able to make plays next year. We are going to have a guy that can get it to them in Brandon. We are going to have to throw it a little more this year and I like this improvement that we have made this spring."

PLAYER QUOTES

Tristan Davis, RB
(On the game)
"I played okay. It wasn"t my best, but I rushed hard and blocked okay. The kickoff return team was just okay. All the running backs played okay."

Brandon Cox, QB
(On the game)
"It was good. We moved the ball well. We ran the ball extremely well, and also threw the ball well."

(On being more mobile this spring)
"It was frustrating last year not being able to do the things I know I can do. It has been really, really fun this spring, having lots of fun moving the ball around."

Montez Billings, WR
(On his performance)
"I did really well on five or six passes. I need to work a lot more on being more consistent down the stretch."

Neil Caudle, QB
(On his performance)
"I got a little frustrated. I could have done better, but I can still make up ground this fall on the second string job."

Terrell Zachery, WR
(On his performance)
"I think that I did enough to show all the coaches that I can play well come fall. I think as a whole the receivers had a lot of good catches and overall it was a good A-Day."

Michael Goggans, DE
(On the spring)
"We finished strong. The defense put basic stuff in. Everyone got a good shot to show what we are made out of."

(On the game)
"We ran a lot of base without a lot of blitzes. I think we ran our plays strong and got to the quarterback a lot."

Quentin Groves, DE
(On the spring)
"Competition was the main thing. A lot of guys competed for a lot of jobs."

(On the game)
"It was a lackluster game for the defense. We had some busts on defense and we could have run a lot more stuff."

Eric Brock, SS
(On the game)
"It was disappointing. It starts with me. I"m very disappointed in my performance. That"s why I"m disappointed in the spring overall."

Chris Evans, LB
(On his performance)
I wasn"t as good as I was in the first scrimmage. We should have done a lot better than we did. The hustle was there though, so we know we can do better."

King Dunlap, OT
(On his performance)
"It was a good spring. We have four new guys on the offensive line, and we have gotten better since we started. Now we have to find the starting five since we are rotating those guys in a lot. We had a good A-Day game. It felt good to move the ball the way we did. We had a much better spring than I had anticipated."

Patrick Trahan, LB
(On his performance):
"I didn"t start the way I wanted to, but I think I finished the scrimmage the way coach intended."

(On how the defense played):
"There were times we showed what we could do, but other times we were undisciplined. All in all, I think we came together at the end and showed that we were trying and didn"t give up. People have to step up when their number is called. Sometimes we forget that, and I think in the end we have to fight hard through the tough times because in the game things happen. You can"t always hope for the best."

Rodgeriqus Smith, WR
(On Auburn throwing the ball more):
"When you get the opportunity for the quarterback to throw the ball to you, that is always good for a receiver. It"s exciting when you have opportunities like that, especially when the offensive coordinator gives you opportunities to make plays on the ball."

(On being compared to Courtney Taylor):
"Courtney Taylor was the go-to guy last year and a lot of people are comparing us. Right now, I need to step up for this receiving corps because we are very young and inexperienced. I just have to step up and be more of a leader."

(Who else needs to step up at wide receiver for the No. 2 spot?):
"Right now, it"s a battle between Prechae Rodriguez and Montez Billings. Montez has really stepped it up this spring. We are looking for a lot of great things from him. Prechae has the advantage right now because of his experience. It is up for grabs between those two guys."

(On the receivers helping Brandon Cox having a great senior year):
"This spring, Brandon has been looking better than he has in a long time. He"s moving around outside the pocket and making plays, and we really need that out of him right now. He has really stepped it up this spring."

(On how much you have improved from last spring to this spring?):
"I have improved a lot and stepped it up. I have put on weight and am running better routes and just keep getting better and better every time I step out on the field. I just want to produce for my team and keep getting better every day."