Auburn football has made it to the first week of the season and at his first press conferecne of the season Gus Malzahn previewed Kentucky, talked about the depth chart and the strugglles from this offseason.
Opening statement…
“First of all, we’re excited it’s game week. It’s been a long time coming to get to this point. We’re playing a really good Kentucky Wildcat team. When you look at them offensively, last year they were one of the best rushing teams in all of college football. To be able to do that in this league says a lot. They have four returning starters up front that I think are very talented. It’s really a strength of their team. Defensively, I’m very impressed. They’ve got most of their guys back on defense. They’re very well coached. They know their answers. They know their assignments. They’re impressive to watch on film. Overall, what Coach Stoops has done with that program and the consistency he’s had and the games he’s won says a lot.
“As far as us goes, the depth chart — you see we have a whole lot more numbers then we usually do. We have three deep at defensive positions; that was done by design because of COVID and having great quality depth. A position change you’ll see — Jeremiah Wright, offensive line to defensive line, just to give us more depth. He played that in high school, and we think he can help us there. We have two guys that are going to be out because of injuries, O.C. Brothers and Romello Height. They had shoulder procedures in the off-season, so they’re recovering. We’re hoping we can get both of those guys back before the end of the season.
“As far as a COVID update, we had one positive two weeks ago. I believe it’s six players that have been out for 14 days that we get back today because of close contact. Everybody should be back today. We do have two more tests before we play the game, so hopefully that will go well. With that being said, I really want to thank our medical team and administrative team for everything they’re done up to this point and throughout the summer — testing our players, the protocols and everything that goes with it. They’ve done an outstanding job to get us to this point that we can actually play a game.
“Overall, I’m really excited about this year’s team. We have all kinds of new faces out there. I believe we have 13 new starters, so I’m really excited to watch this team grow. I really feel that if we stay healthy, we’ll have a chance to improve each game, and of course with 10 SEC games, it’s important for teams to improve throughout the year. I’m really looking forward to watching our guys play. I’m excited. Our stadium, with our fans, will be a little bit new. If you look at it, the majority of our fans will be students. Our students are the best in the country, so I really expect those guys to bring their A-game, make it loud as possible and make it a good home field advantage.”
About Jaylin Simpson listed as a starter…
“Yeah he really came on. He’s got some natural football instincts and they put him at corner right off the bat. You could tell that each day that he improved, and he can flat-out run. He’s got really good ball skills and he’s a good tackler. He really stepped up and made an early impression and he kept that momentum going throughout fall camp.”
The importance of a home-field advantage…
“When the schedule first came out, the first thing that stood out to me is we actually were at home the very first game, which I think is important with all this new normal. We are really looking for that to be an advantage for us. When it’s a regular game day and we’ve got 90,000 fans, there’s no better place in all of college football as far as atmosphere than here. The fact that the majority of our fans are going to be students – our student section is always one of the best, if not the best in the country and I know they’re going to have their A-game and they’ll be loud as possible to help us win. That, along with getting crowd noise piped in, I think it’s going to be a pretty good atmosphere that’s pretty loud.”
About Colby Wooden…
“Well, he’s been consistent. He’s been impressive throughout fall camp; playing the run, rushing the passer, and just being consistent. When we recruited him, we had high expectations for him and we think he’s in a good spot right now.”
Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove are listed at the same receiver spot…
“Yeah, I think you’ll see a little bit of both; sometimes one will be on the sideline and sometimes they’ll both be on the field. I think the big thing for Chad (Morris) is he’s going to find a way to put his best players on the field and move them around and (get) matchups. There will be a lot more moving around this year than in the past, but both of those guys are veterans that I know our offensive staff looks at as both of them being starters—not just as starters, but both of them having big play ability, and they’re both experienced.”
About Harold Joiner not being on the depth chart…
“Harold did some good things during fall camp and he’ll have a role, but it will be a little bit more specific role as we go. Here’s the deal, too; we feel like we have five guys at the running back position that can all help. He is one of those guys that does have experience and he’s made some big plays in games. You’ll still see Harold Joiner out there some, too.”
About the Kentucky offensive line…
“Well, they’re talented, they’re big, strong guys. Like I said earlier, the fact that they are one of the best rushing teams in all of college football in this league, you know that’s really what jumps out to you. If you look at both, both their offence and defensive lines, that’s where some of their strengths, they got most of their guys back as we lost most of our guys offensive front and defensive front so that’s going to be a challenge and our guys are aware of that. That’ll be a big factor but I’m real impressed with their offensive line.”
How do you feel about players transferring from one SEC school to another…
“I think it’s just a new day in college football with everything changing and people moving from team to team, so I just think it’s a new day. And I think there will be more and more of that in the future.”
On playing some guys at both end and tackle vs. Kentucky…
“There is some flexibility really on both the offensive and defensive lines. Our coaching staff have moved people around. Of course it was by design because of all the ‘what ifs’. What if this guy goes down? What if this guy is out because of COVID? So there’s been all kinds of mix and matching and I expect us to play quite a few players in the first game. As far as left tackle, we’ll just have to see how that goes. This is a big week for a lot of guys as far as even evaluation. Look at our two punters. They’re in a competition and we’ve not decided who the first one is going to be. So there’s a lot of positions I think like that that will give guys a chance to be on the first this first game.
On how the team has handled COVID-19 and the excitement leading up to Saturday…
“It’s been a very interesting journey. A long journey. There were a lot of weeks that you look back and say, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to play.’ And then the next week, they walk out and think we have a chance to play. Just the excitement has been completely different for our players. Even this Sunday’s practice was different because you could tell the urgency. I know for myself that it feels like game week and we finally got to that point. That kind of why I was thanking our medical staff and our administration for helping us get here. They did an outstanding job and they put our players first as far as health is concerned. We’ve worked ourselves through this. Our guys have been very responsible with COVID etiquette and the way they’ve handled themselves. That’s going to be a big key moving forward, too. We’re constantly talking to our guys about being responsible and what the new normal looks like and our guys really bought into that. I know that they’re just excited that we’re playing an opponent. We just happen to be playing one of the more veteran opponents in our league. And if you really look at it, without having spring to practice, I’ve always said that the veteran teams should have an advantage because they’ve got the experience. We’ll have to find a way to overcome that.
On Bo Nix’s confidence and how he’s improved…
“I don’t care whether it is Bo Nix being a true freshman or any quarterback that went through that schedule last year, that would have been tough on anybody. I was unbelievably impressed with how he handled everything between the pressures and all that. Then you get to the Iron Bowl and that’s the most pressure that probably a quarterback could be in with a rivalry game. The way that he played helped us win the game right there being a true freshman at home. He’s a different player right now and he should be. He’s got a year of experience. He’s one of our leaders. As you saw, he had four team leaders that our players voted on. He got the second most votes so that tells you he’s a team leader. He’s got a lot of confidence. I know him and Coach Morris work extremely hard together. He’s excited. Coach Morris is trying to build this thing around his strengths. I think he’s in a real good spot to lead us. I think you’ll see him definitely improve, but at the same time you will look at that schedule. I’d like to see a lot of these other teams play that schedule and see how their quarterback does. I like where he’s at.
Will the offensive line lean on Bo Nix to create a lot for the offense this first game…
“We are going to play to his strength. You look at last year and he created a lot on his own. He is a run threat. We are going to play to his strengths and rely on him a lot.”
Thoughts on the SEC’s new technology for contact tracing…
“It’s one thing the NFL has been doing and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it, so I think it’s a positive thing. The whole thing about this year is that it’s going to be a learning experience. The fact that the NFL has used it and used it successfully I think it’s a positive, but we will learn week to week.”
About Brodarious Hamm…
“Potential more than anything; he’s always been that number 6 or 7 guy in the last two years. I think he’s one of our leaders up front and he’s set for a big-time year. He’s very, very talented and probably as strong as any lineman that has come through here in a long time. I know we will be relying him on the field along with his leadership.”
About Colby Wooden’s growth at defensive tackle…
“He’s bigger than that. I don’t know exactly how much bigger but he weighs a little more than that. His quickness, he’s strong, he’s got instincts — when you move inside that’s a different world. I just know that he’s got really good instincts, and got a lot of reps this fall camp. I think he’ll have the ability to improve each game.”
What experience grad transfer Grant Loy brings to the program…
“I think it’s very important. He’s a guy that’s started at the college level. Chad (Morris) recruited him out of Arkansas; that was the relationship. He’s come here and he’s really done a good job with his teammates, a good job with the offense.”
Having a team voter registration day among real-life activities this off-season…
“That was really important. We had the education piece I’ve talked about all summer. We had speakers; it was really good. We had some team bonding situations and now it’s really our action items — of course the unity t-shirts, which our guys are really excited about. We’ve gotten great response; I believe that the students are going to have one in their chair for the game Saturday. I’m very excited about that. That’s one thing and then an action plan — register to vote — getting everyone registered to vote, to use their influence, I know our team is really excited about that. That was very important last week.”
About the Kentucky defense…
“They make you earn it — you look at the big plays last year. There’s not a lot of big explosive pass plays over top. They do a great job of keeping everything in front of them. They know their answers; when they get hurt on something, they’ll adjust really quick. You can tell they’ve been in this system a long time. The fact they’ve got most of their guys back — I think early on the teams that are coming back after not going through spring have an advantage. This is a very good Kentucky team that’s well-coached, has most of their guys back and has got their guys that call offense and defense especially in the back, so we’re going to have to earn it. We’re going to have to execute. This will be a game about execution, especially on offense, because they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
About the number of true freshmen on the depth chart…
“I think I said a couple weeks ago this group of freshmen has a chance to be as good as we’ve had come through here, or at least since I have been here. I think that’s still an accurate statement. We’ll see once the games get going, but up to this point, it’s a very talented group that just needs game time experience. I expect that group to improve each game. There’s a lot of guys you’ll see on the field.”
About Caylin Newton…
“First off, you can tell he’s a veteran guy. You know he understand the game. He’s a tough guy too, not just receiver-wise. He’s done a good job and caught our attention special teams-wise. Like I said, you’ll see him on special teams and at receiver, too. We’re glad we have him; we think that he provides leadership and he’s a tough guy, too. I’m excited he’s here with us.”