Tuesday News and Notes

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

It looks like linebacker Tray Blackmon is very questionable for Saturday’s game with South Florida. He wore a boot at Monday’s practice. He hopes to get it off by the end of the week. The chances of him playing at this point look slim.

Kicker Wes Byrum was also limping badly at Monday’s practice. He hurt his ankle early in the game and continued to kick, hitting three of four attempts. Coaches are hopeful he’ll be a go on Saturday, but it’s still much too early to tell.

One of the highlights of Saturday night was watching the replays on the new stadium scoreboard. It’s hard to describe how awesome this system looks. It’s so good, you find yourself watching it instead of the action on the field.

One of the problems I wrote about last year, was the lack of updated stats and scores from inside Jordan-Hare. This year that problem has been solved. At any point in the game, you had access to at least six game scores from around the country.

Auburn utilized the scoreboard ribbons on the upper deck to keep stats updated. It’s not a stretch to say that these improvements completely change the game day experience.

Monday’s announcement that Quentin Groves was named SEC defensive linemen of the week came as no surprise. He takes over a game like no defensive player I’ve seen in recent memory. Groves recorded five tackles, with three for losses including two sacks.

His biggest hit came against Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman with a little over a minute to play, forcing Freeman to fumble and Antonio Coleman picked it up and went 34 yards for the score to secure the win.

There’s still no word on how long tailback Brad Lester will remain suspended. From what I’ve gathered, the suspension revolves around a term paper that should have been done and wasn’t. Some of my sources say that he’ll be back soon, others are not so sure. Hopefully, we’ll know more this week.

Auburn’s win over Kansas State paid off on the recruiting trail Sunday when the Tigers picked up two more football commitments. Wide receiver Harry Adams out of Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale picked Auburn over LSU, Florida and Minnesota. Adams is listed at 5’11 and 178 lbs.

The Tigers also picked up a commitment from defensive back George Baker out of Miami, Florida. Baker (5’11, 175 lbs.) runs a 4.35 40 yard dash. He picked Auburn over LSU, Ole Miss, Rutgers and Kansas State.

Both visited campus over the weekend. Let’s hope they hold.