With much of the spotlight focused on the first-team defense, a walk-on running back emerged from the A-Day scrimmage, stealing the show with MVP honors.
Junior tailback C.J. Tolbert finished as the Offensive Player of the Game with 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries for both the Orange and Blue teams.
“We’re very proud of him (Tolbert),” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “He is one of those guys that not a lot of people talk about, but every time he gets in there he produces…he’s had a very good spring and he’s in the mix, there’s no doubt about that.”
Tolbert’s explosive 79-yard run down the sideline in the second quarter was the biggest play of the game and set up the only Orange touchdown, which he took in from two yards out a few plays later.
The Dadeville, Alabama native knows there is still room for improvement.
“We always have a lot to improve on,” Tolbert said. “You never can get too up or too relaxed on yourself. I feel like we had a pretty good spring in all areas of the offense but we also have a lot to improve on.”
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Malzahn’s past teams have always had great competition at running back and this year’s team is no different. Tolbert, who was the 2013 Opelika-Auburn breakout player of the year before coming to Auburn, knows he is competing to earn playing time at a running back position that is stacked with depth.
Asa Martin, JaTarvious Whitlow and Malik Miller were the other notable backs that got touches in Saturday’s spring scrimmage.
“That’s a huge motivation,” Tolbert said. “You know every day you can’t go out and just have an okay practice. You have to compete every day. I feel like that sparks me every day. I have four other guys that could beat me out at any given time.”
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Tolbert only played in three games in the 2017 season, mainly serving as a reserve tailback in practice and occasionally working with special teams. But Malzahn says everyone is still in the mix to win the job.
“Tailback-wise, our plan was to rotate those guys, especially the young guys to see what they can do,” Malzahn said. “They held on to the football and you can see those young guys have a lot of ability breaking some tackles…Running back-wise, we are going to have some depth, there is no doubt about that.”
Tim Horton, who coaches running backs on Malzahn’s staff, tells his backs to always keep a level head. Tolbert knows one performance doesn’t set anything in stone; he will have to keep working to carry this momentum into the season.
“He (Horton) tells us to never get too high or too low,” Tolbert said. “He tells us every single day that there are five backs that could compete and play and start versus Washington. He tells us that every day. He never tells us that you’re not in the mix. You have to come out and compete every day.”
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