Auburn head coach Gene Chizik held his weekly press conference Tuesday, coaching a No. 1 team for the first time in his career.
Chizik said the next game at the University of Mississippi will be a difficult one for his Tigers.
"We certainly have room to improve in a lot of different places," Chizik said. "We're going to have to continue on that track if we're going to come out of Oxford with a win, which is going to be very difficult. We're going to have to play really well to be able to do that."
Chizik said he hasn't taken a step back to look at this season at a whole, but is proud of what his team has done so far.
"We're still in search of a game where we play all four quarters, which we haven't done yet in my opinion," Chizik said. "I think they've grown as a football team together."
Senior running back Mario Fannin has struggled this season with fumbling and fumbled again against LSU Saturday.
Chizik said his coaching staff is staying on Fannin and helping him stay a part of the offense.
"We need Mario Fannin to win, there's no question about that," Chizik said. "I can turn on the film and show you a lot of guys who made mistakes throughout the games that no one did notice that were huge."
During the Ole Miss game last season, senior safety Zac Etheridge severely injured his neck and missed the rest of the season due to surgery and rehab. Chizik said Etheridge has come a long way since that day.
"A year ago was a very hard time for everyone; for him, for his family, for our team, and just the fact that he's sitting here playing this game is amazing," Chizik said. "So he's very blessed, and he knows he is. It's just probably going to be a bit of an emotional deal for him."
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