The defining characteristic of new Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and his famed Hurry Up, No Huddle offense is wide-open speed.
On Sunday, Malzahn said the pace of practice picked up as his players strapped on their shoulder pads for the first time in fall camp.
"We got a lot of reps today," Malzahn said. "It was very physical. I told our players at the end of practice that today was going to give us a lot of good information as far as evaluation."
Malzahn said Sunday's practice was divided into three groups--the two-deep depth chart from spring camp and a third group made up of newcomers.
"I just told (the players) that they are competing every day," Malzahn said.
Malzahn specifically mentioned a three-way competition at right tackle between Patrick Miller, Avery Young and Shon Coleman. Like the pace of practice, Malzahn referred to the position battle, along with the rest of the battles across the field, as "wide open."
The position battle that has most Auburn fans talking through the first three days of fall practice, the competition for the starting quarterback job, was also discussed on Sunday evening.
Malzahn said all four competing quarterbacks--Kiehl Frazier, Jeremy Johnson, Nick Marshall and Jonathan Wallace--rotated with all three groups. The newcomers to campus, junior college transfer Marshall and true freshman Wallace, got reps with the offense's veterans.
One of those returning offensive players, C.J. Uzomah, said he was impressed with the quarterback play during Sunday's practice.
"I think (the quarterbacks) looked really well today," Uzomah said. "They warmed up well, and we had a lot of individual periods with them. Once we got our timing down in seven-on-seven, one-on-one and team periods, they looked spectacular, really."
Like the quarterbacks, Uzomah says several other skill players are rotating with different groups--and in some cases, different positions.
"We're trying to learn big picture," Uzomah said. "I think that will help us in the long run."
The constant shifting and up-tempo nature of Sunday's practice could also be found on the defensive side of the ball, according to linebacker Kris Frost.
"We're all getting a lot of reps," Frost said. "We're all flying around the field, trying to get adjusted to everything. We feel like we know everything better than we did in the spring, and we're all getting better individually and as a team."
Two members of Auburn's squad were out on Sunday. Cornerback Demetruce McNeal missed his third straight day of practice with an injury. The team has not released any details about McNeal's injury, but Malzahn said on Friday he expects the cornerback to make a quick recovery.
Freshman punter Jimmy Hutchinson, who joins the Tigers after being rated the No. 1 high school punter in the country, missed his second day of practice in order to attend his father's funeral service on Sunday night. According to reports from Hutchinson's hometown in Georgia, Jim Hutchinson, 49, died last Wednesday.
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