After what was described as a messy offensive performance in the first scrimmage of fall camp, the Auburn offense cut down on the turnovers and created big plays in Saturday's scrimmage at a blazing hot Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"We're learning a lot about our team," head coach Gus Malzahn said afterwards. "It was hot, and that was a good thing. We want to see how guys respond to the heat. And there were a lot of up and down moments, which is good to see in a scrimmage when you're evaluating guys--how they respond to big plays and adversity."
Malzahn said the goal of Saturday's scrimmage was to start "narrowing it down" in positions all across the field, including quarterback.
The four quarterbacks in the battle for Auburn's starting jobs did not go live like they did on Wednesday, but walk-on quarterback Tucker Tuberville did. Tuberville did not get a chance to go live in Wednesday's scrimmage, so Malzahn said they gave him an opportunity to run a few offensive series.
"We're to a point now where we are going to start narrowing it down," Malzahn said of the quarterback race. "I can't tell you how specific that will be narrowed down...but we can't keep rotating four guys at this point."
While the quarterbacks did not go live, the special teams did for the first time in this fall camp. Malzahn said it gave the staff opportunities to see different kicking units and returners.
Wide receiver Quan Bray said some of the skill players that had opportunities in the return game stood out offensively in Saturday's scrimmage.
"It was a good scrimmage, especially for the offense," Bray said. "The receivers made some explosive plays, the running backs ran real well and the offensive line played hard. We got better today."
Bray specifically mentioned fellow receivers Ricardo Louis and Sammie Coates as players who made big plays in the passing game. According to Bray, Louis caught a deep ball touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jeremy Johnson, and tight end Brandon Fulse hooked up with Nick Marshall for another long touchdown play.
"(Louis) just played fast," Bray said. "He outran the cornerbacks, something he does real well. Coach Craig is always harping on us about playing fast as receivers.
"When we play fast, it's going to be hard to cover us."
Bray said the quarterbacks who threw the deep touchdown passes, Johnson and Marshall, showed obvious progress from Wednesday's scrimmage to the one on Saturday.
"They didn't have a lot of busted assignments or anything like that," Bray said. "They are getting very comfortable right now, and I've seen a lot of improvement from them."
Bray said the entire offense focused on cutting down turnovers and penalties, things that plagued them in Wednesday's scrimmage. With fewer mistakes, the offense was able to create more big plays on the ground and through the air.
"We're coming together as a brotherhood," Bray said. "We as receivers know we have to make plays out there on the edge because we know we have some great backs. Once we get it all down, it's going to be very hard to stop us."
The Tigers return to the practice field on Saturday evening for a session that is completely closed to the media. After a midday practice on Sunday, the team will take part in Fan Day at Auburn Arena, which is slated for 3:30 p.m.
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