No bad days: Auburn concludes 'pretty rare' preseason camp

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Photo: Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics


Concluding preseason camp Sunday, Auburn worked on two-minute scenarios and special teams before scrimmaging with second and third-teamers.

"It was a good way to wrap up fall camp," coach Gus Malzahn said.

After taking off Monday for the first day of the fall semester, Auburn will begin preparing for its Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game matchup against Washington on Sept. 1 in Atlanta.

"That'll give us two weeks to focus on them," Malzahn said.

In Sunday's scrimmage, recent arrival Cord Sandberg received most of the quarterback snaps.

Receiver Griffin King impressed, Malzahn said, while freshman running back Shaun Shivers continued his strong camp.

"Really stood out to me today in the scrimmage," Malzahn said of the 5-7, 173-pound track star. "Just running hard. He's a fast guy, everybody knows, but he really ran with a purpose today. He plays bigger than he is."


'He plays bigger than he is': Shaun Shivers impressed during Auburn's final preseason scrimmage Sunday. Photo; Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics

Replacing Kerryon Johnson while perhaps seeking to identify a back capable of extending Auburn's streak of producing thousand-yard rushers for a 10th straight season, Kam Martin and JaTarvios Whitlow are leading the competition, but Shivers and fellow freshmen Asa Martin have played their way in the mix also.

"We're starting to develop some depth," Malzahn said. "It's yet to be seen exactly how everything is going to play out. Probably after the third or fourth game I think it'll be evident. It's good right now we have options.

"Harold Joiner's another guy the last two scrimmages who has really stood out to me about running the football. He's got a talent, and he protected the football. We have some depth there. You can't have enough depth at running back in this league."

Embarking on his sixth season as Auburn's head coach, Malzahn gave an optimistic assessment of the state of the Tigers.  

"We still have some question marks, but I will say this: I feel very good about our team," he said. "I think the first three or four games will tell us a lot. I really like where we're at. We've got a hungry team. Last year, they weren't happy with the way it ended. That's a good thing for us, with our leadership.

"We've not had what I would say one bad day of fall camp, I mean attitude-wise, effort-wise. That's pretty rare.

"We're glad that fall camp is over. I feel like we've accomplished most of our goals. We had very few injuries or banged up guys. That's a good feeling. We're in a good spot with two weeks to play to start transitioning, flip the switch for Washington."

While the student-athletes begin attending classes on Monday, Auburn's coaches will go to school on the No. 6 Huskies.

"We already have a good idea of what we're going to do," he said. "It'll give us a day to catch our breath, an off day, and strictly focus on them and get that back in your mind fully and have two weeks to try to prepare in all of the phases."
 






 
 

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: