Nov. 8, 2005

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville spoke with the media Tuesday and previewed the Tigers' game with Georgia. The game at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., is scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. EST (6:45 p.m. CT), and will air on ESPN.

Opening statement ...
"We got off to a good start last week in the month of November. We didn't play our best game, especially on defense, but I thought offensively, we got better. We found some guys we can lean on a little bit more, starting with our offensive line. We had a shake-up in our offensive line last week. Leon Hart played very well, Jonathan Palmer played very well, Troy Reddick played well at center. We had an opportunity to get Tim Duckworth close to 100 percent health-wise. We didn't even take him on the trip.

"This week, it will get back to normal. Everybody will be back in their regular positions ready to go. I thought the protection was very good. Brandon Cox continues to get better. He's very accurate. He had a couple of passes dropped, but he continues to make good decisions, which is what I keep looking for each week. Receiver-wise we're a little bit beat up. Courtney Taylor fell on the nose of the football on a go route and got bruised ribs. He'll be fine; we'll warm him up today. He will practice today. Ben Obomanu got a little bit of turf toe, but also got hit in the back of the head. He will also warm-up in practice today. It looks like we will be close to 100 percent at receiver.

"Defensively, we intentionally played a lot of players last week. We got a lot of guys in the game. I thought that in the first half -- take away a couple plays -- we played about as well as I figured we'd play. In the second half we lost our intensity. We didn't play as well or as sharp as we could have, but we did over pursuit."

"That was some concern because their quarterback scrambled, and we'll see a scrambling quarterback this week. We'll have to stay in our passing lanes a little bit longer. It's probably good that we saw some of that stuff to where our guys understand what we're talking about going into this week.

"In our kicking game, Tre Smith fumbled a punt again, but we're not really concerned about that. He'll work on that this week. He's our guy. We'll continue to stay with him. He's the guy that gives us the best chance to make first downs and to make plays from the returner position.

"Again, going back to that game, I thought it was a game in which we needed a lot of young guys to play, maybe get some guys rested up going into the last two games. Now it's time to get back to work.

"Georgia's a very good football team. They had a week off; they're well-rested. We'll get their best shot. The pressure is obviously going to be on them to win this game to have an opportunity to get to Atlanta. Every year, it seems like one or the other has the opportunity, and this year, we're still in the race; but also, there's a little pressure on us. That's what you try to do in this conference; get to the end of the year. We are close to that and still have the opportunity to play for the championship. We both have that opportunity. There will be a lot of interest obviously. It'll be a big night television-wise. "Our guys will be prepared. We're excited about it. The intensity level will get higher in practice, but the one thing we do as coaches is continually try to make it fun for our players. We don't want to make this a grind going into the last two weeks. We've improved as a team, we've gotten better. We'll continue just to worry about our fundamentals and techniques and try to improve this week in the game.

"They have a lot of speed and quickness, very similar to the LSU team we played just two weeks ago. They have a lot of weapons on both sides. They're very sound and solid on defense. Their offense was obviously set back a little bit by playing a backup quarterback against Florida. Shockley will play, he'll be ready to go, and we're prepared for that. It'll be a challenge on us for defense.

"There's always a lot of talent and speed on both sides in this game every year. Special teams usually play a major role in this game, and it won't be any different this week. We're looking forward to a challenge. It will be a great challenge for us. We've got to get back on our feet one more time, continue to go and see what happens."

On Troy Reddick and Tim Duckworth starting ...
"Reddick will be back at right tackle, Duckworth will be at right guard. Obviously, now Leon Hart will have a chance to play some. I have more confidence in what he can do. Jonathan Palmer's the same way. We just needed to get Duckworth healthy. He'd been hurt most of the year, and he'd gotten to the point where we had to do something to get him ready for these last two games. It worked out for us, getting some repetitions for Jonathan. It also allowed us to be able to play Troy at center. He'll play some there. We'll also play Jonathan Palmer at backup center. We'll also play Steven Ross. He's still not 100 percent, but he can give us some snaps at center."

On D.J. Shockley's injury ...
"We'll prepare for the Shockley of three or four weeks ago. We'll prepare for a guy that will move around in the pocket. He'll be able to do that. It might hinder him some, but he'll get used to it as the game goes on. You can't worry about that. You just have to go and worry about the type of player he is, what he's done in the past. Look at all of the things he's done in and out of the pocket and prepare for that as a defense."

On defense ...
"Well, we haven't done anything yet, but we're getting ready to start today. As we work every week, Tuesday is a big fundamental day for us. We work on tackling and wrapping up. Last week, our angles to the point of the tackle weren't very good. In other words, their (Kentucky) running back (Rafael Little) is a good running back, and we were taking wrong angles of pursuit. That was as big of a problem as anything. People are going to make plays against you. You're not going to be able to go out and every three downs, know that you're going to play three downs and come out on defense. People are going to make plays, and when they do make plays, you try to keep them to a minimum. Last week we didn't keep them to a minimum. They became very big plays because we didn't take proper angles to the ball, and when we got there we didn't have enough people around him (Little) to make tackles. I thought looking at that film, knowing what we're getting ready to go into the next couple of weeks, that may be a blessing for us in hindsight, knowing we've got to do better at these scenarios to have the opportunity to win these next two games."

On Brad Lester and Kenny Irons both playing running back ...
"Kenny needs somebody to come in and give him some relief. Of course, Tre (Smith) can do that as can Tristan Davis. Brad left on a good note, knowing that he had over 20 yards after three or four carries in the Arkansas game. Brad's got fresh legs, and we're looking forward to that. Kenny is beat up a little bit, and should be after 127 carries in the last four games, which were very physical games against good defenses. He's going to need some guys to help him. Going into this game, can Kenny Irons carry 40 times? Sure he can. But I think we'd be much more proficient if we have somebody like Tre, Brad or even Tristan carry the ball some to give him some opportunities to take a break and not have to carry the load on his shoulders like he had to do the last three or four weeks before last week."