Youngsters get 'majority' of reps in first scrimmage

AUBURN – Newcomers and less experienced players got a chance to showcase their skills during Auburn's first scrimmage of fall camp on Wednesday morning.

The Tigers ran "about 70 plays" with an emphasis on the running game.

"The scrimmage was more run-oriented emphasis than it was pass," Auburn coach Gus Malzhan said. "We ran it two out of three times."

With the coaches well aware of Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant bring to the table, Peyton Barber, Roc Thomas and Prattville native Kamryn Pettway took "the majority" of reps at running back.

"We have a lot of information about the two seniors," Malzahn said. "Those other three guys it was really good to see them carry the football and everything that goes with that."

There may not be anything Artis-Payne and Grant can do to end the competition before the season starts, but the younger backs are vying for a prominent role.

"We have confidence in both those guys. We know they can effectively run our offense," Malzahn said. "They both will have a big role and the three guys that got the majority of the carries today I think, just looking at it, they'll have a chance as long as they can pick up the offense."

Barber said the tempo on Wednesday morning wasn't very fast.

"l feel like I got about 15-20 snaps, probably got the ball about 9 times," he said. "I felt like I did pretty well. It was moving kind of slow at first, that's just how it is sometimes. … To be honest, there weren't any big runs. So it was just kind of slow."

Nick Marshall did not take reps in the scrimmage and Jeremy Johnson took "some" but both did work beforehand. Meanwhile true freshman Sean White and Tucker Tuberville were both live.

Malzahn said Johnson, who is all but guaranteed to start the season opener while Marshall serves his indefinite punishment for his citation for possession of marijuana last month, will not be live at all before the season starts.

Defensively, Malzahn was satisfied with the physicality.

"For some of the young guys, this was their first time with our pace," senior defensive tackle Jeff Whitaker said. "I just think overall, I think it was great effort. I think we're going to get better. It's just something to build from."

The first two-a-day practice, Auburn planned to work on "special situation" scenarios Wednesday afternoon.