Before Sunday, junior offensive guard Bart Eddins, iPod in hand and ice on his knee, would frequently pop his head into the Rane Room — Auburn’s hub for weekly interviews inside the Athletic Complex — and joke that he was just too busy to talk.

It was the same type of humor Eddins used through his first three injury-plagued seasons — one for every surgery he’s had on his right knee — and the type he even displayed during open portions of practice this preseason. When reporters hovered around Muscle Beach to jot down all the names of Auburn’s injured players, Eddins had no trouble admitting it’d be another day on the stationery bike for him.

“Bart Eddins, No. 56,” he’d yell.

That was, of course, before Sunday — before his first career start three years in the making at Tennessee, of all places.

Less than 24 hours after he helped Auburn’s running backs pile up 224 yards and did his best to keep Chris Todd upright, Eddins was still soaking it all up.

“It was one of those things where at the moment, it doesn’t really hit you,” he said. “Then you get it after the fact.”

After a sluggish outing from freshman John Sullen against Ball State, Eddins got the call to fill in for suspended starting guard Byron Isom against Tennessee. He went in thinking he’d be part of a three-man rotation with Sullen and Jared Cooper, but ended up playing the entire game.

It was news to Eddins that Auburn’s coaches were comfortable riding out not only an inexperienced second-team center — by trade — at guard, but one that has a knee that’s been carved up more than a Thanksgiving turkey.

“Going into it, being second team, you’re not really sure who has faith in you,” Eddins said. “They had that faith and that confidence in an away game, at Tennessee, gives me that much more confidence.”

As for the state of his knee, which Eddins said Dr. James Andrews labeled “weird,” Eddins recoiled to his quick-fire sense of humor.

“It feels fabulous. Fabulous,” Eddins deadpanned before admitting it was sore. “It definitely has its moments. Overall, I feel pretty good.”

Eddins is a third-generation member of the football family who came to Auburn, unfairly or not, with major expectations. His father, Liston, was an All-SEC defensive end who played at Auburn in the ’70s and his brother, Brett, started at defensive end for the undefeated 2004 team.

Coming out of Montgomery’s Trinity Presbyterian School, Eddins was considered a five-star defensive tackle by Scout.com, but was converted to offensive line after his redshirt freshman season.
Playing time was sparse thereafter and the two surgeries on his knee certainly didn’t expedite his chances of seeing the field on a regular basis. He had his third surgery before the season and missed most of spring practice.

His chance to emerge as a regular this season didn’t seem probable. The starting front five was considered Auburn’s major strength and offensive line coach Jeff Grimes was repeatedly reluctant to single out any backups that had impressed him.

Isom’s suspension, which remains indefinite, paved the way.

“It wasn’t as rough as I thought it was going to be,” Eddins said. “Coach Grimes helped me out with it. It was more of a teaching thing, a tool, on what I could do to get better. It went a lot better than I thought it would be.”

That feeling was unanimous among Eddins’ teammates Sunday.

“I can’t tell you how hard the guy played,” offensive tackle Lee Ziemba said. “He was finishing blocks, running down field and just working his butt off. You can’t replace that.
“He helped that team win a tough game on the road.”

Coach Gene Chizik hesitated to name Eddins the starter for Saturday’s game at Arkansas and would not rule out Isom returning, but it doesn’t appear Eddins did anything to hurt his stock.
“He’s really overcome some health issues and he played with them Saturday night; they didn’t just go away,” Chizik said. “He came in there and played and just really proud that he was able to step up and help our football team win — and that’s what he did.”

Eddins’ sense of humor certainly isn’t going anywhere, either.

Asked about the reaction his family had after his first start, Eddins provided a detailed play-by-play.
“My mom was crying. She was all excited. She was just being Nancy,” Eddins said. “My dad was like: ‘Good job, good job, son. We’re proud of you.’

“I can’t tell you what Brett said, but he said good job.”

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