Tommy Thigpen came away from Saturday’s game with a couple of regrets. The Auburn safeties coach said he played Zac Etheridge too much and Mike McNeil too little.

“It was really promising to see him running around and hitting people,” Thigpen said of McNeil. “He played with that fire. That’s exactly what we saw right before he got hurt.”

Thigpen said Aairon Savage and Etheridge, both of whom are coming off major injuries like McNeil, did “solidly” in their first game back. But the two seniors, Thigpen said, showed some definite rust that had nothing to do with their respective injuries.
Thigpen said he’s challenging both players in this short week leading up to Thursday’s primetime showdown with Mississippi State.

“I look for 200 percent improvement this week,” Thigpen said. “Most of the things we got beat on were things with eye discipline and recognition of things.”

The most obvious mistake occurred in the first quarter, when Arkansas State’s Allen Muse hauled in a 61-yard pass down the sideline without an Auburn player anywhere in sight. The Red Wolves scored seven plays later to take an early 6-0 lead.

“On one call, you might have to look in the backfield. On the next call, you can’t look in the backfield,” Thigpen said. “He got caught peeping in the backfield and those are the reasons why we gave up two long passes.”

For Thursday’s game, Thigpen said to expect more of a three-man rotation with McNeil, Etheridge and Savage.

“The more guys who you can put on the field, the better,” Thigpen said. “So we don’t have to play those guys 80-something snaps in a game.”

Reed update
There was a moment at Monday’s practice where players went silent as Trovon Reed caught a pass and then hit the turf, wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said.
Taylor, as he’s customary to do, broke the silence.

“I told him, ’Get up, clown! Ain’t no time for that. Get up off the ground.’” Taylor said. “And he popped right up and kept on going.”

Taylor said Reed, who missed Saturday’s game because of a knee injury, should be ready to go Thursday.

“A lot of this is going to be mental, getting confidence back in that leg,” Taylor said. “But he looked good. On one leg he looked better than some on two, so I’m going to put him out there and see what he can do.”

Practice report
Auburn held what offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn called “a Wednesday practice” for two hours Monday evening.

“I really liked our guys’ urgency mentally. Of course, we need to be urgent,” Malzahn said. “We had to do a lot of things faster than normal so it gets you out of your comfort zone a little bit. But our guys are really focused in and hopefully that will pay off on Thursday.”

Newton wins Player of the Week
Cameron Newton’s record-setting performance Saturday didn’t go unnoticed by the SEC, which awarded the Auburn quarterback Monday with its SEC Offensive Player of the Week award.

All Newton did was run for an Auburn quarterback record 171 rushing yards on 15 carries, throw for 184 yards on nine completions and account for five touchdowns.

His 71-yard touchdown run was the longest from scrimmage by an Auburn player since Tristan Davis went 75 yards at Kentucky in 2005. His total was also the most in a debut by an Auburn player since Rudi Johnson’s 174 rushing yards against Wyoming in 2000.

Newton is the first Auburn player to be named SEC Offensive Player of the Week since Kenny Irons earned the award in 2006, and the first Tiger quarterback to receive the honor since Jason Campbell in 2004.

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