For the fourth week in a row, wide receiver Emory Blake’s status is still up in the air heading into the latter part of a game week.

Head coach Gene Chizik said he’s “feeling a little bit better” about Blake playing this week than he did last Wednesday, but it’s still going to be a game-time decision.

“He has tried to do more,” Chizik said. “He is not where we would like him to be, so only time will tell over the next 72 hours or whatnot. But right now for him to say he can play in the game full tilt, I can’t say that.”

Blake injured his right ankle in the third quarter against South Carolina on Oct. 1 and has dressed out the past three weeks, only playing a snap or two against Florida on Oct. 15.

Wide receivers Trooper Taylor said Blake “tried to go a little bit” during Wednesday’s practice and “wasn’t full-speed.”

“If he’s healthy enough to play, he’ll be out there. If he’s not, we’ll go with what we’ve got,” Taylor said. “He’s not a kid that wants to miss. I can tell it’s been bothering him a lot.”

Line hierarchy
Offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said redshirt freshman Eric Mack will be the first lineman off the bench in case of injury.

Mack, a 6-foot-4, 330-pound guard is currently the third guard in the Tigers’ playing rotation.

And, if a tackle goes down, right guard Chad Slade moves to tackle and Mack still steps in at guard.

Grimes said redshirt freshman Tunde Fariyike would be the next player up if center Reese Dismukes goes down.

With Jared Cooper — who could play any of the three interior positions — out for the year, Grimes said he needed somebody to step up, and Mack and Fariyike did.

“The last two weeks, both of those guys have gotten a lot better. They really have,” Grimes said. “They have responded well. I’m more pleased with them right now than I have been at any point.”

Sophomore Blake Burgess, who was the Tigers’ all-purpose interior guy early in the year, has moved down on the line depth chart, Grimes said, but he continues to serve an integral role as an extra blocking tight end.

“Blake is doing some other things for us, helping us out in some other formations and getting us and extra body on the field,” Grimes said. “We’re so thin we’re trying to get an extra body on the field — whether it be another lineman or another tight end.”

Too deep
Freshman running back Tre Mason hasn’t been doing anything wrong to not be seeing much action as the Tigers’ third back, running back Curtis Luper said.

It’s just a function of having such talented backs — Mike Dyer and Onterio McCalebb — in front of him.

“With Onterio and Michael being such a focal point for us offensively, it’s kind of hard to get the ball around,” Luper said. “Those guys just refuse to come out of the game.”

Mason has 12 carries for 64 yards on the year, with only three rushes for 30 yards in the past four weeks.

No regrets
Grimes said he doesn’t regret not playing freshmen Greg Robinson and Christian Westerman early in the year, basically consigning them to redshirt years.

“Not because I don’t think they could have stepped in, but the bottom line is that they weren’t the best fit at the time — and they’re still not,” Grimes said.

Grimes said both players have been making great progress — especially over the past three weeks — and the ship has not definitively sailed yet on them playing this year.

But they’re working more for the future.

“You’re not just trying to play for now because you may not get on the field this year. Good chance you won’t,” Grimes said. “You’re getting yourself ready for next year.

“The future is going to be really, really bright for those two kids.”