The opener is a part of the Auburn Tournament, which in its second season will also include Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference and UAB from Conference USA, which were both top-five conferences in 2010 according to WarrenNolan.com.

Auburn will also play in a pre-conference tournament at the College of Charleston the weekend of March 4-6 before playing host to College World Series participant Arizona State from March 11-13 at Plainsman Park.

“The 2011 schedule presents a great challenge to this young team as we prepare for another quest to make the SEC Tournament and post-season play,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “We host a tough preseason tournament and we have a return trip from Arizona State which should pose big challenges for the 17 new faces on our team as we head into the rigors of the SEC schedule.”

The SEC slate begins on March 18 with Arkansas visiting Plainsman Park.

Of the five SEC teams that heads to Auburn this season, four of them played in last season’s NCAA Tournament in Arkansas, Vanderbilt (April 1-3), Ole Miss (April 22-24) and Alabama (May 13-15).

The other conference foe to head to the Plains is Georgia (May 6-8).

Auburn will play at Mississippi State (March 25-27), at Kentucky (April 8-10), at LSU (April 15-17), at defending National Champion South Carolina (April 29-May 1) and at Tennessee (May 19-21) in conference play.

Midweek home-and-homes are scheduled with Jacksonville State (Feb. 22 and Mar. 22), Troy (Mar. 29 and Apr. 5), South Alabama (Apr. 20 and May 17) and Samford (Apr. 26 and May 10), with the first game of each series being played at Plainsman Park and the second on the road.

The third annual Capital City Classic takes place March 15 at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. Auburn has defeated Alabama in each of the first two Classics.

The 2011 SEC Tournament returns to Hoover from May 25-29 and NCAA Regionals begin on June 2.

Soccer hosts No. 5 Florida State

The Auburn soccer team will play host to No. 5 Florida State at 7 p.m. tonight at the Auburn Soccer Complex for Cram The Complex night. Auburn enters the match 2-1-0 after splitting a pair of games at Milwaukee in the MKE Cup while Florida State is a perfect 3-0-0 having not allowed a goal this season.

“Florida State has always been a thorn in our side. It’s nice to get them in the regular season and at home,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. “They are one of the best programs in the country. I am very happy we had the Milwaukee weekend because those matches will help us prepare for the pace of this game. They have so many dynamic players and they have no holes in their lineup.”

Auburn and Florida State have met nine times on the soccer field and it has been Florida State owning a distinct advantage in the series, winning eight straight matches.

“We need the Auburn fans to come out in masses for that game because it is such a big game for us and such a difficult opponent. It would be nice to have that 12th man in the stands,” Hoppa said.

Junior Katy Frierson, who was named the top player in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.com earlier on Thursday, leads Auburn with six points, having scored a pair of game-winning goals and assisting on two others.

Following the Florida State match, Auburn will play host to Western Carolina at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“Western Carolina is a very quality program. They are typically tops in their conference and they have been to the NCAA Tournament,” Hoppa said.

“They are going to be a good opponent for us on Sunday.”

He was asked, perhaps, for the final time Tuesday, four days before he will take the field before 87,000 fans Saturday against Arkansas State — roughly 174 times the amount that watched him in his Blinn (Texas) Community College debut last season.

Newton replied with the same confidence and same grateful attitude he’s had since Auburn snagged him away from Mississippi State in the New Year’s Eve coup of a commitment. He then was asked if he was sick of answering questions and just wanted to play football.

His answer to that particular query came as a surprise.

“That’s what you sign up for,” he said. “You never get tired for it. Coach (Gus) Malzahn said the great players and great teams embrace the process and this is part of the process.”

This first stage of the process will end a couple hours before Saturday’s 6 p.m. kickoff, when Newton and his teammates go through Tiger Walk and make it to the locker room.

Getting him there, more than nine months in the making, will only be half the battle, Malzahn said.

What happens for roughly three hours against the Red Wolves will set in motion the entire second half of the process.

“Until you actually get to see somebody in the heat of the battle, there’s some questions that we’ll learn after the first few games after we get to know each other even better going through those times,” Malzahn said. “And he’s got a good handle of the offense, but I really expect him each week to get a better grip and a better grasp as we go.”

A proper analysis of how Newton got to this point would involve breaking up the past nine months into two distinct parts: Before he was named starter and after.

The expectations placed on Newton’s shoulders were higher than any of the signees Auburn brought in with its banner 2010 class. He was once considered the heir apparent to Tim Tebow at Florida and absolutely thrived in his one year at the junior-college level, convincing many that he could step right in at Auburn or Mississippi State and snatch the starting job away from whomever held it.

His legend preceded itself shortly after he committed to the Tigers.

“There were rumors going around,” offensive tackle Lee Ziemba said. “Some people were saying he was 7-foot tall.”

Newton checked in slightly shorter than that, but gave Auburn a quarterback with a defensive end’s body and a wide receiver’s speed. His impact was felt immediately during Auburn’s month of spring practice, as players on both sides of the ball raved about his cannon arm and instant leadership credibility.

Coaches were more tempered in their praise and, at Auburn’s A-Day game, were accused by one prominent media member of “sandbagging” Newton’s portion of the scrimmage. He passed the ball just eight times and only ran with the first-team offense once.

“What we were going to do was rotate our quarterbacks accordingly,” Chizik said. “However that unfolded, it unfolded.”

When spring practice ended, Newton was surprisingly no higher on the depth chart than when he arrived. Two days later, he was named the starter, kicking off the second half of his offseason metamorphosis, one that largely involved garnering the trust of his teammates.

During the summer, when workouts are voluntary, senior tailback Mario Fannin would often catch Newton “pulling sleds” and lifting by himself on Fridays, Saturdays, any days, really.

“You can’t do anything but respect him,” Fannin said. “Just his hard work alone just pretty much sealed the deal for us. And we understood where he was trying to go and we understood where we were trying to go. It just balances everything out.”

He doesn’t have to be friends with everyone on the team, but it’s clear that camaraderie has been established. A glance outside the Auburn Athletic Complex on Tuesday spotted three new motor scooters parked next to the one Newton has been riding since school started — “The Cammy Cam Bike Club,” he called it.

Like Chris Todd’s Chevy Camaro last year, Newton’s motor scooter has been a constant fixture in front of Auburn football’s headquarters all summer and in the final weeks heading into Saturday’s game.

“I’m just trying to learn information that will give me the edge on the field that I can take,” he said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time up here, but I think that’s what’s expected of me being a starter, you can’t just come in when everybody else is here. You’ve got to do what’s expected of you and a little bit more.”

Over the summer, Malzahn added tweaks and attributes to his fast-paced offense that would cater to Newton’s strengths. That likely means more zone reads, more designed runs and more plays that allow Newton to create on the fly.

“Every gameplan will be centered around that in terms of us being a productive offense,” Chizik said. “But he’s done well. We’re proud of what he’s done.”

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On the first team is Eric Smith, a player who sure looks like a bruising running back, but can also catch passes in tight coverage. Behind him is freshman Shaun Kitchens, a linebacker-turned-wide-receiver who will now be asked to play his third position in as many seasons. On the third team, but by no means an afterthought, is highly touted freshman Trovon Reed, a speedy wide receiver who can also return punts and just might be Auburn’s Wildcat triggerman this season.

“They’re all kind of different in their own right, but at that position when they’re in the game, they could all be at very different places,” coach Gene Chizik said. “And I think that’s where it gets interesting.”

Mario Fannin and Smith shared H-back duties in 2009. Fannin’s role typically involved pass-catching out of the backfield or from the slot. Smith, meanwhile, focused on blocking, but was also a dangerous pass-catcher, particularly on third downs.

With Fannin now exclusively at tailback, Malzahn said he’s going to use the abilities of each member of the trio “to its best.”

“That gives us that versatility to do some different things with each one of them,” Malzahn said. “They each have their own talents and skills.”
Smith, obviously, brings the most experience to the position. He won’t be just at the H-back, either, as running backs coach Curtis Luper said Smith could get carries as a running back or a fullback.

“He knows the offense as well as anyone on the field, other than Malzahn I suppose,” Luper said. “He can do a lot of different things. He brings a toughness to the offensive unit, something that we really don’t have in a lot of places.”

Kitchens said he was in no position to oppose yet another position switch. In fact, he embraced it. It’s become his identity.

“I’m big, I’m fast, I’m able to do so many things, and I do,” Kitchens said. “Whatever helps is my job to do.”

Injury report
Chizik said Reed would be a gametime decision Saturday, as he continues to battle back from a bone bruise on his left knee.

“He’s really kind of in a situation where we’re just trying to get a full day’s work and work him into that role,” Chizik said. “Right now, I don’t know if he’s quite there but he’s getting better.”

Malzahn said Tuesday that he expects Reed to play.

Linebacker Eltoro Freeman (turf toe) is “getting close,” Chizik said, and has been “running around” in the past few practices.

Fullback Ladarious Phillips, who was ruled out by Chizik on Tuesday, is probably “a week or so away,” Luper said. Phillips sprained his ankle in a scrimmage in late August and was recently sporting a walking boot.

“You just never know with the type of injury that he has,” Luper said. “He is 300 pounds and it will probably take him a little longer than it would (Onterio) McCalebb to get healthy with a similar injury.”

Luper said Auburn would “have a couple surprises” when it came to filling the void left by the 287-pound Phillips.

Defensive tackle Derrick Lykes (knee) “is not going to be back anytime soon,” Chizik said.

Offensive tackle Roszell Gayden, who is not listed on Auburn’s depth chart, is in good spirits, offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said. Gayden was recruited specifically to compete for the Tigers’ opening at right tackle, but was hampered by a knee injury throughout camp.

All hands on deck
Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said it at the beginning of camp and repeated it Wednesday.

All of the players under his umbrella should expect to see the field at some point Saturday.

“I don’t know when,” Rocker said. “All I want is that they’re prepared and ready to do what they need to do when they go out there. The biggest thing is to understand that you’re going to make mistakes. Just play hard, and after that we can adjust and overcome the mistakes.”

The lone exception might be junior college transfer Joel Bonomolo, who missed some time in August with an unspecified injury.

“I think that before this year’s over, with ain’t no doubt, he’ll contributing in some form or fashion,” Rocker said.

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Don’t bother looking it up. It’s not a word.

It’s just what Clayton hopes will prevent all the injuries that have stymied his progress over his first four years with the Tigers.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way,” Clayton said. “Just from the injury, everybody knows about that. Just staying healthy and doing the right things to try and prevent the injuries.”

Clayton, in his typical stone-faced demeanor, certainly didn’t appear to be caught off guard by the news that he’d be starting at defensive tackle Saturday against Arkansas State.

He was one of eight seniors named to Auburn’s first-team defense Tuesday, and just one of two players on the unit who did not start a game last season.
Clayton has started once in his entire career.

“One of the best first months” by anyone on Auburn’s team got him to this point, coach Gene Chizik said.

Now it’s all a matter of getting him to the end of the season without the aid of crutches or walking boots.

“We all got our fingers crossed,” defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said earlier in the month. “We put rabbit foots in his roster, chicken legs, all that stuff.”
All the trinkets in the world couldn’t have kept Clayton healthy last season.

He was seemingly snake-bit from the start of the season. He missed the season opener before making appearances in the next three games, but wasn’t at 100 percent after missing parts of camp with a high ankle sprain. He sat out most of October before returning against LSU, only to re-injure the ankle on his first series back. Two missed games later, Clayton was back with the team, but his role was limited.

He simply missed too much time and was too much of a health liability to see regular playing time.

“The injury last year, it was nagging and it was frustrating at times,” Clayton said. “But this season I’ve just got to overcome it and this season hopefully will be injury-free.”

Pre-habbing, whatever it is, might just be his ticket to the finish line.

“It’s not technically rehab because I’m not injured,” he said. “It’s doing things off the field like ankle exercises, just keeping up with that kind of stuff so the injuries don’t sneak up and catch you off guard.”

He picked the perfect time to step up his game and stay healthy. Competition hasn’t been this fierce at defensive tackle in years.

The odd man out to start was senior Mike Blanc, who is listed as Nick Fairley’s backup, though he’s expected to see the field regularly. Behind the veteran trio are freshmen Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter, both of whom are expected to make an immediate impact.

If anything, they pushed Clayton harder on the field and harder in the pre-hab room, wherever it may or may not be.

“They’ve come along real quickly, which is what we needed to do,” Clayton said. “They’re learning new things every day.”

Every time Rocker has talked about Clayton this season, a broad smile has crossed his face while he knocks on the arm of the chair. Yes, the pre-hab certainly appears to have helped for now, but everyone needs a little luck to get through a college football season unscathed.

Clayton, especially.

“It might be the first time since I’ve been here that for one whole month he hasn’t been dinged up or banged up,” Chizik said. “I think that plays a huge part in how productive he has been, but right now he is healthy and he’s playing really well. So it’s good to see him at that point.”

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Typically, that’s not the type of message delivered to a player who started all 13 games as a true freshman the previous season. Bates, though, has been on a non-traditional path ever since the Outback Bowl.

Shortly after the season, Bates went under the knife for surgery on his torn rotator cuff, which inevitably ruled out contact until the summer. Soon thereafter, Bates learned he had been moved from safety to linebacker, a decision designed to give the Tigers more speed across the field on defense.

Neither prevented him from maintaining his spot in the starting lineup.

“I knew there was going to be competition out there,” he said. “I knew there was going to be competition all over. People want to play. When I stepped back, I knew I had to keep it up and keep my job alive.”

Bates beat out the likes of Jonathan Evans, Eltoro Freeman and the four highly recruited freshmen Auburn signed in its 2010 class. Coach Gene Chizik called Bates’ adaptation to his new position a “pretty smooth transition,” which was aided by the extra time Bates was able to study and learn while he couldn’t hit during the spring.

“We know he’s a very physical football player,” Chizik said, “so that’s kind of suited for him.”
Bates, in physical appearance, still looks like a safety, though he’s bulked up to 203 pounds, about 8 pounds heavier than when he enrolled last season. As long as he keeps hitting big and flying to the ball, Chizik and defensive coordinator Ted Roof won’t have any qualms starting an undersized linebacker.

“I’ve got to stay inside, stay as a linebacker, be in the box, stop the run,” he said. “That’s the first thing that’s different from safety. It was pass-first, now I’ve got to be a run-stopper.”

Shoemaker wins punter battle
Ryan Shoemaker summed up his thoughts about winning the punter competition with blunt honesty.

“It’s awesome,” Shoemaker said. “I can’t wait to get back out there.”

The most prolonged battle during fall camp came to an end Tuesday when Shoemaker, a senior, got the nod over Steven Clark, a true freshman. It’s not clear how short of a leash Shoemaker will have during the season.

“We wanted to have all our guys in place,” Chizik said. “He’s got experience.”

After punting regularly as a redshirt freshman in 2007, Shoemaker hasn’t punted in a regular-season game since 2008, when he filled in for an under-the-weather Clinton Durst.

He had a night to forget and has been awaiting for redemption ever since.

“I’m not going to let anything drop off when it comes to working hard or anything like that,” he said. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do. I really want to try to be the best in the country just like everyone else does.”

More depth chart buzz
Auburn’s newly released depth chart featured as much experience on both the offensive and defensive first-teams as any in the SEC.

The second-teams, meanwhile, are the latest examples of Auburn’s youth movement.

Thirteen of Auburn’s 27 true scholarship freshmen are featured somewhere on the Tigers’ depth chart, the bulk of which serving as immediate backups to Auburn’s eight senior starters on defense.

Tack on junior-college transfers Cameron Newton, Auburn’s starting quarterback, and Brandon Mosley, who will back up Lee Ziemba at left tackle, and that’s half of Auburn’s 2010 signing class.

Chizik promised that even more of the freshmen would have roles on special teams.

“I think it was kind of what everybody expected,” Chizik said. “It was a camp where those young guys got opportunities. Sometimes you get young guys in and they don’t get a lot of opportunities, but this was a camp of opportunity for all of our young guys.”

Safety Ikeem Means, center Blake Burgess, wide receiver Jay Wisner and guard Jorrell Bostrom all made the two-deep as walk-ons.

“Every one of those guys are guys that we have identified before they got here as guys that could upgrade our football program,” Chizik said. “I don’t think there’s any question that all four of those guys could do the things we asked them to do and really earned that spot.”

Reed update
Freshman wide receiver Trovon Reed (knee) practiced Tuesday, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said.

Asked if he expected Reed to play Saturday, Malzahn paused, smiled and simply said “yes.”

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“We’re excited for Mercer to come here,” head coach Wade Benson said. “We’re going to try some different set ups and force some of the new faces to step up. This match will provide that opportunity for us.”

Auburn holds a 3-1 series advantage over Mercer with the first-ever meeting coming in 1995, where the Tigers came away with a 3-1 victory.

In the two squads’ last encounter in 2008, Mercer was on the winning side of a four-set match in Auburn.

He wasn’t physical enough.

“I took it personally,” Bell said. “I didn’t want anybody thinking I was soft out on the field.”
That all changed during a routine passing drill in camp this month. Wide receiver Emory Blake found out the hard way.

“It was just kind of me and him,” Bell said. “He was headed toward the end zone. I kind of laid out and hit him. Coach said it was a great play.”

So what about all that talk about toughness?

“They don’t tell me that anymore,” he said.

Those coaches are talking to Bell more these days. Gene Chizik said Sunday that Bell, a redshirt sophomore, has so many roles that he might as well be penciled in as a starter for Saturday’s season opener against Arkansas State.

“He’s played as good as anybody out there in the secondary,” Chizik said. “That leaves some good options with him right now.”

Chizik rattled off a number of places where Bell might be seen Saturday.

He’ll be playing in nickel and dime formations while also serving as the first cornerback off the bench. Then there are special teams formations, where he plays on “all of them.”

“It gives fans a chance to know guys who don’t quite play as much and gives fans a chance to know who you are,” Bell said. “Wherever they need me and wherever they want me to go, that’s where I’ll go.”

Bell is by no means a new face in Auburn’s secondary.

After redshirting the 2008 season, Bell saw action in all 13 games last year. A fixture on special teams, Bell filled in where he was needed, picking up nine tackles and an interception during the regular season.

He saw heavy action in the Outback Bowl by default because of Northwestern’s spread offense. He made the most of it. Fans might most remember Bell for being party to a late, questionable roughing the kicker penalty, but Bell was all over the field in pass coverage, picking off two Mike Kafka passes.

“It got me excited,” Bell said. “I never have doubted myself, but I was like: You really can. You really can do this. Now I have to pick it up and keep it going.”

Bell was a quarterback at Osceola High in Kissimmee, Fla., and, similar to what Ryan White is doing this season, played as Auburn’s scout team quarterback from time to time in 2008.

Tommy Tuberville went out of his way to praise Bell before the Tigers’ game against West Virginia for his imitation of former Mountaineers quarterback Pat White.

Those quarterback smarts made the transition to defense easier for Bell than others, cornerbacks coach Phillip Lolley said.

“When a kid like that is over there and he’s played offense and he understands what offensive guys are looking for and been through it, it’s a lot easier when they come over to me and try to understand what we’re trying to defend,” Lolley said. “He’s very smart.”

The knowledge just didn’t translate into the physical prowess Auburn’s coaches demanded.

Outside of the blow he dealt to Blake, Bell had a tough time pinpointing what exactly he’s done to change. He hasn’t altered his body much and there were still road blocks to him landing a starting job this season, as Neiko Thorpe and Demond Washington both locked down jobs relatively early in the spring.

There’s just a new sense of urgency now, Bell said.

“I’m realizing what a blessing it is to be here at Auburn,” he said. “I probably took that for granted a year ago. I’m kind of waking up and seeing the light that this is a great opportunity. I can’t let it pass up.”

That awakening has bred a renewed trust between he and his coaches, the same ones who were telling him to toughen up just a few months ago.

“He’s become a dependable football player, and I couldn’t say that about him this time last year,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “To his credit, he’s just kept his mouth shut and gone to work.”

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Senior defensive end Antoine Carter wasn’t concerned about the tangible conditions. He viewed Sunday’s 80-minute, relatively light-hitting session in a metaphorical sense.

“You go through spring and two-a-days and summer workouts, and game week is finally here,” he said. “It’s like the clouds moving out of the way and the sun coming out to shine.”
Carter clutched a DVD loaded with clips of Arkansas State highlights as he spoke. For the first time in nearly a month, Auburn’s players could truly start focusing on someone other than themselves.

“At some point, it’s like there’s no end in sight, and now they’re finally seeing for the next 14, 15 weeks, we’ve got games,” coach Gene Chizik said. “You train all year, 365 days a year, to be able to play in 12 that are guaranteed.

“I know that as a team, they’re excited that those 12 teams are here. I think it changes mentally the whole outlook for those guys.”

The expectations presented by players shortly after Auburn’s overtime victory against Northwestern in the Outback Bowl certainly have not been tempered.

If anything, they’ve only amplified.

Quarterback Cameron Newton said last week that it’s tough to turn on the TV or radio and not hear about “the other team,” referring, of course, to the defending national champions, Alabama.

The hype machine from national media outlets, though, has only made the spotlight on No. 22 Auburn brighter.

One voter in the Associated Press poll had the Tigers as high as seventh in the nation. ESPN college football expert Kirk Herbstreit said Saturday that he expects Auburn to win the SEC West.

Another ESPN pundit, former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith, had the Tigers ranked in his personal top five.

This isn’t news to Auburn’s players. Or added pressure, for that matter.

“We feel it, not just from the media but we feel it within ourselves, that we don’t see anything less than an SEC championship year,” linebacker Josh Bynes said. “The confidence is just going to keep building up, but we know at the same time we’re going to take one game at a time. We’re going to start with Arkansas State.”

The Red Wolves, 31-point underdogs according to Las Vegas betting lines, will get the Tigers at their absolute freshest capacity. They’ll also be getting them at their deepest since Chizik and his coaching staff took over in 2009.

Last year, the Tigers dressed somewhere between 70 to 75 scholarship players for their season opener against Louisiana Tech. This year, after Chizik awarded three scholarships to longtime walk-ons, Auburn will dress the NCAA maximum 85.

All those new bodies won’t just be watching, either. Chizik said as many as 10 to 20 newcomers could see the field Saturday.

“They’re expecting us to do a lot of things,” freshman wide receiver Trovon Reed said. “So everybody has a big chip on their shoulder and everybody’s got to play their role. Everybody’s been walking around here amped up, getting ready already.”

There are certainly bigger games on the schedule. The primetime clash with Mississippi State in Starkville on Sept. 9 popped into Bynes’ head shortly after he discussed the immediate task at hand, Arkansas State.

“That’s SEC ball,” Bynes said. “Regardless what everybody else has, we know the type of team we have, the guys, the talent, and everything else is well put together to be this type of team. We have to go showcase that on Saturdays.”

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Nearly nine months have passed since he infamously slipped during an attempted body bump at the Outback Bowl, which, of course, found its way onto SportsCenter’s “Not Top 10.”

He just wants his 2010 season to be remembered for more than a muffed-up celebration.

“I want to be known as a playmaker, as far as wideout, punt returner, whatever it is,” Carr said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to make plays and help my team.”

Punt returner promises to be where Carr can make the most noise in 2010, as he’s apparently seized the job from the likes of Darvin Adams, Johnathon Mincy and Trovon Reed. As of Thursday, Carr was wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor’s top choice, but decisions on that part of the field have been known to change as late as the Thursday before a game.

Carr’s confident enough that he doesn’t see anyone but himself returning punts Saturday against Arkansas State.

“After as many reps as I’ve been getting since last year, I think I’m more prepared for the job now,” Carr said. “I’m very confident I can get the job done this year. Something I’m looking forward to.”
Carr, a junior, wants to be heard from as a wide receiver, too.

He redshirted his freshman year and saw sparse, but consistent playing time in 2008, catching six passes for 63 yards. Last year, he only caught two passes, but both were for big gains. He hauled in a 32-yard pass against Arkansas midway through the season and then reeled in a 46-yard touchdown pass in the first half of the Outback Bowl.

That momentum carried over into this spring’s A-Day game, where he caught a 70-yard touchdown pass and finished with four catches for 152 yards to pick up the game’s Offensive MVP honors.

“It meant a lot to me, getting my confidence back and being out there with my teammates just meant a whole lot,” Carr said. “From then on, I’ve not been looking back.”
Taylor said Carr has proven “every time he’s in the game he can make a play.” Carr, of course, is looking for more opportunities to prove himself.

“Everybody waits for their chance,” Carr said. “Whenever the opportunity presents itself, you got to take advantage of it. I don’t think it was confidence, just a matter of waiting for my chance.”

Zoom zoom
As far as Cameron Newton’s concerned, the joke is on everyone else at Auburn who doesn’t get to class without the aid of two motorized wheels.

Now that class is in session, students and anyone else on Auburn’s campus can spot the Tigers’ starting quarterback zipping around on a motor scooter.

“Everybody is looking like, ‘Oh, who is that? Oh, it’s Cam. Ahh!’” he said. “But it’s funny when they’re looking at you and I’m laughing, riding by them, going to class and they’re late.”

Newton said he was surprised by the lack of motor scooters on Auburn’s campus. He said this is the first place he’s been where he’s not fighting traffic with other bikes.

He hasn’t exactly influenced Kodi Burns to purchase one.

“I wanted one back in the day ... when I was in the fifth grade,” Burns joked.

Coach Gene Chizik is well aware of Newton’s favorite form of transportation from class to class. He’s not losing sleep over it.

“I’m going to hope that he’s very cautious when he proceeds on that moped, which I’m sure he is,” Chizik said. “We trust him. He’s got to drive carefully.”

Reed on the mend
With a bag of ice wrapped around his knee, freshman wide receiver Trovon Reed said he should be ready for Saturday’s game.

That he was able to tell that to reporters Sunday typically indicates his injury isn’t considered severe.

“I hope I will, but if not I’ll cheer my team on,” Reed said. “I’ll be the biggest cheerleader on the sideline if I’m not.”

Reed said he injured the knee while diving for a pass in practice last week. Earlier in camp, he missed a few days because of recurring soreness from the knee he injured in high school. The two injuries are not related, he said.

“I was just worrying about the ball, and I let all my body weight fall on my knee and bruised my knee cap,” he said. “I’ll be all right, though.”

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“Today was a hard-fought game and (Milwaukee) was a very physical opponent,” Frierson said. “We got a great goal by Jess Rightmer in the first and that really settled us down.

“We were very happy with how we started this game, especially in comparison to how we played on Friday,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We made some changes, and I thought the new players did a great job of bringing energy early. Getting the goal in the first half was massive for us and I am excited that Jess Rightmer got that first goal of her career.”

Auburn (2-1-0) took a 1-0 lead into the half, capitalizing on a Rightmer goal in the 26th minute and reversing its fortunes from Friday night when Auburn allowed its opponent to dictate the pace and run of play.

Rightmer gave Auburn the lead when she finished off an Ashley Marks cross from eight yards out. The goal, which was the first of Rightmer’s career, came when Milwaukee’s keeper Leslie Deebach came off her line in an attempt to cut down the angle, but Rightmer was quick enough to slot her shot to the post. Ashley Marks and Julie King were credited with assists on the goal.

“I thought today we had a really good mentality coming back from Friday’s game,” Rightmer said. “Ashley played a great ball in, Julie played it to Ashley and it was just a great feeling to help the team.”

Milwaukee (1-2-1) tied the game at 1-1 in the 68th minute when it capitalized on a lack of possession by both teams inside the 18, which caused Howard to come off her line. The result was a Keara Thompson goal after Melanie Coderre found her with no defender marking her.

Frierson snapped the tie when she went 1v1 in the box with Deebach, chipping a shot over the keeper for her second goal of the year. Again Marks was in on the play, feeding Frierson, who then showed off her playmaking abilities with a pair of defenders on her back. The goal was the ninth game-winner of Frierson’s career, which is tied for second all-time in Auburn history.

“(The coaches) talked to us at the half about them getting higher and I looked up and I knew I could take one off the dribble and it kind of worked out where they all kind of got out of the way for me and I got in and finished on the keeper,” Frierson said.

The goal was the 16th of Frierson’s career, tied for eighth all-time at Auburn, and gave her 51 career points, making her just the 10th player in Auburn history to crack the 50-point
barrier.

Auburn went 1-1-0 in the tournament while Milwaukee was 1-0-1.

Auburn returns home for a pair of matches next weekend, playing host to nationally ranked Florida State at 7 p.m. on Friday and then Western Carolina at 2 p.m. on Sunday.