Auburn football notes: Coaches not pleased with Tigers' offensive line, but no lineup changes foreseen

AUBURN, Ala. -- Jeff Grimes wasn’t pleased with his offensive line’s performance in Auburn’s opener against Utah State, but he doesn’t foresee any lineup changes this soon.

On Tuesday, left tackle Brandon Mosley avoided a question about whether he’d still be at left tackle this week against Mississippi State, leading to speculation that the Tigers might shuffle their lineup this week.

Head coach Gene Chizik and Grimes said Wednesday that won’t be the case.

“I don’t think that there would be any changes this week necessarily,” Grimes said, “but what I always tell the guys is you’ve got to earn your position every week and there’s ongoing competition.”

The starting line in the first week, from left to right, was Mosley, Jared Cooper, Reese Dismukes, John Sullen and Chad Slade.

But the Tigers have some options. Blake Burgess is a backup center/guard who filled in late for an injured Sullen. Senior A.J. Greene was a starter at right tackle last year. And freshmen Greg Robinson and Christian Westerman have made a push.

But Grimes thinks the original starting group just needs to get on the same page.

He said some of his linemen were awestruck during the first game, playing nervous and hesitant, while others were overly aggressive and out of control.

“I always tell the guys, you’ve got to start a block under control, then finish it mad,” Grimes said. “But you can’t go mad from the very start and try to knock someone’s head off. You’ll get overextended and you wind up just missing people.”

Earlier this week, Grimes went through many scenarios with his players in which he’s made changes to his line in the past, even when a player thought he had a position locked down.

“I think everybody’s got to know, if you don’t perform on Saturdays, then there are always other options,” Grimes said.

D-line by committee

Defensive line coach Mike Pelton used 11 different players against Utah State, rotating them on shifts to keep everyone fresh. Will it be the same this weekend?

“No doubt,” he said. “It’s a long season. They’ve got to grow up.”

Pelton knows his young group, which includes five sophomores and four freshmen, had a hard time Saturday against Utah State, allowing the Aggies to average 4.3 yards a carry and rack up 227 rushing yards.

But he thinks the group will be better now that has had time to see film of an actual game for the first time.

The motivation that comes from getting run over helps too.

“To run the football on a defense, that’s kind of like challenging your manhood,” Pelton said.

“And when somebody basically takes it and stuffs it down your throat, it’s like someone coming into your house and beating you up in front of your family. You take it personal.

In the zone

Many Auburn fans were upset at the amount of zone the Tigers played in the opener.

Cornerbacks coach Phillip Lolley said the reason was simple: Auburn needed its defensive backs to be able to help out with the run.

“A lot of times when you’re focusing strictly on your man and the team is a great running team, it opens up a little more for the run game,” Lolley said.

“Part of our responsibility at that point when teams are able to run the ball effectively, we’ve got to have more eyes focused inside, which means you have to play more zone to be able to see the run.”