Five Star QB Picks Auburn!

Top JUCO player and five star dual-threat quarterback Cam Newton has picked Auburn and will enroll in the spring! He picked Auburn over Mississippi State and Oklahoma. More to come!

FYI

The Outback Bowl's ESPN announcers are:

• Play-by-play: Dave Pasch
• Color commentators: Bob Griese and Chris Spielman
• Sideline reporter: Rob Stone

Two Updates

• Cam Newton will now announce January 1st at the earliest.
• Ken Adams has decommitted from Tennessee and now appears to be down to either LSU, Auburn or North Carolina.

Confirmed: Newton To Announce

Cam Newton will announce on New Years Eve as previously rumored. It seems as though Newton will choose between Auburn and Mississippi State, with Oklahoma on the outside looking in. Most of the Auburn insiders believe Auburn leads but I am more skeptical. I am not sure if I will be reporting on New Years Eve about it because I will be in Tampa and am not sure if I will find internet. More to come...

Under Armour All American Game

The day after the Outback Bowl, in St. Petersburg (a 30 minute drive from Tampa), the Under Armour All American game will be played at 11 a.m ET. For those Auburn fans who want to see the future of Auburn football but cannot attend, the game will be televised on ESPN. Here are some players to watch:

Commitments:

• Michael Dyer - White Team #5 - RB
• Antonio Goodwin - White Team #7 - WR
• Dakota Mosley - White Team #81 - TE/LS
• LaDarius Owens - Black Team #15 - LB
• Cody Parkey - Black Team #18 - K
• Jake Holland - Black Team #50 - LB

Targets:

• Corey Lemonier - White Team #55 - DE
• James Stone - White Team #64 - OG
• Mike Thornton - White Team #73 - DT

Goings On In Tampa

• The team arrived in Tampa on December 26th.
• Both teams arrived to an all you can eat, catered meal by Outback Steakhouse.
• Last night both Northwestern and Auburn took in the Thrashers-Lightning hockey game in Tampa. The Lightning won 4-3.
• Today was Auburn's first practice in four days. They practiced at 10 a.m. at the University of Tampa. Practices will continue for the next four days. Northwestern is practicing at Tampa Jesuit High School.
• Chizik described today's practice as "rusty and sloppy".
• Gene Chizik, Walt McFadden, Antonio Coleman, Terrell Zachary and Chris Todd visited the St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. Northwestern's head coach Pat Fitzgerald and some of his players. Chizik handed out Auburn hats, posters and pennants.
• Both teams will visit Busch Gardens tomorrow after morning practice.
• Tuesday will include a luncheon and a night out in Ybor City.
• Wednesday will be a trip to Clearwater Beach.
• Thursday, the team will attend a New Year's Eve parade.

Chizik Expects Staff To Return

Gene Chizik says rumors of Tommy Thigpen's interest in the Florida secondary coach position are just that, rumors. Chizik says he expects no staff changes this off season.

A Great Auburn Man Passes

Ronnie Ross, the captain of the 1970 Auburn football team, lost his battle with lung cancer on December 8 at the age 60. Ross passed away at Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, Alabama. The tight end caught Pat Sullivan's first touchdown pass in 1969 against Wake Forest. Mike Kolen officiated the funeral on December 12th. Donations may be sent to the Auburn Football Lettermen Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 828, Auburn, Alabama 36830. Sorry, I meant to have this up sooner! Prayers are requested for the family!

An online guest book can be signed here.

Here is the eulogy by Pat Sullivan and a video memorial from the funeral home.

New Newton Date

Steve Robertson of Scout.com is reporting that Newton will announce on New Years Eve. He says he received a phone call from Newton's father who says that nothing else will come from the family until that day. Robertson covers Mississippi State for Scout.

Newton: A Christmas Decision?

AuburnEagle.com is reporting that Cam Newton will decide between Auburn, Oklahoma and Mississippi State on Christmas Day. More to come.

Thigpen Interviews With Florida

Auburn secondary coach and possibly their top recruiter, Tommy Thigpen, has interviewed with the Florida Gators as safeties coach, according to Jay Tate. Tate believes Chizik would do anything including raising Thigpen's salary to keep him with the staff. Read more here.

Two Tigers Get DUIs UPDATED

Two Auburn Tigers were issued DUIs in separate incidents according to Evan Woodbery. John Douglas, a sophomore fullback, and Jason King, a junior walk-on fullback, are the players involved. Douglas' occurred on December 5th and King's was Saturday. Both have primarily only seen action on special teams. Gene Chizik will address the media today after practice.

UPDATE: Both players have been suspended for the Outback Bowl.

Dead Period

The recruiting dead period has begun. It will last from now until January 4th. That means coaches cannot have face to face contact with recruits or their families on or off campus. They are allowed one phone call per week.

Newton Leaves Auburn With A Smile

Five star quarterback Cam Newton finished his official visit to Auburn this weekend, leaving with an offer and a smile. Newton says he was on "Cloud Nine" at his visit and it appears it could not have gone much better for the quarterback who could come in and turn the Tigers into a contender.

Cam Newton's player host was Mario Fannin and he says they hit it off immediately. Newton, who will decide between Auburn, Mississippi State and Oklahoma, knows he could come in and start immediately for the Tigers and the Bulldogs but could have competition with the Sooners. Newton, who is 6'6", 245 lbs., is a dual threat quarterback who played one season behind Tim Tebow at Florida before running into some trouble with the law which he claims was a big misunderstanding.

Newton has said similar things about his past visits but it cannot hurt that Auburn is his final visit and that it appears Newton loves the Tigers. Newton liked Auburn out of high school but never picked up an offer after Kodi Burns committed to the Tigers. This time around, it appears Auburn and Newton may have met their matches.

One thing that could hurt Auburn's chances is the fact that his parents did not visit with him but he said he can't wait to go home and tell them about everything. Although he does not currently claim a leader, Auburn fans should feel pretty good right now. A decision is coming within the next ten days but it would not surprise me if one came within the next 2-3.

Former Quarterback Lands Job

Former Tiger quarterback Dameyune Craig has signed on as a coach for his former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, at Florida State. His role is not yet set but it is known that Fisher will continue to coach quarterbacks. Craig has previously coached receivers for South Alabama and quarterbacks at Tuskegee while helping coach special teams for the Miami Dolphins. He started out as a graduate assistant under Fisher at LSU. He will start after the Gator Bowl on January 1.

UPDATE: FootballScoop is actually reporting that Craig will coach quarterbacks.

News

• Eric Smith is the only academically ineligible player for the Outback Bowl according to Gene Chizik. He will return to the team in January. More to come.
• Antonio Coleman and Ben Tate have been invited to play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
• Eight current and former football players earned their degrees today: John Cubelic, Clayton Crofoot, Zac Etheridge, Tim Hawthorne, Jeno James, Montae Pitts, Craig Stevens and Darrell Roseman.

White Commits

Three star athlete Ryan White has committed to Auburn according to Rivals, Scout and ESPN.com. White, who will likely play cornerback for the Tigers, is Auburn's 26th commitment and the 22nd who will count toward the 2010 class. It has just been a waiting game for White, who has 4.4 second 40 yard dash speed, to commit who was blown away on his unofficial visit Wednesday. White was Auburn's top target at defensive back; he had offers from Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma State and South Carolina, among many others. He will return on an official visit in January.

Confirmed: Newton To Visit

AuburnSports.com and ITAT are now confirming that five star Cam Newton will visit Auburn this weekend. It is an official visit and if an offer is extended, Newton would likely accept within a couple of days it appears. Newton would have two years to play two.

Lattimore Talks Recruiting

In this Rivals AMP video, Lattimore appears to be leaning toward Auburn.

Hawthorne Leaves Team

Junior receiver Tim Hawthorne will graduate from Auburn tomorrow and leave the team according to sources. Hawthorne will not return for his senior season nor the Outback Bowl after being plagued with injuries throughout his Auburn career.

Five Star QB To Visit

Five star JUCO quarterback Cam Newton will take an official visit to Auburn this weekend, according to Pat Tholey of Rivals.com. Newton previously played at Florida and was rated the 28th best player in the nation out of high school according to Rivals. Newton, who is 6'6", 245 pounds, is a dual threat quarterback who possesses 4.5 speed and a 38 inch vertical. He passed for almost 3,000 yards and 22 touchdowns (5 interceptions) and rushed for 655 yards and 16 touchdowns while leading Blinn Community College to a national championship this season. Newton has a top five of Auburn, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, North Carolina and Kansas State, with offers from all except the Tigers. According to Rivals, this will be an official visit.

2009 Signee Non-Qualifier Signs With Toledo

Three star corner Taikwon Paige, who failed to qualify last year for Auburn after signing in 2009, has signed with Toledo. After failing to qualify, Paige returned to Georgia Military for one season.

What They'll Get

Chris Low recently put together a list of the gifts given to SEC teams' players at their bowls this season. The whole list here. Auburn here:

• Best Buy gift card
• Outback Steakhouse gift card
• Pro-Swiss watch
• Jostens ring
• Hat

A Name To Watch

A new name is floating around on recruiting sites regarding Auburn. Five star JUCO quarterback Cam Newton says he has a lot of interest in Auburn and with recent rumors circulating regarding freshman quarterback Tyrik Rollison and his suspension, Newton could be a target of the staff. Newton does not have an offer yet from Auburn but if he does receive one then Auburn would likely be a favorite. Right now people expect Newton to choose between Mississippi State and Oklahoma.

Early Signing

• 10:10 AM - Craig Sanders has signed with Auburn.
• Sorry guys, shortly after the previous post my internet went down.
• 11:30 AM - Commitment Jessel Curry signs with Auburn.
• 12:05 PM - Four star tight end/offensive tackle Brandon Mosley commits and signs with Auburn.
• Four star offensive lineman Roszell Gayden has committed to Auburn and will sign.
• As of 4:55 PM, Auburn has jumped ahead of LSU to 7th in recruiting according to Rivals. Auburn trails Texas, Alabama, Florida, Penn State, Tennessee and Oklahoma, in that order.
• Ken Adams will not be making a decision today, according to VolQuest.com. He will make his decision between Auburn, Tennessee and North Carolina sometime this week.
• 5:13 PM - Roszell Gayden signs with Auburn.

Wednesday Is Early Signing Day!

And Auburn could have as many as five players sign and enroll in January. Here is the lastest on each of them:

• Commitment Jessel Curry graduated high school a semester early and will enroll at Auburn in the spring. He will sign at 11 AM tomorrow.
• Former Alabama commit Craig Sanders will sign with Auburn on Wednesday at 9 AM. The four star defensive end had offers from just about every major southeastern school.
• Tennessee commitment Ken Adams may decide between Auburn and Tennessee tomorrow. He first said he would have a decision yesterday but has been quiet since. No time frame set for an announcement. Adams originally signed with Auburn out of high school.
• Brandon Mosley will decide between Auburn, FSU and Ole Miss tomorrow at noon. Right now he appears to have Auburn ranked 3rd.
• Roszell Gayden will sign at 6 PM CT with either Auburn, California or Oklahoma. California was one of only two schools to offer Gayden out of high school.

Recruiting Catch Up

I wanted to clarify for anyone what exactly is going on with the early signing period for JUCO and early graduates. Wednesday is signing day for January enrollees. Auburn is looking to sign five on Wednesday. They will all roll back to the 2009 signing class.

Jessel Curry and Craig Sanders are likely to sign on Wednesday along with current Tennessee commitment and former Auburn signee Ken Adams. Adams will make an announcement tomorrow as to whether he will stay with the Vols or switch to Auburn, which is very likely. Also, Roszell Gayden could also make a decision soon and could possibly sign with Auburn on Wednesday. Gayden is likely down to just Auburn and Cal.

Here is the latest on other top targets:

• OL - Eric Mack - Feel good about this South Carolina commitment. Auburn is in very good shape to steal him.
• OL - John Cullen - This JUCO lineman will probably not make a decision until close to signing day. Tennessee currently leads for Cullen but he plans to visit Auburn in January and teammate Joel Bonomolo could help pull Cullen to the Plains.
• OL - Brandon Mosley - Appears to be down to Auburn, Ole Miss and FSU. Ole Miss is leading but Mosley visited FSU this weekend and an announcement is expected this week. He will sign in December in enroll in January.
• OL - Laurence Gibson - Gibson committed to Clemson last night.
• RB - Marcus Lattimore - Five star running back still has Auburn and South Carolina on top. I feel great right now about signing Lattimore in February.
• RB - Lache Seastrunk - I am no longer expecting Auburn to have a serious chance with Seastrunk.
• DT - Byran Jones - Arkansas is the public leader for Jones right now but I have heard whispers that Jones could be an Auburn lean. He will take an official visit to Auburn in January and could wrap him up then.
• DT - Mike Thornton - Still an Auburn lean the last I heard but the Tigers have a lot of competition.
• DT - Jeffrey Whitaker - Auburn in awesome shape for this stud defensive tackle. I expect him to sign with the Tigers.
• DE - Corey Lemonier - Auburn has put themselves in good position with Corey. Right now it is a toss up between Florida, Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, LSU and Miami.
• LB - Vic Beasley - Toss up between Auburn and his current commitment of Clemson. Says he will talk to his parents about visiting Auburn and if he makes it down, we could steal him.
• LB - C.J. Mosley - I would say there is a 85% chance Mosley ends up wearing crimson next season.
• DB - Ryan White - White will take an unofficial visit to Auburn next weekend and could commit then. He is probably Auburn's top uncommitted defensive back target. White also plans an official visit for the last weekend in January.
• DB - Rashad Knight - Visited Auburn this weekend but Auburn wants White over Knight. With Davis committing this weekend and Auburn in good shape with White, there may be no room for Knight.
• DB - Ahmad Dixon - It is questionable right now if Auburn would take Dixon right now. Dixon also has grade issues.
• DB - Bradley Roby - Auburn could make a move for this Vanderbilt commitment if he visits. He currently plans to take an official to the Plains on January 8th.

Davis Skips Visit, Commits

In state athlete Chris Davis has skipped his official visit to the Plains this weekend but committed today anyways. He will play corner and return kicks. Davis comes in at commitment number 23 for the Tigers. Davis has flown under the radar by most recruiting services and has not been rated yet by Rivals nor Scout but is rated 76 out of 100 on ESPN.com and ranked the 90th best athlete. Davis also played quarterback in high school at Woodlawn in Birmingham. He also had offers from South Carolina, Kentucky, Southern Miss and UAB.

Many say he may have the most upside of any player in the state. Here is the article "Woodlawn's Chris Davis is a diamond in the rough".

Quick Recruiting Notes

• Auburn appears set to pick up a new commitment, according to Auburn Undercover. Roszell Gayden says he will make his decision on Monday or Tuesday. Ken Adams could also be close.
• Auburn has many official visitors this weekend including Ken Adams, Chris Davis, Rashad Knight, Demetruce McNeal, Shaun Kitchens, Jessel Curry, Chad Slade and Antonio Goodwin.
• Curry will be coming in on Saturday following his state championship game on Friday.
• The coaches have been on the road, actively recruiting. The staff has made stops to see James Stone, Antonio Goodwin, Steven Clark, Roszell Gayden, Jonathan Mincy, Byran Jones, Michael Dyer/Dakota Mosley and Rashad Knight.
• Look for a name to re-appear from last season. Four star offensive lineman Johnnie Farms chose UNC over Auburn last season but failed to qualify and ended up at Hargrave Military. Farms has since parted ways with the Tar Heels and recently mentioned he is looking toward the SEC. Auburn should be a major player for this star lineman.

Bates Honored

Daren Bates made the Freshman All-SEC team. He had 63 tackles (40 solo), 1 fumble recovery and an interception.

Semester Coming To A Close

Good luck to all the students on finals. I have been stressing so the blog has been put on the back-burner lately but once finals are done it will be back up to date like before!

That Didn't Last Long

Four star wide receiver Antonio Goodwin has re-committed to the Auburn Tigers. He says he never really decommitted in the first place and says he is solid with Auburn, according to AuburnSports.com.

First De-Commitment

Antonio Goodwin has become the first de-commitment of 2009 by opening things back up today. UGA is now making a push for Goodwin. He also has interest in UNC along with still liking Auburn.

Auburn Snubbed in AP All-SEC

The Associated Press has released the All SEC First and Second Teams. Some names surprisingly are missing from both, such as Darvin Adams.

First Team

• Antonio Coleman - DE

Second Team

• Ryan Pugh - C
• Ben Tate - RB
• Walt McFadden - CB

Honorable Mention

• Lee Ziemba - T

Change of Opponent

Auburn will play Northwestern in the Outback Bowl instead of Wisconsin as first reported. The game will be January 1st at 10 am CT.

QB Suspended

Freshman quarterback Tyrik Rollison has been suspended for a violation of team rules. No reason was given by Gene Chizik nor was a time-frame of return set.

Bowl Tickets On Sale Now!

Through AuburnTigers.com. Click here.

CFN All SEC Teams

Full article here

• Darvin Adams - First Team All-SEC wide receiver
• Ryan Pugh - First Team All-SEC center
• Antonio Coleman - First Team All-SEC defensive end
• Josh Bynes - Second Team All-SEC linebacker
• Ben Tate - Third Team All-SEC running back
• Mike Berry - Third Team All-SEC guard
• Walter McFadden - Third Team All-SEC defensive back
• Wes Byrum - Third Team All-SEC kicker

Official Bowl Annoncements

Official SEC bowl game announcements will be held off until Sunday according to Mike Schulze.

Games that have been leaked by media:

• Outback Bowl - Auburn vs. Wisconsin
• Chick-fil-A Bowl - Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech
• Cotton Bowl - Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State
• Liberty Bowl - Arkansas vs. East Carolina/Houston winner
• Music City Bowl - Kentucky vs. Miami/UNC/GT/Clemson
• Capital One Bowl - LSU vs. Penn State
• BCS National Championship - UF/Bama winner vs. Texas
• Sugar Bowl - UF/Bama loser vs. Cincinnati/TCU
• PapaJohns.com Bowl - South Carolina vs. South Florida
• Independence Bowl - Georgia vs. Iowa State

Bowl Opponent

I have had it confirmed to me that Wisconsin will be Auburn's opponent in the Outback Bowl. It is Auburn's 3rd appearance in the Outback Bowl (record: 1-1) and Wisconsin's 5th (1-3).

Auburn is 1-1-1 all time against the Badgers. Wisconsin won the 2006 Capital One Bowl 24-10, Auburn won the 2003 Music City Bowl 28-14 and the teams tied 7-7 in 1931.

Wisconsin is currently 8-3 and will play at Hawaii this Saturday at 10:30 PM on ESPN2.

CONFIRMED

Auburn WILL play in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida on New Years Day, according to AuburnSports.com. Auburn will play a Big Ten opponent, likely Iowa, Northwestern or Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for 10 am CT on ESPN. An official announcement is coming today with an opponent.

Bowl Rumor!

In a twist, rumors are swirling that the Outback Bowl has passed on Tennessee and will take Auburn. This rumor does not have a credible source, however. Stay posted, a decision could come at any time.