BULLETIN: Gene Chizik speaks (9/6/10)

Hey everyone. It’s Monday, but we’re doing the Tuesday press conference today.

That’s what happens during a “short week.”

• He has arrived.
• “I’ve got a huge amount of respect for what Coach Mullen is doing over there.”
• On MSU’s attack: “You can tell they have put a lot of emphasis on passing the ball and balancing their attack out. They have made a concerted effort toward throwing the ball down the field and they did a great job with that last week. They look more comfortable in the offense. You can tell it’s much different — even if you go to the end of the year against Ole Miss. You could see it starting to progress. They’re starting where they left off.”
• “We both want to run the football. Their running game is extremely challenging because they have more of an option feel. They have the perimeter game mixed in there with their tailbacks and their quarterbacks. It becomes a numbers game. It’s not conventional. It gives you a lot of problems. If you have one guy out of position against their run games, it’ll give you fits.”
• On cowbell regulations: “We’re preparing for it all. Every stadium in the SEC has tradition and passion for the game. You’re going to get the noise. When you can’t hear, you can’t hear.”
• On Cam Newton and his relationship with MSU: “He’s got to go out and play football. I haven’t even talked about it. All that other stuff is under the bridge.”
• More on Cam: “I think he’s been great with all that expectations. Nobody has higher expectations of him than him. He’s very competitive. He’s puts a high level of pressure on himself.”
• On the defense: “We have to be much better. We have a much better idea of what’s in front of us this week. When we go back and looked at last week, there were several times when we were out of alignment until we got adjusted to things.”
• More on MSU: “They do what they do. They’re really good at it. They’re not going to change anything.”
• On Da Da Phillips’ return date: “I don’t really have an answer for that.”
• More on MSU: “They’re playing at the highest level I’ve seen in 10 years. The urgency level is extremely high. It’s going to be a very difficult game. The message is very clear.”
• “If you get a win in Starkville, you get a lot of momentum. It’d be a great win, if we can win, that would give us confidence. There are a lot of implications in there.”
• He said Cody Parkey will continue handling kickoffs … despite his distance being well short of Wes Byrum’s.
• He said he was pleased with Ryan Shoemaker’s performance at punter (39-yard average) and said he’ll continue to start.
CAM NEWTON
• On his relationship with MSU: “Just like any other game. I’m ready to play. As far as our relationship … it goes way beyond football. As a team, we can’t wait to play our next opponent.”
• “I missed some key throws I think I’d make on a regular day.”
• On if expects it to be an adversarial situation in Starkville: “I hope not.”
• On if he’s even played in a deafening stadium before: “I think we had a couple games like that at Blinn. Just teasing.”
• “I had a lot of maturity things I had to step up on. I was too young and naive. I look back and I’m somewhat embarrassed.”
• On telling Mullen that he was going to Auburn: “It’s probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my recent life. Telling his wife was even harder. Telling Miss Meagan? This decision wasn’t just my decision. I had to clear it with the whole 9 yards. My family, the people close to me. We just felt like it was best that my career be played in Auburn.”