Auburn Tigers turn attention to Arkansas State

"You get to the grind of the everyday practice and all the things that go with pre-fall camp," Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said,,and 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. I think it changes mentally the whole outlook for those guys." It’s only six days until the No. 22 Tigers kick off the season at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Red Wolves, ending an offseason of rising expectations in Year 2 of the Chizik regime, both externally and internally. "It’s way more confident than we were last year," linebacker Josh Bynes said. "We feel it, not just from media but we feel it within ourselves, that we don’t see anything less than an SEC championship year. And that’s the feeling from the get-go." "It’s put up or shut up," quarterback Cam Newton said. "Go hard or go home. That’s words I live for before the game. If you’re not going to give your all, why are you out here?" Auburn hopes to use the early part of the season to get its newcomers accustomed to the college game. The Tigers added 31 players last offseason, 28 of which are freshmen. Chizik estimated that 10 to 20 players of that group could play right away, although he didn’t want to be held to a specific number. Regardless, he knows getting them early experience will help the team in the long run.