Auburn notes: Fannin taking on bigger role

AUBURN — Mario Fannin doesn’t have near the jets of Onterio McCalebb, but he might be called upon to fill the potential void if the speedy freshman’s bum ankle isn’t good to go Saturday against Ole Miss.

“Certainly, coach Gene Chizik said, “he’s prepared to do that.”

McCalebb remains “day by day” with an ankle injury he’s dealt with since the end of September, Chizik said. He said the Tigers will “literally be playing it by ear” as the days, hours and minutes melt away before Saturday’s 11:21 a.m. kickoff.

“You know it’s those ankles when you’re a running back,” Chizik said. “It’s just a slow process.”

Asked what McCalebb’s status was, running backs coach Curtis Luper responded with a question of his own.

“What did coach Chiz say?”

Fannin carried the ball six times for 56 yards against LSU on Saturday, picking up the majority of work on Auburn’s final drive of the game. Recruited as a tailback, Fannin has bounced back and forth between running back and wide receiver, settling on H-back for his junior season.

He has 19 carries for 162 yards to go along with 24 catches and 255 receiving yards. Because of Auburn’s lack of production from its wide receivers behind Terrell Zachery and Darvin Adams, wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor has often referred to Fannin as the team’s third receiver.

“He’s a versatile guy, and we do ask him to do a lot of different things,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said.

“I was very impressed with the way he finished the game and took some reps in some different areas. He’s one of our playmakers, and we’re continually trying to find ways to get him the ball.”

Wanted: Fast start: Auburn has fallen behind in all but one of its games this season.

Enough is enough, say Tigers players.

“I think it’s something we have to have early,” center Ryan Pugh said. “It’s something that happened often in the first five games.”

Luper said a fast start becomes more imperative when a team is struggling as much as and loaded with as many young players as Auburn.

“Early success is important for us as an offensive unit,” Luper said. “And it’s important for us as a team. And so we’re going to do everything we can to put our guys in position early to make plays and get some momentum going and get the crowd going and just rev it all up.”

Happy Birthday: Wednesday marked Malzahn’s 44th birthday, a day Luper said the coaches made merciless on him.

“We got him all day,” Luper said. “His mind is elsewhere. Always. There could be a birthday cake sitting on the table and he wouldn’t know.”

Baseball: Chizik was asked Wednesday who he was rooting for in this year’s World Series: the New York Yankees or the Philadelphia Phillies.

His response was predictable.

“Is there a World Series going on?”