Auburn players’ thoughts with Zac Etheridge

Mike Slade’s heart sank into his cleats.

The sophomore safety’s biggest opportunity to date presented itself Saturday on a stretcher, when junior Troy native Zac Etheridge was carted off the field after a scary helmet-to-helmet injury.

The feelings were nowhere close to bittersweet.

“When I saw Zac down I was like, ’Zac, get up! Get up! Get up!’ ” Slade said. “My biggest fear was for him. I knew stepping up was something I had to do and I just had to play to my best ability and do it for Zac.”

Attempting to make a hit on Ole Miss’ Rodney Scott in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, Etheridge went helmet-to-helmet with Antonio Coleman. The collision jarred Etheridge’s neck and rendered him motionless on top of Scott.

Scott lay below Etheridge as Auburn’s trainers attended to him and Auburn players huddled in a circle to pray. After seven or so minutes, Etheridge, who had movement in his extremities, Auburn officials said, was wheeled off the field and taken to a local hospital for further examinations on his neck.

His thumbs up to the crowd on his way toward the South tunnel drew one of the largest cheers of the game, uniting all 84,756 fans in a standing ovation.
Coach Gene Chizik had no update on Etheridge’s prognosis, saying he’d know more today.

“Zac Etheridge is not only a phenomenal young man, he is a phenomenal football player,” Chizik said. “On this football team, he is a great leader.

“He is one tough, tough guy. He will rebound.”

Slade stepped in Etheridge’s place and didn’t make any noticeable gaffes, finishing with three tackles. Not bad, considering he’s a free safety by trade, not strong safety.

“I think I did pretty good,” Slade said. “I made a few mistakes. That’s going to happen. When Coach needs somebody to step up, you step up. I just gave it my best and leave it on the field.”

All of Slade’s thoughts on his performance kept returning to Etheridge, whose status hung over the heads of Auburn’s players — even after a resurgent 33-20 victory.

“That’s like my brother,” tailback Ben Tate said. “We live together. We do everything together. We go to family reunions together. I’ve been through all those hard times and all the good times.

“He was in the back of my mind. I didn’t want him to be worried if we’d have won if he had been out there. We won that game, and I can’t wait to see him and tell him.”

Pair of milestones for Tate
With his 53-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Tate surpassed the 1,000-yard mark this year.

With a more innocuous 1-yarder early in the fourth, Tate passed the 3,000-yard mark for his career, becoming only the fifth back in Auburn history to reach that number.

Tate, who ran for 664 yards last year, finished with 144 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, giving him six 100-yard games this season and 11 for his Auburn career.

Tate’s career number ties him with Kenny Irons for seventh on the all-time list, and his season mark is the most for an Auburn back since Irons’ eight 100-yard games in 2005.

“It was just another day at the office,” Tate said. “I try to come out and run hard week-in and week-out — no matter what the score is. I just love the game of football, and I try to play it as hard as I can on every play. You never know when it’ll be over.“

Offterio
Freshman tailback Onterio McCalebb didn’t see the field Saturday, as he continues to nurse a sore ankle.

McCalebb injured the ankle against Ball State in September, reinjured it two weeks later against Arkansas and noticeably lacked his trademark zip in the past two games.

Mario Fannin filled the McCalebb role Saturday, finishing with 35 rushing yards and 35 receiving yards.

“Mario did a solid job, got us off to a good start early,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “We got the ball in his hands a couple different ways and he did a good job.”

3rd-quarter explosion
Auburn’s 23 third-quarter points are the most a Tigers team has ever scored in the third period, at least since records became available in 1967.

That number was also not only the fattest one allowed by Ole Miss for a quarter this season, but surpassed what any team had scored for an entire game against the Rebels.

Alabama scored 22 against Ole Miss on Oct. 10.

By the numbers
84,756 — fans in attendance Saturday, marking the fifth non-sellout of the season.
3,026 — career rushing yards for Ben Tate, who became the fifth Auburn back to crack 3,000
36 — combined points in the third quarter
0 — combined points in the fourth quarter