"It's Mario Fannin's turn to be Auburn's starting tailback"

[AUChizad]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/08/its_mario_fannins_turn_to_be_a.html

It's Mario Fannin's turn to be Auburn's starting tailback
Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 7:46 AM
Charles Goldberg -- The Birmingham News Charles Goldberg -- The Birmingham News

AUBURN - Mario Fannin has gone with the flow in his college career.

The former high school quarterback has been a hybrid wide receiver, a part-time tailback, a slot receiver and H-back.

"I'll be whatever I need to be,'' he said

Wherever Auburn needs him this season is at the starting tailback position, and that's where the senior will be for the season-opener against Arkansas State on Sept 4.

He will have spent a long time getting to that day.

He was very much in the tailback mix in 2007, but got caught up in a mistake-prone offense. The Tigers lost their way with 10 turnovers in losses to South Florida and Mississippi State, and Fannin lost three fumbles in that run.

"I think I've gotten a lot better at it; a lot of people just have that stuck in their minds,'' Fannin has said.

What people may not recall is that two weeks later, Auburn beat No. 1 Florida. Fannin and Ben Tate had almost identical rushing yards in that game. They soon took a different path.

Fannin admits he carried the ball in 2007 like a quarterback, which he was at Lovejoy High School in Hampton, Ga. The fumbles, he has said, "probably held me back as far as being that starting running back.''

He's only lost two fumbles in the two years since.

He's shrugged it all off, remembered what his mother told him and played at different positions without complaint.

"That started when I was playing football at 4 years old,'' Fannin said. "She said the humble person is the one who goes far in life. That's something I've always kept and tried to maintain in my head.''

Fannin watched Tate pass him by. It was so long ago, and Fannin has learned a lot. He's played three games way back in 2006 before getting hurt and being redshirted, and has already played in 41 games and has 971 yards rushing.

His most recent success has come in catching the ball, however.

Fannin carved a niche for himself in Gus Malzahn's offense last season as an H-back with 42 catches, the second most on the team, 413 yards. He rushed for 285.

"You just have to work harder to be good at more things. In the long run, it's only going to help me out -- and help my teammates out,'' he said.

Auburn liked the catches, and ironically, his good hands. Running backs coach Curtis Luper especially liked putting his two best backs on the field at the same time.

A new year finds a backfield with entirely new roles.

Cam Newton is the new quarterback, Fannin is the new tailback and the H-back/slot receiver position will be manned by a diverse group of players - freshmen, veterans, fullbacks, tailbacks, receivers.

It may not take that many to replace Fannin at his old job, but he chuckles at some of the plays from last year.

"I was the biggest wideout we had,'' Fannin said.

He's settled in this fall at tailback, but even now there are footsteps. Sophomore Onterio McCalebb is back from a freshman season that was slowed by an ankle injury; and freshman Michael Dyer comes in as the No. 1-rated prep running back by ESPN.

"I really don't look at them as behind me. We're all good back,'' Fannin said. "We're all going to contribute. In some games, I might not even start. Whoever can get the job done is who I want.''

Fannin's breakdown on his understudies:  "Onterio brings speed and Mike brings both -- he's an inside runner and an outside runner. They're both going to help a lot in the long run.''

Fannin's breakdown on the new starting tailback: "You have to prove yourself every game and every practice. You can't really take a day off. That's something I've learned during my time here. Every day is a grind.''

I emboldened the part that I found interesting.

Seems like his reputation for having fumble-itus is a little overblown. He accounted for 3 of 10 turnovers against South Florida and Mississippi State. At the time and he and Tate were splitting the carries evenly, so less than 1/3rd of the turnovers doesn't really seem that bad when you're accounting for about 1/3 of the offense. Sounds like a shitty week for the entire offense, followed by another week of trying to stabilize. Only two fumbles in the 2 3/4 seasons since then is not an epidemic. On top of that, it looks like he corrected his form by no longer "carrying the ball like a quarterback".

[AWK]

Mario Fannin invented the fumble-rooskie.

[djsimp]

Man, I can remember being super excited about Fannin as a freshmen. Then, of course, the issues with fumbles but you know I think I fell into the same mentality as so many others did. That mentality is that he can't hold on to the ball...ever. Now, looking back, I was wrong. I certainly feel that Fannin can and will be a great RB for Auburn. I am hoping, no, I am believing that Fannin will be fantastic this year.

[JR4AU]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/08/its_mario_fannins_turn_to_be_a.html
I emboldened the part that I found interesting.

Seems like his reputation for having fumble-itus is a little overblown. He accounted for 3 of 10 turnovers against South Florida and Mississippi State. At the time and he and Tate were splitting the carries evenly, so less than 1/3rd of the turnovers doesn't really seem that bad when you're accounting for about 1/3 of the offense. Sounds like a shitty week for the entire offense, followed by another week of trying to stabilize. Only two fumbles in the 2 3/4 seasons since then is not an epidemic. On top of that, it looks like he corrected his form by no longer "carrying the ball like a quarterback".

I said that to someone else not long ago, and they argued with me claiming he had fumbled the ball repeatedly over the last 2 seasons.   I didn't have the numbers in the article you cited.  This, in fact, happens frequently. 

Zeimba is a prime example of "once you get the rep, you can't shake it, no matter what else you do. 

http://www.trackemtigers.com/2010/7/14/1558624/i-love-auburn-too-much-to-leave

" I Love Auburn Too Much " ( to leave )
 by aubtigerman on Jul 14, 2010 12:00 AM CDT in Football


 At 6' 8" and 320 lbs he is a human mountain. Even so some people may not know that his love for Auburn is also just as big as a mountain. A love that was sorely tested in the spring of 2010. After starting 38 games for Auburn and being recognized the last three years as one of the SEC's best lineman, Lee Ziemba had a golden opportunity at the end of the 2009 season to turn professional. Many thought it was in his best interest to do just that.

In some circles it was reported that pro scouts were drooling over the possibility of signing Lee. A lot of experts speculated that if he chose to go pro that he would be a high pick in the NFL Draft, but Lee decided to stay at Auburn. Which raises the question, ' Why would a young man pass up an opportunity to make millions of dollars and at the same time take a chance at getting seriously injured in the war of the trenches for another year of college ball? '

Ziemba says he does want to play in the pros ... but on the other hand he said he loves the family atmosphere that Gene Chizik and his staff have brought to the team. In passing up the opportunity Lee commented " The NFL is a business. You can't have the camaraderie we have here."  (and )  " I Love Auburn too much. I just wanted one more year."

Lee has already staked out a place in Auburn history as one of the best offensive lineman to ever play in Jordan-Hare. Now he starts out his senior year on the precipice of receiving the nation's highest award for interior lineman, the Outland Trophy. He was named recently to the Watch List for the Outland by the Football Writters Association of America. If he were to win he would join Zeke Smith and Tracy Rocker as one of three Auburn's greats to be awarded the Outland.

Yes we are talking about the same guy that has been known by many fans as Auburn's Mr. False Start. That same guy may soon be known as one of Auburn's Mr. Outland Trophy  winners. If that happens, he will have his picture permanently placed by the scoreboard in Jordan-Hare Stadium along side of other Auburn icons such as Sullivan, Jackson, and Rocker.

This should not really come as a surprise as he was one of the most sought after lineman in the country coming out of high school. He was second team all SEC last year, a Phil Steele pre season All SEC this year, listed as the eighth best overall player in the SEC by another publication, had 67 knockdown blocks as a  junior, shared the Ken Rice Award as Auburn's best blocker with Mike Berry, and was an important cog in Auburn's record setting offensive machine, helping the Tigers amass 5,613 yards in 2009, the most in Auburn history.

However, Lee's Auburn career has been a roller coaster ride. From the excitement of starting and playing every game as a freshman, to weathering the disastrous offensive experiment of Tony Franklin's brief stint on the Plains, to being part of a reinvigorated '09 team that won a New Years Day bowl .

He picked up the false start tab his sophomore year. What most fans do not realize though is that a lot of his false starts came in a season when he was playing injured, playing through pain in every game. He suffered a knee injury in August 2008 and courageously played on it the entire season. At the end of the season he had surgery for a torn lateral meniscus. In addition, since new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin wanted his line lighter, he made him lose weight from 320 to 280lbs; which is not ideal for a pro typical NFL style lineman like Lee. Finally there is the fact that he had to perform in the malfunctioning Franklin / Ensminger offense and play for a dysfunctional coaching staff.

At any rate lineman never seem to get the glory, only the blame. When an offensive lineman grades out at 90+ % on his blocking assignments and then has a false start, guess which stat the fans remember? Yes, you guessed right, the false start is what we remember. Few celebrate the fact that Ben Tate may have made a touchdown because Lee Ziemba opened the hole. That's because we fans don't always have all the information.

One thing is for sure, he had knee problems all year long his sophomore year. Yet this mountain of a man did not blame any of his problems on the coaches, on the new offense, or on the nagging painful injury. No, he played through the pain, through the losses, through the dysfunctional coaching, through the hurt, and yes through the occasional boos and the media criticism. That's because Lee Ziemba is an Auburn Man. He loves his school and he made no excuses.

Even though this past year he wasn't penalty free, he was an important reason the Tigers produced the number one total offense in school history. Coach Jeff Grimes said that Ziemba is one of the best and that he just needs to work now on the little details to be one of the greats. Lee said that he is working hard everyday to improve. The penalties were much less last year and should be even lower this year. If for no other reason than this will be the first time in his college career, he will be able to play in the same offense for two years in a row.

If Auburn makes it to Atlanta, the fact that Lee Ziemba chose to pass up millions of dollars to play in the NFL and stay at Auburn, will have been an important part of the reason they got to the championship game. Coach Gene Chizik said " Everybody that doesn't appreciate him, needs to know that. He came back because he loves Auburn and he wanted to play another year, and we appreciate that very much."

So do we Coach ... so do we.

[JR4AU]

BTW, Ziemba had only 5 False starts in all of 2009.  Tied with Andrew McCain...no coincidence they both played T and it's very hard to hear the snap count out there.  I've even seen folks comment on Ziemba's "holding penalties".  He had exactly zero of them in 2009, and gave up zero sacks.  Both of those stats are stellar for a LT in the SEC.

http://wareagleextra.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-on-auburns-penalties-statistcal.html