AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -Auburn’s Ben Tate has delivered a couple of messages in recent weeks.
First, he told a reporter that he’s the “best back in the state”, though No. 2 Alabama’s Mark Ingram is a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Then, he sent a text message last weekend to the Tigers’ offensive linemen pointing out that the Crimson Tide’s defense hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 31 games going into Friday’s Iron Bowl.
In the process, Tate might have delivered a bit of motivation to both teams, even if Ingram is brushing off the comments.
“I’m not a guy that gets into tongue tussles with anybody,” he said. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.”
For the record, both Iron Bowl tailbacks have been praising each other this week. Ingram is the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher with 1,399 yards, 12 touchdowns and a 6.8-yard per carry average.
gia two week ago. He points out he also said he’s hoping Ingram wins the Heisman.
“They just tried to make me like a bad guy, but I’m not really worried about it,” Tate said. He’s not apologizing for having a little swagger, either.
“As a player, you’ve got to have confidence,” Tate said. “You don’t have to be cocky but you definitely have to have the confidence to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is going to believe in you?”
Besides, as center Ryan Pugh said, “I would hope he wouldn’t come out and say he’s the second best.”
Auburn coach Gene Chizik also said he thinks the comments were made in “a very innocent way.”
Both Tate and Ingram are physical backs who have been the backbones of their respective offenses. Ingram, who is averaging 142.9 yards in SEC games, has gained 885 yards after contact this season.
“He’s a north-south runner, just like me,” Tate said. “I’d say his strength is just his ability to break tackles. He’s really good at breaking tackles.”
They have different off-the-field styles. Whereas Tate is often outspoken, Ingram generally tries to steer clear of both controversy and the Heisman talk.
The closest Ingram got to a dig at Tate was when he was told that the Auburn back is pulling for him to win the Heisman. “I guess that’s kind of surprising because I heard some other things he said, too,” Ingram said.
Then comes a heaping helping of praise.
“I think he’s a great back, I love the way he runs the ball,” Ingram said. “He runs with a lot of passion, he runs with a lot of heart and he’s a great back and I’ll just let my play talk for me.”
Tate has already passed runners such as Ronnie Brown and Stephen Davis on Auburn’s career rushing list. Ingram needs just 73 yards to break Bobby Humphrey’s 23-year-old Alabama single-season rushing mark.
“Just to be said in the names of great backs that have come through here, All-Americans who have done a lot of great things here, have a lot of records … Just to be in that category and maybe even break their records is just an honor,” he said.
Both he and Tate fight for yards. Tate just has to battle more for attention than Ingram, who’s the biggest offensive star for a national title contender and is set to appear on the cover of this week’s “Sports Illustrated.”
Tate is a centerpiece of a 7-4 Auburn team that had a losing record last season.
He had only nine starts in three seasons for Auburn coming into his senior year but still ranks fifth in Auburn history with 3,168 rushing yards.
“I’ve been here my whole career without getting any attention, so it doesn’t really bother me at all,” Tate said. “I’ve barely even gotten any attention from the guys (reporters) that work here.”
‘s Onterio McCalebb has been hobbled the last few games with a sprained ankle, but still has 524 yards.
Ingram’s backup, Trent Richardson, has run for 511 yards.
It’s pretty clear which backs face the biggest challenge in this game. Alabama ranks second nationally in run defense, giving up 70.6 yards a game. Auburn is allowing 169.7 yards a game, which ranks 88th nationally.
Co. don’t envy opposing backs.
“Every time me and Roy (Upchurch) and Trent, we’ll be on the sideline,” Ingram said. “We’ll be like, ‘I hate it for those other guys. They’ve got to run against that defense.’ I mean, they’re so big, so fast, so well coached. They all know where they’re supposed to be and they’re so athletic, they all can make plays. It’s just hard to have a lot of success on them running the ball.”
Auburn’s defenders have plenty of motivation going against Ingram.
“I know the (defensive) line as a whole, we said he’s not going to win the Heisman on us,” Auburn end Michael Goggans said. “So we’re going to definitely stop him and stop that run. They’ve got a great running attack, but if we do our job as a D-line, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
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