Coffee and Magnolia: September 3rd

Week two is in full swing on the Plains, and Auburn's website is so ready for Saturday they've already got the Gameday feature all set up. It's loaded with stats, histories and in-depth rosters from both schools and I always enjoy having it by me if I'm not at the game.

Yesterday brought the latest editions of the coaches and AP polls. Auburn is fifth in both of them. Also, four future opponents of Auburn's received first place votes in the media rankings. The early frontrunner for funniest quirk of the coaches' poll is Memphis receiving a 25^th spot vote.

Gus Malzahn's press conference yesterday was posted in its entirety by Phillip Marshall, per usual, and in it he talked about the comfort he felt walking into Saturday's halftime locker room and sensing no panic, Jeremy Johnson's confirming the high expectations of his staff and plenty of other tidbits about individual players and bigger picture things.

- Malzahn wasn't completely impressed with the performance against Arkansas and said he's looking forward to see the improvements they make this week.

- Among the areas most highlighted by coaches and players was the third-and-short failures of the offense early in the game. C.J. Uzomah addressed the funny facial expressions made by Gus after the tight end's missed block led to a blown up third down play.

- Malzahn called Johnson a "cool customer" and said he's "too good a player" to not have some kind of role created for him in the offense moving forward. He also said he's feeling good about Quan Bray's role as the wildcat.

The defense's second half showing has been well-noted already, and Ellis Johnson on Tuesday talked about his pride in his cornerbacks, although he admitted Arkansas didn't exactly test them too much.

Johnson also is hopeful his pass rush will be more effective this weekend against a quarterback who opened his season with a 22-for-25 passing performance in week one. With presumably a lot more drop backs coming from the Spartans that the Hogs, the linemen will have a chance to show they're building week to week, similar to their growth last season.

Joel Erickson posted a rundown of Auburn's statistical rankings in all the traditional categories, with the caveat that there really isn't too much to glean from numbers with sixty minutes behind them.

P-Marsh shared what I'm sure is a very good read about Melvin Ray's journey from Alabama commit to minor leaguer to Auburn receiver, but it's behind a paywall.

Out in the Golden State, SJSU is getting ready for "bells and whistles" and "birds flying in the air" as they get ready for the 2,000-plus mile flight down south. They're also blaring our fight song and country music, and telling the players not to worry about our fans throwing stuff at them.

Wrapping today up is a YouTube post from Bruce Pearl asking if we like the student section being called The Jungle, and laying out a few of his plans for student involvement as this winter's season rapidly approaches.