Manatee's Mike Blakely tops Auburn running backs in spring game

Mike Blakely couldn't have picked a better time to have his best day of spring football at Auburn. The only question is whether the former Manatee High star can build on in.

Blakely, who sat out last season after transferring from Florida, led all Auburn running backs in the Tigers annual spring game Saturday.

He ran for 65 yards on only five carries (13 per yd avg) that included a 25 yard TD run and a 27 yard scamper that was the longest of the day.

On his TD run, Blakely showed some of what won him acclaim at Manatee when he was stopped at the line of scrimmage, then busted a few tackles and ran to daylight.


Blakely went into the game thought to be at least behind running backs Corey Grant and Onterio McCalebb and perhaps Tre' Mason. Grant was the most productive in that trio and he gained only 23 yards on 7 carries in the game.

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik wasn't ready to anoint anyone the starter and said Blakely has a long way to go. The sophomore did miss some time during spring practice because of the birth of his son, which set him back.

Chizik said Blakely needed to work on every aspect of his game, including pass protection, pass catching and everything else a good running back is expected to so.

"Inconsistent. Very inconsistent. I think he did some nice things today, but overall very inconsistent in what he does" Chizik said. "Today he had a couple of nice runs in there and that was good to see, but overall for him, very inconsistent through 14 days now."

The coach described the team's running game overall as fairly productive, but again cited inconsistency.

"I think probably each guy had one or two decent runs, but again, we have some competition building at that position, and I think they're all aware of that," Chizik said. "It's good to have different guys to potentially choose from, so they just have to keep working and staying on track.

"We have not arrived at that position at all. We have to find somebody who will take the ball and run it north and south and do it physical. We're still looking at inconsistency in that regard."

"Inconsistent. Very inconsistent. I think he did some nice things today, but overall very inconsistent what he does" Chizik said. "Again, today he had a couple of nice runs in there and that was good to see, but overall for him, very inconsistent through 14 days now."