Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Tigers Hold First Practice In Sunny Orlando

Auburn held its first practice in Orlando on Tuesday and then headed to Gatorland for its first official outing. Part of the festivities included a contest between Coach Tuberville and Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez in which they competed to see who could pull an alligator the fastest on to a platform. That's one victory I'd be glad to give to Wisconsin. The only good gator is a dead one...

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Auburn football team resumed preparations for the 2006 Capital One Bowl by holding its first practice in Orlando on Tuesday at Freedom High School. The Tigers worked out for a little more than two hours under sunny skies and warm temperatures.

"We had a good practice," said Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville. "We were a little stale from last week, but we're starting to come around. We're going to have a lot of contact for the next three days and then we'll start pulling off of that. The guys are in good spirits. They're excited about being down here and the weather."

Auburn opened the practice with special teams work before focusing on individual drills. Auburn's first and second teams worked against each other, and the Tigers also focused on scout team preparation.

Tuberville said Auburn will try to make sure the players have a good time while in Orlando, but the Tigers are still intent on running their bowl-game winning streak to four.

"As coaches, we approach any game the same, whether its a bowl game here or in Atlanta or New Orleans," Tuberville said. "But the thing we want to do is to make sure the guys enjoy it and have fun. It's supposed to be fun. It was hard getting to this bowl game and we're going to make the most of it. It's going to be a great game."

Tuesday evening, the teams from both Auburn and Wisconsin visited Gatorland, where the activities included a contest between Tuberville and Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez to see which coach could pull an alligator by the tail out of the water and onto a platform first. The teams also watched a gator wrestling demonstration before enjoying a cookout at the park.

Auburn will practice at 9:30 a.m. EST Wednesday before heading to Tinker Field for a "Day for Kids" activity. The Tigers were originally scheduled to visit the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday afternoon, but will instead spend time at Epcot Center.

Seventh-ranked Auburn will be making its sixth straight bowl appearance when the Tigers take on No. 21 Wisconsin at the 2006 Capital One Bowl on Jan. 2. The game starts at 12 p.m. CT and can be seen live on ABC.

Report Courtesy of the Auburn Athletic Department

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