If anybody in the Southeastern Conference has a right to get his hands on the football more, it's Auburn sophomore tailback Onterio McCalebb.
Granted, junior quarterback Cam Newton and freshman tailback Michael Dyer aren't exactly struggling with their opportunities, but McCalebb ran for 238 yards on just 15 carries the past three weeks against LSU, Ole Miss and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. That translates to 15.9 yards per rush for the 5-foot-10, 171-pounder from Fort Meade, Fla., who apparently isn't the demanding kind.
"I don't really worry about it," McCalebb said as the No. 2 Tigers prepare for Saturday's game against visiting Georgia. "I just go out there and do what I've got to do to help my team win. We keep winning, and that's all that matters in the end."
McCalebb has averaged more than 5.5 yards a carry in every game but one (Kentucky) this season, and four of his six touchdown runs have been for 49 yards or longer.
Tigers coach Gene Chizik believes McCalebb is vastly improved from last season, when he became the first Auburn freshman since Bo Jackson in 1982 to rush for more than 100 yards in an opener. He finished with 565 yards a year ago and averaged 5.4 yards a carry, which is an impressive number until it's compared to this season's 9.3-yard clip.
"I think the thing that's most glaring to me in comparing him to a year ago is that he's finishing off his runs," Chizik said. "Last year, I felt like he would get to the point on some potentially long runs where he would get top-heavy and fall or come to the end of the run and couldn't finish it physically as far as getting his head down and getting that extra 1 or 2 yards. I think he's a different back this year in that regard.
"He's always been a guy who's fast, but we've impressed upon him to finish his runs, and I think he's doing a better job of that now."
Chizik had some assistance in stressing to McCalebb that he become tougher. Last month, when the Tigers were prepping for Arkansas, Jackson attended one of the practices and talked to McCalebb about being more of a north-south runner.
McCalebb, who signed with Auburn as a 154-pounder, has heard the criticism that he isn't strong enough, but he's hearing it less and less.
"I really don't pay attention to that anymore," he said. "That was more last year when people were saying that, and this year is another year. I worked hard to gain some weight in the offseason and worked on my feet, and I think this is a new Onterio McCalebb."
Said Chizik: "I know Bo talked to all those guys about how to finish, and I think that's something he took to heart. I would say over the last two to three weeks that he's definitely had a different urgency when he carries the ball to finish those runs."
Newton is already in the SEC record books with 1,146 rushing yards, the most ever by a quarterback. Dyer has 409 yards in the past four games, and with 799 yards overall he is well within reach of becoming the first Auburn freshman to amass 1,000.
Throw in McCalebb and Mario Fannin, who had 96 yards on eight carries last Saturday against the Mocs, and first-year Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is having quite a demanding week.
"They've got good athletes at other spots, so you can't just say that Newton is the guy," Grantham said. "They put up a lot of numbers with a lot of people."
McCalebb said he pals around with Dyer the most but that everybody gets along in Auburn's backfield. He considers being 10-0 "the best time I've had in my life," and it's not like he's having to play third fiddle to Newton and Dyer in everything.
The biggest play of Auburn's storybook year so far was McCalebb's 70-yard sprint with 5:05 remaining that broke a 17-17 tie with LSU on Oct. 23.
"That run still means so much to me, because I always like to lay it on the line for my team," he said. "Once I saw the seam, I knew that no one would catch me."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.