Random Thoughts

Sorry for the lack of posting. No excuses, I couldn't find time to post.

Spring Semester recap:

Auburn Basketball had a pretty good season, got jipped by the NIT (Bama lost in the 1st round).

New basketball arena scheduled to be built.

AU Football landed a top 10 recruiting class signing 30 recruits. Big names such as Kodi Burns, Lee Ziemba, Enrique Davis, Eltoro Freeman, Michael McNeil, Chris Slaughter, etc.

The football team had a good, albeit injury filled spring.

A new HD scoreboard was bought for Jordan Hare (its about time).

Auburn baseball starts off nice only to proceed to lose every SEC game thus far...great.

Surprise...not. AU men and women's swimming and diving win yet another National Championship.

My thoughts on spring practice:

-I was able to watch the A Day game and the final scrimmage. The offense looked great...the defense looked mediocre. However several defensive starters were out with injuries or held out just because.

- Brandon Cox had a great spring. He was extremely sharp. He showed exactly how injured he was last year. He has been moving around the pocket, throwing the ball down field (with great accuracy), particularly in the last scrimmage. His stats : 14/19 for 300 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs. His backups have been pretty bad. Which leads me to next thought.

-Kodi Burns will play some next season and will be the starter for the 2008 season. None of the backups will be able to match his talent. He is also a smart kid. I'm looking forward to watching him.

-The WRs took some steps forward. Rod Smith continues to be very dependable and has improved a lot as well. Tim Hawthorne started the spring out well, but got into a car crash and didn't participate in the rest of spring. Montez Billings had a good spring and Robert Dunn looked good int he final scrimmage. Prechae Rodriguez is still inconsistent.

- Mario Fannin is a hoss. In fact, all our RBs are pretty stout. I think Fannin and Tate will turn out to be fantastic players. Lester will also contribute a lot. Tristan Davis had a good spring after moving back to the offense.

- The O line had a rough spring but eventually started playing well by its end. There are still some questions there but Ziemba will be coming in to compete. From what I hear, he could start.

-The defense had an OK spring. # new linebackers stepped up and wowed the coaches. Patrick Trahan, Craig Stevens, and Chris Evans tallied numerous stops and big hits throughout the spring. If Tray Blackmon makes a return in May there will be nothing to worry about here.

-The secondary is returning a lot of experience and getting a big safety in Michael Mcneil. Theses guys a re solid.

-The D Line is also solid returning 3/4 starters including Quentin Groves. Once the entire Defensive unit is healthy, Coach Muschamp is gonna have these guys tuned in nicely.

The kickers are a big question mark. Walk on Ross Gornall has established himself as the guy to beat. Wes Byrum will be coming in and word is he has a big leg. The punting situation looks better with Ryan Shoemaker. The kick and punt returners will be good (Davis, Lester, Fannin)

-Next season's schedule will be rough. The home schedule is pretty bad and the away lineup is brutal. I think this team has a lot more talent than last year's and going to Atlanta is a definite possibility.