Bleed Orange and Blue

Who's Ready?

2008-03-21T22:11:00.000-06:00

Chills...

Really?

2008-03-13T14:40:00.005-06:00

The bammer version of rivals has this posted on their site:

All I can say is wow. Who knew there was a natianl championship awarded for recruiting? Ive never heard anyone talk about one, much less brag about one, until now.

Here is one we could use:

Or better yet:

Who knew Frank Thomas could act (or looked so young still)

2008-03-12T06:47:00.002-06:00

I ran accross this on Jay Tates Blog and thought it was worthy of a repost. Enjoy

Carousel

2007-12-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

WOOHOOOO

Auburn joins in the fun with Borges' resignation. I think it was for the best. Tony Franklin appears to be the heir apparent. His spread offense could be very dangerous with Kodi Burns and a plethora of good RBs. Im excited thinking of the possibilites.

Both nfl.com and ESPN report that Petrino has resigned as the Falcons' Head Coach and will take the job that no one else seems to want at Arkansas. He must be really desperate to get back to college football and a shot in the SEC. Even if it is at scandalous Arkansas.

There have been several reports of Muschamp a strong candidate too. All theses so called "sources" arent worth crap. Just goes to show you, dont believe a thing until there is a press conference.

SIXCESS!!!

2007-11-26T13:44:00.000-06:00

It feels every bit as good as it did the first time! What an incredible atmosphere. Ive never seen so many people at Tiger Walk. The players were pumped, dancing and yelling with the fans. The crowd before the game was roudy and loud-just an electric atmosphere. I cant find any words to try and describe the awesomeness of it all. Here are some great videos of it:

War Eagle!

How Embarassing

2007-11-12T19:12:00.000-06:00

That was pathetic. That was unacceptable. That was embarassing. That was a whole lot of other adjectives that come to mind, none of which gives warm and fuzzy sensation. We got beat like a red-headed step child. The first play from scrimmage was foreshadowing of what was to come as Brandon "what color jersey does my team wear again?" Cox lobbed one up ripe for the taking...and Georgia took it. It will be commonplace to say that the Tigers lost in in the 3rd quarter, but to be brutally honest, it was way before then. Even though at the half the score was 17-10, it shouldve been much worse. The only reason our offense was able to score was because of stupid penalties on a very pumped up UGA team. For that reason, and thanks to the defense, did AU sustain any drives. It had to happen though. Too many games this season has our D been the glue that holds together a win and even some close losses. In the 3rd quarter, once again, the D set us up to hold on and take it to the wire. Jerraud Powers (who is the only competent, trustworthy corner on the team) made a nice INT by baiting Stafford into the throw to set the Awulffense up at the 27. Again, the D is the only reason we scored. The next drive we could not cash in for 7 which could have started deflating UGA, but instead had to settle for 3. Following the go ahed FG, the defense finally let 11 straight weeks of lights out play get to them and ran out of gas. Although, I blame the secondary (excluding Powers of course) moreso than the rest of the D. However, when it all comes down to it. I blame the lack of offensive execution. Perhaps its the playcalling? I dont know. I do know that it is rediculous that our receivers cant get open. Its hard to believe that Tim Hawthorne, Rob Dunn, Chris Slaughter, et al (all of whom were highly regarded recruits) dont have the talent. The problem is much higher than them.

Here is why our offense did not work:

1) The O line did not block as well as they needed to, therefore our running game was ineffective.

2) Because of the illegitimate ground game, the play action pass was therefore ineffective.

3) We cant throw the long ball.

4) Since we cant throw the long ball, all UGA had to do was blitz and cover short and medium passes.

5) Cox holding the ball too long + non blocking O-line = sacks

The recievers combined for 6 passes caught. 6! 6! I wont say anything more about this as it infuriates me. The offense we have is not a big play style offense. It is designed to chew up time and move the ball methodically downfield. The only problem is that it wasnt moving. I vote for some new philosophies or maybe a mixture. We need big play capablities.

Interesting Facts:

Aubrun and Bama have each lost to MSU, UGA, LSU, and a team from FL (USF and FSU)

Both teams are 6-4

Both are unranked

________________

Another interesting bit of info:

In the 2003 season
-Auburn had just endured a disappointing season, culminating with a blow-out loss at Sanford Stadium against Georgia.
-Tommy Tuberville was rumored to possibly be coaching his last game...with Bobby Petrino reportedly ready to leave his current head coaching job after just one season to replace him.
-Alabama had a brand new coach who would be coaching in his first Iron Bowl and would be bringing Alabama back to the top of the SEC.
-After originally being scheduled as a CBS afternoon game, because of the poor performance thus far by both teams, CBS opted out. ESPN then picked up the game as their Saturday Night Game of the Week.

Sound familiar?

I will say this. I know I definiately could not have gone out there and played any percentage as well as the players go out and do. I know I cant coach anywhere close to a good as any on the staff. That being said, my opinion doesnt matter, plain and simple. The only reason any fans get so ticked off with performances like Saturday's is because we've been spoiled. We have tasted victory time and time again. We have felt what its like to be mentioned with elite teams. We have experienced winning a lot of games. Its for those reasons and the simple fact that I love Auburn with all that I have that its such a crushing loss in a disappointing season. A lot of Auburn fans believe this team is better than 6-4. Im one of them. We keep forgetting though, that these are a bunch of 18-22 yr old young men (mostly 18 and 19 on this team). This is a VERY young team. It will be great to see what they in the coming years. Its easy for us to complain and place blame. Each of the players experienced that same loss on Saturday. Something tells me it bothers them a little bit more and they take slightly harder than I do knowing that they were the ones that lost. The difference is, that they have to go back out there each week and try and get better, while we sit on our asses and point out the problems. You better believe they want to make up for it.

But now as fans we have a job to do, just as the players have a job to do. In less than 2 weeks, everyone knows who is coming into our house. This game will be our season. Sure, its been a disappointing year. The one thing that can take the pain away is to wipe the floor with the school we all love to hate. I challenge all the fans out there to slow down and think before you change your attitude towards Coach Tubberville and start calling for his head. He has done so much for Auburn, and we take him for granted. I challenge you to come to Auburn ready to go to war for this team, to stand behind them no matter what and put some validity behind the cheer that we chant each week. No matter how we play, or who we have lost to, It is great to be an Auburn Tiger. You better come ready to let the players and coaches know it.

War Damn Eagle

3 weeks in review

2007-10-23T13:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. School has gotten pretty busy. Luckily it has backed off a little. Anyway on with the recaps.

Vandy: Solid win. This is what we should be doing against the likes of lower tier SEC teams. e.g. Miss St. Although I will say that Vandy has been no slouch this year, just ask Steve Spurrier. The offense continued its imporvement and the 4th string defense end up letting the Dores score in the 4th. Not too shabby at all.

@ Arkansas: What a nerve wracking game to watch. Watching us march down the field and eitheer 1) Kick a field goal 2) miss a field goal or 3) punt/turn the ball over was frustrating. However the defensive effort was noithing short of spectacular. Holding possibly the 2 best RBs in the nation to a combined 87 yards? I doubt LSU will be able to accomplish that. Cox continued his souless robotic last minute game winning drive ways, marchiung down to the 12 to set it up for Wes Byrum, whom I could not be happier with. Muschamps antics I missed on TV and when I saw the youtube video, I thought for sure was editted. But sure enough after going back to the ole Tivo, there it was clear as day. I have to say that I like the way he coaches. It seems that the players agree, as does their play.

@ LSU. That was gut wrenching. Those are always thge hardest to lose. We came out in the 1st half and completely dominated. Our offense did everything it wanted. Of course, Glen Dorsey going out on a much dispute chop block helped a little. But I concede we should have been penalized for that. However, Auburn got the short end of the stick wehn it came to the officiating. The waved off 6 men on the line of scrimmage should not have been waved off and the spot on a thrid down on LSUs last drive was a good foot extra.

Cout them: 6 men on the line

Also worth mentioning were the countless facemask tackles that went unflagged. But aside from all of that, the bottom line is that Auburn couldnt maintain its level of play inthe 2nd half that it enjoyed from the 1st. We let LSU back in it, our offense couldnt give our D a rest and so it happened the way it did. This is a loss that hurts. We can most likely kiss going to Atlanta goodbye unless LSU somehow miraculously loses 2 more games (big time unlikely). Nonetheless, we must move on and focus on an Ole Miss team that isnt sure what it is. They scared Florida and lost big to Ark. Who knows which tema we will face. I just know that Auburn needs to focus on winning out.

By the way, I wont repost it because Erik at Deepsouthsports has done so in a way that cant be duplicated. Check out the pics of classy LSU women that I sent to him.

Other things worth noting:

Quentin Groves tied the Aubrun career sack record with his sack this weekend.

Montez Billings has emerged as a great option for Cox. Im sure Rod Smith is grateful for the attention taken off him.

Speaking of emerging, Cox has brough himself out of the depths since Miss St and is playing great. 18-28 for 199, 2 TDs, 0 INTs against LSUs D is impresive. And yet again another last minute go ahead drive, even though we lost. If there was another minute left I have no reson to doubt that he would do it again.

The Kodi Burns situation is getting retarded. Everybody now knows that when he comes in he will run a quarterback draw to the right out of bounds for two yards. I like what they started to do against Florida throwing to him in the flats for a possible trick play. They need to let him come in for a series and run the offense, which includes throwing. It will only help him. If all else fails on a dropback, he can scramble for 20 yds instead of 2 on the draw.

This coaching situation with TAMU is both silly and scary. I have heard so many scenarios. Finebaum, of course is leading the parade with the Tubby will leave blah blah blah. I, along with every other Auburn fan would love to buy Phillip Marshall's view that he would never leave, but Im sure any Ole Miss fan would tell you not to fall for that. Even funnier situations that Ive heard are 1) Saban has no buyout so hed go to TAMU for a pay raise. 2) Ive heard Les Miles is gonna be gone after this year no matter waht at LSU and they are going to hire Steve Spurrier (crazy, I know, even though Miles has proven to be an idiot with is prayer agaisnt us with no time left). Theres also the Miles to Michigan rumor. The rumors are good and plenty. While I hope that Auburn is left out of the coaching carousel come seasons end, I cant help but wonder who they would go after if it actually happened. My vote would be for Will Muschamp or Bobby Petrino. Just a thought.

War Eagle!

All I can say is WOW

2007-10-02T14:22:00.000-06:00

That was awesome. Me and some other fellas rented an RV and left Auburn around lunchtime. We arrived around 6, parked, and set up shop. We watched USF dominate WVU in a game in which there were 10, yep count em, 10 turnovers. So right off the bat, Auburn started to look better. We went out to a bar called "The Swamp" afterwards, to be pleasantly surprised that half the bar was filled with Auburn people. Yells/cheers were traded and the usual talking of trash. Although the women in Gainesville dressed a little on the trashy side (there was a midnight run in which the3 runner wore only underwear, wow) and the men wore enough gel to clog every drain in the state of Florida (it looked like a Backstreet Boys audition) Id say that 90% of the fans were very classy and polite. We tailgated in the RV lot next to a fella named Jim, who talked endless shit about Auburn being gay and Florida having more beautiful women, which was easily refuted once a few UF girls came by and we pointed out that Tebow kissed his roommate. But, all the usual remarks aside, he was a nice guy and offered anything we needed as newbies RVing. Saturday, we watched Corso and Herbstreit claim that UF would win and win big. We knew right away, that was the kiss of death and Florida had no shot (plus Corso was a nice shade of burnt orange, what foreshadowing). We then watched Miss St lead USC for a little while and give them a scare. Again, Auburn looking better. Then we watched Mark May, the only ESPN analyst who realizes Auburn's talent and has some respect for us (he picked us to win last year) said that Auburn could stay in it. Shortly thereafter, Lou Holtz goeth on a rant thaying that Florida wath too good and Auburn had ath much a chanth to win ath he did to be elected thenator of Florida. What an idiot, this is the SEC, Lou, teams rarely win by 19 points. . .especially when that team has an outstanding defense.

Credit the guys at theauburner for this one

Anyway, we started the 2 mile trek to the stadium (yep, 2 miles). The campus is huge, and we saw no one tailgating unless they were a block away from the stadium. Whereas in Auburn, every inch of campus has tailgaters. It makes for a better atmosphere. I was impressed with the number of AU fans there. Tiger walk was good, the entire band was there too. Florida Field was pretty nice, the stadium was big, however the tiny-trons (they weren't near big enough to have jumbo as the prefix) looked as old as the guy leading the oldest cheer before the game.

Once the game began, as I'm sure everyone else saw and experienced, that was not the AU team we have seen all season. I don't know where they came from, but I'm glad they showed up. They help UF to a 3 and out, only to drive the field and score on the first possession. The stadium wasn't as loud as I had expected it to be, for obvious reasons. I felt like the Auburn fans were pretty loud. After the game we went back to the same bar, where most of the Florida fans were once again classy and polite.

Other random game thoughts:

-Cox was back to his old self again. His stats: 17-26, 227, 0. He was 5/5 on the 1st drive and 10/12 in the first half. You cant ask for much better than that.

-Rod Smith was impressive, especially running after the catch and keeping his feet inbounds when he had to. He caught 9 for 102. AU receivers don't go for 100 in a game too often. It was also nice seeing Billings make some big grabs

-Fannin and Tate ran well. Only setback was Tate fumble, which happened after and extremely nice run up the middle.

-The freshmen O-Linemen are ridiculous. The holes were definitely there all night. Tommy Trott even had some nice blocks.

-The Defense, once again was amazing. Our DBs had superb nights tackling in the open field. Our D-Line got great penetration. Marks blocked a FG, had a big TFL in the redzone. Lee had a nice interception and FF. Chris Evans was all over the place, and Tray played well despite being hobbled by his ankle. It was a very solid effort by Muschamp and his D.

-It hurts to lose Davis and Groves. Davis is out for the season but Q will be back for LSU.

-I really think Coach Tuberville won the game from us with his arguing the catch off the punt. The defense fed off of his anger, and in turn lit up the UF offense fro a - 6 yds in 3 p0lays and got the ball back to the offense for the game winning drive. That should be up for Pontiac Game Changing Performance (go vote), even though Byrum's kick will suffice

-It was great to see them bring back the wheel route to Stewart. That's been a big play for us in recent years.

-Last but not least, Wes Byrum, wow. What can you say about this kid. He kicked the game winner from 43 yds out twice!. He has ice water running through his veins. 18 yrs old, in a big time pressure situation and he delivers twice. We plucked this kid out of Florida (he was the #1 kicking prospect in the nation). That was one he will remember for a while, as will the fans.

This was a big win, and big turning point for the team. They have a chance to turn things around. I'm not claiming that we will win out, but these last 2 games have built the confidence we've been lacking. WAR EAGLE!

Well...

2007-09-15T19:12:00.000-06:00

I'm really not quite sure how it happened. There were several things that happened during this game that got me excited. But ultimately, I was left disappointed and utterly shocked. As good as our defense is, their strong suit is not the first drive of the game. Thinking back to each game, we have kicked off first and surrendered some sort of points to each team. Perhaps we might consider receiving first next time. Cox's first pass attempt bounces off the hands off our 6th year senior TE and into the hand of a Miss St defender for a pick six. That hurts. On the ensuing drive, and a throw into triple coverage later, Auburn has now turned the ball over twice.

Enter Kodi Burns. If you weren't paying attention as to why the crowd cheered so extremely loud, you'd have thought Superman made an appearance. Although the offense was different and over simplified, Burns was very impressive. He ran like a champ, his throws were there, and he sparked a dull offense. Its pretty clear who our best TE is now. Bennett had the deflection-INT and a big holding call, and Trott dropped a huge 3rd down conversion that was right in his hands-Im talking it might as well have gone right into his pocket. Burns lead Auburn to 2 second quarter TDs to go ahead 14-13 at the half. When MSU scored a late TD, Cox was brought in to lead us down the field...and that he did (good for him), all the way to the 9 for a 1st and goal. At this point is where things get blurry for me. It is kind of beyond me as to why this team couldn't score from the 9. The hard part was over. Going down the field, drive 80+ yards was the tough part. Scoring from the 9 in 4 tries should be easy.

Anyway, I was glad for Cox that he took us down the field, even though we didn't score. I'm pretty sure that booing your starting QB is something a Bama fan would do. Again, I was impressed with Burns. Some good news: we racked up over 300 yards on offense for the 1st time in several games going back to the GA game last year, maybe further. Our running game is good, and so is our defense. Apparently, Quentin Groves admitted to going for the big play (sack) too much and was getting out of our defense. Good for him, I look for our D to continue to get better (If that's possible).

Its going to be interesting to see how the QB situation plays out. I don't know what to think.

Mario Fannin is great, he just needs to hold onto the ball. Ben Tate has been nothing but solid. I cant wait until Tristan Davis returns. Similarly, welcome will be the sight of Lester lining up in the backfield. My confidence in Robert Dunn as a returner and a good receiver keeps building. I'm holding judgement on the WR corps just yet, as the game plan didn't give the new rotation (Smith, Dunn, Hawthorne) a chance to shine.

It will also be nice to have our starting FS, CB, and MLB back. they've all been out for 2 weeks now. Our defense has been great considering. I think a convincing win over NM State will help this team bounce back and help jump start them going into a tough road and SEC schedule. I cant really gauge and future expectations at this point. I will say War Eagle anyway, and its still better than being a bammer.

Once again

2007-09-11T05:42:00.000-06:00

The guys at TheAuburner never disappoint.

Super Mario Fannin

Tough to swallow

2007-09-09T13:33:00.000-06:00

There's a lot of things for one to point at as a reason that the Tigers lost last nights game. A lot of people will wanna place the blame on the shoulders of Brandon Cox. I'm struggling with this one. Some I'm going to present 2 views; both positive and negative.

Positive

The Auburn defense is friggin STOUT. In the 3rd quarter it held USF on 12 straight downs inside the red zone to ZERO points. ZERO. They played 90% of the game without 4 starters. USF's supposed big time offense was pretty much held in check.

This Auburn team does not panic when they get behind. For the second straight week, they came back from behind, this week from 11 points back. That's a sign of a big time program.

Wes Byrum is a stud. 6/7 on the year with a long of 49. Impressive for a true freshman. This guy is our biggest recruit last year as far as impact goes.

Mario Fannin finally got some carries and was impressive. At one point he trucked his own offensive 300 lb O lineman (Antwon Daniels, who I later saw exiting the field with a trainer). Completely ran him over.

Our receivers aren't half bad. Gabe McKenzie is money. He's had a big year thus far.

Ive been impressed with our DBs. All of them tackle really well in the open field when they break down.

Negative

It is completely ridiculous, in my opinion, that our kickers should have to make any tackles on punts or KO's. Byrum tweaked his ankled against K-State, and Shoemaker dislocated his elbow last night. The kick coverage setup USF's tying field goal allowing a 59 yd return into AU territory.

As i said coming from behind to take the lead and not panicking was the sign of a big time program, another sign is keeping and extending a lead and not sitting on it...

Further related to that issue, is the tackling philosophy of this team. What happened to breaking down, wrapping up, and tackling through the opponent? Everyone now wants to "run into" the ball carrier, and fly around like a bunch of pin balls. Sure, sometimes it may work or even be necessary, but it doesn't work most of the time.

The offense does not have an attacking mentality. They just don't seem to want it (aside from those like McKenzie, Fannin, and maybe a few others). The plays run have been conservative and vanilla.

Brandon Cox has shown that he is a good quarterback. That's why his play has been so perplexing. He is a proven winner (20-6 as a starter) but he did not play well last night, or last week. The entire game he telegraphed his every pass, by locking on to his primary receivers and rarely looking elsewhere. He threw into double and triple coverage over and over again (resulting in 2 INTS). He also fumble on a QB sneak on a 4th down attempt. We cant place all the blame on him. But Im wondering what is up, because Ive seen him play incredibly (see 2005). Overall he made a lot of questionable decisions. I also know that I have no idea what its like to be in his shoes. But where will the line be drawn if play continues the way it has. This is a tough spot for coaches to be in. Its hard to bench a senior QB who has won a lot in the past. But if it keeps going this way, something needs to be done. I want him to turn it around and do well. It'll be great for him and the team, but if it doesn't happen, Id hope a change would be made.

Our receivers and Tommy Trott dropped several passes.

I wonder why we ran the clock out when a few passes would've gotten us in field goal range...Byrum certainly showed he could've hit it.

So there are my thoughts. Its a frustrating loss. We should've won the game. Of course, USF missed 4 field goals. If they had made one of them, they would have won in regulation. The bottom line is that our offense needs to improve. We need to let Borges loose and start attacking. Quick drops from Cox are effective. Lets let our receivers gain some of our yardage. Keep the 1-2 punch of Tate and Fannin (hopefully Lester if he can return) going. It will open up our pass game. Lets see some trickeration. We need some flash. When we gain momentum on defense, instead of coming out and running, lets throw to the end zone. Each week, we get more and more predictable. I always tell my buddies sitting with me, we should throw a fade into the end zone here, and I always get the response, "you do know this is Auburn right?" Teams have found out that blitzing makes us fall apart. Try Kodi Burns as a change up every now and again. Something needs to change. To the defense: keep doing what you're doing. You can play with anyone in the country.

Man oh man

2007-09-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

Well..that didn't quite go the way any of us expected. But when the offense woke up with 4 minutes to go in the game, they got it done. As expected, the defense played lights out. Groves is about as clutch as they come. The atmosphere at Jordan-Hare was great. I do love a good night game. We have another late one next week (8 PM CST). Anyway here are some things that stood out to me:

Welcome back the the world of catching the ball, Mr Rodriguez. Prechae was a big factor last night with 6 catches for 70-something yards, several of which were clutch 3rd down conversions.

Cox can take a beating. He got hit over and over again, but he continued to come back and make plays when we needed them. He had a very mediocre day, but when it counted, he was a winner.

Ben Tate payed well despite the lack of any holes to run through. Lester was missed more than I thought he would be. His quickness and explosion through the hole is a luxury. I was surprised that Fannin didn't get a carry, but I'm sure we will see him soon.

Tristan Davis was also missed on KO returns. Cant wait till he returns

Byrum and Shoemaker were spectacular. Bryum was 3/4 on field goals...apparently kicking with a sore ankle. Shoemaker averaged 42 ypk. Not bad for a couple freshmen.

Robert Dunn had a nice punt return to set up a field goal in the 3rd.

Gabe McKenzie had several key catches. Our tight ends are superb.

Tray Blackmon was flying around the field. He missed the 2nd half (ankle) but should be back this week. All the linebackers played well.

Jerraud Powers played a great game.

Looking ahead to next week, I have no clue what to expect. I haven't seen Grothe and South Florida play. I keep hearing they are the real deal. I still think Auburn will win. Our defense can keep us in any game.

Woohoo

2007-08-25T19:32:00.000-06:00

In my mind, its officially game week and I couldn't be happier than a bammer player with an ice cream cone. Is it just me or does the Bama team have a problem with player arrests? They've had now 5 or 6 arrests this summer, with no apparent punishment. Sure, Saban claims that he is handling it all in house, but it seems an arrest warrants at least a one game suspension. Perhaps I feel that way because I'm used to Tuberville. There's no arguing that the players know if they screw up, they will not play. (Ask Tray Blackmon)

Anyway, K State comes to town this week. As always the visiting teams fans will receive a warm reception as well as learning what football and tailgating is all about. I wish that I could say the same for the K State players. Their welcome from the Auburn players will not be as pleasant. In all honesty, I fear for the lives of the Wildcat offense. Tray Blackmon hasn't been able to hit anyone that is not on his team in a really long time. Whomever he layeth his wrath upon first will likely go into cardiac arrest.

For instant chills, watch this:

My thoughts from preseason camp are as follows:

Chris Slaughter catches everything. He may only be 170 lbs soaking wet, but he will eventually be a BIG factor.

Jerraud Powers has exceeded any expectations I had for him. He has had a spectacular camp. Look for him to have an All SEC season.

The Running Back U tradition continues. Honestly I have no clue which back I'd play.

Cox has been sharp, and surprisingly mobile. He is probably the most important player on the team.

Our D-Line and TEs are among the top 3 in the country as units.

Our defense is gonna be stout.

My outlook on the first game is that it has the potential to trip us up, but the players and coaches know it. The chip on their shoulder from being overlooked is big and heavy. I fully expect both sides of the ball to play lights out. I'm hoping they beat the 'cats like a red headed step child. I think K State is a good program. They will stay close for half a quarter until AU shakes of the rust and explodes to victory, 42-13. War Eagle, Ill see you all on Saturday.

Theres a tingling sensation running down my spine

2007-07-25T14:44:00.000-06:00

Jordan Hare Stadium in NCAA 08

Im sure you all feel it. Its the sensation that one gets when football season is lurking. Today, marks the unofficial start of football season with the SEC media days. So in the spirit of the greatest sporting season known to mankind, I shall take a look at Auburn's depth chart and schedule, providing an attempt at a realistic view.

First, lets look at the offense

QB
Starter: Brandon Cox, SR
Backup(s): Tray Blackmon, RS SO

Ok, so Tray Blackmon obviously doesnt play QB. Its a good way of describing how great the backups are. I thought I would put someone back there who will make a play if put in a dire situation. Who wouldnt like to see Tray running the option, pitch to a RB and then lead block for him? Count me in. Going back to the actual backups, I do exclude Kodi Burns from the lack of talent. Im torn with this guy. I, personally, have not watched him practice. I hear many good things though. I would love to see him win the backup job, and play in some situations a la Tebow. But, then again, his talent excites me so much that Id like to see him redshirt so that we have 4 years to play him. (another thing to consider is dual threat QB Deron Furr has committed to sign with AU, I like where this is going). Anyhow, going in to Two-a-days, I assume Blake Field will begin as the number 2, to be taken over by either Burns or Caudle.

RB
Starter: Brad Lester, JR
Backups: 4 Horsemen of he Apocalypse
(aka Ben Tate, SO/Mario Fannin, RS FR/Tristan Davis, JR/Enrique Davis, FR)

We are loaded at RB. Period. Honestly, I feel bad for Coach Gran and Coach Borges. Chosing which running back plays and how often is gonna be a chore. All these guys could start at big name schools. We have lester who scores 1 TD every 10 times he touches the ball. Then there is Ben Tate, who has Bo Jackson Jr written all over him. He is big, fast, and strong. He catches, runs up the middle, over defenders, around them, etc. Next we have Mario Fannin. I had the pleasure of seeing him in the final scrimmage. All I will say is that he is gonna be rediculous. Tristan Davis, making a glorius return to the offense, will add some lightning speed. If he can improve at all the fundamentals, he will be just as good as he rest. As far as Enrique Davis goes, I dont know much about him, but should he live up to hiss billing, we will have a good young back. He should be redshirted though with the depth we have.

FB
Starter: Carl Stewart, SR
Backups: Mike McLaughlin, JR/Danny Perry, SR/Tate or Fannin

Carl Stewart is a stud that gets little recognition from outside his teammates and coaches. This guy, like all the other RBs, could start at RB anywhere else. Plus he looks like he can eat you for lunch. McLaughlin and Perry should be able to provide ample run blocking. Tate and Fannin can get in on the action in the 2 back sets playin the hybrid "F - back" position.

WR
Starters:
Rod Smith, JR
Montez Billings, RS SO
Robert Dunn, JR
Backups:
Tim Hawhorne, RS FR
Terrell Zachary, RS FR
Chris Slaughter, JUCO transfer
Alex Rose, RS FR
Prechae Rodriguez, SR
James Swinton, JR

These guys, saving Smith, are a bunch of untested, unexperienced bad asses. Billings had a great spring. Look for Hawthorne, Zachary, Slaughter (pending NCAA clearance) and company to get plenty of experience this year. They might be half decent. Every publication Ive read about them wont give them any shred of hope. I think they will surprise everyone.

TE
Starters:
Cole Bennett, RS SR
Tommy Trott, RS SO
Gabe McKenzie, RS SO
Backups:
Brent Slusher, FR
Bailey Woods, FR

Probably the best group of tight ends in the nation. Bennett returns with a medical redshirt to add experience and leadership for the exremely athletic Trott and McKenzie.

OL
King Dunlap, SR
Leon Hart, SR
Jason Bosely, JR
Tyrone Green, SR
Andrew McCain, JR
Backups: Too many and too inexperienced to name

These guys are a question mark heading into preseason. From what I hear, they are playing pretty solid. We have some freshmen that might get a look, most impressive of which is Ziemba. The starting lineup may look a little different come Sept. 1st. But, looking at last year, despite talent, the play of the big uglies as a unit has no where to go but up.

Defense

DL
Starters:
Quentin Groves, SR
Josh Thompson, SR
Pat Sims, RS SO
Sen' Derrick Marks, RS SO
Backups:
Antonio Coleman, SO
Tez Doolittle, SR
Mike Blanc, SO
Michale Goggans, SO

Quentin Groves is easily the best player on the defense, maybe the team. He brings the kind of leadership and selflessness to this team that will make a big impact on everyone around him. Marks was moved to end from the inside allowing Sims to get on the field. Overall, this group is very solid. Look for Quentin Groves to have an All American year, ending up as Auburn's career sack leader.

LB
Starters:
Craig Stevens, RS FR
Tray Blackmon, SO
Merrill Johnson, JR
Backups:
Steve Gandy, JR
Chris Evans, SO
Courtney Harden, SO

Although some might consider these guys a big question mark. The Auburn faithful know better. Anchored by "The Little Ball of Hate" this unit could be nothing short of spectacular. I fear for opposing offenses, becasue I know its only a matter of time before Tray Blackmon kills someone.

CB
Starters:
Pat Lee, SR/Jonathan Wilhite, SR/Jerraud Powers, SO
Backups:
Walter McFadden, SO/Zach Gilbert, SR

I dotn have much to say about these guys. Wilhite used to impress me, but had a lackluster season in 06. Jerraud Powers show promise. Im empcting a lot of rotating of players. I jut dont know much about them.

S
Starters:
Eric Brock, SR
Aarion Savage, SO
Backups:
Michael McNeil, FR
Zac Ethridege, RS FR

Savage and Brock are solid. Both are good hitters. Word on the street is that Freshman Michael McNeil is ready to play. He is big, fast, and like to hit.

Special Teams
K Wes Byrum or Ross Gornall
P Ryan Shoemaker
KR Tristan Davis and Mario Fannin
PR Mario Fannin

As far as kickers go, who knows how they will turn out. Gornall won the battle in the spring, but the position will be wide open next week. Byrum supposedly has a good leg. Shoemaker will be soild. Look for the return game to be one of the best in the nation once again. Tristan Davis will return a few all the way this year. He is due big time. He led the neation in return yardage last season.

Now a look at the schedule.

K-State I think Auburn wins easily, showing normal first game rust
South Florida Mark Slabach of ESPN, surprsingly picke SF for this one. I think not. It might be semi close, but Auburn wins. I saved the link from Slabach's story to rub it in his face.
Miss St. Win, no explanation neccessary
Mew Mexico St Win
Florida This one is tough. Playing at the swamp will be no cakewalk. But all the talent Florida lost last years makes me think Auburn can hang. Ill call it a Loss, but I think its a winnable game.
Vandy Even though they have some talent and will play hard, AU wins
Arkansas Very winnable. McFadden will get a taste of Blackmon. That will make for an intersting matchup: Manchild vs Manchild. I say AU triumphs
LSU Another tough road game. Winnable. Call me crazy, I think we win
Ole Miss Win
Tennessee Tech Not even gonna address this one, that doesnt mean the team shouldnt.
Georgia Its in Athens, so AU will win
Bammer All this tlk about Bama being back, but no one has seen them play or win a game yet. Only time will tell if they have the ability to break the streak. We can always expect them to play hard, but Im confident in that the game is in Auburn, and that we have more talent and less thugs who have been kicked off the team, AU gets the 6th straight.

That gives a 11-1 record. Be advised that this could be a 9-3 or 10-2. Less than 10 wins is a disappointment to me. This team has the talent to go to Atlanta, it just needs some luck in staying healthy and being the right situation at the right time, which ios true of every team, each year. No one is talking about Auburn this year, which makes me think they will over acheive, as they like being the underdog. Sooner or later this "dont rank me high" outlook has got to go and the team has to want high expectations from someone other than coaches and actually deliver. Thats when we become elite.

Also, I saw this picture earlier this summer of the new jumbo-tron being installed. Thats more like it!

Bammers are funny

2007-07-23T08:35:00.000-06:00

Here's a funny story for you. Im living and working in Charleston, SC this summer. Its a great place, very classy, dignified, and beautiful. I have very much enjoyed living here, although I miss Auburn and Im ready to be back for some Auburn football (its good for the soul).

Anyway, this past Friday evening at midnight, I was at Books-A-Million for the midnight release of the final Harry Potter book (laugh if you want). Keep in mind, that for the summer, I have briefly escaped all of the "Bama's Back", "Got Saban?", yatta yatta yatta running of mouths. In its stead, has been a small amount of educated and well informed discussion of South Carolina football(and Auburn football in return) and SEC football in general. I have run into a few Florida fans, and when they find out my allegiance to the greatest school of all time, they immediately spout out their supposed greatness. I of course reply with a deflating stab of "who beat Florida last year? without any offensive touchdowns? Oh yeah, that was Auburn." Some of them throw out the "oh we got screwed, that called fumble was crap..." but most of them just kinda crawl back into the fetal position and say "yeah yeah". But for the most part, every Carolina, Florda, and SEC fan here has been pleasant to discuss football with. Ive tried not to be rude to Carolina fans, giving them their due for playing us exceptionally hard last year, as I have no reason to be rude to them.

But back to the story: I was in line at the book store, and who should end up behind me, but a large man who over hears me saying I was from Alabama. He then proceeds to tell me and the young lady whom I was speaking to that there is nothing good to do in Alabama. I answer with a quick, "not where Im going back to, I love Auburn." He replies, saying that he is an Alabama fan. A mixture of resentment and nausea swept over me, as I knew what was coming. He asked me how he thought "that new coach" would do. I told him how that coach did, was not of any concern to me, or any Auburn fan. It only matters one day a year.

He also went on telling me of the various memorabilia and Bear Bryant paraphernalia he had in his place of living (which Im sure must've. been a double wide). After his ramblings, which I tried my best to tune out, I asked if he went to UAT (knowing good and well the answer and I didnt even have to ask) to which he responded with a No. I fought every urge to make a clever comment about sidewalk alumni and I even left out the fact that we have won 5 straight over Bammer. By this time, I had reached the counter, where I received my book. It just made me laugh, you can always count on the to find a way to slightly taint such a nice place. No matter where I go, and how the place Im in changes, Bammers are all the same.

** Disclaimer** I am fully aware that there are educated Bama fans who can actually have a well informed discussion of anything. This story is mainly to confirm that there are those stereotypical Bammers, and they are everywhere, in large quantities.

2007-07-13T18:05:00.002-06:00

Cody's runs

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This is the most amazing, ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Its like Tre Smith (only in the Bama game in 2002) on acid. This is PEE WEE football. Note to Tommy Tuberville: offer him a scholarship NOW.

Thoughts

2007-07-09T09:11:00.000-06:00

Recently, there was an article out about Auburn's refusal to schedule big non conference opponents. I agree that Auburn has been pretty weak in this area. Our non conference games in the last few years: Citadel, LA Monroe, Ark St, Tenn Tech, La Tech, Tulane, etc. During football season I would wonder why non SEC games were so dull. Bingo, the light comes on. The most exciting non conference game recently I have experienced was last year's opener vs. WSU. I think most of the excitement came from ESPN and being the first game. We easily handled the cougars. If I think back further, the opener vs USC in '03 was pretty exciting, that is until the game started. While I see some improvement in scheduling with home and home series with West Virginia and Clemson in the coming years, and a slight improvement in caliber of teams (South Florida, New Mexico St, Kansas St.), they are still easy wins and uninteresting games for me as a fan. Sure, we lost big to USC in '03, but we almost beat them in LA in '02 with 2 freshmen starting at receiver, a sophomore Cadillac (who struggled with cramps) and an awful JUCO QB in Daniel Cobb. Give me a road opener vs a team that has done something. Tennessee opens with Cal, Arkansas played USC and soon Texas, Florida has Florida St and Miami, USC plays Notre Dame, etc. The bottom line is that the top tier, widely respected teams play top tier, widely respected teams. Until Auburn nuts up and decides to play some of them, we will never get the respect we feel that we deserve. Until then, all we really have to look forward to this year are untelevised home games at 1:30 PM against crappy teams that will send the crowds home early in the 4th quarter and likely will not gain any exposure or highlights on ESPN. We are banishing ourselves the the scroller at the bottom of the screen while Ohio St., Texas, USC and others alike get all the TV time, highlights, and gameday visits. Honestly, Im tired of these early afternoon snoozers. I want to go to a night game that is on TV and yell so hard that I get a migraine every week, not just when we play LSU or Florida or Bama. Every game should feel like the Auburn Florida game last year. It was the most intense, exciting, deafening game Ive ever been a part of and its one of my fondest memories as a student and Auburn fan. If we want gameday to come to Auburn, we need to give them more than just one chance when we play LSU or 'Bama. I always complain about no respect, but now Im thinking Ill quit complaining about ESPN and start with the Athletics Dept. The reality is that other than our SEC games, we do nothing to earn any respect. When I turn on Sportscenter, I dont like to see highlights of LSU murdering Tulane. I dont think other fans want to see Auburn handling the Citadel (not that there is any tape of it anyway). Its time to stop blaming ESPN and pollsters, and start looking inward.

Excuses (Scott)

2007-07-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

If there is one thing I hate most in sports, it is excuses. (Actually I hate flopping to draw offensive fouls in basketball more, but for emphasis I will exaggerate [lie], and elevate excuses to number one.) Winning is expected – regardless. Losing is offensive – regardless. College football coaches are notorious for the amount of excuses they offer every year. Each football season I have to listen to coaches talk about their lack of experience, loss of seniors, tough schedule, difficulty in finding quality opponents, rule changes, …. The list goes on forever. Tommy Tuberville is no exception. Last year the Tigers finished 11-2, which is a good record; however, it was not good enough to take the Tigers to Atlanta, in my opinion a disappointment. The team played well pretty often, and I am proud of a lot of the games they played. Never-the-less, they loss two games they could have won. The team could have gone undefeated, no excuses.

First I need to address Auburn’s non-conference schedule. I have discussed this at lengths before, and I will continue to do so. It is embarrassing. Washington State is an average team. It has never been more than an average team. They are a team that finishes with a decent record, but is rarely a threat to win the PAC-10. The other teams were: Buffalo, Tulane, and Arkansas St. All pathetic. Whenever talking about Auburn scheduling I hear an unbelievable preponderance of excuses. There is a great variety but they break down into two categories. The first attempt to excuse our non-conference schedules is to deny the problem. People brought up Washington State as if that silenced the issue. There is some saying about one rotten apple not affecting all the other apples. I ignore clichés so I can not recall it to memory, but the inverse of the proverb is equally true, one decent apple does not exculpate all the rotten ones. For this years upcoming season I already hear fans speaking in a manner that I assume only intends to deceive themselves – fans talking as if Kansas State or New Mexico State might give Auburn trouble. That is ridiculous. Auburn might play down to one of those teams, and keep it close for a little while, but neither team has any shot to win. If you honestly believe that either team has a decent chance to win next year, then as a fan you should get your sack clothe and ash ready, because you believe Auburn will be terrible. Some say the non-conference is not an issue because Auburn plays such difficult conference games. Yes there are difficult conference games every year, but let us not be so snobbish as to believe that every SEC team is a great team. This year Auburn will play Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss. More often than not, Arkansas is mediocre, and Houston Nutt will find a way to completely destroy every bit of success they enjoyed last year. Sure, there are tough conference games, but scheduling a quality opponent, will not create a schedule so difficult that the entire season is hopeless. In fact, losing a non-conference game is far more forgivable than losing to an SEC opponent. The sooner Auburn teams and fans stop worrying about the elusive “national championship” and start winning attainable SEC championships, the more respect Auburn will have around the country. Attempting to preserve the undefeated season is not worth boring the fans with games against Southwestern North Dakota State Community College.

The second excuse, one that Athletic Directors love to deliver, is that they tried, but no team wanted to play. As if every team in the nation is deadly afraid of Auburn. The last few teams Auburn scheduled home and home games with fared pretty well (Georgia Tech, USC, Syracuse). If teams like Texas and Ohio State can play each other, then Auburn can find championship contenders to play. The truth is that the Athletic Dept. is either to lazy to do the legwork to find quality opponents, or unwilling to make the necessary away game – both unacceptable. I have heard the argument that fans (especially ones donating large sums of money) would rather have more home games. This is not logical. No sane person would rather get up to watch Auburn play Tennessee Tech in person than watch Auburn play Oklahoma on television. If that person is a rich contributor, all-the-better, they can afford to travel to the game. Play a home-and-home series with a championship contender, and play no Division I-AA teams, no excuses.

At the end of last season, Auburn won a News Year Day Bowl, went 11-2, and had beaten the “national champion.” Yet listening to Tuberville, one would have been amazed we scraped together a win against Tulane. Unless you believe the LSU and Florida games were enormous flukes, then Auburn was at least capable of beating any team. Yet Tuberville would have us understand that we should be incredibly thankful that the team did not play embarrassingly worse. There was a time when coaches gave players credit for winning and took blame for losing (see most articles quoting Bear Bryant after win or loss); those days are over, and coaches are now too media savvy, too self-promoting, and too easily fired. They are able to, enjoy doing, and need to take credit. It is difficult to justify a several million dollar yearly salary. What I could only wish hearing last year was, “Good season, but could have been better. It will be next year.” Do not justify losing or patronize fans, no excuses.

This year I am already trying to acclimate and desensitize myself to the inevitably upcoming excuses. ESPN has recently rated Auburn’s schedule as the fifth toughest, and expect Hugh Nall to say at least 37,905 times that the line is inexperienced (which is true). Yes we lost a lot of linemen last year, and a lot of other players, but so did every other team in the nation. That is the nature of college football. Every player leaves in a few years. Despite this great teams are expected to be good every year, not once in every four years. If this seems impossible to you as a coach, then you should let it be known that you have no intention of being a great team. It should be no surprise that great teams are great because they constantly bring in great recruits. There have been plenty of teams with rosters of underclassmen to play great. Losing experienced players is unavoidable. Attract great recruits, no excuses.

As to this year’s aforementioned difficult schedule, get over it. Auburn has won in Georgia, LSU, and Florida before. Auburn has lost in Auburn before. Home field is valued at only a few points by the guys in Vegas who get paid to know more about football than you and I. Unfortunately, the schedule will cause many people to doubt Auburn’s chances this year, and some coaches will inevitably bring it up to justify a record, if it disappoints. For fans like me who vomit up the excuses that coaches feed us each year, Will Muschamp is a coach after our own hearts. “I don’t care where you play, it’s tough,” he recently said when asked about this year’s schedule. “The schedule is an excuse. I don’t care. I don’t want to hear it.” Just win, no excuses.

2007-07-02T04:53:00.000-06:00

Whats the Difference between Auburn and Alabama?

Auburn agrees to pay 92.5 million for a new basketball arena, Bama agrees to pay 92.5 million for a liar.

Im excited about the new arena. It is scheduled to hold 9600 fans and was modeled after Duke's facility. It looks awesome, and the eye sore that is Beard Eaves Memorial Coliseum will be demolished eventually. The new arena follows campus aesthetics and wont look like a typical cylindrical basketball facility.War Eagle

Wow

2007-05-31T09:08:00.000-06:00

My Hidden Affair (Scott)

2007-04-19T18:53:00.000-06:00

I know this will come as a shock considering I have lived in the state of Alabama my entire life, but I watch the NFL. (I also watch the NBA religiously, but don’t let that get out – they lynch people around here for that.) My favorite team has always been the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like Auburn, Pittsburgh is traditionally a defensive minded team, with a run first offense, but to someone like me the two teams are nothing alike.

First I need to say that I hate offense. For the most part I can be counted on to hate everything exciting, entertaining, or generally attractive in football. I hate long passes; I hate trick plays; I even hate shotgun formations. Defense is the name of the game. I’m the kind of guy who gets my linebacker to win the Heisman in college football video games. Despite a similar team personality, defensively speaking Auburn and Pittsburgh have been night and day, giving me a peculiar split-personality. For the most part I can always count on Auburn playing hard nosed 4-3 man-to-man defense. Sure the occasional cover 2 or cover 1 from the safeties is to be expected but nothing too out of the ordinary. Who needs fancy tricks when superior athleticism and execution do the trick?

For a guy like me, Pittsburgh’s defense is like a guilty pleasure. In the 80s 3-4 defense was all the rage (NFL coach’s for the most part all do the same thing, they’ve practically all been running the same offense since Bill Walsh, and the whole league gets caught up in the same fads and trends); eventually most of the teams went back to the tried and true 4 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 4 defensive backs. Pittsburgh however, didn’t, and consistently had one of the best defenses in run stopping and pass rushing all throughout the nineties. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau made the “zone blitz” famous. So on Saturday conservative old Scott proudly watched his beloved Tigers stifling teams with 4-3 man, while a day later (on the Sabbath no less) I would secretly revel in the exciting 3-4 zone defense of Steel Town.

Perhaps the most important feature of the 3-4 is that on standard defensive plays you want to rush 4 men; ordinarily these would be the 4 defensive linemen, however with only 3 down linemen, the extra rusher comes from any one of the 4 linebackers or in rare occasions one of the defensive backs. The effect is that the quarterback does not know where all the rushers are coming from. Usually the defense plays in a zone relying on a quick and unpredictable pass rush to prevent the quarterback from exploiting holes in the zone (in the scheme speed and strength in the front 7 can make up for lack of speed in the secondary). See how the Steelers frustrated Peyton Manning in the 2006 NFL play-offs. Manning who has a made a career out of being able to read defenses and react, could not tell what the Steelers were doing.

Ok, Scott, you’re oddly obsessed with defenses, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that when Will Muschamp came to Auburn, it was hinted that he would bring a few 3-4 packages. My Auburn Tigers? 3-4? I didn’t really take it too seriously. When David Gibbs was at auburn he tried to use a system that would occasionally switch a linemen to a linebacker similar to what Bama did under Joe Kines’ defense. I think the system was a little too confusing, and we did not really employ it that much. Then Gibbs was gone a year later. Muschamp comes in and word on the proverbial street is to watch out for Quentin Groves to play linebacker in some 3-4 sets. Again, it was rare to see it in any important game situation.

However, now with a year under his belt I’m told to watch out for the Muschamp’s 3-4 again and I am getting scared. The 3-4 is the flashy woman I sleep with when I am away on business, but despite my unfaithfulness, I always love and come back to the 4-3. I know I can count on her. Of course my infidelity could remain a secret for only so long, and the football gods may be punishing me for the rest of my life. I’ve had to suffer through Tuberville running fake punts and attempting fourth down conversions, and whatever other football debaucheries he conjures up, but now the sanctity of the defense I have counted on for so long may be violated. A second middle linebacker will be running through the holy of holies.

I honestly do not expect to see the Tigers spend too much time in the 3-4, but Scott Looney favorite Sen’Derrick Marks has been moved to defensive end. In the 3-4 defensive ends are generally built more like defensive tackles as only 3 linemen are expected to engage 5 offensive linemen, so his presence at the end would be extremely valuable. Also we possess linebackers capable of playing zone coverage or rushing through offensive lines (Tray Blackmon can run through any offensive line and most brick walls), and the aggressive pass rushing will take some heat off our suspect secondary. My only fear is the ability to maintain the interior run defense, which is the obvious potential weakness when you take away one of the defensive tackles.

In conclusion, getting the best 11 players on the field regardless of position and not letting dogmatic conventions get in the way of in game adjustments is the best defensive philosophy. I expect to see Auburn stay, for the most part, showing the same defense it always has, but I’m coming to terms that I will see some zone, and I may even see an extra linebacker. Part of me will be abhorred, but deep in my football id I will be aroused, and I may even come to terms with my repressed desires. Just don’t expect me to like fake punts.

Random Thoughts

2007-04-01T15:39:00.000-06:00

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.

Auburn Basketball

2007-02-01T18:09:00.000-06:00

The Auburn Men's Basketball team has had quite a season thus far. I myself have been to 15 or so games this year and I really like all that I have seen. This team is young and athletic, but far from prolific. They play hard, and that is a great thing to have. However, going beyond the court, these guys are trend setters. I recently learned from my big brother in my fraternity (he is a manager on the team) that the Men's team has started a Bible study. Furthermore, it was said that according to FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), Auburn is the only Division I-A men's team that has a Bible Study. I think that is awesome. I have the privilege of knowing a member of the team. I went to high school and played little league baseball with Drew Smith (#14). Drew is a quality guy who loves the Lord. He walked on as freshman, and he is the shortest white guy on the team, but he is a great player and person (one of the most humble guys I know). As it turns out, Drew is one of the main forces behind this Bible study. I've talked to Drew plenty of times throughout school and I always make it a point to tell him that I hope to get to see him play. Every time, his response has been that he is thrilled to get the chance to even put on the uniform and he is there for a reason. He has known from the beginning that aside from playing basketball he had another reason for being there. Now, we are starting to see it. It speaks volumes for the players and coaches. This is just another one of those things that sets Auburn apart from other places and school. This place is special. War Eagle.

Long Overdue

2007-01-28T13:41:00.000-06:00

My apologies for not posting in a while. I started back to school and it has run my life. Here are some brief thoughts on the Cotton Bowl, which I attended, AU Basketball, recruiting, etc.

Cotton Bowl:

Not too much to say here. It was an ugly win, but a win is a win. An 11 win season is nothing to sneer at. That was actually quite an accomplishment considering the lack of big play makers. Also, remember, Auburn was the only team to beat to BCS bowl teams (LSU and Florida). Auburn was also the only team to beat the National Champ Florida Gaytors. I will say this about our bowl game. . . Will Herring was all over the field. The Iron and Cotton bowls to me saw Will playing the most comfortable at linebacker he had been all season. CT will be severely missed. He wasn't the deep threat we all wanted but he caught everything and his leadership is irreplaceable.

As far as the Blackmon/Lester/Sears suspensions, I hate to see it but Tuberville has made it clear he wont tolerate rule breakers. Sears is gone, but Blackmon is young and could have bright future. I think he will be allowed back provided he takes the proper steps to correct his attitude and behavior. On Lester's side, I just think it was grades. He will be a star next year. Kudos to Tubbs for skipping the ice cream cone punishment philosophy.

Bama:

The activities recently by Alabama are disturbing. Granted they got the coach they wanted. That's all fine and dandy. Frankly, Nick Saban doesn't scare me, or any other Auburn fan or player. Players win games, not coaches. Alabama showed just how desperate they are by investing so much money (which could have gone to better the school or give academic scholarships to those who deserve it) in a coach who has proven he isn't long term material. I just think its absurd to pay that much. After all, it is a UNIVERSITY whose goal is to educate. It just seems like the priorities are out of order. Paying Saban 4 million a year is taking a lot from deserving students and new buildings on campus. Also, Saban attitude toward recruiting this year is pretty classless. His philosophy is if they haven't signed, they are fair game. Now that is a true statement, but I have read some articles about the stuff he is telling players. It is pretty ballsy.

AU Basketball:

Man. It is great to see some success here. The Bama game the other night was phenomenal. First sellout since 99 when Chris Porter was here. The atmosphere was great. That was the first time seeing the place full so that was a great experience. I haven't seen an AU basketball team play that well in a long time. I have been to about 13 or 14 games this season. The team is very young and athletic. They aren't flashy but they play hard. Against Bama, they could do no wrong. The Florida game, well wasn't so great. It also sold out. Attendance was 11,700 which was the largest crowd since 94. But Auburn didn't play near as well as they did against Bama. I will say that the Officiating was awful. I'm not claiming that it cost us the game, but the poor calls kept us from having chances to make a comeback. But good things are ahead for the program. Maybe a long shot chance to get into the big tourney or at least the NIT.

Recruiting:

I'm sure everyone knows we picked up a big commitment from Lee Ziemba, a 5 star lineman from Arkansas. Also, Enrique Davis reaffirmed his commitment to Auburn and add in the promise from Kodi Burns and Auburn's 2007 class is top 10 material. Expect a few more commitments this week to solidify a strong class. I will post a breakdown on each player after signing day.

That's all for now. 2007 outlook coming soon.

By the way, if you haven't ever checked out theauburner, you should. Those guys are geniuses.

Auburn and its' women

2006-12-24T12:55:00.000-06:00

A very beautiful someone recently suggested I write a piece on the simple fact that Auburn has the most beautiful women. I wondered if people who read a blog about Auburn sports would want to see this type of article. Then i also began pondering how what the artcile would entail. . . and i concluded that it was a worthy piece to write.

Fact. Auburn women are the most beautiful women in the world. This is especially true if you are an Auburn man yourself. I'm sure you could find a Kentucky, Ole Miss, or Vanderbilt student/alumni who argue that their respective schools house the world's finest selection of females. But being the biased Auburn lover that I am, I will give them credit for having good looking girls, but will never believe that any other schools are capable of allowing a man to sit on a picnic table on a spring afternoon and just watch the "scenery" go by and be in total amazement of its beauty like you can at Auburn. Auburn simply has a larger percentage of these girls than any other school.

Lee Corso said it best. "I love Auburn, Auburn has the most beautiful women in the world..." Although his prediction of the Auburn-Florida game was dead wrong, his statement about Auburn women was dead on. There is nothing better than a girl dressed in orange and blue with a game face tattoo on Saturday. I think it is safe to say it is every man's dream.

After careful consideration and thought I have ranked SEC schools by how beautiful the women there are. Note: little time was spent on numbers 2-12. The number 1 spot however has been determined after a lifetime of thought and research.

1. Auburn
2. Ole Miss
3. Vanderbilt
4. Kentucky
5. Florida
6. South Carolina
7. UGA
T8. Tennessee
T8. LSU
T8. Alabama
T8. Mississippi State
T8. Arkansas

I concede that all school have great looking girls. This list is pretty much a toss up after the 1st five. I basically just went on reputation.

This is why no one wants to coach at Bama

2006-12-12T07:26:00.000-06:00

Paul Finebaum (the biggest, biased Bama lover there is) has effectively illustrated for all the world to see, the exact reason no one wants to coach at Bama. And that reason is the same problem that the Israelites had.....a golden calf, or should I say a golden Bear. That gold idol, which sits near the entrance to Jordan Hare - West Wing....is why my grandmother turned down the job at Tuscalooser. The Bama nation has too many lofty expectations for a coach and no patience to see them met. Finebaum wrote a story fabricating a converstaion with the dead Paul "Bear" Bryant. When will they realize how rediculous it is to expect to win a championship and beat all your rivals every year. In today's college football, everyone can play. Plus, remember that "any given saturday" saying? Just ask Mississippi St. They believe it, and you'd think after losing to them, Bama might realize it. The bottom line, is that Bama is too impatient, otherwise they might be moving forward. They should've given Shula more time, believe it or not, he had the program movong forward. If you're gonna hire a rookie HC, you have to provide him time to learn how to win, and Shula was doing it. Just not as fast as the sidewalk alumni wanted, so out the door he goes.

***this is awesome....check out this photo of Finebaum

Hey Bammers....here is a tip....the most important trait of winners is consistency. No, not playing consistently, but consistency in coaching. When you can keep a coach for longer than 4 years, you'll start seeing results. Just ask us Auburn fans. Mind you, we had our growing pains with Tuberville...see 2003. Many people wanted him gone, and I had my doubts too, but boy was I wrong. After Tubs' 5th season, that corner was turned. He has put this program as one of the elite in the nation and in position to win championships. He recruits as good as anyone, and now has high school players thinking Auburn. Consistency is key (Tubs is now 6-2 v Bama, and 5 straight). We've been through several coordinators, but the HC and the way the program is run remains constant, and that is a huge reason for any team's success. Want another example? Hoover. Enough said.

Why is Mal Moore Untouchable? (Scott)

2006-12-11T04:49:00.003-06:00

I’m not sure why it is, but for whatever reason being an Auburn fan has me connected to Alabama football in some strange way. On the sporting landscape can not talk about Auburn for too long without Alabama being brought up. It’s like mentioning John Stockton in a sentence without Karl Malone, or discussing Wilt Chamberlain without mentioning Bill Russell. So, of course I have an opinion on the (insert word here) that is Alabama coaching.

I am not even sure what to call the Alabama coaching position. A carousel? A revolving door? Death row? A time bomb? The tide goes through coaches faster than Quentin Groves goes through their offensive line. I am beginning to think the guy in charge of hiring these guys needs to be looked at. The only list that dwarfs recent Alabama coaches is the list of coaches that have snubbed Alabama’s offers. Where does the confidence in Mal Moore come from? Sure he may have been a good positional coach in the seventies, but since becoming the director of athletics in 1999 what has really accomplished? Basketball has flourished under his reign, but remember that Mark Gottfried was hired the year before Moore’s promotion.

He has done a fantastic job of raising funds for renovating athletic facilities, and the expansion of Bryant-Denny turned out fantastic. However, Alabama keeps letting the guy handle the job that he has proven incapable of doing – they even named a building after the guy.

So far Alabama has mismanaged the coach-finding process pretty well. They offered Nick Saban too much money, and then did not offer Rich Rodriguez enough. Rodriguez ended up giving Bama just enough attention to get what he wanted out of West Virginia. Maybe Alabama should swallow their pride and go for a current coordinator rather than trying to find a current head coach. Every great coach was a coordinator at some point, and it won’t involve paying a huge buyout or an enormous salary. I just would not trust the guy who gave Mike Shula a big raise the year before Shula gets fired to him to find the right coach.

I have accepted that my fandom will always be affected buy Alabama football, but lately Mal Moore keeps tarnishing Auburn with his crappy efforts aside from screwing over the Crimson faithful.

(On a side note, once Shula was fired I put my money on Paul Johnson to be Alabama’s next football coach. I think he would bring the option back to Bama and force Auburn to learn to defend quarterbacks who run the ball. Let’s wait, watch, and see if I am as smart as I think I am.)

Christmas Cheer

2006-12-10T23:57:00.000-06:00

Credit this to the guys at War Damn Tailgate...great work guys. Link

UP ON THE CAPSTONE
Sung to the tune of “Up on the Rooftop,” a timeless Christmas ditty.

Up on the Capstone Aubie’s paws
Scribbled Shula’s Severance Clause!
Down thru the season with lots of moans
All for the little ones - ICE CREAM CONES!!!!!!

Ho, ho, ho!
Five in a row!
Ho, ho, ho!
Row Tahd Row???
Up on the Capstone
Click, clack, click
Bambi’s a duckin’
To avoid a brick!

First four fingers, was Tubs that dumb,
To taunt Alabama with his thumb?
Plans for revenge UA did hatch,
But their O-Line stinks. “Pew! Light a match!”

Ho, ho, ho!
Five in a row!
Ho, ho, ho!
Row Tahd Row???
Up on the Capstone
Clack, click, clack
Wilson and Shula
Have both been sacked!

Mal dug out his big checkbook
To find a coach that he could hook.
”No!” said Stevie, as did Nick,
Rich did too, Now he’s a dick?

Ho, ho, ho!
Five in a row!
Ho, ho, ho!
Row Tahd Row???
Watch the program
Down the hole!
”Enjoy your
In-de-pen-dence Bowl!”

War Eagle!

I came here to get the BCS fixed, don’t tell me it works! (Scott)

2006-12-05T06:03:00.000-06:00

Everyone is always spouting his or her thoughts on the BCS, so I know you’re thinking, “Great, now I get to read this idiot’s opinion.” First, who are you calling an idiot? Second, my opinion is distinct because I think it has always “worked.”

We have the BCS to create a championship game. Before the BCS the top 3 or 4 teams in the country would always play someone else, which was in some ways more exciting and in some ways less. Either way, a championship game is what we wanted, and a championship game is what we have been given. What I think is funny is almost each year the BCS formula gets “fixed” as if it was broken, when it has done exactly what we wanted it to do.

Take this year: only one undefeated team from a major conference and two solid one loss teams to choose from. It’s a tough decision so we have a formula that does it for us. In 2003-04, USC was ranked 1^st; however, it was left out of the BCS championship game. They complained about it to no end, and then maintained that they had won the Championship so adamantly that most people have since forgotten that LSU actually won the BCS championship that year. The complaint was that Oklahoma had lost their conference championship, and thus did not deserve to win. However they still went undefeated in the regular season and had more wins than USC that year. There were three really good one loss teams. Sure they loss their conference championship game, but USC didn’t even have to play a championship game (the PAC-10 has since remedied that by having each team play each other in the regular season). There were three legitimate one-loss teams to choose from, and again the BCS formula came in and made the decision for us.

2004-05 was different. This year Michigan should not be able to complain because if they had beaten Ohio State once, they would not need to play them again. In 2003 if USC had won all of its games they would not have had to convince the nation they won the national title even though they did not. In 2004-05 Auburn did everything they could. They made it through a tough schedule winning dominantly. However, so did Oklahoma and Southern Cal. I was not happy with the results, but the BCS did its job and picked 2 teams.

These are just a few recent examples but there are more that I will not go into (98-99, 00-01, 01-02 seasons). The fact is the nation title in college football is little more than a myth. A group of you and your friends could get together and decide to name a national champion each year, and it would have as much validity as the Associated Press Poll, the Coach’s Poll, or the Harris Poll. All the BCS does is use a formula to determine the two highest ranked teams and pit them against each other. It has yet to fail in that regard because it defines how it will rank them. Each year people say that the formula needs to be tweaked, but essentially it’s just reshuffling the same deck of cards. Every year that the BCS has wrecked “havoc” a different formula would have wrecked the same havoc just with possibly different teams. An undefeated team was getting left out of the Orange Bowl in 2005 no matter what.

A playoff fixes this, but at a cost that must be acknowledged. College football has the best regular season in American sports, because there is virtually no post-season; every game matters. This is important because the NFL has better football every Sunday. Professional athletes are much better, the league is much better managed, even the refs are much better. The NFL has a great playoff, and that is when I get more excited about it. I don’t get that emotional about a regular season game, because in the back of my mind I know, one loss does not really matter now, it’s not the playoffs yet.

That is what makes the NCAA football season better than the NFL’s. Each game matters, each game is invested with emotion. If you take that away, I’m not as happy when my team wins, and I’m not as sad when they lose. Essentially I am watching a game of football emotionally detached, and if I am going to do that, give me the NFL where defensive linemen run 4.5 forties, my stadium seats have backs on them, and the referees don’t blow games.

Many people understand this and still want a playoff. The prospect of a true National Champion is worth diminishing the regular season. What do I think? I said earlier there are too many opinions on television and the internet so I won’t clutter it up with one more. I just want you to understand the trade-off, when you criticize the BCS or call for a playoff.

2006-11-30T13:28:00.000-06:00

I thought this was funny. Here is the link.

"All across the SEC, fans are crying. That's because Mike Shula is no longer the football coach of the University of Alabama.

This is all the more surprising because 11 of the 12 fan bases in the SEC were fervent Shula supporters. Why? Because Shula had redefined the field goal kicking legacy at Alabama. There was talk that soon the Lou Groza Award was going to be renamed in Shula's honor. Now that's completely out the window. So sad.


Hey Mike -- bring back the Bear on your way out! (Getty Images)

Gone will be the steely-eyed indecision, the clenched-jaw before reckless handoffs into the center of the line, the fetal position as the preferred method to keep from fumbling, and the coach who you knew, no matter what, would find a way to lose each game that he trailed in the fourth quarter.

Some people say that reliability is a thing of the past. I say that's balderdash. There was no surer bet than Mike Shula losing when he trailed in the fourth quarter.

The guys behind keepmikeshula.com are, predictably, in mourning. Even though the site isn't draped with pixelated black bunting, it should be. Here is part of their advice on how to cope:

"Perhaps you feel that the Bear isn't listening -- that often your cries for help seem to be unheeded. Your heart echoes the cries of despair and desolation of the ghosts of Bama past, who kept calling out to Bear for deliverance. Remember that that Bear answered them, sometimes in unexpected ways, and not always while sober. Sometimes, of course, you are meant to raise your crimson shaker and mix up a fresh George Dickel your own damn self!"

It's readily apparent that Alabama fans have reacted to Shula's dismissal with characteristic rationality and the complete and utter modesty for which they have attained universal renown. The search for Shula's replacement has already commenced and rumors run rampant on the message boards as to who the new coach will be. Everyone has an inside source, a friend with connections, each message board poster is eternally the third cousin twice-removed of the guy who pilots the university plane.

Thanks to my newfound SEC street cred over the DDT, I was able to get a list of the top 11 candidates that the Alabama search committee has vetted along with their notes analyzing the pros and cons of each candidate. I have changed nothing from this list and replicate it forthwith for your own perusal:

1. Bear Bryant -- Pros: Won 14 million national championships and once wrestled a bear. Cons: Is currently still dead (confirm?).

2. Jesus Christ -- Pros: Once rose from the dead, ergo long hours are not going to be an issue. Healed the sick, made fish for thousands, and other miracles. Plus, He has been crucified so being burned in effigy after He loses to Auburn for the sixth consecutive year will not be a big deal. Cons: There have been suggestions that He gets the benefit of the doubt because of who His father is. And we've been through that already.

3. Bear Bryant -- Pros: Won 14 million national championships and once wrestled a bear. Cons: After diligent inquiry, body exhumation and shock treatment to remains, sadly, the Bear remains dead.

4. Moses -- Pros: Pretty strong disciplinarian. Was involved in the Ten Commandments. Cons: Rigid adherence to the Ten Commandments makes recruiting harder. Also, he has a beard. The Bear did not have a beard.

5. Shelley Meyer -- Pros: Is rumored to be the brains behind Florida coach Urban Meyer. This could help us in recruiting by dividing the Meyer family. Plus, since we passed on hiring a black coach, it would be quite a splash to hire football's first female coach. We'd be like that school that hired Goldie Hawn. And we all know how good Wesley Snipes ended up playing for her. Cons: Is a woman. The Bear was not a woman.

6. Bill Belichick -- Pros: Supposedly this Super Bowl is sort of a big deal. He's won three of them. Cons: Bear Bryant would have won, conservatively, 33 million Super Bowls if he had coached in the NFL.

7. Tim Tebow -- Pros: Player-managers have been successful in baseball, why not a scholarship athlete-coach? We'd be revolutionary. The football equivalent of the electric toothbrush. Cons: Tim Tebow doesn't like us.

8. Ed Orgeron -- Pros: Almost as unintelligible as the Bear when he speaks. Cons: Could be charged with several felonies on any given Saturday.

9. That coach from the Friday Night Lights television show -- Pros: Proves to everyone that Alabama can think outside the box (and inside the teletube box, too). That we're able to adapt to new paradigms. That we understand the long tail and how it impacts the rapidity of globalization. (Insert other new-agey business terms here to sound smart for media.) Cons: Football games aren't won with newfangled contraptions like the video cassette recorder or helmets. Everyone knows they're won with houndstooth hats.

10. Tom Berenger -- Pros: Actually played the Bear in a recent movie and is still alive. Also played Jake Taylor in Major League so he knows the importance of turning a losing team around. Cons: Is currently slated to star in the movie The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. Everyone knows there has only ever been one Christmas Miracle and we aren't even willing to hire Jesus. How would the boosters react?"

The Devil and the Bear

2006-11-20T09:46:00.000-06:00

Note: This is written in good fun and is only meant to be funny. Please do not take this seriously. It is my sincere hope that the Bear is indeed in heaven.

On Sunday, Decatur Daily writer Bradley Handwerger wrote an article on the 2006 Iron Bowl. In it was this quote:

"Somewhere in heaven, Paul "Bear" Bryant" must have sat in shock."

It made me laugh. While I'm sure the Bear was in shock, I chuckled at the fact that Handwerger assumed he was in heaven. I cant in fact say that he is not because, well, Im not God. But every account of the Bear I've ever heard stated that even though he was a winner, he was an alcoholic, and not overly friendly. It is common knowledge the he usually had a bottle of Jack in his hand. With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that Mr Bryant sold his soul to the devil, in exchange for success and championships while at UA. Here is how I think it all went down.

The devil was sitting on top of a rock outside his trailer (in Northport, AL, just outside Tuscalooser) brainstorming on how to gain more support. He brushes over hypnotics, brainwashing, and subliminal messages and agrees that while those might work on a few people, he wanted something that would sweep the area and win him countless number of idiot souls.

Then all of the sudden, a drunk carrying a bottle of Jack and wearing an ugly checkered hat is tumbles into his backyard after running into his clothesline, which his cape was drying on. Another man falling into my alcohol trap, it never fails he thought to himself. After some swift kicks to the head, the man came to. He sat up and looked around and realized who sat in front of him.

"You're. . .y-you're the - !"

"Devil. Yep, thats right. From the look of it, this won't be the last time we meet."

The two conversed for a minute, then Paul had a brilliant idea.

"I have a proposition. Right now, I'm an OK coach, but I want to be great. So great, that people worship me and form a cult in my honor. I want to win championships, cheat and get away with it, and have people dress like me and tattoo pictures of me on their entire back. So, if you can give me these things, you can have my soul."

Now the devil knew that he already had this man's soul. But he envisioned greater things. He thought of all the people who would worship this man, and want to know him and act like him. He knew then he could use this man to gain a large number of souls. The devil of course, would not reveal his plan to Bryant. So he just played along.

"You know what, I think I can do all of those things for you," the devil replied smugly. "Just know when you shake my hand, it is done for good."

The Bear instantly grabbed his hand and shook it rigorously in excitement. "Hell Yeah!" he said. "I'm gonna be the greatest coach in Bama history!"

So as promised, the devil delivered. Bama won many games and 6 championships under the Bear. He created a following so large, that many of those who idolized the Bear passed on this idiotic obsession to their kids and friends, who weren't even alive when it all happened. Many of these didn't even attend the University of Alabama. The devil ended up getting even more souls than he bargained for. Still to this day he wins souls for his cause thanks to the dead drunk. As it turns out, when the Bear died, he didn't even take Bryant's soul. After it was rejected from Heaven, he figured by leaving it in Tuscalooser, it would float around and permeate the place, winning even more souls after people could feel the spirit of the Bear.

Down the road, Auburn people cant help but laugh at the obsession about the Bear and how many people think he is still alive. They know they will never return to the store bought glory that they had experienced.

A few years back, a man named Tommy took the job as the coach at Auburn. God came to him as he slept.

"Tommy, wake up," God called.

"Is that you God?" answered Tommy, as he knew the Lord well.

"Yes, good and faithful servant. I want you to know that I have put you here to defeat Bama. The Bear made a deal with the devil in the past, and I want you to rectify the situation. Everyone knows I'm an Auburn fan, thats why the sun is orange and the sky is blue. I could have prevented the devil to give Bama success, but I let it go so that I could punish them, and let the world see that Auburn is better. Now is that time. Go and share the good news by winning, recruiting, and dominating Bama."

"I will go, Lord. Thank you for choosing me. I promise to glorify you with every win or loss. I will plant your seed in all of my players hearts, making sure that they know that everything is for your glory."

Then God left Tommy, and so it began.

*Since making it a home-home series, Auburn leads 10-2. War Eagle!

On Bama's Fans

2006-11-19T17:05:00.000-06:00

Apparently an anonymous Bama student wrote this after being in the student section yesterday.

"The Alabama Student Section at the 2006 Iron Bowl was so rude and classless, I was embarrassed to be wearing my Alabama shirt. College guys were flicking off kids and cursing at them b/c they were just being kids and yelling "War Eagle". The college guys were acting more like children than the actual kids. A guy looked at my sister and said, "They're all b******s!" He said that b/c she was with her husband who is an Auburn fan. How much more classless can you get? I attend the University of Alabama, but I'm not so sure that I'm an actual fan anymore. I have been to many other college football games and I have never seen what I saw Saturday. When the Auburn players' names were called out, Alabama students proceeded to say, "You suck!" after every name. I have never heard that at ANY football game I've ever been to. I hate to say it, but I'm glad Auburn won b/c their fans have a little more class than ANY Alabama fan I've ever met. I have no respect for the Alabama Student section as a whole now. I know that every single college student at Alabama did not act like this Saturday, but for the most part, the student section was an embarrassment."

I have heard quite a few stories about how classless they were. Here is another. Its great to be an Auburn Tiger.

Two Thumbs Up

2006-11-18T22:47:00.000-06:00

*Insert token thumb idiom here*

Thumb War, One for the Thumb, Thumbtastic, Thumbs Up, Rule of Thumb, Thumbellina. . . you name it, we will see it in tomorrow's papers.

First of all, WAR DAMN EAGLE! Five in a row is pretty sweet. I was thinking the other day about how I hated that we had gotten so used to dominating Bama. I thought how much it will suck if we ever lose to them again, but i knew it wouldn't be for a while. I was right. For that reason, I think its a good time to go ahead and add "Jordan-Hare West Wing" as the new name of Bama's stadium, because we own it. 6-0 at an opposing teams home turf is redonkulous. Also, Tommy Tuberville Field @ Bryant Denny will suffice. As long as it shows that Aubunr has home field advantage whenever they come. The Auburn football team actually walked out onto the field 1st, which is usually when the home team walks out. How appropriate.

Random thoughts on the game:

I have no clue how they kept CT's hamstring injury on Wed a secret, but I heard/read nothing of it.

Quentin Groves. What a great game. He might as well have been wearing number 75 in Bama's eyes. 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles. Awesome. Look for him to be SEC Defensive player of the week.

Will Herring was all over the field. That was the first time Id seen him play that well at the LB spot. While he has been good, tonight he was great. What a way to break the consecutive start record.

Kenny had a great game, along with Brad Lester. Brad is special. He runs with some much passion.

Prechae-te It. Thank you Mr. Rodriguez for remembering how to catch.

Cox's number werent anything near decent. They arent as indicative as to how well he played. He managed the game well, eliminated last week's mistakes, and had several clutch throws. Ill take clutch vs. Sarah Jessica Parker Wilson's 2 fumbles and better numbers. However, Wilson is a good QB. Watch out for him next year.

Tristan Davis played well in Eric Brock's stead. Once again, he is electric on KO returns and he made some big hits.

Tray Blackmon also had some big hits. He definitely has a nose for the ball.

Apparently some Bama students were as classless as Terrence Jones. They threw water bottles on the field at our players after the game, and Jones hit Lester/Cox while in their Victory formation. I guess Id wanna hit them too if i never win.

On another note, Kodi Burn's commitment to Auburn is huge. This kid excites me. Ive seen his highlight videos and i watched a video fo him talking about his commitment. He seems very intelligent and very committed to Auburn. This kid will be our next starter in 2008. He will reshirt next year, and will challenge Caudle for the job . I just dont think Caudle or Ensminger have what it takes. Burns is a combination of Jason Campbell and Dameyeune Craig. I expect big things from him. He has a strong arm, and he can run like Vick. Auburn already has 19 in its' recruiting class and its not even recruiting season yet. For anyone interested here is a highlight real and here is his interview

Ouch (Scott)

2006-11-11T18:01:00.000-06:00

I said this to my roommate as we walked to the game Saturday morning: “Georgia is a scary team, because Auburn always plays to the perceived talent of our opponent. When we played LSU we knew they were good so we came out and played amazing defense. When we played Ole Miss, Auburn knew they were not good, so we came out and didn’t play well, but good enough to win. When we played Arkansas, Auburn thought they were not good, only Arkansas was very good, and we got beat very badly. Georgia has played below their talent all year long, so their perceived talent is very low, but they still have a lot of actual talent on their team.”

I am not claiming to have called the Georgia upset - I still thought Auburn would win. It turns out this theory of perceived talent was right instead.

It’s the reason I’m a bad student, the Auburn coaching staff were bad coaches, and the UGA coaching staff came away with a much needed upset. Homework. Like myself, the Auburn coaches had not done their homework, and Mark Richt’s team studied like that kid who always sets the curve too high in your hardest class. When Tray Blackmon was lined up to blitz the outside and Dede was covering a back or tight end running outside, Georgia’s offensive coordinator and Mathew Stafford knew that Stafford could run right up the middle.

South Carolina torched Auburn by having their quarterback run the ball when we committed too much to the blitz. The funny part is that while South Carolina’s Syvelle Newton is ridiculously fast, there is no way that Stafford runs 40 yards under 5 seconds, and I’m giving him a running start. The Georgia coaches knew that even though their quarterback wouldn’t win the 100 meter dash at the Special Olympics he would still be able to get a first down on us on some of the most critical downs. They knew what our screen passes looked like, they knew how to exploit our pass protection, they knew our team.

I have not seen much of Georgia this year. I don’t think our coaches have either. Jonathon Wilhite, David Irons, and Jerraud Powers were each outright beaten by the receivers they were covering. Georgia was able to isolate our corners and make play at will. Maybe the secondary missed Eric Brock more than anyone thought they would have (he is probably our best player in the secondary), but our pass coverage was terrible. Our blitzes were either picked up or badly exposed to run up the middle. There is a time for fancy blitzes, but when they do not work, that is the time to give up on sending extra pass rushers.

Homework or no homework, Brandon Cox was making it tough on Auburn too.

Gotta love it

2006-11-06T23:20:00.000-06:00

The guys at theauburner never cease to amaze me. Check out their shirts. Good stuff.

Low, even for Bama

2006-11-06T22:51:00.000-06:00

This article, written by a Bammer, is pretty ridiculous. The jist of it says: Kick Miss St. out of the SEC, bring in Memphis or Southern Miss. Translated into Bammer speak: Waaaaaaaaah, mommy, Miss St. hit me and made me look like a bunch of little girls. Give them a spanking...Waahhhhhhhh!!

All I have to say is wow. But, if I think on it, it's not that surprising. Bama fans are forced to come up with new ways to deal with inferiority. If the SEC kicks anyone out, it should be the Red Ripple. They are the ones "embarrassing" the conference with their pay for play tactics and booster shenanigans (mind you we have our own booster problems, but paying players isn't quite the same as trying to hire another coach). Face it Bama. You are a lower to mid tier SEC team who got your butts handed to you on Saturday by a pretty talented football team. Just ask Randy Kennedy What I saw, was an O-line that gave Michael Henig plenty of time to throw, and a D-line that gave JP Wilson none. I saw a talented freshman tailback make some big runs (hint, he wasnt wearing crimson). Not to mention the poor coaching and preparation by the UA staff. All Miss St. and Sly Croom lack are a few more big recruits, and a little more consistency and they will be competitive.

In other news, the BCS is still gay. We win by the largest margin of any top 7 team, and we get jumped by Texas. Florida who narrowly beat Vandy and lost to Auburn, remains #4. Im gonna go ahead and call Rutgers beating Louisville. Also, it will be hard pressed to get a Tennessee victory over Arkansas but it can happen. I really thoght USC was gonna do it and I was crushed when Arkansas intercepted them on their game winning drive. Blake Mitchell played well and Sidney Rice made some unbelievable catches. The Hogs are a good football team though. I wasnt surprised to see Mustain struggle. Darren McFadden single handedly won the game against us.

Our game, went for the most part, well. They were sloppy, but the D played much better. John Vaughn for Heisman, or Lou Groza. He deserves it. Ben Tate continues to impress me. The guy can outrun or plow through a defender. He's gonna be an All American. CT looked great, and Lee Guess had a great catch and run. Anyway thats all for now. War Eagle! Go Vols! Go Knights!

Goodbye and Thanks (Scott)

2006-11-06T22:26:00.000-06:00

(Warning: the following article contains pathos and cheesiness uncharacteristic of its author specifically the fourth and sixth paragraphs)

My favorite member of the Auburn football staff is retiring this Saturday. It’s not a coach, an administrator, a chaplain, or even a ball boy. Tiger also known as War Eagle VI is retiring from his duties as the official War Eagle. She has witnessed 247 games, 2 undefeated seasons, and 4 SEC titles. Of course she has also seen teams on probation, coaching scandals, and 3 losing seasons. Her record is officially 174-69-4, but she doesn’t know what a win or loss is. The eagle is at every game regardless of the team’s performance, and I think that represents an ideal of Auburn spirit. When we see her flying around the stadium with thousands of fans cheering you see potential.

A paper covered tree on Toomer’s Corner celebrates the past. Auburn won, and the Auburn family celebrated. The few moments where the eagle flies around the stadium celebrates the future, the sixty minutes of fighting coming up. We don’t know if Auburn will win or lose, and those feelings of anticipation for the unknown give every Auburn fan chills as he or she watches the eagle circle the stadium.

Take our across-the-state “friends” at Alabama. They will probably finish their season with a 2-6 SEC record (their two wins being 3 point wins against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss), and an embarrassing fifth strait loss to Auburn. They upgraded their stadium just in time for 92,138 fans to see their storied Crimson Tide to lose to Mississippi State. There is more dread than hope in the eyes of Alabama fans as they looks to the program’s future. Though many Auburn fans can be extremely cynical, deep down there is always hope, and a few weeks out of the year that hope can been seen, heard, and felt as a Golden Eagle circles a stadium of screaming fans.

A line from one of my favorite movies says that “hope is a good, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” As 26 year old Tiger steps down as War Eagle VI, 6 year old Nova steps up as War Eagle VII, and the tradition of hope continues. While no one can definitively determine how the War Eagle tradition started, every fan can confidently believe that the tradition will last as long as Auburn University exists.

The pre-game flight is easily the greatest college football tradition, the midnight yell at Texas A&M or dotting the “i” at Ohio State, may be treasured by Aggies and Buckeyes, but they don’t compare to the inevitable, euphoric feeling that accompanies the War Eagle’s flight. Furthermore, I take utter delight at confusing sports show hosts, by being the Tigers, having tiger mascot named Aubie, having an eagle called Tiger, yelling “War Eagle,” and calling our students Plainsmen.

The latest Tiger has represented Auburn in the Olympics, survived cancer, and is part of a program that teaches thousands of children at the Southeastern Raptor Center each year. Be sure to be at the game early enough this Saturday to see the ceremony retiring her from being an official icon of Auburn, as the bird gets older and moves closer to its dying years. While animals lack that spiritual essence in humanity that I call a soul, Tiger has been the soul of the collective Auburn family for 21 years.

Dear BCS (by Scott)

2006-11-03T00:05:00.000-06:00

Dear BCS,

I don’t really know how to say this, but I think it’s time to call it quits. I don’t think I could get through this in person, so I hope you’ll accept this letter.

I know what you’re thinking: “We’ve been through some rough years, but we’ve always come out of it together.” That’s true, but I’ve never really forgiven you for 2004. I know it wasn’t easy for you either, but I was the one who really came out hurt when you took USC and Oklahoma to the big dance. To be honest, I have never forgiven you for that, and I can’t trust someone I don’t forgive, and I can’t be with someone I don’t trust.

Bowl Championship Series, every year you try to turn over a new leaf, and ever year you promise to change. Sure, you’re a little different than we when we first met; you’ll just never be the championship series I thought you could be. My expectations are too high. I promise it’s not you – it’s me.

I think you have done a great job this year, and there is nothing you could have done differently that would have changed my mind. I just know that the more I love you, the more I’m making myself vulnerable, and I don’t want to get hurt again.

Just so you don’t ask, there isn’t another national championship that I am seeing. I am not secretly dreaming of a big play-off to come and carry me off, and I don’t think any less of you for losing the AP poll. In fact, I think you’re better off without it. To be honest, I will admit that lately I have been having a lot fun with the SEC Championship. He doesn’t have a big head like you, and I just don’t feel jealous like I do around you. I know it isn’t fair of me to feel this way, but I have just always been jealous of your relationship with some of the so-called national powerhouses. Anyway, he sees teams for who they are.

Don’t be sad that I won’t be pining after you anymore. You’ll get through this just fine. There are thousands of better fans than me who will long after you better than I ever did. It’s not like you won’t see me again. Anytime you want to meet up in January, give me a call; I will be happy to go out with you, but just as friends.

With much regret,

Scott Looney

South Park SEC coaches

2006-11-02T23:04:00.002-06:00

How do they think of this stuff?

2006-11-02T18:17:00.000-06:00

If you havent checked out theauburner.com, you should. these guys are hilarious and i have no idea how they think these things up. This is a very funny post about the BCS and high school drama movies.
Read it.

Thanks Maisel

2006-10-31T14:28:00.001-06:00

Since the beginning of the season ESPN's Ivan Maisel has believed in Auburn. He predicted they would play for the National Championship before the season started, and still projects them to. At least someone believes in us. Granted it may not happen, but we can all hope. We just need a little help from Arkansas, Louisville, and West Virginia. Rutgers can help us out by beating the winner of this Thursday's WVU-Louisville matchup. Texas probably needs to lose too. Anyway, here are Maisel's projections.

BCSucks

2006-10-30T17:55:00.000-06:00

Auburn's 23-17 win this weekend was just that, a WIN. Ill take 3 more just like it. While many have viewed the game as lackluster or unimpressive, I was pretty pleased. The score is not indicative of how well Auburn played. As i watched the game, I wrote down some things I felt worth mentioning:

The poor excuse for commentators known as the 3 headed Dave, did not disappoint. The were just as bad, if not worse than ever. At one point Dave Rowe called CT "courtney cox" (which also happens to be a shirt). He also described the running of Ole Miss RB BenJarvus Green Ellis as "he is a north south runner, that means he runs straight ahead". I had no clue thats what north-south meant. WOW.

Auburn's defense, aside from Tray Blackmon, just cannot tackle. Everyone is just running around slamming into the ball carrier, and they just bounce off of them.

I think the "O" in Coach O should stand for ogre, because that's exactly what he looks and sounds like. His voice is deeper than Michael Clarke Duncan's (John Coffey in The Green Mile).

Tristan Davis need to have the ball in his hands more often. Period.

John Vaughn = money.
Auburn doubled Ole miss in every statistical category. The only reasons the score looked as bad as it did were penalties, and the 2 turnovers, which Ole Miss turned into points thanks to the penalties. We ran 75 plays vs 45 from Ole Miss. TOP was AU 37:00 to their 23:00. That's pretty good.

Cox, Irons, and CT all had great days. The offense played extremely well and the defense played OK.

Moving along to the worst championship system ever created, Auburn drops to #6, even after USC lost to OSU. Florida, which Auburn beat without an offensive touchdown and most recently beat an impressive (not) Georgia team, jumped ahead. I guess moving everyone up as they were would make way too much sense, so they say to themselves, hey we should flip flop Auburn and Florida, even though Auburn beat them and has a better record (8-1 vs. 7-1). Maybe they wanted to keep us guessing. Congrats, mission accomplished. This whole system just pisses me off. The whole concept of letting other people and computers decide who is the #1 is just ridiculous. The players should decide it on the field, in a playoff; which happens to be the system that EVERY other NCAA sport uses. Also, so do the NFL, NHL, MLB etc. Style points are also gay. I don't think I need to say anything more about it. Everyone knows it. They are about as cool as Chad Johnson's hair.

I guess that's all for now. War Eagle!

I only know two things (written by Scott)

2006-10-24T16:14:00.000-06:00

I told one of my good friends (Scott) and fellow lover of Auburn about my blog, and told him it'd be great if he wanted to post. He and I discuss the games weekly and I always enjoy what he has to say. He is a sharp, funny guy who knows a lot about Auburn and football in general. Actually, he knows a lot about just about everything, especially the show Doug or Rocko's Modern Life. Anyway, here is what he has to say:

I really only know two things. One is that Auburn went into the locker room against Florida, trailing by 6 points and allowing over 11 yards per play. Drives that with exception to the safety on a holding penalty produced a field goal, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown netting 75, 70, and 80 yards respectively. Defensively Auburn was making big plays, but far more often, Auburn was giving up big plays. The intensity was there, but so were missed tackles, open receivers, and one very large quarterback running the ball into the end zone. While staying in their base package, Muschamp was often sending a linebacker (often Tray Blackmon) to the line of scrimmage for extra pass rushing, but this was leaving strong safety Eric Brock key player in the run support, and in the first half the keys just weren’t fitting. When switching to nickel formations nickel back Patrick Lee couldn’t keep up with a receiver who was open for what should have been a Gators touchdown if not for Blackmon making Leak a little too nervous in the pocket. Not long after it was a touchdown as a slightly under-thrown ball was snatched by Dallas Baker over Jonathon Wilhite who could have easily made the tip if he had only known where the ball was.

The second thing I know is that Auburn came out with the best defense it has played all season. Six Florida plays later and Tre Smith is somersaulting into the end zone. The only drive over 20 yards for Florida in the second half ended in a Chris Leak fumble.

After the game ESPN analyst Desmond Howard asked Karibi Dede what half-time adjustments were made? Howard didn’t believe Groves when he said their defensive game plan didn’t change. All Groves admitted was that Tuberville challenged the players. Tuberville said, “That’s the first time one of my half-time talks worked.” The defensive schemes seemed to be the same, but missed tackles turned into sacks and tackles for loss. Unaware coverage turned into interceptions. The X’s and O’s looked the same, but the players looked different.

While Tuberville later said that the effects of his speech were “overrated,” but the opinions of the players and the effects on field seem to contradict that. Eric Brock said, “Coach Tuberville was just brutally honest, I think we needed to hear that. As the head coach he realizes that. I appreciate Coach getting after us and telling us how he feels about our effort and our play. He challenged us and it worked for us there.”

In the past Tuberville has not been one to get mad. If you’ve never seen a coach really mad check out this clip of Dennis Green after his teams Monday Night Football collapse. Thankfully Tuberville will never go crazy like soon-to-lose-his-job Green, but I have always wanted to know what kind of locker room presence Coach Tubs has. All I know is that he challenged several players by name, called their manhood into question, and made some strange remarks described by on player: “One of the last things he said - it was along these lines - that if we were defending this country, we wouldn't stand a chance. We weren't being tough. As players, it's funny looking back but at the time, we were like: `Wow.' After that, the intensity was totally different.”

Because I will never know what Tuberville might have angrily said, I am forced to make it up myself. While I have no way of verifying this, I am merely thinking of what I’ve heard Tommy say before, what was situationally logical, and try to piece together what it must have been like.

After a minute of silence, Tommy Tuberville clears his throat and addresses his team, “Boys, I can’t address you as men because you are acing like a bunch of kids. My kids and I enjoy the fine taste of Bryan Meats. My wife enjoys Bryan Meats as well; you must also be acting like women. My family and I discovered Bryan Meats a long time ago, and still enjoy its delicious taste today!

“I’ve said many times how hard it is to make it through the SEC undefeated. Shoot that’s why we lost to Arkansas last week. If you don’t come out like a rolling ball of butcher knives, Florida could go undefeated and I’d look like an idiot. Just picture a rolling ball of butcher knives and what that must look like. I actually have no idea what that means, but I think it must look something like Kenny Irons running into the end zone just to get his hands on the bag of Golden Flake Potato Chips I was waving in his face. If only our defense could have that intensity. Groves, you don’t look like you’re running after a bag of Golden Flake!!! Coach Muschamp bring me a bag of Golden Flake … what’s that Will? Borges and Nall all ready ate them?

“Just think about these two words out there on the field. Don’t over-think the play; just remember these two words: Click-Clack! Click-Clack! Can you hear us coming Groves? Can you hear us coming Wilhite? Click-Clack! Can you hear us coming Johnson?

“Think about this: if you guys were defending this country we wouldn’t stand a chance. That may sound harsh, but if you, a group of college football players were left to defend this country my children would be lead off into captivity to never eat delicious Bryan Meats again! If you were in charge of defending this country we’d be in a precarious war thousands of miles away from America, fighting for an ambiguous cause with no foreseeable exit strategy. Oh wait.”

Then the lights would dim and the room would get kind of muggy. The players would all start to hit their pads rhythmically waiting for a riveting call and response cheer from their coach. “It’s us versus them,” the coach says confidently, as the players circle around him. “We must protect this house. WILL YOU PROTECT THIS HOUSE?”

“I will, I will”

“Under Armour!”

“Huh!”

“We must protect this house!”

The defensive squad filled with confidence runs out of the locker room onto the field. Only Coach Muschamp remains, looking scared. Tuberville puts his hand on Will’s back, looks into his eyes, and says quietly, “Click-Clack, I think they hear us coming.”

Tulane Recap

2006-10-21T18:16:00.000-06:00

Today's game wasnt as amazing as last week's (obviously) while we didnt look extremely sharp, it wasnt as bad as the Buffalo game. Here are some brief thoughts on what I saw.

-The defense once again maintained its' "bend but not break" level of play. Quentin Groves continued his great play from last week with two sacks. We had two or three huge redzone turnovers. We also dropped two or three interceptions, one of which i recall being right in the defenders hands. Our run defense needs to get better quick. Tulane racked up 389 yards. That is pretty bad. Especially considering LSU, Florida, and Arkansas didnt gain that much on us. Tualne;s quaterback is prety good but 283 yards passing is rediculous. I know most of the 2nd and 3rd stringers were playing, but our secondary has been lit up this year. We also allowed over 100 yards rushing. Again, backups played, but they should have allowed that many. Where is the tackling? It seems that everyone is running around diving like they are playing NCAA 07 and hitting the sqaure button instead of breaking down and tackling. The D missed several tackles this way. Tualne ran a draw play form the shotgun about 37 times and got several yards almost everytime, and we never caught on. We need to be more consistent.

-Tray Blackmon is a missle. I really enjoy watching him play. I can't wait to see how good he is once he learns where to line up. On one third down play, I watched Tray line up and show blitz, and i was sure that Lester Ricard probly began soiling his pants, and preceeded to fumble the ball to us before Tray could lay him out.

-I really like Ben Tate. He is a big guy, with speed and he hits the hole quick. He kinda reminds me of Bo. Kenny sat out today, trying to get some nagging injuries healed up, and after Brad Lester played the first two or three possesions, Tate carried most of the load, occasionally being spelled by Tre' Smith. He ended up with 156 yards on 26 carries (a nice 6 yard avg.). He is gonna be a bad ass in the coming seasons.

-Tre' Smith...one minute you love him, the next you never wanna see him touch the ball. He came up big for us last week with the returned blocked punt for TD. Today, he had a few nice runs, and a great TD catch, but he dropped a wide open sure TD catch. There was no defender within 10 yards of him. I was glad for him that he had a good day though.

-Cox had a great day, going 16/19 for 212 yds and 3 TDs. Three passing TDs for this team is pretty good, even if it waas against Tulane, because we dont throw that much. I like seeing us throw the ball down the field a little. It seems we always throw safe short passes which isnt always bad, but it is nice to give defenses something to think about. Tommy Trott, Tre', and CT all had long TD catches. Believe it or not, that was CT's 1st TD catch of the year. He had a nice run after the catch to get the score. You could tell he wanted to get in.

-Tristan Davis is a threat anytime he touches the ball. He had a 53 yd return to open the 2nd half. He is just inches away from taking one to the house. I think they need to put him at punt return. I love the way he picks one hole and hits it. No dancing or hesitation.

-Kody Bliss can freaking kick the ball. He booted one for a whopping 71 yards. I was disappointed (Im sure he was too) that the gunners couldnt get to it in time to down it at the one. It sure was an amazing kick though, and a net yardage of 51 aint shabby. He also downed one inside the 5 later on.

-John Vaughn has been money this year. I think he is something like 14/17 on the year. Solid. Also, Matt Clark can boot the ball too. AUburn kicked off 6 times, 6 touchbacks. That is a big advantage. The special teams this year has been great. They almost blocked a punt today too. Kudos to Gran.

-This Auburn offense isnt flashy, but when it has the ball, it has it for a long time. This offense is not about scoring on 80 yard pass/run plays. They take the ball at the 10 and marches down the field eating up 8 minutes off the clock, and most of the time, they come away with points. To me, that's invaluable. I think we have the ablity to score quick, but we rarely need to. They wear down the defense and keep the opposing offense out of the game.

-For those of you who havent seen, the student section has started something called "Throw it Out" and it is pretty damn funny. Whenever the opposing team kicks a field goal or PAT at them, they throw it to the top of the stadium, and then over the top. They did it to Florida twice last week, and once this week. Personally, I like it.

-Tub called off the dogs as the clock ran out. They couldve punched in another score to make it 45-13 but Tubs has never been a fan of running up the score. While, I like how he does things, we couldve used the "style points" (which I think are stupid, but its how the system is (which is also stupid)) for the BCS rankings. Id like to believe that we will remain at No. 4 in the BCS rankings, I dont think it will happen. Our schedule strenth only gets weaker from last week on. While we still have Georgia and Bama, neither look to give us a huge boost (assuming we win). Georgia is fresh of an embarassing win over Miss St. which followed an even worse looking loss to Vandy.

-On another note, Arkansas looked good today, from the little that I saw. They returned the opening kickoff 100 yds to give them a 7-0 lead 18 seconds into the 1st quarter. Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are pretty good. Just ask the Auburn defense. We need them to lose 2 games, our best bet being Tennessee and LSU, but somehting tells me they wont go down without a hard fight.

Well thats all I have from the Too Lame game. Any feedback you wanna leave would be great. Look for a Rankings review and outlook tomorrow or Monday. War Damn Eagle! (Go Vols)

Epiphany

2006-10-19T19:30:00.000-06:00

So I was lying in bed last night, pondering a story that I had come across amongst my lineup of Auburn news/blog sites that i visit daily. My mind then wandered to a response to the aforementioned story. I laughed to myself at how incredibly idiotic the story was, and how much i enjoyed reading this hilarious rebuttle. The more i thought about it, and my love for all things Auburn, the more clear it become how much i wanted to start a blog of my own. I am always predicting and analyzing with my fraternity brothers, family, co-workers, etc. so I figured this would be a good way to combine it all into one, you know eliminate the middle man. But who am I kidding? The day I only discuss Auburn and how much I love it once per day, will be the day when "The Bear" comes back from the dead, and leads 'Bama to their 43rd National Championship. There is nothing i love more than talking Auburn Football or recruiting. I figured I would give this a shot and see what kind of feedback I get, and perhaps it will turn into something good. So let me know what you think. More to come real soon.

War Eagle!