2024 GAME 12 REVIEW: Back to Form

Bama 28  Auburn 14.  Well just like every other good moment this season things turned back to crap quickly.  Every time the last two seasons a Hugh Freeze team does something good... the bottom falls out the next week.  Auburn finally got a big win last season at Arkansas... and then lost to New Mexico State at home.  I guess lets say that Auburn played well against Bama last season even though it might have been the worst loss in the series ever, the team then followed that up with an all-time horrific bowl performance.  Auburn starts this season with a video game night showcasing some good new players... and immediately follows that up with a catastrophic loss to Cal.  Freeze benches Payton Thorne and starts Hank Brown and blows out New Mexico... and then loses four games in a row, three of them he had to work hard to help Auburn lose.  The Tigers finally win an SEC game at Kentucky... and then lay an egg at home against Vandy.  The beat just goes on and on.

Once again this week after Freeze's biggest win at Auburn against Texas A&M...  Auburn laid another giant egg in Tuscaloosa against Bama with maybe the worst game plan of the year on offense.  This latest lost featured a Freeze specialty, abandoning the run game early.  Freeze and company only used running back Jarquez Hunter 13 times this game while throwing the ball 40 times with ineffective quarterback Payton Thorne.  Auburn padded the stats to make them look better at the end but the only stat that counts is the scoreboard.  Auburn drove into the red zone four times in the first half and came away with two field goals.  The Tigers did not score a touchdown till the game was over and Bama was up 28-6.  Finally, Auburn had a chance to make it closer after scoring their first touchdown but Freeze called a stupid easily sniffed out running back pass that was easily intercepted.  It was the final embarrassment in another terrible game on his watch.

Freeze has staked everything on upgrading Auburn's roster.  I talked about this last week as well.  However after another bad coaching job I am back to wondering if it will matter?  Bama is better than Auburn but they turned the ball over three times and the Tigers were in the red zone four times and could not get in the end zone.  Bama's defense is talented but not a top unit.  A good coach would have done more today, this season, and last.  We have seen two whole seasons on Freeze's watch and you just have not seen it.  You saw good coaching when Dye started, when Bowden started, when Tuberville started, when Chizik started, and when Malzahn started.  Not many of them ended well but you saw good coaching when they started.  I just do not think you can say the same about Freeze.  Auburn has had a couple of good games and a lot of bad ones.  Are better days ahead?  I have to say after watching another egg get laid today I am not hopeful.

I guess maybe if Freeze got a great quarterback and a great offensive tackle in the mix something might can change but what are the chances of that?  I mean a quarterback and offensive tackle that could be real difference makers in tough SEC games?  I think the chances of that are pretty low.  I think Auburn might can have a winning season next year and start going to a bowl regularly with Hugh Freeze but outside of lucking out in a few like last week I always see him ultimately coming up short.  It has now been six long years since Auburn ended a season with a win and four years since even having a winning season.  Auburn has never been this bad in my lifetime.  As I say in the title of this blog, I know it is just a game but it is getting to me.  I am so tired of watching games like today.  I am so tired of every good moment like last week being short lived.  I guess it is good the season is over because I do not think I can do another post on this team or about Hugh Freeze anytime soon.

I do have one more comment on football in general after watching a lot of it, college and professional, over this weekend.  These million dollar braniacs calling the plays today might want to go back to doing a few things like they did in the old days.  First, in college, stop making your offensive linemen stand set for so long while you overcoach and try to change the play.  I have never seen more procedure penalties in the red zone in my life as I have seen these past few weeks.  You can say what you want but they are killers and being able to change your play doesn't matter if it keeps happening.  Next, in both college and the pros these geniuses might want to go back to using the good old goal line heavy formation inside the five yard line.  Yes there were epic goal line stands back in the old days but not near as many as I saw just this weekend with teams lined up in spread formations.  I mean it is unbelievable how many teams came away with nothing after having first and goal around the three yard line.  Sometimes you cannot trick the other team, you simply have to line up and run it in.

2024 GAME 11 REVIEW: Just Auburn Being Auburn

I predicted twice this season that Auburn would lose this game on the way to one of the more disappointing seasons in Auburn history.  I am sure glad I was wrong. I believe that prediction contained emotion but it did also contain logic.  Auburn, as in the losses this season, tried really hard to lose this game and the refs certainly helped out in overtime.  As I was texted last night, nobody has ever seen a team that finds more ways to lose than this one.  It is mind blowing some of the dumb things this team does with victory literally in its grasp...  Last night they had the ball first and goal on the seven yard line with less than a minute left needing a touchdown to win... and then they get TWO procedure penalties and barely get the field goal to send it to overtime.  I do not think any of us felt confident going into overtime.  However I could still barely hear that little voice I heard after the Kentucky game and last week that even though I do not like this coach, this team was just due to have something good happen to them.

Regardless of the coaching, the officiating, the quarterback, etc...  regardless of all that, this team and this fan base was due to have something good happen to them.  I think the last truly good night at Jordan Hare was a long two years ago against Texas A&M with Cadillac Williams leading Auburn to the win.  There is just something special in the air at Jordan Hare Stadium in late October and November.  Some seasons the team is too bad for it to help and sometimes it does not pan out like the Iron Bowl last season but eventually something special happens on that hallowed ground when it gets to be real football weather.  Nick $aban said the place was "haunted" and while I am not sure I would put it that way, there is something special there.  I was lucky enough to be there for a bunch of those special moments and I am sure happy for everyone there last night who took one more chance on this team.

It is a cliché and one head coach Hugh Freeze has way overused but this team and this coaching staff have not quit in the face of overwhelming disappointment and I have to give them a lot of credit for that.  It is hard to keep getting back up and give great effort after watching your season go down in flames.  Head coach Pat Dye called it "wrestling with them angels" and every team goes through it.  There is always a reward for that kind of determination but it is special when that reward takes the form of a monumental win.  That is what happened on Pat Dye field at Jordan Hare Stadium last night.  After COVID, two years of disaster under Bryan Harsin, and almost two complete seasons of disappointment under Hugh Freeze the Auburn football Tigers won their biggest game of this decade.  The collective response was immediate with the students rushing the field and the rest of the stadium letting it all out while watching them.  

In this post I have been obviously concentrating on the context of this win and not analyzing the game itself.  I think that is what interests me the most thinking about this game but I do have to pause and look at a couple of things that happened last night.  Again I have obviously just lost it with Hugh Freeze over what I consider some ridiculously bad coaching this season and this game does not make up for all of that however some credit has to be given.  I have pointed out that a lot of Auburn's offensive stats that the coaching staff keeps crowing about were compiled in Auburn's three nothing games this season.  This was not the case last night.  Texas A&M came into the game tied for first in the SEC.  They are a very good team.  Quarterback Payton Thorne had 300 yards passing against them and for the second week in a row Auburn had two wide receivers over 100 yards.  I do not think that has ever happened in Auburn history, seriously.  Also the scrappy Auburn defense under coordinator D.J. Durkin continues to amaze.  There was plenty of mistakes made but Auburn went toe-to-toe with a good team and won.

You could almost hear everyone outside Auburn wondering why make such a big fuss over just beating a good Texas A&M team?  I understand why the question is being asked but again after everything this team and this fan base has gone through the last five years it was warranted and it was sorely needed.  We get so caught up in comparing teams and counting championships and such.  Auburn does not have double figure national titles but it has been and still is one of the top college football programs in this country (check the records) and it is a very special place.  There have been so many memorable wins throughout the years and a new one just got added to the list.  It could be just the only big win in a disappointing season and end up not meaning that much or...  it could mean a WHOLE LOT more.  It could help a struggling coach find his way and help a program keep a team and a recruiting class together...  It could mean maybe turning the head of more special recruits or transfers...  

It could maybe just maybe crack the door on having a chance at an even more improbable win next week?  No no no I won't go there, I still think it is a bridge too far but after an equally surprising game in Oklahoma last night I still hear that little voice...

2024 GAME 10 REVIEW: Operation "Keep Cam"

Auburn 48  Louisiana Monroe 14.  It is obvious that earlier this week the Auburn football coaching staff met and talked about what I talked about in my post last week, i.e. the sharks circling Auburn's current roster.  They figured out that obviously star receiver Cam Coleman would be at the top of many teams' wish lists.  This is the point where head coach Hugh Freeze finally showed some actual smarts when he must have told whoever was putting the game plan together and quarterback Payton Thorne to "GET CAM THE BALL".  He then cut off any response that was not "yes sir" with "GET CAM THE BALL".  Luckily for Freeze and Auburn Louisiana Monroe is terrible and the Auburn offense was pretty much able to do whatever it wanted.  Quarterback Payton Thorne threw for a career high five touchdowns, Auburn had two wide receivers over 100 yards (!!!) in Coleman and Keandre Lambert-Smith plus Jarquez Hunter got to 100 yards as well.  All in all as good a day as Auburn has had this season.

Coach Freeze can continue to brag about Auburn's offensive stats as this game will help inflate them as the Alabama A&M and New Mexico games did.  I mean you take those games away and Auburn's offensive stats especially the passing stats go down A LOT but hey that is what these games are for and at least Auburn took care of business in all the easy ones this season.  It is hard though to be real happy when you know that all those plays where Thorne got to stand back there forever and hit his receiver would never happen against anyone any good.  It is also hard to be real happy when everyone knows that with just a little good coaching Auburn would have a winning record and would already be in a bowl game regardless of these last two games.  Instead Auburn is 4-6 and looking at 4-8. 

I still think Auburn does have a small chance against Texas A&M at home.  Now the Aggies are tied at the top of the conference with their hated rival but even as bad as Hugh has coached, he and Auburn are just due to luck up at some point.  It will not be in Tuscaloosa so next week is it.  I have no doubt it will likely be a close game but Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has already proven to be a pretty good coach... which means Auburn will likely lose another close game on a turnover or a stupid coaching decision.  It has happened in every other close game this season.  I guess the hope is that Auburn showed enough yesterday and can show enough in the last two games to help the staff not lose too many players or recruits.  That is where Auburn is at.  There will not be a bowl game.  There is only keeping the roster intact and adding to it as the season ends for this team and staff.

I am having a hard time coming up with anything else to write...  A few weeks ago I thought that Auburn could beat Vandy and then have a great chance against Texas A&M... but then Auburn lost to Vandy. After that I have a hard time seeing this team knock off Texas A&M.  Again I think Auburn has a small chance next week but a very small one.  This has been a very close and competitive series since the Aggies joined the SEC and it is currently knotted at 6-6 during that time.  There have definitely been some big wins for both sides.  Johnny Manziel and company ran Auburn out of its own stadium in 2012 while the great 2013 Auburn team knocked him off the next season.  Auburn went to College Station and beat current NFL star Kyler Murray in 2015 but A&M and another huge NFL star in Myles Garrett returned the favor in Auburn the next season.  Auburn then won three in a row followed by two in a row by the Aggies.  The teams have split the last two seasons.  

The Aggies are the clear favorites and are playing for high stakes while this Auburn team has one last chance to show some magic in Jordan Hare this season.  One last chance.

2024 GAME 9 REVIEW: Historically Bad

Vanderbilt 17  Auburn 7.  I should have known better.  Last week I actually thought optimistically that Auburn could win this game and have a chance against Texas A&M.  I was wrong, dead wrong.  It hit me after Vandy scored to make it 7-0.  They have the better quarterback and the better coach, Auburn is not going to win this game.  The defense did the job but the offense led by supposed offensive head coach Hugh Freeze and HIS GUYS that he had to have failed miserably... again.  This time nobody can talk about the roster and Auburn's recruiting being a reason Auburn lost this game.  Vanderbilt went 2-10 last season and lost to Auburn.  They had the worst roster.  Auburn still has a better roster.  This game came down to coaching and quarterback play and it was like the rest of the season... no contest.

Hugh Freeze and his brain trust once again went away from the run game when it counted and put the game once again in quarterback Payton Thorne's inept hands.  Yes Vandy stacked the line of scrimmage but I have not seen Auburn yet this season go into a two tight end power set for an entire series.  A formation with two tight ends, two wide receivers, and one running back.  

This formation seems to fit Auburn's talent, i.e. getting tight ends Rivaldo Fairweather and Luke Deal in the game at the same time along with Cam Coleman and Keandre Lambert-Smith plus Jarquez Hunter.  You can also go out of shotgun with Hunter next to quarterback or stack receivers or tight ends to one side, whatever.  You have a running formation with more blocking and you have three dangerous receivers, four if you count Hunter.  You have Deal the extra blocker to help protect.

You pound Vanderbilt the whole day using more run-based formations like this after they had a hard game at Texas there is NO WAY they do not break!  The do not have the depth or the strength to stand up to that.  Instead Freeze chooses to run the majority of the time out of pass formations and shocker they get stuffed.  He simply will not commit to the running game even after last week.  Obviously we can say the strategy in the losses is the rule and last week was an exception.  Again Auburn is still bigger and stronger than Vanderbilt but Hugh Freeze is a purely finesse offensive football coach and he is never going to change.  You give him better players he will win a few more games but he will never in a million years come close to a championship.  

There is little else than can be said now other than this has now become an historically bad season. Auburn has now lost to Vanderbilt at home for the first time ever.  Auburn will finish the season with one conference win and NONE at home.  Auburn will finish the season as the WORST TEAM IN THE SEC.  The worst team in the new SIXTEEN TEAM SEC.  Auburn will have it's fourth losing season in a row, the first time that has happened since the last 1940s.  This is all started with the absolute brain-dead morons who gave Gus his fifty million dollar contract in 2017 and continued with the WORST EVER leadership that hired Bryan Harsin.  All of that along with horrifically bad coaching the whole time has DESTROYED this once proud program.  The inept presidents, the unqualified athletic directors, and the grifter coaches all have taken their money and left Auburn with nothing.

This was never going to be a great or even a very good team.  All Freeze had to do was recruit and then do a little, just a little good coaching to get a few wins and not let the train go off the track.  He has utterly FAILED.  This team is not very good but it is much better than a 4-8 and 1-7 team.  Freeze has gone on and on about his recruiting but Auburn will most likely be worse off when the smoke clears by spring practice in 2025.  How much of the recruiting class ESPECIALLY THE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN will be at Auburn?  How many of the good players on the current roster will leave?  Everything I write here is just simple logic and the players know these facts better than the fans do.  On top of that I guarantee hundreds of sharks are already circling Auburn's recruits and roster.  Blood is in the water.

I have been an Auburn fan my entire life.  My parents graduated from Auburn.  I graduated from Auburn.  My brother graduated from Auburn.  My oldest son graduated from Auburn.  I went to my first Auburn game in 1978.  I have been to so many more since then.  There have been so many great moments.  There have also been some gut wrenching losses and bad seasons but nothing like the last four years.  There just does not seem to be ANY HOPE of having a really good football team anytime soon.  Heck there is not much hope of even having an average football team anytime soon.  Hugh Freeze has showed us what he can do over twenty plus games now.  This is it.  HE... IS... NOT... GOING... TO... CHANGE.  There has not been ONE big win in two whole seasons.  He should have at least ONE!

I was completely wrong about him.  My post about him becoming head coach was complete garbage.  The one I wrote about Bryan Harsin was garbage.  I am sorry, the next time Auburn hires a new football coach I am going to just assume he is another complete fraud.  So many of these football coaches just seem to be con men who luck their way into these ridiculous contacts that pay them tens of millions of dollars even if they completely fail.  It has just been disappointment after disappointment for over a DECADE now.  In all that time you can count the big wins on ONE HAND.  Other than that it has just been a few scoops of minor wins and huge helpings of every kind of loss imaginable.  Even the "good" seasons have turned out bad.  Auburn has only won three minor bowl games since 2010 against Virginia, Memphis, and Purdue.  The Tigers have only had about the same number of winning conference records as well over that time.  

Auburn football is in big trouble.  It is facing it's worse crisis... ever.  It doesn't seem like Auburn can fire Freeze but continuing on down this road seems like a waste of time.  In fact I know it is a waste of time.  However the problem is why in the world would I think the leadership at Auburn is capable of hiring a good football coach?  We all know they cannot do it.  They will just hire another con man who will end up with another twenty mil and leave the program in worse shape than when they came.  Again at this moment I just do not see any hope.  I guess that is what four straight losing seasons and finally losing to Vanderbilt at home will do to you... 

2024 GAME 8 REVIEW: FINALLY

Auburn 24  Kentucky 10.  Finally.  The Auburn football Tigers have won their first conference game of the year and broke an eight game losing streak to Power Four teams.  I guess some time on the pot helped head coach Hugh Freeze figure some things out.  Evidently he missed the regular team flight because of a stomach bug and had to fly over on Saturday.  Freeze finally finally finally figured out to just keep giving the ball to running back Jarquez Hunter in the second half and shocker it worked.  I am glad after EIGHT GAMES he could finally figure that one out.  Again I want Auburn to be a balanced team that can throw the ball but if your offensive line is not that good at pass blocking and your quarterback is just not that good then uh...  well I think everyone gets it now.  

Hunter of course responded with an all-time Auburn performance rushing for 278 yards and two touchdowns on the road in the conference.  It sure would have been nice for the Auburn coaching "brain trust" to have figured this out a long time ago but I guess better late than never.  It is really hard though to let it go when you see edge rushers simply blow by every left tackle Auburn puts in there every time they try to pass.  It has been going on all season.  It is hard to let go when you see Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne open the game with another terrible interception.  Jarquez Hunter is Auburn's best offensive player and the offensive line is best at run blocking...  JUST RUN THE DAMN BALL.  It might not work this well every game but it is Auburn's best chance at winning.

I guess in light of Auburn finally pulling one out I will not spend time on the mind-numbingly stupid series to end the first half that cost Auburn a field goal they sorely needed at that point in the game.  The Auburn coaching staff needs to stop overthinking it and stop overcoaching SO MUCH.  Auburn coaches remember KISS (Keep It Simple STUPID)!  There were a few more dumb calls on offense in the first half but the call to just it give it to Hunter in the second half took care of that.  The defense played pretty good but Kentucky is really bad.  I sure hope this win will help Auburn keep it's recruiting class together and keep any good ones from transferring out.  Auburn at least has talent at the skill positions where teams like Kentucky and Oklahoma seemingly have NONE.  

There will not be time to celebrate this win after today.  Auburn will finally return home to open November with a big game against the Vanderbilt Commodores.  I am not sure I have ever written those words before.  The Commodores acquitted themselves quite well this weekend on the road at Texas but the good thing for Auburn is that game had to take a toll.  This game sets up well for Auburn as even though Vandy is a better team I do not think I would ever call them deep.  Also hopefully the Auburn coaches will remember what those New Mexico State coaches on Vandy's staff plus quarterback Diego Pavia did to them last year.  I would hope there will be quite a few Auburn coaches and players looking for some payback.  I know I am!  

Auburn can beat Vanderbilt at home.  It would sure help if the coaches keep giving the ball to Jarquez Hunter.  They have to beat Vandy at the time of possession game.  That is how New Mexico State beat Auburn so bad and how Vandy beat Bama earlier this year.  Auburn cannot let them do it again.  They should lean hard on the Commodores with the run game because again they have to be tired after that Texas game.  I will really be back to being upset if Hugh Freeze and this staff do not capitalize on this win.  As I said last week, this season is unrecoverable in some ways but every win will help.  Also somehow there is still a small chance at a bowl game.  The Tigers get another week off after Vandy and then get Louisiana Monroe and a huge game against Texas A&M at home.

Obviously this team cannot look past anyone but if Texas A&M beats South Carolina this next weekend they will come into Jordan Hare undefeated and #1 in the SEC and most likely looking ahead to maybe their biggest game ever against Texas.  I definitely think Texas A&M is a much better team than Auburn but they are not an offensive juggernaut and Auburn will be in their favored complete underdog role.  All of the pressure would be on the Aggies...  What if?...  I am not sure why I am bothering to write this after one win over a bad team especially considering all the terrible losses this season but...  I still remember all the times this program thrived in this situation.  I still BELIEVE something sometime has to go right for this team, this program, and this fan base.

Hugh Freeze and company could erase so much and gain so much if Auburn could some how some way win these next two games and give themselves a chance, just a chance, to win a BIG ONE.  Of course if Auburn does not beat Vanderbilt then the Tigers will just hope to beat Louisiana Monroe and will most likely lose both after that.  This one last chance to redeem this season starts with beating Vanderbilt this next Saturday...

2024 GAME 7 REVIEW: The Wheel Keeps On Turning...

Missouri 21  Auburn 17.  I have never seen anything quite like this Auburn football team.  I was wrong a few weeks ago, this team has not quit (at least not yet) like say the 1998, 2008, and 2012 teams they will inevitably be compared to.  You can honestly say they should have won every game except Georgia and be absolutely right and not a crazed biased fan.  You can honestly say they had to work HARD to lose to Oklahoma and Missouri (!!!).  I mean in both games they were up by double-digit points in the fourth quarter.  I mean it defies all logic that they are able to blow these last two games.  The turning point in the last game was very similar to the Oklahoma game in that it came when Auburn had a chance to put the game away and ended up giving the momentum back to the other team.

This time Auburn was up 17-6 and went on a seven minute plus drive and ended up 1st and goal at the Mizzou 10.  A touchdown pass was dropped and then quarterback Payton Thorne takes a 12 yard sack...  That was a huge turning point in the game.  Auburn threw incomplete on third down and Auburn kicker Town McGough missed another critical kick.  It was only a thirty-yard kick and he should have made it but the sack on 2nd down never should have happened.  Auburn threw on first down and missed it, they should have ran the ball on 2nd down.  It is not a huge missed call by the coaches but they continue to show they just do not have good feel for the game.  That is one of the biggest reasons Auburn continues to lose.  The coaches definitely tried harder to do a better job but there were still quite a few not-too-smart calls.

On top of that, I cannot defend quarterback Peyton Thorne anymore.  I have put most of the blame on the coaches and that is correct but you need your quarterback to step up and also make smart plays to help win the game.  He has just not done that.  He has taken some sacks that he could have thrown the ball away to avoid in my opinion and he just cannot make the play when needed under pressure.  Yesterday Auburn punted twice in the fourth quarter before Missouri made their winning touchdown drive.  On third down for one of those drives Mizzou sent the house and Auburn called a pretty good play that had now little-used tight end Rivaldo Fairweather WIDE OPEN.  I know Thorne was under a heavy rush but all he had to do was give Fairweather a chance and he sailed it far over him.  Thorne just never makes the big-time play to help win the game.

I will say that in spite of all that the Auburn coaches did not allow Thorne to throw the back breaking pick this time and made Missouri march the length of the field.  You have to give Missouri credit for a clutch drive because they looked worse than Auburn to me most of the day.  The over-the-shoulder pass Missouri quarterback Brady Cook threw to receiver Luther Burden on 4th down was impressive.  They made the plays and Auburn did not.  Auburn's season now lies in tatters and a cloud of hopelessness has descended over most Tiger fans.  I know that is how I feel.  I guess in one way things get a lot simpler at this point, you forget all the preseason goals and expectations and you just try to win a game.  You have Kentucky on the road and other than a win over Ole Miss they are as down as Auburn.  They are not a juggernaut and Auburn will probably be the underdog.  

There is nothing that can save this season from being a colossal disappointment BUT Auburn can get a win next week and at the very least enjoy a happy locker room for a few moments.  I have seen these type seasons in different sports and at younger levels and a win just makes everything better.  Again it does not fix the season or stop the landslide of criticism but again for a few moments those players that have worked so hard can sit down, smile, and have some relief.  That is where we are at.  The Auburn football players and coaches need to just focus on getting a win at Kentucky.  I think that may involve using a different quarterback although I do not believe Auburn's future has anything to do with Hank Brown either.  Whatever, the job is simple, beat Kentucky and hey it is a lot easier in football than it is in basketball!

2024 GAME 6 REVIEW: CLOSE?

Georgia 31  Auburn 13.  This was the first Power 4 game this season for Auburn that pretty much went as expected.  Georgia is just better than Auburn and head coach Kirby Smart showed Hugh Freeze the way to put away teams you are better than.  Smart has pretty much employed this approach since Georgia's current win streak in the series started in 2018.  He plays a conservative run heavy or high percentage short passing game plan and plays good defense.  He knows he has Auburn outmanned on the line of scrimmage and sooner or later he will win if they do not make a lot of mistakes.  Last season they made those mistakes but still managed to pull it out.  This season the game pretty much went according to plan and Georgia pulled away in the end.

I have read on the Auburn web sites how "close the game" was and how Auburn "stayed right with them"???  I just completely disagree.  My evidence is this is how just about every Auburn Georgia game has gone since 2018.  Again Smart and Georgia have started slow and conservative in every one.  Now in a few after they have gotten the lead they have loosened up and put some points on the board but they always start slow and either grind Auburn down or wait till Auburn implodes.  Again I did not plan to do much criticism of the coaches in this review.  This game is about the last four years of recruiting.  Georgia is miles ahead of Auburn ESPECIALLY ON THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE.  

The only thing I will say about the coaching this week is if the absolutely moronic Auburn coaches had used this game plan in their last three tough games they would have three more wins.  I mean I just shake my head, now they do it!  Auburn was just completely outmanned yesterday and that was the biggest thing that was evident.  Georgia has completely taken control of what used to be the greatest rivalry statistically in college football.  It is the second oldest around and just a few years ago the two teams were tied in wins and points!!!  Since then it has just been complete Georgia domination.  Auburn has not won in Athens in TWENTY YEARS now.  Auburn has only won three times period in those twenty years and all three of those wins took really good Auburn teams.  

I read on the Auburn sites how close we are but I just do not see it.  I am glad Auburn's recruiting is looking really good now but I still do not see the numbers of quality linemen that it is going to take to close the gap with teams like Georgia.  You can get in a great quarterback and more high rated wide receivers but the game is still won on the line of scrimmage as every game between Auburn and Georgia proves.  Also you need the coaching to make the most of these good players that are being brought in and I have not seen a lick of it at Auburn over the last two years.  Hugh Freeze's offense still appears to be almost completely a finesse offense.  He is always always trying to trick the other team and does not seem to recognize the times you just have to line up and run right at them.  You need a mix of both to be successful.

One play from yesterday proves every word I have written so far.  Auburn had the ball 4th and 1 close to midfield to start the 4th quarter down 21-10.  All of the Auburn homers I see writing about this play are acting like the game was closer.  It was not, Georgia was in complete control outside one Jarquez Hunter run.  Auburn did not score one touchdown in the red zone.  Anyway back to 4th and 1, Auburn lined up in the shotgun and it was not a "heavy" lineup while Georgia had absolutely stacked the line of scrimmage.  There is NO WAY Auburn is getting the first down running the ball the way both teams lined up.  It does not matter what running play is called.  Now of course Auburn ran an extra stupid no-chance-in-hell-it-would-work read option and of course Hugh Freeze yelled at quarterback Payton Thorne after the play and blamed him again in the presser for not running the called play???  

All that did was show the continued incompetence of the Auburn coaching staff in just trying to call a play THAT THEY HAD THE WHOLE QUARTER BREAK TO GET RIGHT.  It also showed by the formation that Freeze was once again just trying to trick Georgia and finally it showed the stark difference between the opposing lines.  Auburn left tackle Percy Lewis was completely exposed by Georgia all day.  Of course the few times this Auburn line has looked good is running the ball straight at the other team and again for the umpteenth time if Freeze and company had spent a lot more time running straight at Cal, Arkansas, and Oklahoma they would have three more wins.  That was the one thing that was again highlighted to me in the game against Georgia.

Auburn now has a bye week to try and salvage something from this season.  They have tougher games than most Auburn fans think with Missouri, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt coming up.  People still talk like Auburn is clearly better than those teams when only Mississippi State is actually worse than Auburn in the SEC.  Also those three teams now all have big wins over good SEC teams while Auburn does not.  I am sure there will be much written about how many changes Auburn is making and other such nonsense but I am just going to assume they will just keep running the same thing till they do not.  You can bet Auburn's upcoming opponents will be ready for the standard Hugh Freeze offense so my hope for a turnaround after the bye is low.  As always I hope I am wrong.

I guess the one positive from this week was Vanderbilt's monumental upset of Bama.  Auburn fans deserve to rub this one in as I am sure almost every Bama fan was laughing it up when New Mexico State was crushing Auburn last season.  Well they got a taste of that New Mexico brain trust at Vanderbilt yesterday as quarterback legend Diego Pavia and head coach Jerry Kill moved to Vanderbilt from New Mexico State and were major factors in the Commodores taking down the Tide.  I guess Bama fans would argue that a loss to New Mexico State is worse but is it?  Auburn was out of everything so it did not really matter where Bama's loss to Vanderbilt puts their error margin making it to even a twelve team playoff much smaller.  They lose again and they might be out and that would be a real shame.  

In conclusion, again I hope I am wrong and Hugh Freeze can get something going during this bye week and then finally win a game against an actual Power 4 team.  It would sure be a nice change of pace from this nightmarish first half of the season.