Auburn 40 Ole Miss 29. I was not sweating this game till Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly hit 400 yards passing in the third quarter. I expected a fast start from Ole Miss but did not expect them to go through the Auburn defense like a knife through warm butter almost the whole game (!!!). It was hard to watch at times. Kelly put up one of the best games I have ever seen against a good Auburn defense. The guy finished 36 of 59 for 465 yards (!!!) and 3 touchdowns... and one interception. ONE interception... ONE mistake... ONE play turned it around for Auburn.
This entire game after all the offensive fireworks on both sides came down to two plays actually. Auburn was clinging to a 33-29 lead with eight minutes left in the game. Ole Miss just had a great kickoff return and that plus a dumb Auburn personal foul penalty put them in business at the Auburn 41 yard line. On second down Kelly delivered a strike to Ole Miss wide receiver Evan Engram just a little low and out in front of him. It was catchable but Engram missed it. It would have been a touchdown or close to it if he would have caught it. It might have been the one play that got Ole Miss the win...
The next play Kelly made his only big mistake of the night. He had been picking on Josh Holsey relentlessly the whole game and Holsey finally made him pay. Holsey anticipated and stepped in and picked off Kelly's third down pass and returned it almost 50 yards. Kamryn Pettway would then take it down to the Ole Miss three yard line and Kerryon Johnson would put it in for the clinching touchdown. It is definitely the kind of defensive and offensive plays a good team makes to win a tight game. I thought the series of events really fit this Auburn team. The defensive leaders though abused all night finally made a play and then the offense finished it off.
THE GOOD
As I stated last week, I just do not get all the blathering on about Rhett Lashlee. Auburn is calling the same plays they have since 2013 other than the unexplainable Clemson game. The difference is the defenses not being as good and the Auburn offensive line coming alive along with Kamryn Pettway. I will continue to say offensive line coach Herb Hand is the one who deserves the accolades because his guys are the biggest difference on the team. They got their butts kicked against Clemson and Texas A&M and have improved a whole lot since.
In a weird way, injuries have also been one of the catalysts for this team. Austin Golson getting hurt put Darius James in the lineup and though he struggled at times last night, he has made a huge difference. The same goes for Kerryon, his injury allowed Pettway the chance to be the main back. Pettway put up another monster game last night going for over 230 yards on 30 carries. Pettway had one touchdown as well but it was good to have "The Closer" Kerryon Johnson back who punched in two touchdowns. Again though it all starts with the offensive line and Chandler Cox. Those guys are rolling people.
MORE GOOD AND THE BAD
Sean White had a good night going 15 of 22 for almost 250 yards and one touchdown. His main targets were Darius Slayton, Eli Stove and Kerryon. I will say though that most of those were great runs after short passes. White is great at distributing short passes but continues to struggle on the long ball and intermediate passes that require arm strength. He was seen falling down trying to throw a hard medium length pass up the middle. White continues to shine when Auburn is running the ball well but I just do not believe he is good enough to lead us to a win in Tuscaloosa.
I hope I am wrong but while he is a gamer, he is still very limited. It is not all his fault though as the coaching staff only has one game plan... run the ball. It works against teams we are better than but sooner or later you have to beat one that is as good or better than you. Nobody knew Gus' tendencies in 2013 (till the national championship game) but they do now. They are set in stone... #1 Auburn will run the ball almost 70% of the time and #2 Auburn will always and I mean always run up the middle after a big pass play. I don't see any change in those two tendencies with Rhett Lashlee!
THE UGLY
Chad Kelly is a good quarterback but not that good. It was an ugly performance by the Auburn defense most of the night. I think they might need to quit reading their "press clippings". They gave up almost 600 yards of total offense. It is time to come back down to earth and get focused on Vanderbilt and Georgia. The good thing is that they will probably not see a quarterback as good as Kelly the rest of the season. Another positive is they did get better as the game went on and did not wilt as many Auburn defenses have in the last few years.
THE LAST WORD
Auburn is now into November and a solid Vanderbilt team will come to town next week. I am hoping for another good performance and not a "slog through" performance that many previous Malzahn teams have done in games like this. This team has not done any of that and has not let down in lesser games. I hope they keep it up against the Commodores. I hope Auburn is able to play a lot of guys and as always I would love to see us work on the passing game and even give John Franklin a couple of passes in a real game but that will not happen. It should be another great running day though.
Auburn 56 Arkansas 3. This game was the biggest beatdown on a ranked team in Auburn history. Obviously it was a pretty good Saturday on the plains. My first reaction was "how did that taste Bret?". Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has gone on and on over the last few years about playing "tough pro-style" football. He has made a career criticizing the hurry-up-no-huddle and running the majority of your plays from the shotgun formation. He has run off at the mouth over and over again slighting every team in the conference plus going overboard beating his chest after his few big wins. My advice to him now is the same as it was then... SHUT UP. That is pretty much the only thing you need to be doing after your big bad "pro-style" team gives up over 500 YARDS RUSHING (!!!).
It was 543 yards to be exact, only two yards less than the 2013 team in the SEC Championship game against Missouri. That game was a once-in-a-lifetime performance and to nearly match that is an incredible achievement. Of course it is hard to say which performance was more impressive, the offense or the defense? I think I might have to go with the defense. Arkansas had the leading rusher and leading passer in the conference and the Auburn defense held them to 215 yards total (!!!). Big bad "I am tougher than you" Arkansas had only 25 yards rushing the entire game!!! 25 YARDS. Arkansas is no juggernaut but that is still very impressive.
There is not much reason to break things down into "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" today. A win like this is pretty much all good although as always I still have a tiny bit of rain to dump on the victory parade. First though let's start with the most frequent question I hear and that is how did Auburn go to offensively inept to juggernaut? Well first and foremost is the level of competition. Auburn played better teams and defenses (at least in LSU's case) earlier in the season. They have improved, there is no doubt about that but it is definitely a combination of both.
Next, while everyone blathers on about Rhett Lashlee when overall the playcalling has not changed that much I give the most credit on the offensive side of the ball to offensive line coach Herb Hand. Auburn is dominating because the offensive line is destroying people plus Chandler Cox and even Jalen Harris have improved immensely. The offensive line is paving the way for this run and after some of their early performances it is pretty amazing to watch. The next biggest thing is Kamryn Pettway looking like Jerome "The Bus" Bettis. The sunshine pumpers finally got one thing right, this guy is a beast.
Auburn's young receiving corps was also on full display last night, mostly running the ball but even so you can see these guys are dripping with talent. We have already seen a little of Kyle Davis and Darius Slayton and last night we saw Eli Stove and a flash of Nate Craig-Myers. Stove started the game with a 78 yard touchdown run and a couple more good runs as well. Craig-Myers had just one catch but looked like a man doing it. Sophomore Stanton Truitt has become a legitimate running back and had 78 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 8 carries.
The leaders of this team though for the first time in a long time are on defense. The defensive line led by Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams held their own in the early games against the tough teams and are flat our destroying these lesser teams. The linebackers are also oozing leadership and making plays. Tre William's crushing tackle last night reminded me of some of those 80's defenses. Finally, the veteran secondary continues to hold their own as well with Rudy Ford, Josh Holsey and Tray Matthews among the top six tacklers for this game plus Javaris Davis grabbing another big interception.
I have been pretty hard on the coaching staff the last few years and still have some major philosophical differences with Gus. I still have to mention them even after this game but first some accolades for Gus and his boys. First and foremost, the coaches are doing a good job recruiting. Auburn has continued to turn out top ten recruiting classes and it is finally starting to show this season. The talent level is high. My only concern is that I know Dameyune Craig was a big part of that and is one of the best recruiters in the country. It sure looks like losing him hurt Florida State, will it hurt Auburn?
Next, the coaches continue to get the team to play hard. This was true last season and it has continued this season. There have not been many Tuberville or Chizik-like meltdowns where the team just does not show up. The first job of a good college coach is getting good players and the second job is developing them and getting them to play hard. Gus Malzahn and his staff still struggle at times with development in certain spots but they are certainly getting these guys to play hard. Mississippi State and Arkansas are not titans and Auburn had more talent than both of them but Auburn also out-worked them in every phase of the game.
Auburn has destroyed it's last two conference opponents and will be heavily favored in every remaining game this season but the last one. The Tigers are surging toward the finish line. Are there any concerns going forward? I will continue to think so. Auburn like 2013 is just not a balanced team and sooner or later that will bite you. It cost the 2013 team a national championship. Five hundred yards rushing is an awesome feat but the team would have been better served throwing the ball some. You cannot just turn a passing game on like a light bulb. You have to work on it in real game conditions. Sean White and this young wide receiver corps need all the reps they can get.
Unfortunately this coaching staff regardless of who is calling the plays will not do that. Gus Malzahn can beat anyone he can run on but sooner or later you will always play someone who can slow down your running attack. The 2013 team was an exception to the rule although again Gus' refusal to call just a few more play-action passes cost them a national championship. This team is not near as good as that 2013 team regardless of the last two games. Now this team has something that team did not have and that is a great defense but the offense still needs to be more balanced to beat better teams, i.e. Bama.
This team is not going to roll into Tuscaloosa and run over the Tide. Auburn had to pass to beat the Tide in 2010 and had to get two touchdowns through the air in 2013 as well. The defense will give Auburn a chance to win every remaining game on the schedule even Bama but I just do not have confidence in a one-dimensional team. I also think it is a huge mistake not to let John Franklin throw a few passes in game conditions. What happens if Sean White gets hurt? Finally you can only run so many jet sweeps and reverses, sooner or later you have to actually throw passes to get these awesome young receivers involved but it does not look like that will happen.
Auburn will continue to throw as little as possible unless they have to and I will just never agree with that philosophy. You have to be more balanced on offense. You can still be a run-based team and be more balanced than they have been and are now. However the Tigers do not really have to worry about that till November 19. They can win doing what they do now till then so I guess I will just enjoy those games like State and Arkansas. Ole Miss is next and the Rebels better look out. They will come limping into the game after two tough unsuccessful road trips to Arkansas and LSU to take on this red-hot Auburn team. Let's hope the Tigers can keep it going.
(This post is dedicated to Quentin Groves, a great person and a great player. He is tied as Auburn's career sack leader and one of the best college pass rushers I have ever seen. He had a huge role on the great 2004 team and was part of Auburn's 11 sack game against Bama in 2005 but his greatest games to me were absolutely dominating Florida and Bama in 2006.)
Well I guess my first thought during the 2016 Auburn football season bye week is things are a lot better now than during the bye week last season.
The team is trending upwards and everyone is a lot happier. However I would like to say once again that many of the Auburn sites and posts I have read have gone completely off the deep end. I guess they just cannot help themselves. I am glad things are looking up but people we have only beaten an LSU team that just fired their coach for offensive incompetence, Louisiana Monroe and a bad Mississippi State team. I am glad for that but lets win a few more before booking those playoff tickets and starting the Sean White Heisman campaign.
It is good to trend upwards but the team has to get that big win over a legitimately good team. It is like the 2013 team going on the road to beat a highly ranked Texas A&M team. It is like the 2010 team beating a ranked Arkansas team then a top five LSU team. There are a lot of examples but the best is probably the 2007 team who had two losses upsetting #4 Florida and Tim Tebow in Gainesville. Unfortunately it is hard to find any good SEC teams this year outside of Tuscaloosa. However if these Tigers can beat Arkansas and Ole Miss back-to-back that will show something. Win those two and then Auburn might even get Nick $aban's attention...
Speaking of the evil empire, I am sure glad I did not waste a bit of time on another one of their "games of the century". What a bunch of garbage. I have never heard more ridiculous hype than this week for this stupid game with Tennessee. The voters first got in line by not dropping Tennessee out of the top ten even though they lost thus ensuring this game would still be a "top ten" matchup. Next you heard all these people waxing nostalgic about a series that is literally all long streaks of one team dominating. Starting in 1982 (after a 10 year streak by Bama), the Vols won four in a row then Bama won eight and tied one and then Tennessee won seven in a row and ten of twelve. After that last Tennessee win in 2006, Bama has won every single year.
It is hard to find a time in the modern history of the series where both teams were actually legitimately good at same time. The only year I see is 1999 and Tennessee won a ho-hum 21-7 game. The games in the 80s that Tennessee won were close games but the Vols were unranked. I heard somebody actually trying to say Bama's 9-6 win in 1990 was a classic (???). There was a 5OT game in 2003 but Bama was terrible. There was that epic 6-3 Bama win in 2005 (which they have since vacated due to NCAA sanctions). The series since then has been all blowouts except for inferior Vol teams making it close last season and in 2009. The bottom line in my opinion is that this game is the most overrated rivalry in the conference.
OK, I have covered current events and now I thought I would put out one of my personal lists of best games. I also hope to get one out on best plays and worst losses as well in the future. There have been a lot of great games in Auburn history so it is hard to rank them. It also makes a difference on whether you were at the game or watching it on TV therefore right now I am making my "best wins" list from games I attended in person. I would also like to add a bit more context. A great game to me has to be one between two very good teams that is hard fought and well played not just Auburn winning at the end. Two great examples are the 1997 Iron Bowl and the 1989 Florida game. These games had two of the biggest game-winning plays in Auburn history but Auburn did not play great in those games. There are of course exceptions but I just wanted to get that out there, so lets get started...
MY TOP TEN AUBURN WINS I HAVE SEEN IN PERSON:
Honorable mention: 1990 Florida State, 1993 Florida, 1994 LSU, 2000 Georgia and 2001 Florida.
10. "
The Nightmare at Jordan Hare"
(1987, #6 Auburn 29 #10 Florida 6). Auburn went undefeated in conference in 1987 winning the SEC title outright. This was their biggest home game and biggest game overall other than beating 8th ranked Georgia in Athens. Also Auburn was on a three game losing streak to Florida. Great Florida teams that were later convicted by the NCAA beat Auburn in 1984 and 85. The year before in 1986 Auburn had lost a heartbreaker in Gainesville. In that game Auburn blew a 17-0 lead and Florida won 18-17 on a last second two-point conversion. The Gators returned to Jordan Hare on October 31, 1987 for a top ten conference battle.
I was a freshman at Auburn and did not get to the game early enough to get the good student seats so I was at the top of the end zone. It was crazy that night. Everywhere you looked in the student section there was another Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers walking around. All of that combined to make it an absolutely electric night. There was just something in the air, you could just feel it. My family and I still talk about it. I wonder if the Florida Gators knew what they were walking into.
Well if they did not then they found out real soon they were walking into a buzzsaw that night. Offense, defense, special teams... Auburn had everything clicking on all cylinders. This game featured great leaders like quarterback Jeff Burger and linebacker Kurt Crain. The Tigers shredded the Gators like it was a horror movie 29-6. It was payback time that night and this win would be a big part of winning an outright conference title. It truly was the "Nightmare at Jordan Hare" for the Florida Gators.
9. "
The End of an Era"
(1988, #9 Auburn 20 #17 Georgia 10). "The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" between Auburn and Georgia used to be very special. The younger generation do not know the history and the ties each of these schools used to have. First it is the oldest and arguably one of the greatest rivalries in college football. Auburn's first game was against Georgia and they will play for the 120th time this season. The series is so close that just last year it was dead even at 55 wins apiece with eight ties. Heck the total points in the series were even a few years ago as well! It dwarfs the so-called "Third Saturday in October".
Auburn's great coach Shug Jordan coached at Georgia before returning to Auburn. One of his players at Auburn, Vince Dooley, became Georgia's greatest coach and athletic director. Auburn coach Pat Dye was an All-American player at Georgia. Auburn's greatest basketball coach Joel Eaves left Auburn in 1963 to become Georgia's athletic director and hired Vince Dooley. There is a ton more history between the two schools. The last game in this special rivalry came to an end on November 12, 1988. This was Vince Dooley's last game against Auburn.
Both teams were very good and the winner would share in the SEC Championship with LSU. The weather was perfect as I watched this from the student section. It was one more hard hitting game between the two oldest rivals in the South. The 1988 Auburn defense was the best in the country and one of the best all time. They dominated the game holding Georgia under 100 yards rushing. The hit Auburn linebacker put on Georgia running back Tim Worley is the most famous moment from this game.
Auburn running back Stacy Danley had maybe his finest game going for 172 yards while Reggie Slack went 20 of 34 for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Auburn won a hard fought battle and at midfield two living legends shook hands for the last time. The SEC would split into divisions and Pat Dye would leave as well four years later. This game would slowly turn into just another hate fest and not the special rivalry it used to be. It is still a special game but it is definitely not the same as it used to be when these two men were coaching and before the SEC went to divisions. This game truly was the end of an era.
8. "The Greatest Fifteen Minutes" (2005, #11 Auburn 28 #7 Bama 18). Auburn in 2005 was one of the very few teams in SEC history to go 7-1 in conference and not get to Atlanta. Auburn's only loss was to LSU in overtime and LSU went 7-1 also. Bama was undefeated till losing to LSU the week before this game. LSU had a loss and had not clinched yet at the time of the game so both Auburn and Bama were fighting for an SEC West title.
It had been almost a decade since both teams had been good at the same time. Everyone prepared for another tight battle... and for the first time in a very long time Auburn came out and took it to the Tide. I watched this one with my parents and brother and it was the greatest fifteen minutes of football I have ever seen. Auburn scored every time they got the ball in the first quarter. Brandon Cox picked the Tide apart early and he finished 14 of 21 for 118 yards and two touchdowns while Kenny Irons had 100 yards rushing and a touchdown as well.
This was one game though that the defensive fireworks outweighed the offensive fireworks as the Auburn defense sacked Brodie Croyle a record eleven times in the game (WATCH THIS CLIP!). I have never seen an Auburn defensive line dominate a Bama offensive line like that. They were pretty much all over Croyle before he could even look downfield. Unfortunately after the first quarter Auburn spent the rest of the game running the clock out and Bama made it look closer than it was. However the first quarter was maybe the finest in Auburn history.
7. "
Clash of the Titans"
(1983, #4 Auburn 28 #5 Florida 21). This was the first really big game I attended at Jordan Hare Stadium. The biggest home game in a year full of big games. I watched this one with my parents and brother. Bo Jackson played in a lot of big games and maybe made more big plays than any player in Auburn history. This is arguably his greatest game outside the Bama game this season he won almost singlehandedly. Auburn also defeated #4 Georgia this season 13-7 in a defensive struggle where Lionel James had the only touchdown and Bo led the way when Auburn destroyed #4 Florida State 59-27 the next season but that was not a conference game.
This game against Florida is still historic because of the number of players on both teams who went on to play in the NFL. Florida also destroyed the so-called national champion Miami Hurricanes who stole the title from a more deserving Auburn later this season. This was an epic battle. Bo opened the game with a 55 yard touchdown run on the first drive and then Bo would go 80 yards in the third quarter for the clinching touchdown. Bo ran for 196 yards on 16 carries (!!!) for a ridiculous 12 yard average. This game was a true heavyweight bout and Auburn raised the belt that day.
6. "
The Immaculate Deflection"
(2013, #7 Auburn 43 #25 Georgia 38). Most people would call me crazy for this game not being higher. I had to take a few points off due to the fact Georgia was just not that good. All the other games on this list are top ten or fifteen matchups. However this was one of the greatest games I have ever seen and it is really hard to rank these games. I watched this one with my youngest son and my parents.
As everyone remembers, Auburn came out in the first half and took it to Georgia. It was 27-10 at half. The lead then ballooned to 37-17 with ten minutes left in the third quarter. It was over... till Georgia stormed back with three stops and three touchdowns to take the lead 38-37. I was sitting there with my head in my hands despondent that Auburn was going to lose this game. The Tigers got the ball back but stalled out at their own 27 yard line with a 4th and 18. It was OVER. I was gathering my stuff to get out of there after this last play...
Marshall dropped back and instead of going for the first down went long... I saw the pass leave his hand and thought no way, I can't believe we lost this game... I saw the ball get tipped up... I saw Louis juggle it and then run right into the end zone into history. All you could do was just yell and look on in utter disbelief at what you just saw. You can just not watch that play enough times. Georgia of course almost came back till Auburn defensive end leveled Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray to end the game. It truly was a "Miracle at Jordan Hare".
5. "
The Run"
(2010, #5 Auburn 24 #6 LSU17). Auburn and Cam Newton were on everyone's radar after some good wins but the team and Newton himself had not yet had that signature game and then undefeated LSU came to town. Big bad LSU with a ton of NFL talent on their team. I watched this game with my youngest son and my parents. The game was the battle everyone expected. It was 10-10 at the half. It all set the stage for early in the third quarter.
Auburn had the ball at midfield and Cam Newton would make one of the greatest runs I have ever seen. On this run Cam "escaped two tackles, corrected himself with his arm, eluded two additional tackles, and dragged a defender into the endzone for the touchdown". On this play he would break the SEC quarterback rushing yards in a season record (held by Auburn's Jimmy Sidle for over 40 years) and Pat Sullivan's team record for touchdowns in a season. It is also remembered as Cam's Heisman moment. LSU would come back and tie the game but then Ontarrio McCalebb would seal it with another great run. Nick Fairley also had maybe the greatest game by a defensive tackle I have ever seen in this game. Auburn would go to #1 in the BCS the next week.
4. "The Catch" (1993, #6 Auburn 22 #11 Bama 17). A year before Bama was on top of the world and Auburn had lost maybe their greatest coach and was buried under NCAA sanctions. The 1993 Auburn team never played a game on television. They were the greatest underdogs in Auburn history. Somehow someway they had beaten #4 Florida and were undefeated coming in to face Bama who they had not beaten since 1989. None of it would matter without a win in the Iron Bowl.
I watched this one with my parents and brother. On paper Bama like Florida was just better. Auburn was down 14-5 halfway through third quarter and then the starting quarterback, senior Stan White, went down. It was 4th and 15 at the Bama 35 when sophomore Pat Nix jogged on the field. Nix would then go deep to Frank Sanders and he would make maybe the greatest catch in Auburn history and get in the end zone.
Auburn would get a field goal and then James Bostic would seal it on an epic 70 yard run to seal the win and a perfect season for Auburn. This team simply had no business beating Florida or Bama. They were the toughest, grittiest bunch of underdogs in the long history of Auburn football. They simply would not quit and completed one of the most special seasons in Auburn history as well. As the late Jim Fyffe put it... "Eleven and oh! Eleven and oh! ELEVEN AND OH!!!".
3. "
The First Time"
(1989, #11 Auburn 30 #2 Bama 20). They said it would never happen. Bear Bryant said it. Ray Perkins said it. Bama and Birmingham did everything they could to stop it but they could not. Pat Dye's lasting legacy is Auburn playing Bama at Jordan Hare and 1989 was... the first time. I was there. I was a student. The RVs started coming two weeks before the game. We lined up eight hours before kickoff to get into student section. It was an atmosphere that will never be equaled.
It was not only the first time but it was two very good teams facing off. Bama fought hard but Auburn would not be denied this day. Reggie Slack to Ace Wright who made a patented Terry Beasley over the head catch. James Joseph going over the top for that first touchdown. There was Quentin Riggins leading the defense. There was "Lectron" Williams scoring another touchdown and kicker Win Lyle sealing it. One for the ages.
2. "
The Reverse"
(1986, #14 Auburn 21 #7 Bama 17). A top 15 match up at Legion Field in Birmingham. My first two Iron Bowls I saw in person were the two years before (1984 "Wrong Way Bo" and 1985 "The Kick"). I watched this game with my parents and brother. This was a hard fought game but Auburn had made a lot of mistakes. I sat with my head in my hands as the rain came down and the third quarter ended with Auburn down 17-7...
The great plays then started... Brent Fullwood takes it to the house on the first player of the fourth quarter. Jeff Burger hits Trey Gainous on 4th and 3, one of the greatest clutch throws and catches I have ever seen. Lawyer Tillman gets the ball on the reverse (after trying to call timeout), makes that juke and sails into the end zone. Sheer pandemonium. We were crying, hugging, laughing and singing "Louie, Louie" till we were hoarse.
1. "
The Kick Six"
(2013, #4 Auburn 34 #1 Bama 28). A rare top five match up of #4 Auburn vs. #1 Bama with star players on both sides. Everything was on the line. A great back and forth game with great offensive and defensive plays. Auburn hits last second touchdown pass to tie game. It looks like overtime till... the greatest play in college football history that beats a #1 team in the country in the last game of the season. Auburn wins the West, Auburn wins the SEC and Auburn should have won the whole thing. I got to watch the game with my oldest son along with my parents. We got to go on the field after the game!!! We then went to Toomers!!! Pure joy. The greatest ever.
BONUS: THE BEST AUBURN WIN AWAY I HAVE SEEN IN PERSON:
"Return to Knoxville" (2004, #8 Auburn 34 #10 Tennessee 10). This was my second trip to Knoxville. The first time was in 1991 with my dad and my brother and Auburn got killed and the whole Eric Ramsey officially started. It is not a fond memory. I would return thirteen years later to watch the biggest road win for maybe the greatest Auburn team.
My wife and I came up on Friday and spent the night in Gatlinburg. We ate dinner at the famous "Peddler" restaurant and even there you could feel the electricity in the air. It was a top ten matchup with ESPN's College Gameday in town and the hype was churning for Tennessee's two young star quarterbacks, Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer. Auburn had won a close game over #5 LSU at home earlier in the season but had not really put it all together or won that big one on the road. They would do both this night.
My wife had gotten our tickets from a Tennessee season ticket holder and they were sweet. They were right on the first row of the upper deck and provided a great view with nobody in front of you. Auburn set the tone on the first drive as Ronnie Brown provided a legendary moment bowling over Tennessee safety Jonathan Allen and knocking his helmet off on a nine yard touchdown run. Auburn would kick a field goal and then Jason Campbell would hit a short pass to Ben Obomanu for Auburn's second touchdown.
Cadillac Williams then took it in to make it 24-3 with five minutes left in half. Auburn was not finished as Campbell hit Courtney Taylor for a 31 yard touchdown after a Tennessee interception. The Auburn defense forced the Vols into five interceptions, four of them snagged by senior safety Junior Rosegreen. Auburn went into the half up 31-3 and won 34-10. It might have been the finest half of football I have seen and definitely the greatest game I have seen Auburn play on the road in person. WAR EAGLE!!!
There you have it, a little trip down memory lane to get everyone through the bye week... The Auburn Tigers return to action next weekend against Arkansas in maybe the biggest game remaining in the season till Bama.
Auburn 38 Mississippi State 14. I said in my post last week that Auburn needed a "convincing win" in this game. Wow. The Tigers sure got it. Auburn absolutely destroyed State in the trenches in route to a 35-0 halftime lead. I have not seen a much more thorough domination for a half of football. I knew State was not very good this season but they did not even show up for this game. Auburn sure did. Credit to the coaches and players for being ready to play especially for an 11am game. Every Auburn fan has seen plenty of these early games where Auburn was the one who did not wake up.
THE GOOD
As stated above, the offensive and defensive lines completely dominated the game. Lets start with the offense... Auburn's bad tendencies on offense did not matter. The coaches could pretty much call anything and it would work. As always they called a lot more runs, 56 to be exact, and Kamryn Pettway who took over after Kerryon Johnson limped off led the way. Pettway finished with an absurd 39 carries and ran for almost 170 yards and three touchdowns. Nobody else ran more than four times. That is a great game by Pettway but I think we could have handed the ball off for no gain to somebody else in the second half.
Obviously when you can run that well, you can pretty much do whatever you want passing and Auburn did. There were only 18 passes thrown (which is standard operating procedure for the Gus Malzahn offense regardless of who calls the plays) and Sean White plus the receivers made the most of them. White finished 14 of 18 for 204 yards and a touchdown. Tony Stevens was again the leading receiver with 64 of those yards. White is a great passer in the 10 to 15 yard range but he definitely still struggles with the longer passes. However they were not needed this day and he did a good job spreading the ball around.
Moving to the other side of the ball... Auburn finally has a really good defense. My opinion is definitely influenced by nearly a decade of watching Auburn field some of the worst defenses in the history of the school but it is still true. This defense is leading this team. Carl Lawson and Montravius Adam are playing like the stars they were supposed to be. State just could not stop them. I also do not think I have ever seen a true freshman defensive end at Auburn play as well as Marlon Davidson. I think all of these guys will play on Sundays along with cornerback Carlton Davis.
Another big difference on defense is the linebackers. It has been a weakness for so long at Auburn and was a big question mark coming into this season. It is no longer. Tre Williams and DeShaun Davis are difference makers. It is a pleasure to watch them along with our veteran secondary. I knew these guys could be really good if they could just stay healthy and so far they have. Trey Matthews and Rudy Ford stuck out to me today along with Javaris Davis. Javaris Davis' improved play is huge as every team has been throwing to his side and away from Carlton Davis. There are not many soft spots on this defense. I sure hope they can stay healthy so we can see how far this defense can take this team.
THE BAD
Sorry, even after a beatdown like that I have issues with the offensive play calling. I will continue to point it out each week because it is what continues to get Auburn beat every time they play a good team. Auburn still runs on first down nearly every time. Auburn never uses games against lesser teams to work on the passing game. Malzahn would rather run Kamryn Pettway nearly to death than throw a pass. I just shake my head. Auburn has precious little depth any more at running back but just continues to run instead of throwing short passes to the LARGE group of good young wide receivers Auburn has.
It is just so dumb. First, Sean White as I stated above is a great mid-range passer and the best down to throw those passes is... first down. Auburn makes it hard when it does not have to be. An example would be Auburn's first touchdown against State. White throws a huge pass to Tony Stevens to put Auburn in business at the State seven yard line. The smart play is to immediately throw again and get the touchdown. Instead Auburn runs two up the middle and then throws on third down. They get the touchdown but that play would not have worked against a good team. That is why Auburn will still have red zone problems against good teams. One way to help red zone problems is throwing on first down some of the time.
THE UGLY
Greed is strangling big time football. As a fan the biggest example is basically having to watch almost two hours of commercials during a football game. It has gotten completely out of control. I love football but simply cannot stand to watch hours of commercials. It is hard for me to even watch an Auburn game much less any other games. The Tennessee vs. Texas A&M game yesterday was over FOUR AND HALF HOURS. I know there was overtime and a serious injury during the game but that is still ridiculous. I am not asking for an overhaul but they really need to make some small changes to keep the majority of games to three hours.
THE LAST WORD
Auburn goes into their bye week with a big win and whatever momentum was left after basically mailing in the second half rather than trying to get better. I know Kamryn Pettway will sure need the break. As stated above, the Auburn defense sure looks like it is for real. The defense should give Auburn a chance in every game remaining. I will just stop there and for this day just enjoy getting to see "Auburn 35 Mississippi State 0" at halftime of this game. Those great days do not come around too often and at least the first half of this game was certainly a "Saturday to Remember".
Auburn 58 Louisiana Monroe 7. After an interesting week on a couple of subjects, Auburn crushed the Warhawks from the University of Louisiana at Monroe for homecoming on Saturday. The Auburn offense ran up almost 700 yards of offense while the defense held the Warhawks to just a touchdown and 250 yards of total offense. I will say like Arkansas State earlier this season that it was nice to see the team take care of business the right way in one of these lesser games. I have seen Auburn just "waller" through many of these games in the last decade especially Malzahn teams.
THE GOOD
As I stated above, Auburn absolutely destroyed Louisiana Monroe. There were a few hiccups but not many. The defense dominated. Sean White finished 14 of 17 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Kerryon Johnson rushed for a career high 146 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns. Most impressive the Tigers actually had a receiver have a 100 yards receiving in a game, Tony Stevens caught four passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Finally, the offense scored all touchdowns with no field goals (except for a 56 yard attempt) after Auburn's red zone debacles last week against LSU. All in all a great homecoming day on the plains.
My only problem while watching the game is the fact that the majority of those plays just do not work against good teams. A friend texted me this during game yesterday: "run middle run middle run middle bubble screen run middle run middle run middle bubble screen run middle run middle bubble screen..." It is so true, we run up the middle way too much and good grief every good team is destroying the bubble screen. Please take it out of the playbook along with the double play-action bomb. Gus, Rhett Lashlee, Herb Hand or whoever continues to call the same plays over and over and most of them just do not work anymore against good teams. I think Auburn needs to work on straight drop-back passes and get better in that department but that is never going to happen...
THE BAD
The first bad thing will once again be Auburn fans and sites overreacting to this game. Good teams dominate out-manned opponents but good teams also do it when playing other good teams. This team has not done that. This Auburn team HAS NOT SCORED TWENTY POINTS AGAINST ANYBODY GOOD. Auburn has scored 13 points against Clemson, 16 points against Texas A&M and 18 points against LSU. This was true of most games against tough opponents last season as well. Just like I said after Arkansas State lets wait till this offense at least scores 20 points against somebody good before throwing a party.
On a related subject, the other interesting thing from this week was Gus Malzahn's most current flip-flop on who is calling offensive plays in Auburn. Apparently now it is Rhett Lashlee and Gus is just SO relieved and evidently this is the way it should have always been. I think most of us that knew anything about big-time football already knew that yet somehow it took a guy Auburn is paying over four million dollars four seasons to figure that out. On top of that many Auburn fans are acting like Gus just discovered plutonium or something. I mean honestly what the heck is going on here???
Last season at some point Gus evidently handed the reins of the Auburn offense to Rhett Lashlee as he gave all the credit to Lashlee after Auburn's only big win last year at Texas A&M. At some point in the offseason after losing to Georgia and Bama to end 2015 that included terrible offensive performances Gus decided he was "going to be a coach again". That is all I heard in the spring and summer. It was all that Gus was too much of a CEO in 2015 and he wanted to get back to being more of a coach. All these Auburn sites and posters told us that was going to turn everything around. All these people were all excited about Gus taking back over.
Well evidently that all lasted three games and now Gus has totally flip-flopped again and is back to being a CEO and of course once again many people are acting like this is going to change everything. I mean give me a break! Enough already. I am glad that Gus finally realized that the head coach really cannot be the play caller but since this is our second iteration of this forgive me if I do not get too excited. I have read people saying the offense was different last week under Lashlee. Uh how? Auburn ran up the middle a LOT, Auburn ran up the middle every time after a completed pass and Auburn ran up the middle, threw screens and ran trick plays in the red zone. Uh that is Gus Malzhan Football 101.
I mean how is this going to change anything? The only thing that Rhett Lashlee knows is the Gus Malzahn playbook and philosophy. He has no experience with anything else. It is not like Gus is going to let him really change anything. Auburn will run the ball most of the time and only throw when necessary. Auburn will continue to run up the middle a LOT, run up the middle after most completed passes and probably continue to run the up the middle, throw screens and run trick plays in the red zone. The Auburn passing game will continue to be underused and will continue to struggle against good teams. The wide receivers will continue to do a lot more blocking than catching.
Again, somebody please explain to me what is going to change? Once again though, fortunately for Auburn the SEC is terrible and Auburn has one of the best defenses in the conference for at least this season. As I said last week, this will probably allow the Tigers to pick up several more wins even with the offensive shortcomings. I predicted 8-4 to start the season and I guess I am sticking with that. Unfortunately in my opinion even with another loss to Bama that will allow the powers-that-be to declare victory and probably extended Jay Jacobs' and Gus' contracts...
THE UGLY
Also this week, Mr. Commitment himself, Bama coach Nick $aban, ran off at the mouth quite a bit. It was all pretty much to change the narrative away from another arrested player and the defection of his second string quarterback Blake Barnett. I am not sure why he bothers, his underlings in the media have every negative story about Bama buried in less than a week. However even with that being true, all-knowing Nick decided to do some serious pontificating on that and Bama's rivalry games.
Barnett evidently saw the writing on the wall and decided to go ahead and leave Bama for JUCO so he could play starting the fourth game of the season next year. It is actually some pretty smart thinking. Of course Bama nation cannot understand why anybody would ever want to leave and have blasted the poor kid into oblivion. $aban joined the masses on his weekly talk show and basically called Barnett a quitter and blathered on about how his dad would have never let him transfer as a player. This from a guy who has quit three different head coaching jobs to find a better spot and won a national championship last season with a quarterback that QUIT at Florida State to find a better spot.
I mean talk about the pot calling the kettle black... how hypocritical can you get?
Nick also announced out of the blue how much more his players care about the Tennessee game than the Auburn game. I am sure they do Nick since Bama desperately needs a big-time win with the SEC being so bad. $aban is desperately trying to prop up Tennessee since everyone has already seen Auburn and LSU are not that good and Texas A&M has flopped late so many times. USC has been terrible this season as well and $aban looks to be actually scared that Bama might for once be called on the carpet for a weak schedule. He is also scared that if he has his annual regular season loss the Tide might not make it in this season.
All I can say is LOL, I mean does this guy ever not talk out of both sides of his mouth? Early on in his career at Bama it was all about LSU and their annual "game of the year". Bama got so much mileage out of that con win or lose. In 2013 it was all about Auburn as everyone was pretty certain Bama would win that one. I believe Nick himself used the "biggest rivalry in all of football" line during the pregame for that one. In 2014 the SEC was better and in 2015 Bama got to play Georgia and Florida even if they were down. This year they have none of that so Nick and the Bama PR machine have to make Bama and Tennessee the lastest "game of the year". $aban needs to send his protégé Kirby Smart a letter of thanks for not ruining it as Georgia gave up a "Hail Mary" to lose to Tennessee yesterday.
As an Auburn fan honestly talking about the topic all I can say is it is fine with me Nick. Please tell your athletic director to stop trying to block Auburn moving to the SEC East. You want to say we are not your biggest rival yet you want to keep us under your thumb? I think that says a lot more than your press conference tripe. I, for one, would LOVE to move to the East and play Tennessee, Georgia and Florida every year than play the Tide and a bunch of teams we have no natural rivalries with. However Nick will flip flop soon enough if Auburn wins a few this season and the "Iron Bowl" will be back up top. Nobody is more inconsistent in what they say than Nick "I am NOT going to Alabama" $$$aban...
THE LAST WORD
Auburn travels to Starkville to take on Mississippi State. This is an important game regardless of all this other stuff about Gus Malzahn. Auburn needs a convincing win. The Tigers need a win most importantly but I think they need more. It seems like Dan Mullen has really put a lot of emphasis on the Auburn game since he came to Starkville. Gus Malzahn under Gene Chizik put a pretty good beat down on State in Mullen's first season but since then State has beaten or almost beaten Auburn every season.
Auburn barely beat State in 2010 (with Cam Newton), 2011 and 2013. State soundly beat Auburn in 2012, 2014 and last season. Cam Newton barely beat State and Nick Marshall was 1-1 against them. Mullen gets State up for this game and you can bet they will come to play again this season. Auburn better be ready. IF Auburn is to take this step toward being better than last season then it HAS to start next Saturday in Starkville.
