Game 12 Review: Great Tournament and a Salute

It was a tough loss this week.  Auburn was playing the #1 team in the country.  The Tigers were playing a team with maybe the most tradition in the sport.  They were playing a team that just seems to keep winning national championships.  They were playing a team with maybe the greatest coach around.  Yes the Duke Blue Devils seem to have it all...  However the Auburn basketball team did an outstanding job hanging with them and showing they belong.  They were not just going against a good Duke team they might have been going against one of their greatest teams.  Zion Williamson will be the first pick in the NBA draft if R.J. Barrett is not.  Those guys are awesome.  This Duke team had already destroyed Kentucky by forty points.

Auburn ended up losing 78-72 to the Blue Devils but played the best anybody had against them up to that point.  The Tigers started slow and Duke who is more used to big time games took advantage.  They jumped out to a 22-8 lead then 31-14.  This was where just about every other Auburn basketball team would have folded and looked like they should not have been there but not this day.  The Tigers fought back to get within six points before the half ended with Duke up 41-33.  Duke would start quick in the second half pushing the lead to 49-33.  Again Auburn fought back to get to within five points at 61-56 with eight minutes left in the game.  Auburn could get no closer than that and ended up losing by six points.  It was a phenomenal effort by the Auburn basketball team.

I am still looking around expecting something bad as it always seems to with Auburn basketball but so far so good.  This might be Auburn's best basketball team ever.  The job Bruce Pearl has done and continues to do is simply amazing.  He took over an Auburn basketball program that was dead on the table and that is no exaggeration.  He has worked and worked recruiting and improving the schedule.  He led the team to an SEC Championship last season in one of the most unbelievable jobs of coaching I have ever seen.  He did this in the shadow of an FBI investigation into his top assistant for crimes on the side.  He now has taken Auburn to one of the big-time college basketball preseason tournaments in the Maui Invitational and finished third. 

Most Auburn teams would never be considered for this tournament.  This is a tournament for traditionally strong basketball schools.  Auburn basketball simply does not play in tournaments that Duke plays in.  Auburn did not just play in the tournament but beat two of those traditional basketball powers in Xavier and Arizona and played Duke to the wire.  You just have to know the history of Auburn basketball to be absolutely blown away by that.  Every Auburn basketball coach has done it the "Cliff Ellis way" as in scheduling a powder puff schedule to get some wins in the preseason.  They all have avoided really good teams but not Pearl.  He has continually improved Auburn's schedule and now has Auburn basketball ranked in the top ten in the country!!!

 As for yesterday's Iron Bowl, I have already made my thoughts clear on Gus Malzahn.  He will be fired after the Iron Bowl next season after going 7-5 or 6-6 again.  I hope our athletic director is working feverishly on his plan to replace him.  Let me be real clear though, Gus Malzahn will not be fired for his performances against Bama.  My problem with Gus is the LSU, State and especially the Tennessee games this season.  Nobody is going to beat Bama.  I think everyone sees the problems.  The recruiting has slipped which everyone has seen this season and will see even more next season plus the Malzahn offensive system grows more and more predictable.  Go back and watch Bama defenders reading some of the plays.  We all just have to watch one more season of this, sigh...

I want to end this season on a positive note football-wise as well as basketball-wise though.  Lost in all the angst and frustration with our current football team was the fact that this season marks the 25th anniversary of the 1993 Auburn football season.  I graduated from Auburn in 1992 and saw every single Auburn game home and away from 1991 to 1993 except at Texas '91, at Florida and Bama '92 and at Arkansas '93.  The 1991 and 1992 seasons were played under the dark cloud of the Eric Ramsey allegations.  They were the fall of Auburn coach Pat Dye.  He had to step down and Auburn hired young Terry Bowden. 

Let me say first that I do not think much of Terry Bowden now. I think time told the story on Bowden and it was not a good one. He has tried to destroy his legacy at Auburn (and pretty much succeeded) but nothing will take away how awesome and magical the 1993 season was.  He did an incredible job in that one shining season.  I mean it is a story without equal.  A program that had lost its way losing their greatest coach.  A program put under harsh NCAA sanctions of no postseason and NO TV.  It is unthinkable these days but this Auburn team was never seen live on television this season.  You add to that Bama had just won a national championship and it makes it more incredible.

Since I went to every game that season but one I decided to create a giant poster with all the ticket stubs and pictures from all the games. When I finished I kind of wanted to write something to put on it and this is what I wrote...

-----------------------------
WHY I LOVE SPORTS
The 1993 Auburn team started about as low as a team could start. They were shackled with: NCAA probation that prevented them from having anything to play for and being seen by anybody except the spectators, a new coach with no big-time experience, the loss of the greatest coach in Auburn history, a team that had not been ranked in 2 years, a team with supposedly no "talent" like a quarterback who was a "loser", a middle linebacker that was barely 210 pounds, a reciever that was supposed to be all mouth, a secondary that had lost their best player for the season, two senior fullbacks who were washed up, and with defensive and offensive lines that were "below average".

Basically, the same team that had endured two straight seasons of losing, two straight seasons of controversy, and two straight seasons of complete frustration. A team that was picked by almost everyone to have a losing record. And finally a team who's cross-state rival had just won a national championship. But with a new "Attitude" brought in by the new coach and put into action by the players, this team achieved perfection. This team went 11-0, the first Auburn team to ever do it. This "Attitude" was simply about believing in yourself, setting goals, working hard and persevering to achieve those goals, and not worrying about things you can't control.

To accomplish what they did this team prayed before and after every game; they started the season by beating a team that had crushed them the year before; they beat a team in a place where they had not won in over 50 years; they, in maybe their closest game, stopped a team on 4 plays at the goal line; they beat the 4th ranked team in the nation by coming back from 10-0 and 27-14 deficits and finally winning on a last second field goal in one of the greatest games I have ever seen; they won in below freezing weather; and finally pulled out one more mracle to beat their cross-state rival in maybe the biggest game ever played in Alabama.

There were so many reasons this season was special but one of the best was seeing little known and rarely used players step up and make their contribution: a tiny senior defensive end that makes 2 huge sacks against Florida; a little used senior defensive back makes a goal line interception to stop Georgia; a senior cornerback who's career had fallen short of all expectations gets to start due to injuries in the last game of his career against Alabama and makes 8 tackles; and finally a back-up quarterback who comes in (due to an injury) on 4th and 15 down 14-5 against Alabama and throws a 35 yard touchdown pass to bring Auburn back.

But it was also great watching: the quarterback, who had persevered through so much criticism, step up and help lead the team to victory, a bunch of linebackers who were supposed to be a weakness become a strength, a reciever become an all-SEC big time player; a secondary become one of the best in the nation, 2 fullbacks finish their career by contributing so much, the offensive and defensive lines become dominant, and finally an MVP tailback who just would not be stopped. Of course, these were just college kids, just regular people, and they had some luck but what they achieved and how they they did it showed why I love Auburn and I love sports.

Jeff Sallas
Class of 1992
Auburn University
-----------------------------

Game 11 Review: Give Me Liberty...

Auburn 53  Liberty 0.  The famous quote from Patrick Henry rings true for the current Auburn football team as well except with one change: "Give me Liberty AND give me death!".  Auburn got Liberty this week but gets death this coming Saturday in the form of a road trip to Tuscaloosa for a likely beatdown from the Crimson Tide.  The bandwagon masses will then rejoice.  My gosh it is literally the easiest thing in the world to be a Bama fan.  Their are so many pathetic hangers-on that they could fill a million band wagons.  I mean I am not sure how many cars and trucks I have seen with four flags waving and the back of the car plastered in Bama bumper stickers.  I mean come on, is all that really necessary?  Do we really need FOUR flags?  Do we really need SIX bumper stickers?

They will all be in their full glory this week.  They will get Auburn and they will probably win the rest but oh my gosh it will be pretty funny if they do not.  Bama teams have to win everything or they are forgotten as complete losers and if for whatever reason they get upset then Tua-mania will be forgotten and filed away in the trash.  It is sad that Bama was able to sneak in the back door of the college football playoffs again last year after not winning ANYTHING in the regular season and getting beat down by Auburn.  It minimized the fact that Auburn beat Bama bad last season.  All I can say is I would not be as happy with a supposed national championship if I could not even win my own division or beat my biggest rival.

Back to Auburn and Senior Day on the plains...  I am always happy to see these guys have a good day in their final home game.  Kudos to these Auburn seniors who have sacrificed so much for this program through the good and the bad.  On offense, senior Ryan Davis is now the new record holder for most receptions in a career at Auburn.  He was one of the biggest reasons Auburn was able to beat Georgia and Bama last season.  The Tigers will certainly miss Chandler Cox next season.  He had a tough time filling Jay Prosch's shoes early on but really came into his own and has been a big factor in Auburn success running the ball the last four years. 

On defense, I will miss DeShaun Davis.  I know the defense stumbled at times this season but he has been a really good player and I know he has given it his all.  The same goes for linebackers Darrell Williams and Montavious Atkinson.  Auburn went so many years without good linebackers till these guys came along.  The Tiger defense will also miss Dontavius Russell and Andrew Williams.  These guys have helped hold the line for awhile now at Auburn.  Kudos as well to all the lesser known seniors who have toiled in obscurity and made the team better.  That group of guys in each class make a bigger impact than anybody thinks. 

Auburn will as always have a few leaving early led by defensive tackle Derrick Brown and probably defensive end Marlon Davidson as well.  These guys are beasts and I think they will play on Sundays for awhile.  I am still mystified as to how our defense faltered so badly at times this season.  You look at these guys again and I just do not understand it.  I guess the only other underclassmen that will probably leave early is Jarrett Stidham.  I still believe he is one of the most talented players at quarterback Auburn has ever had but alas he was rendered ineffective this season by a monstrous drop in talent and the predictable Malzahn offense.  I cannot see him going very high in the NFL draft but I cannot see him coming back for another year of this at Auburn.

Any way best of luck to the graduating Auburn seniors and any juniors that leave.  They did have some great times and big wins during their career.  I think the mood next season will be a bit more somber during this game as I believe Auburn will be fighting for a bowl berth in this spot next season against Samford.  I do not know what to say about next week.  It will be horrible, I am really not looking forward to it.  I guess I could do what Bama fans do when they lose and talk about how Georgia (they say Tennessee) is our real rival and the Iron Bowl is not even that important.  However I will not do that.  I will keep it real.  It will hurt and I will admit it unlike Bama fans when Auburn beat them soundly last season.

Game 10 Review: COUNTDOWN

(Author's note: I apologize for the lateness of this post.  I had to coach two teams in a soccer tournament this past weekend, seven games in all.  I then had soccer tryouts this week, busy busy)

 

Georgia 27  Auburn 10.  The countdown has officially begun in my mind.  I predict right here and now that Gus Malzahn will be fired in a little over a year shortly after the 2019 Iron Bowl.  There is unfortunately nothing to do but wait for the inevitable.  It is too late to bring in new coaches, it is too late to start being nice to the fans, it is too late to try and change the offense, etc... IT IS TOO LATE.  It was sad watching this game.  Auburn had enough talent to play a better game but due to poor coaching and preparation for this season the team has gotten worse.  On the flip side, Auburn's talent is noticeably down.  The attrition and poor scouting of the last few classes is evident.

 

I have gone over the problems with Gus Malzahn time and time again.  The problem has been his coaching the past few years but now his recruiting is starting to catch up with him.  Next season I do not see an All-SEC player on the field on offense or defense outside maybe wide receiver which is the position that has the least impact under Malzahn.  I have heard people saying the schedule next season is "more favorable"???  I mean what???  Unless Bama and Georgia are losing a lot more players than I know about I do not think that is true.  Auburn also has to go on the road to places they are not going to win without any All-SEC caliber players.

 

Right off the bat I predict Auburn will lose to Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia and Bama next season going 6-6 at best in 2019.  Gus Malzahn will then be fired after the Bama game.  I really do not see any way to avoid it unless I am wrong about a lot of players.  I hope I am but I do not think so.  Gus can hire Hugh Freeze and completely revamp the staff but again it is too late.  Malik Willis nor a true freshman star behind this offensive line with these running backs are going to win on the road in those places or at home against Bama or Georgia.  I am sorry people, it is not going to happen and there is not a damn thing we can do about it.

 

Unfortunately I believe we are all just going to have to just grit our teeth and get through it.  It is terrible Auburn is going to have to waste another season especially an odd one where we play Georgia and Bama at home but the writing is on the wall.  A team, even a spunky underdog one, has to have a certain level of talent to win in the Southeastern Conference.  Auburn is not going to reach that level next season on either side of the ball in my opinion.  I guess it is to Malzahn's credit that he did not just go off the cliff like Bowden and Chizik or Tuberville to a certain extent but it also drags things out when he reaches the end.  That is where I believe Auburn football is at.

 

As for this game, it was excruciating to watch.  I always get excited and get those chills when Auburn and Georgia tee it up.  It was my first game as an Auburn fan in 1978 and I think it is the most underrated rivalry in sports at least until the last decade.  The stats prove it.  Unfortunately since Vince Dooley left the sidelines it has slowly sunk into just another hate fest like the Iron Bowl.  Mark Richt accelerated the process and Kirby Smart has put an exclamation point on it.  Georgia's conduct in the last two games has been reprehensible and is an insult to the past integrity and family feel this rivalry had.  It has been played basically back-to-back with Bama for the entire history of the Iron Bowl and it was just as big but completely different but not any more.

 

First Gus kind of mouthed off after we whipped Georgia at home last season but come on that was nothing close to the "Soulja Boy" dance-a-thon in 2007.  However none of that was horrible, it gets bad when it happens on the field like it did in Atlanta last December.  The Georgia defense took numerous cheap shots and intentionally piled on Kerryon Johnson.  There were numerous other personal fouls committed by the Bulldogs as well.  It was ridiculous and completely uncalled for.  I was mad enough at that and then Kirby Smart in a completely classless loser move calls for a fake field goal with three minutes left up 27-10???!!!???  That is just bush league garbage.

 

I cannot believe I saw this garbage in the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry".  That kind of tears it though.  I do not think Auburn should fight for this rivalry if that is what this sacred game has turned into.  The SEC needs to GET RID OF permanent series between the SEC East and West.  NOBODY wants them except for Auburn, Bama, Georgia and Tennessee.  We have this garbage going on between Auburn and Georgia and Tennessee may not beat Bama again in this century.  Lets just END IT and make things fair.  These two rivalries are the reason for the unfair schedules in the SEC.  The conference needs to go to two rotating games with the other division.  That way everyone also gets to play everyone else a lot more.  It is sad but I think it is time.

Game 9 Review: Jumbo Win

Auburn 28  Texas A&M 24.  It does not change my mind or I am guessing many others about Gus Malzahn but a win is a win.  I am happy for the players who have worked their butts off and did not give up.  Something good usually happens if you do not give up and hang in there.  I am happy for the fans who made the trek to watch Auburn's third 11am home game in a row. You could hear the roar of the crowd even down 24-14 trying to fire up the defense.  Also it was not just a win but one of the bigger comebacks in Auburn history.  I think every one had given up the ship with Texas A&M driving into Auburn territory with a ten point lead and eight minutes left in the game.  The bruised Auburn defense and struggling Auburn offense then rose up and made great plays late.

It was just one of those special days for me.  It started for me early this morning at an 8am tennis match.  I got beaten badly 6-1 in the first set but was able to come back and win in a third set tiebreaker.  I then come home and watch the game and again had certainly counted Auburn out but they came back and won too.  The sky is a little bluer, the food tastes a little better and we could all enjoy an Auburn win over a decent team for the first time since Labor Day.  Of course we better enjoy it because it will probably be the last one for this season.  This win saved Malzahn for another year but only a win next week can "change the narrative" which is evidently what Jimbo Fisher was telling his team a win in this game could do according to the announcers on TV.

THE GOOD
Auburn only had 19 RUSHING YARDS FOR THE GAME ON 21 ATTEMPTS.  Read that again.  In a million years I would never think Gus Malzahn or frankly any Auburn coach could win a game with that stat.  Texas A&M had over 200 yards rushing and over 400 yards total.  The A&M offense spent a good deal of the game destroying Auburn's supposed great defense and #5 Trayveon Williams was the best offensive player on the field.  That guy is Darren Sproles reincarnated.  Every time I looked up he was tearing through the Auburn defense again.  He ended with almost 200 total yards and three touchdowns.

Texas A&M was much better than Auburn in nearly every facet of the game except one... turnovers.  You hear a lot about how deadly turnovers can be and you sometimes start to tone it out but today was a good example.  Auburn scored two touchdowns off Aggie turnovers and that was the difference in the game.  Texas A&M had the momentum both times as well but the turnovers changed everything.  Auburn got its first touchdown on a trick play pass from Ryan Davis to Sal Cannella after the Aggies fumbled and Auburn's fourth quarter comeback started after an interception by Noah Igbinoghene.  Freshman Christian Tutt also had a huge punt return on Auburn's last drive.

Jarrett Stidham finally caught fire and receivers Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton were thankfully ready when he did.  The season has obviously been a well-documented disaster for Stidham but today at the end of the game he finally started putting them on the money.  Being a part of a comeback like this is something these guys will always remember as well the rest of us.  Another good thing about this win is getting a little payback for the national championship loss to Florida State.  It certainly does not make things even but helps a little.  This was going to be Jimbo Fisher's first signature win at Texas A&M over one of the top programs in the conference but instead it is a stinging loss.

THE BAD
I could pretty much use the same stat lines from the last section.  It is good that Auburn was able to overcome such horrendous performances but it is really bad that they had to.  Gus Malzahn's offense is still and I guess will always be extremely predictable.  Texas A&M like Tennessee seemed to know every play.  The predictability just makes everything worse and the Auburn offense is pretty bad.  The offensive line is just awful.  Again I know these guys are working hard but man they were bad most of today.  I mean 19 TOTAL YARDS RUSHING???!!!???  Texas A&M had a good defense but not that good.  I mean that is just ridiculous.

They also were not very good in pass protection.  Texas A&M defensive linemen seemed to just run right through the line at times.  The Aggies had 3 sacks and 7 tackles-for-losses.  On top of that, the few times that Stidham had decent protection early there was nobody open.  Auburn only had seven first downs through three quarters.  Again that is just ridiculous after a BYE WEEK, the Texas A&M defense is not that good.  This is also why that while I am happy for team I will give no kudos to Malzahn.  He did not have this team ready to play even with an extra week to prepare and if Texas A&M had not turned the ball over twice this would be a very different post. 

Finally let me put in my weekly complaint about the HORRENDOUS officiating that we see EVERY WEEK in the SEC.  This game was definitely not the worst I have seen but the phantom pass interference call on third down and goal that gave Texas A&M their last touchdown was really bad.  First I did not see any interference and second the ball was clearly uncatchable.  That call could have decided the game.  I will give kudos for the two actual holding calls made on Texas A&M.  Teams have been tackling our defensive line all year.  However the bottom line is SEC football is a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY.  HIRE FULL-TIME REFS.

THE UGLY
The ugly truth that most people are now seeing and I am now reading on various Auburn sites is that Gus and the boys have not recruited the offensive line very well the last few years.  It has sure been obvious this season and after the joy of the comeback win starts to subside you are left with a team that does not have a good offensive line or any great running backs.  The even worst news is that there do not appear to be any coming next season looking at Auburn's current list of commitments.  Gus may have saved himself this season but next season is looking like a much bigger disaster with this same offense and Auburn's current defensive front seven gone.

This is also compounded by having to listen to another week of this "game of the century" BS about Bama and LSU.  Every year it is the same garbage when LSU has not beaten Bama since 2011 and really have not had many good teams.  I mean yes Bama has an awesome team and has been very good but stop with all the ridiculous hype about this stupid game every stinking year.  The only thing worse is listening to the garbage about the "Third Saturday in October".  Bama has to take everything to a nauseating extreme.  The LSU game cannot be just a big game, their quarterback cannot just be a great quarterback and so on.  Of course after they beat this overrated LSU team it will be worse...

THE LAST WORD.
We now finally come to Amen Corner.  Auburn will first travel to Athens to take on the Bulldogs.  Georgia sure looked good today destroying Kentucky and winning the SEC East.  It does not look great for Auburn considering how they played today but the Tigers are in their favorite spot.  Auburn will be a huge underdog that nobody gives a chance and that is where they excel if they have any talent.  This team has some talent but not a lot of coaching.  Auburn usually does not have a chance if it cannot run the ball.  It sure does not look like they will be able to run the ball after today plus Georgia is better than Texas A&M.  It just adds up to a long day in Athens next week.

Game 8 Review: Thank goodness for the Mrs...

Auburn 31  Ole Miss 16.  Yes thank goodness for Ole Miss.  They usually are the cure, for at least a week, for what ails Auburn.  That was the case this week as the Tigers were able to get the win in Oxford after the horrendous loss to Tennessee.  I want to be real clear though, nothing has changed.  Gus is still the same coach he was last week, and against Mississippi State and for the last six years.  The simple fact is Auburn just has better football players than Ole Miss.  Now Auburn has better football players than Tennessee and State too but they were a bit closer and I think have better coaches.

This was a typical Malzahn run-based win over a lesser team.  Auburn ran the ball 46 times with Boobie Whitlow gaining 170 yards.  Stidham completed a little over 50% of his passes but the receivers and Whitlow made several good runs after the catch.  ESPN showed a stat during the game that 30% of Auburn's overall passes are screen passes so actually Auburn throws even less downfield than we think.  There was a lot of hubbub during the week about getting freshman speedster Anthony Schwartz the ball more and that added up to three touches.  However Auburn got a much needed win.

It is always better to win than to lose but again nothing has changed.  Gus Malzahn made that real clear after the game with this gem...  "“We were able to run the football, that’s getting back to Auburn football.”  That in a sentence is his problem and Auburn's problem.  I am so sick and tired of hearing this ridiculous notion that you are any less of a team winning championships passing the ball.  It has worked out pretty good for the Patriots and it seems to be working out pretty good across the state.  Again I am not talking about moving to the "Air Raid" offense but I am talking about being balanced.

I have heard it being pointed out that we have passed more in previous weeks, well yeah we have been behind and our run game has been completely stuffed so we have passed more.  However it has actually proven the point as much as games like this against Ole Miss. When Auburn passes a lot it does not look very good.  That is because within this system it is obvious the finer points of the passing game are simply not repped or taught.  People know a well coached passing game when they see it.  Look at Phillip Fulmer's teams at Tennessee with David Cutcliffe as his offensive coordinator and the ones with out.  It is a stark difference.  

Look at the current best football team in the world, the Los Angeles Rams.  Their passing game was awful under run-based head coach Jeff Fisher but now they are balanced and have one of the best passing games in football with coach Sean McVay.  Contrary to popular opinion, Auburn has been at it's best being balanced with a good passing game.  The best years under Shug Jordan in the modern era of football were with Pat Sullivan WHO WON THE HEISMAN TROPHY FOR HIS ABILITY TO PASS THE BALL.  We have retired his jersey along with the guy he THREW THE BALL to the most, Terry Beasley.  Terry Beasley was an All-American due to his ABILITY TO CATCH THE FOOTBALL, not block.

Coach Pat Dye won the SEC and the national championship in 1983 with the very run-based Wishbone formation but quarterback Randy Campbell's clutch passing won more than one game against maybe the hardest schedule ever played.  Auburn faltered in 1984 and 1985 even with THE BEST RUNNING BACK EVER without Campbell but recovered to put up the best four years of football in Auburn history from 1986 through 1989 by becoming MORE BALANCED and PASSING THE BALL better.  Again the greatest four years of Auburn football only came about when a run-based coached made the decision to pass more.

The 1993 and 1994 teams had great running backs in James Bostic and Stephen Davis but just as important was quarterback Pat Nix throwing to Thomas Bailey and Frank Sanders.  These were truly balanced teams and Auburn went 20-1-1.  Fast forward to maybe the most talented Auburn team ever in 2003 which went 8-5 because of bad offensive coaching mainly in the passing game.  The same guys came back the next year with a competent offensive coordinator, not a great one but a competent one, who knew how to coach the passing game and you get maybe Auburn's greatest team in 2004.

You can even look to 2010 when Malzahn was offensive coordinator and look at the progression of Cam Newton.  Auburn was able to win a championship because of his growth as a passer.  It has become obvious that Malzahn did not teach him that,  It was some else on that staff, I think Chizik or Trooper Taylor, and they did not allow Malzahn to run the offense totally his way.  Auburn passed way more with Cam than Malzahn would have if he would have been totally in charge.  I said then and I still say now that 2013 was the exception to the rule.  That was a ground-based team that was not balanced but I do not think you will see an exception like that again in our lifetime. 

Also as great as that 2013 team was they lost the national championship game with a 21-3 lead because of the coaching staff's refusal to pass on first down. I think you are understanding my point though and that is you have the be balanced to be your best.  You have to be balanced to win championships throwing out rare exceptions.  This has been proven in Auburn's history and I think you will see the same thing if you study the history of any football team.  You need a good running game and you can be "ground-based" but you need a good competent well-coached passing game too.  

Again look across the state, all I have heard is that this is $aban's best team and maybe the best team ever at Bama.  WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?  The defense is nowhere near as good as other defenses under $aban.  The running backs are not as good the ones from Bama playing in the pros right now.  I certainly do not think this is their best offensive line ever.  All these units are very good but nowhere near Bama's best ever.  THE DIFFERENCE IS A GREAT QUARTERBACK AND A GREAT PASSING GAME.  I mean all you have to do is watch or look at the stats.  The huge difference in this team and any other great team at Bama is the awesome passing game.

Everyone cannot have a Tua or a Peyton Manning or a Jason Campbell every season but a good coach at Auburn should be able to almost always put a competent passing game on the field.  To conclude there is nothing wrong with being balanced and relying on the pass a little more than the run sometimes based on your personnel.  Again see Bama, they are more of a passing team with Tua but were more of a running team with Derrick Henry.  Of course even with Henry they had a competent passing game and that is what Coach Gus Malzahn can not do consistently running his offensive system and that is why I do not enjoy watching it.

Game 7 Review: REIGN OF FIRE

Tennessee 30  Auburn 24.  I was there yesterday right in the middle of Apocalypse Now in Jordan Hare.  I watched till the brutal end surrounded for most of the game by joyous Vol fans.  It started out well with great weather, a flyover by a B2 stealth bomber (!!!) and a touchdown by the home team on the first possession.  It all went downhill from there and now there will truly be a "reign of fire" down on head coach Gus Malzahn for this complete disaster.  I have been going to Auburn games regularly since 1983 and I have seen some pretty brutal losses.  However I am not sure I have ever seen Auburn upset by a team it was favored by over two touchdowns to in the state Tennessee was in.

 

I also do not think I have seen a team with this much talent completely go down the tubes.  This team will have to beat Ole Miss next which is still possible to just go 6-6 assuming likely losses to Texas A&M, Georgia and Bama.  If you look at Auburn's semi-recent seasons where the team did not have a winning record, you usually see some talent but not near as much as this team.  The Auburn teams in 2012, 2008 and 1998 had some pieces but none had a defense close to this team nor a quarterback that had a chance of ever beating Bama no matter how strong the team.  It boggles the mind how bad a coaching job Gus Malzahn has done to lose to a team that had lost 11 conference games in a row, a team that lost 40-14 to West Virginia, 47-21 to Florida (at home) and 38-12 to Georgia this season. 

 

I tell you though, after this complete debacle, it is hard to decide who is the bigger incompetent boob, Gus Malzahn or the MORON or MORONS who decided to give him a SEVEN YEAR 49 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT WITH A PERCENTAGE BUYOUT WHICH CURRENTLY IS OVER 30 MILLION DOLLARS.  Auburn pretty much deserves to be in this spot with leadership that STUPID.  I know last year's team had some big wins but just read some of the game reviews in this blog from 2014, 2015, 2016 or see them all summarized after the LSU game in 2017. 

 

Some of the opinions set forth in this blog might be up for debate but I think I have certainly proven that Gus Malzahn is not worth a SEVEN YEAR 49 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT WITH A PERCENTAGE BUYOUT WHICH CURRENTLY IS OVER 30 MILLION DOLLARS.  I mean ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Do the "top men" who make decisions like this at Auburn do their due diligence or get any outside opinions?  I mean how in the world could you give a contract like that to a man who had gone 8-5 with the talent he had in 2014 and then 6-6 in 2015 and then 8-5 again in 2016.  Those seasons all include losses to both Georgia and Bama.  It was equally as obvious that the talent level on the team had dropped some and was fixing to drop a LOT.

 

I am not up for dissecting ANOTHER Malzahn debacle, I mean you just get tired of saying the same things over and over and over again.  I will say the one thing that has stuck out to me as Stidham has struggled is the whole quarterback deal.  Gus Malzahn runs an option offense that is meant to have a mobile quarterback.  He won his only two championships at Auburn as a coordinator and a coach with a mobile quarterback.  So considering that fact WHY IN THE HECK HAVE WE NOT HAD ONE SINCE THEN?  I mean this offense is where drop-back quarterbacks GO TO DIE.  Jarrett Stidham is just the latest one to regress in this offense.  He now joins Barrett Trotter, Jeremy Johnson and Sean White.  These quarterbacks strengths do not go with this offense at all.

 

Enough though, what is the bottom line here as we sift through the ashes of this season?  First, I do not want to hear people talking up Tennessee.  They will likely not win another conference game this season.  They are not a good team.  This loss is one of the worst losses in Auburn history and certainly Malzahn's most embarrassing.  The season is over and the coaching staff has completely failed.  However, we are still stuck with Malzahn through next season at least if not two more.  You simply cannot fire him and pay that kind of money out.  It is just wrong.  Auburn does not need that kind of really bad publicity.  It would be a mistake as big as giving the ridiculous contract to him. 

 

So with that said, we simply have to go forward in one way or another.  There is nothing that can save this season but we can get some young players valuable experience and maybe along the way pick up a decent win.  First I think you have to start Malik Willis if for no other reason than to give us another running threat and help this awful offensive line.  Run blocking is easier than pass blocking.  Also Stidham has had his chance and I just do not think at this point he is able to contribute in any meaningful way.  I hate it for him but it is simply where we are at.  He has lost the team and I just do not think Willis could be any worse and he can run.

 

We then need to get Asa Martin some meaningful reps and continue to utilize the young wide receivers (as much as they can be utilized in this offense).  On defense you have got to blitz more.  We simply do not have a good pass rusher and we have to blitz more.  We either need to get a stop or get off the field.  We cannot continue to allow these long torturous drives.  We need to get some of the younger guys on the line and at linebacker some experience as again almost the entire front seven is gone after this season.  There is nothing that is going to make anyone feel any better about a lost season but we can at least get something out of the rest of the season by getting these young guys experience.

 

I admit though that everything I just said though true rings hollow in the big picture.  I ended my last post asking the question "will the decision to commit to Malzahn long term ultimately help Auburn or put the Tiger program into an extended tailspin?"  I think I know the answer now unfortunately.  The decision to give him this contract is going to put he program in an extended tailspin. We are most likely going to take it on the chin again next season even getting these players experience.  Recruiting is going to suffer and this time we cannot bring in a new coach to stop the bleeding.  The program will just continue to slide as the leadership has to wait till the time when it is fiscally possible to change head coaches.  It is going to a long and excruciating wait.

Game 6 Review: The Outlook is Stark

Mississippi State 23  Auburn 9.  I have seen the end of several head coaching careers at Auburn.  I do not think Auburn has, contrary to popular opinion, ever pulled the trigger on a coach too early.  It has always been the obvious right time.  The NCAA and his own health problems spelled the end for Coach Dye.  The worst recruiting class in modern day history was curtains for Terry Bowden.  Everything kind of sliding off the table made it clear it was time for Tuberville to leave and Chizik had to go after the worst season ever.  I think the end is nearing for Gus Malzahn at Auburn but thanks to the idiotic leadership on the plains giving him that ridiculous contract it is not going to happen.  I fear the loss last night might signal Auburn sliding into that black hole the University of Tennessee currently resides in.

I mentioned all of Auburn's modern head football coaches above.  The common theme in their departures except for Coach Dye was current or imminent recruiting problems.  You have to stop the bleeding as soon as possible to prevent a long term program slide.  Auburn was able to do that just in time after Bowden had alienated most of the high school coaches in the state.  Auburn was able to do that after $aban came in and Tuberville had lost that fight to recruit.  Auburn did it again with Chizik after the worst season ever and Malzahn has done some good recruiting.  However it appears that while the rankings might not show it yet, recruiting has started to slip the last two years.

Auburn was led last season on offense by NFL prospects Braden Smith, Austin Golson, Casey Dunn and Darius James on the line plus Kerryon in the backfield.  It is obvious now that Kerryon was the leader of the offense and Jarrett Stidham was effective when Kerryon had his back.  It is apparent now that Stidham is not a great leader and not half the player without all those guys from last season.  The offense was still not great against tough competition last season but good enough with a great defense.  Auburn lost a few key difference makers off the defense last season but still has a fearsome front seven this season.  However the offense, Malzahn's specialty, is just not good enough to get wins even with a good defense.

This season, in terms of competing for a championship, is over.  I thought it was over after LSU but it is definitely over now.  That automatically gets me thinking about Auburn's future outlook.  I have to say, as this post is titled, the outlook from Starkville, Mississippi last night is indeed stark.  I do not see any upcoming All SEC offensive linemen in this group.  The best candidate is five star Calvin Ashley who was whipped badly last night but even if he can be resurrected it will probably take a few years.  These guys are just not that good and I just do not see them improving enough from the disaster they are now.  I mean you have to be really good to make this ridiculously predictable offense work.

I do not see a great running back in the bunch.  Asa Martin was Mr. Football last season and probably the best chance but like Kam Martin and Boobie Whitlow he is undersized to be that every down power back.  That could change but will it change enough or matter behind a mediocre offensive line.  The passing game does not matter.  Gus cannot coach up a passing game and the only time it is effective is if...  Auburn has a great running game.  So if Auburn does not have a great running game there will be no passing game to bail it out, i.e. even incoming super frosh Bo Nix.  That was patently obvious last night as Auburn had to try and throw the ball against a good defense.  It is also obvious that every single quarterback that spends more than one season with Malzahn regresses as a passer, EVERY SINGLE ONE.

That is just the offense.  The defense which got absolutely bludgeoned last night could lose almost the complete starting front seven.  All the linebackers and Dontavious Russell are seniors and the other best defensive linemen, Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson, will almost certainly leave early.  I believe the defense will take a huge step back next season.  Let me pause though to recognize senior linebacker DeShaun Davis, the guy is a beast.  He got hurt pretty good but immediately came back in.  The guy is absolutely giving it everything he has and it is sad this season could not have been better for him.  He is not the only one either, I know the majority of these guys are working their butts off. 

Unfortunately for these players they are led by the most stubborn-to-a-fault person I have ever seen in head coach Gus Malzahn.  It really boggles the mind.  The last time the defense really killed the team was !!! 2014 !!!  The offense has consistently been the problem since then.  There have been some all-time horrible offensive coaching jobs along with the predictability and lack of any semblance of a modern passing game.  AFTER ALL THAT THE LEADERSHIP AT AUBURN MADE THIS GUY THE FIFTH HIGHEST PAID COACH IN THE COUNTRY PAYING HIM SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.  The morons also gave him this percentage buyout garbage which makes it impossible to fire him for at least two more seasons.

Back to the start of this post and Auburn pulling the trigger to fire coaches at the right time.  Again I think Auburn has made all of its modern coaching changes at the right time.  The interesting thing about now is that I think Auburn will need to change coaches at the end of next season and they will not be able to.  The question is will the decision to commit to Malzahn long term ultimately help Auburn or put the Tiger program into an extended tailspin?

Game 5 Review: ALERT

Auburn 24  Southern Mississippi 13.  There were a lot of alerts going off yesterday in Jordan Hare Stadium.  First there was a weather alert right before halftime that delayed the game almost three hours.  I have been watching Auburn football for a long time.  I think that is the longest weather delay in Auburn history.  I think there was one in 2009 before the West Virginia game and the monsoon that fell on Jordan Hare but I know it was not that long.  The were also a lot of alerts going off around Auburn's offense and they are not good.  The offense or more specifically the offensive line did not play well again and in fact seems to be getting worse.

I am sure those guys are sick and tired of hearing about it.  I know they are trying hard.  I know they have busted their butts all year long and sacrificed so much of their time to be an Auburn football player and a starting offensive lineman on this team.  Unfortunately at this level, sports are harsh and unforgiving.  It is many times or most of the time not fair but it is just part of it.  I want to be clear here at STR that while I may be critiquing a players performance I am never blaming the player.  The players are not paid millions of dollars to run these programs, the coaches are.  Yes it is hard and even harder to do it right but that is why they are paid the big bucks.

Sometimes the coaches and players can do everything they can and they are just not good enough to compete in their conference (take almost the entire modern history of Vanderbilt University).  However even in that case leadership has to look at the future and figure out where the program is going and if there is a legitimate hope of things getting better.  The leadership at Auburn University did that research and made those decisions last season and decided to go all in on Gus Malzahn.  I disagreed at the time and I think the early results are showing it might be an all-time bad decision.  It looks to me like former offensive line coach Herb Hand was smarter than we all thought he was as he got out with all those seniors last season. 

I have broken down the Auburn passing game MANY times in this blog and summarized it again last season after the LSU game.  I will not do that again but will just do another high level look at Malzahn.  The sunshine pumpers will talk about two SEC West titles and two wins over Bama.  The rest of us will talk about every other game he has coached at Auburn.  Gus Malzahn was undoubtedly the right hire in 2013.  He and his coaching staff were the right people at the right time with a team that had talent and was a perfect fit for this offense.  It is obviously one of the greatest seasons in Auburn history and I will never forget it but even in that season, his greatest, Gus Malzahn's offensive tendencies lost him the national championship.

All of Malzahn's offensive predictability and stubbornness were on full display the next three seasons and this from a coach who's specialty is supposed to be offense.  Malzahn tanked with a very talented team in 2014 going 8-5.  Auburn then sunk lower to 7-6 in 2015.  Here I will allow for a drop in recruiting after the bad 2011 and horrid 2012 seasons but even with that said Malzahn still showed no attempt at innovation on offense.  Auburn then went 8-5 again in 2016 and everyone blamed it on injuries but it was just plain bad coaching against Georgia.  Auburn then rebounded last season to finally beat its biggest two rivals who were ranked #1 at home and go 10-3.

However the main reason for Auburn's resurgence last season was the Auburn defense.  The best decision made in football after 2014 was the decision to hire Will Muschamp for one season.  The dividends on that investment were the big wins last season.  The best players on defense were direct Muschamp recruits (Jeff Holland and Carlton Davis) who were only coming to Auburn because of him and I believe his influence was a big part of Auburn getting several more of those defensive guys who are doing so well this season and last.  I will also give Malzahn credit for recruiting Braden Smith, Austin Golson and Darius James plus Kerryon and Stidham.  He also let offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey go against his predictable tendencies in those games which resulted in some big plays.

As I said though at the time, these were big wins but just going against tendencies was not a recipe for long term success.  You also have to keep recruiting great offensive linemen (and as we will see next season defensive linemen) to run the Malzahn system and the coaching staff has failed there.  Also they are failing on the field as well this season, as a friend just wrote me: "what kind of modern day college offense has ZERO ANSWERS FOR A STANDARD BLITZ???!!!???  These opposing defenses are not splitting the atom, they are just blitzing the hell out of us and we have no answers, none, zero, zip.  No hot routes, no dump offs, etc... This isn't rocket science people."

It is not rocket science but if history is any indicator Gus will not change and we will plod through the rest of this season like we did in 2015 and 2016.  We do have a much better defense but this offense is really struggling.  The different stats from last night are pretty eye-opening.  Here are the greatest hits I read from Auburn Undercover and al.com...

• "Auburn finished with only 96 rushing yards, providing the Tigers with their first back-to-back games under 100 yards for the first time since 2012. For Malzahn, it was worse: this was the worst back-to-back performances by a rushing offense in 14 years as a college coach."
• The game included eight punts, a fumble and a missed field goal for the Tigers.
• Auburn’s offense has failed to score 30 points against an FBS opponent heading into the sixth game of the season (and the EASY part of the schedule!).
• Stidham was sacked three times, including a strip fumble.
• Auburn has averaged less than 3 yards per carry against FBS teams this season (Washington, LSU, Arkansas and Southern Miss).
• Last night the offensive line was charged with four false-start penalties in three quarters and was flagged for two holding penalties totaling 38 yards.
• More on whole team penalties, in the first quarter against Southern Miss, Auburn had about as many yards of offense (63) as penalty yards (58). 
• Auburn's offense had more penalty yards (63) than rushing yards (43) at halftime.
• The offense went three-and-out five times in the first half and five minutes into the third quarter, Auburn had more yards punting (263) than total offense (231).

I think that about covers it.  The point is Malzahn and his staff have not gotten the offensive linemen in to run his system and then on top of that he will not really make any changes to his offensive system to help.  Auburn just runs out there almost every down with three wide receivers, a running back and a fullback and tries to be a power running team.   It just makes no sense.  Auburn had the same problem in 2015 and instead of using the non-running accurate quarterback to throw a lot of short passes and get the stable of decent wide receivers involved, Malzahn chooses to run up the middle the majority of the time.

I will not even bother in delving into the fact that every quarterback that has stayed in his system for multiple seasons has gotten worse.  I will just say that since Jarrett Stidham played his finest game against Bama last November he has not been a very good quarterback and that is coaching.  You add it all up and things just continue to look worse for this Auburn team and this season as a whole.  Last week I thought this offense with all it's problems would be better this week and could get through October unscathed.  After watching last night I am less sure but again both Mississippi schools have plenty of problems as well.  I guess my final word this is I hope we do not have to sit through another 3-2 game against State like 2008 next Saturday.

Game 4 Review: Tired and Uninspired

Auburn 34  Arkansas 3.  The Auburn offense under Gus Malzahn continues to find new ways to test us.  This last Saturday even in a 34-3 win they manage to stink it up so bad that it ruins any joy gotten from a big win score-wise.  I mean it is bad enough watching some of the horrific offensive performances we have seen in tough losses the last few years (2015-16 Georgia, 2016-17 Clemson, seemingly any game against LSU) but now these terrible performances are not only causing losses (LSU) but ruining wins.  Again as I have said many times on this blog... I HATE THIS OFFENSE.

I find myself, as the title of this post indicates, so TIRED of watching the Gus Malzahn offensive system and completely UNINSPIRED after watching this latest offensive performance.  It is of course compounded by the absolute demolition machine currently running in Tuscaloosa.  The Tide seemingly have their strongest offense under $aban while Auburn continues to sputter under Malzahn.  A bunch of senior offensive linemen, a very good defense and SEC MVP Kerryon Johnson got Auburn a big win against Bama last season but the teams seem to be going in opposite direcitons this season and that always makes things harder.

 

That leads into the Good, the Bad and the Ugly this week...

 

THE GOOD
The Auburn defense was good but Arkansas' offense this season is definitely one of the worst SEC offenses I have ever seen.  They are awful and I mean AWFUL.  I actually cannot believe they were able to rip off the few big plays they did.  The have no line, they have no quarterback, they have no receivers, etc...  The only player I saw that looked remotely decent was running back Rakeem Boyd.  He had 8 carries for 66 yards and an 8.3 yards-per-carry average.  Every other player was awful, uh why did they not get this guy the ball more?  It was a good job by the defense though, you hold a team even one as bad as this under 300 yards total offense and you have done a good job.

 

The special teams though were the highlight of the night.  They blocked two punts and Noah Igbinoghene took a kickoff 96 yards for the touchdown.  Ryan Davis had 84 yards on two punt returns and Anders Carslon appears to have gotten on track under 50 yards.  I mean that is just a monster night on special teams.  It is good to see our special teams back being "special" after a couple of off years.  Kudos to coach Larry Porter.  He appears to have come in and done a great job.  Decent special teams are something everyone takes for granted.  Nobody notices until you stink it up and bad special teams usually lose games.

 

THE BAD
There really is no way around it now.  Auburn's offensive line is just not that good.  The sunshine pumpers continue to hold out hope.  They say it is not too late, they can still come together.  Heck I saw ol' Phillip Marshall on Auburn Undercover writing about how many stars each lineman had and try to prove they really are awesome no matter how bad they look on the field.  You know that is desperation from a guy that has always expressed his dislike for recruiting rankings.  I think these guys are really having to close their eyes and shut out reality to keep writing that stuff.  The harsh facts tell a different story...

 

I read this stat this morning and I think it speaks for itself:
"Against the 119th-ranked defense in the country, Gus Malzahn’s offense was held to 225 yards (and UNDER 100 yards RUSHING). Its average starting field position was the Arkansas 49-yard line. It managed only 17 offensive points through three quarters." 

 

I mean come on, you can alibi for the offense against Washington and LSU but against this Arkansas team at home???  The same Arkansas team that got smoked at home last week to NORTH TEXAS.  An Arkansas team that is much worse than their teams the last two years that Auburn destroyed 52-20 and 56-3.  It was an abysmal performance by the Auburn offense no matter how you slice it and as always it starts up front.  The running backs may have missed some holes and Jarrett Stidham definitely missed some passes but again IT STARTS UP FRONT.  The running backs were frequently met in the backfield or the line got no push.  Stidham was pressured and sacked four times. 

 

Actually it starts with recruiting and Gus has not done a good enough job on the offensive line.  We have some decent guys but these are guys you plug in around some really good guys like Braden Smith last season.  There is no outstanding player to build around this season and that is on Gus.  We will see this on the defensive line as well next season.  There is just a huge difference between a 4 star wide receiver or "athlete" and a top offensive or defensive tackle.  Great tackles on the offensive and defensive lines are really where great teams start.  Auburn just does not have the talent up front and will continue to be exposed against good teams this season. 

 

THE UGLY
I made the huge mistake of turning on the Bama game this past weekend and watching a few minutes of it.  I mean COME ON.  Bama is so ridiculously loaded it is hard to believe.  It is also hard to believe that while they might not cheat as much now there has never even been a dim light shown on the "rules-stretching" that has gone on during the decade building up to this team.  Where are the sports journalists from all across the nation whose sole purpose in life was to find dirt on Cam Newton and at Ole Miss and other schools.  They are nowhere to be found and it appears the entire national media will not be happy till Bama wins every game 100-0.  I just do not understand it.

 

You then add to that Nick $aban's constant abuse of the media and scolding of his own fans and you really wonder why nobody in the national media will take a hard look at this guy?  You instead see one puff piece after another worshipping at his altar.  This is while just a few years ago you had the New York Times publishing a completely false hatchet piece on Auburn every few months.  Every other program seems to rise and fall while Bama and $aban just cruise on and it seems like the ride will never end.  It certainly is not going to end this season as you combine Bama's overwhelming talent with their underwhelming schedule. 

 

THE LAST WORD
Auburn gets Southern Miss next week before going all conference games the rest of the year till Liberty between Georgia and Bama.  The preseason is about over and everything will probably look a bit better against Southern Miss.  I think Auburn can still probably sweep October in conference as well against State, Tennessee and Ole Miss.  That is no guarantee but they all have their problems as well and even with Auburn's shortcomings they have more talent than those teams.  The Mississippi games will definitely be tough especially on the road but the defense should give Auburn a good chance to win those games.

 

The bills come due in November with three tough conference games with each one getting harder.  First up will be Texas A&M who appears to be much better than I thought almost beating Clemson at home and doing decent against Bama for much of the game before it got away.  The home team has also never won in this series since Texas A&M joined conference.  Auburn assumed home wins over the Aggies in 2014 and 2016 and came away disappointed both times so the Tigers cannot over look A&M again.  Auburn will have to be much better than this past weekend to have a chance to beat the Aggies.  I am just not sure how much better Auburn can get on offense.  They have the month of October to figure it out if they can...

Game 3 Review: Add another one to the list...

LSU 22  Auburn 21.  Add another one to the list.  I guess I need to update my post from last week on this series and add this one so it is ready to post again next season.  Once again an LSU football team found a way to beat a better Auburn team in excruciating fashion.  It is just par for the course for Auburn in this series.  Auburn will just about always inexplicably lose to LSU even when Auburn is better.  How many times am I going to have to watch LSU somehow someway break our hearts?  If history is any indicator it is going to be a bunch more times if I am still around watching Auburn football.  I will say they got some help in this one but there were plenty of reasons for yesterday's collapse at Jordan Hare Stadium. 
 
THE GOOD
The only good I can see from this game is going ahead and getting this letdown out of the way early.  It is obvious this team is not championship caliber and it would have been more painful to drag this out and then lose to Mississippi State or Texas A&M or even wait all the way to Georgia.  Unlike last season there will not be some miracle comeback to reach Atlanta.  Auburn's SEC championship dreams never really had a chance with their schedule and now we clearly see they never had a chance because the team is just too weak at certain positions. 
 
NOW hold the phones, I will check myself, things could be a LOT worse.  As painful as yesterday was it is sure a lot better than being an Arkansas or Florida State fan right now.  I could also add a bunch more programs to that list that have seemingly had the bottom fall out.  However I am not sure anyone has reached the depths Arkansas has already hit, losing to Colorado State and then getting blown out at home by North Texas.   It does not look like Arkansas will win another game this season.  So things are not that bad but I think those schools would also admit that it hurts pretty bad too when your team is pretty stocked and you give away a big conference rivalry game to a lesser team.
 
THE BAD
LSU is a decent football team.  They put up an inspired effort and with a little help they got over on Auburn.  However the boys from Athens and Tuscaloosa are going to run this team out of the Stadium.  I also think they will lose to Florida and either Mississippi State or Texas A&M.  I cannot believe how bad our defense was in spots to let LSU's awful quarterback make the plays he did.  The guy is terrible!  His completion percentage took another hit yesterday and still rests UNDER 50% (!!!) yet somehow he hits that ridiculous late touchdown and one third conversion after another (???).  There is no way an offense with that guy leading it should have scored that many points.
 
Auburn's secondary played terrible and the fact is the Tigers do not have a pass rusher.  They sure miss Jeff Holland BAD.  Of course he also misses Auburn bad since he is unemployed football-wise.  All we heard in the off-season is about Nick Coe, T.D. Moultry and "Big Kat" Bryant.  They were nowhere to be found yesterday.  LSU quarterback Joe Burrow had so much time so many times yesterday.  Of course when Auburn did get pressure the secondary either did not cover or committed a penalty.  I mean come on guys, when LSU lobs it up to the same guy who is covered 2 or 3 times in a row it is obvious the whole point is to try and draw an interference penalty.
 
Auburn has a great defense against the run but as I have said over and over while others slobbered over him, Kevin Steele is not that good against the pass.  He has proven it time and time again and proved it again yesterday.  Now let us not spend the whole time here on the defense though, there was sure an equal amount of bad on the offensive side of the ball.  The only difference is that we heard over and over in the offseason from coaches, players, etc... how good this defense was going to be.  So far they look like a big strong group that is undisciplined and not that good against the pass.
 
On to the offensive side, it is obvious now that Auburn has a below average offensive line in most spots.  They are nowhere remotely close to a line on a championship team and while they might improve they are not going to make it there.  They are just not that good.  It is also obvious that while "Boobie" Whitlow is a decent running back, he is not near as good as all the other running backs Auburn has had for the last decade.  Gus can and will keep trying to base his offense on these two positions but it is not going to work.  Auburn has called more and better pass plays but the offense will never change from being run-based under Malzahn and these guys are just not good enough.
 
THE UGLY
I have never blamed a loss on the refs but I will get as close as I ever have in this one.  Yes Auburn could have and should have won this game regardless but that was the worst reffing I have seen in a long long time.  I guess the last one that comes to mind was the national championship game where Florida State threw the ball 35 times and had to block a dominant pass rusher who is still starting in NFL and not ONE holding penalty was called.  Auburn did not have that kind of pass rushing yesterday but I saw Auburn defensive linemen literally being tackled multiple times and NOTHING WAS CALLED.  Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton was held by the waist and NOTHING WAS CALLED.
 
I do not argue the fouls called on Auburn but the OBVIOUS and I do mean OBVIOUS calls not made on LSU.  You HAVE to call it both ways.  I am sorry but as bad as Auburn played they would have won if the game had just been officiated poorly.  The referees were quick to call Auburn center Kaleb Kim for holding and he deserved it.  Those calls stopped two Auburn drives and were major moments in the game.  HOWEVER if LSU had been called for the OBVIOUS holding and tackling of our defensive linemen that would have stopped their drives as well.  I want to be real clear here, their holding was every bit as egregious as Kim's holding.  Auburn does have a good defensive line and LSU's line has not been great up to this point.  THERE IS NO WAY LSU COULD HAVE THROWN 35 PASSES WITHOUT SEVERAL HOLDING CALLS.  THAT IS A FACT.

Auburn wins if one or two well deserved holding penalties are called.  Auburn was also called for multiple pass interference calls and most were deserved but at least one was very iffy and those calls won the game for LSU.  HOWEVER Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton was held late in the game by two hands on his waist miles away from the line of scrimmage.  THAT ACT WAS MUCH MORE EGREGIOUS THAN MOST OF THE CALLS ON AUBURN.  Also if that EASY call was made Auburn likely scores and puts the game away.  I am sorry I usually never blame the refs but the acts I am talking about were patently obvious and these no-calls also helped decide the game as much as the calls that were made.  The refs almost single handedly kept LSU in the game.

THE LAST WORD
Auburn will get a couple weeks off and destroy poor Arkansas and Southern Miss before heading to Mississippi State.  Gus will run the ball 60 times the next two games like Alabama State.  The team will most likely not improve but everyone will start patting them on the back talking about last season.  It is not going to happen with this bunch.  I thought this team would be a lot better but they have been exposed on the offensive line and at running back.  These guys can be stopped but Gus will still base his offense on them which leaves the team open for upset against anybody remotely good.  That adds up to a likely 8-4 season that ends on a really down note in my book but again as we will see next week it could be worse.

Game 2 Review: NEMESIS

Auburn 63  Alabama State 9.  I actually spent all day elsewhere and my TV provider unfortunately does not carry the SEC Alternate channel so... I did not see a second of this football game.  However after looking at the stats I am glad I did not put myself through that.  It was typical Gus Malzahn cupcake game where he ran the ball 60 TIMES and Jarrett Stidham only threw 11 passes (there were 14 overall) and I bet half of those were glorified pitches.  Yay we can run on Alabama State.  I cannot imagine a more boring game to sit through.  No thanks.  I have now been through enough of these with Gus Malzahn that I cannot stand watching them.

 

So what can we talk about?  I guess in anticipation of the upcoming LSU game we can talk a little bit about the LSU rivalry.  It has featured some big wins for Auburn but it has also included some of Auburn's most painful defeats.  I have even called LSU Auburn's nemesis.  They just seem to pop up at the worst times and ruin a season and it has happened many times now.  It is just uncanny as you look through the history of the series.  I believe Auburn's history and tradition far outweighs LSU but they have beaten some of Auburn's best teams.  I mean when you start sifting through the records it just makes you shake your head.

 

Let's go opposite this week and go with "The Ugly, The Bad and The GOOD"...

 

THE UGLY

I have already written this up in the most read post on this blog.  It is what I consider the worst loss in Auburn football history.  I am of course talking about the 1988 Auburn vs. LSU game.  This is painful but must be covered in any retrospective on this series:

 

"This is a hard one to write.  This is the worst one for me and for Auburn in my opinion.  First to set it up, we knew this was a very special team.  This senior class at that time was the winningest in Auburn history.  We knew this team was as good or better than anybody else in the country and that this defense was something very special. 

This game was played on October 8, 1988.  Auburn was 4-0 coming into the game while LSU had lost two tough ones on the road at Ohio State and Florida.  The loss to Florida would be their only one in conference this season.  The two teams had not played since Dye's first season in 1981.  It was of course a Saturday night game in Baton Rouge as it always seems to be when we go to LSU.

I had come home from Auburn that weekend and had planned to watch the game with my family.  Unfortunately my dad had to go out of town on a business trip and my mom and I started out watching the game.  She cleared out shortly after halftime if I remember correctly.  By the third quarter I was pacing and fuming like well.. an agitated tiger in his cage. 

 

Auburn controlled the game but just could not get points on the board.  As it got later and later, I got more and more worried.  Auburn kicked a field goal in the second quarter and then in the fourth quarter.  I remember having a very bad feeling in the fourth quarter when we did not punch it in but just got another field goal.  We just needed one touchdown.

It was excruciating to watch.  There was just so much on the line for Auburn and they were so close to escaping with the win.  Everyone knows how it turned out though, LSU drove the ball down the field in the last two minutes.  Auburn got it to fourth down around the 13 yard line and then LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson completed the touchdown pass to running back Eddie Fuller and LSU would win 7-6.  No I will not be providing the link for that play...

The legend of the game would grow in coming years as it was claimed that the eruption in the stadium after Fuller caught the pass actually registered as seismic activity.  Thus the nickname "The Earthquake Game" was born.  It certainly was a real earthquake for Auburn as they would have definitely played Notre Dame (and Lou Holtz) in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship and they would have won that game. 

 

Auburn would have won that game because the Irish was a running team and nobody ran the ball on this Auburn defense.  But... since Auburn lost to LSU Notre Dame would get their national title against West Virginia.  West Virginia, a team who would probably have been lucky to be in the top 15 in the country but was given their shot by doing it the "Miami Way", i.e. going undefeated with a few big wins but a much easier schedule than everyone else like say Auburn.

Auburn would go to the Sugar Bowl and lost a close one, 13-7, to a good Florida State team who had only one loss as well but lost big to Miami early in the season.  I remember it being an uninspired performance as I believe this is when the LSU loss finally hit home for the players.  It was certainly still with all of the fans..."

 

The memory of this game still makes me sick to my stomach. 

 

THE BAD

That is just the worst game.  LSU has wrecked several more good Auburn seasons as well.  The two teams did not play from 1942 though 1968.  In 1969 LSU would beat Auburn and Pat Sullivan by blocking an extra point 21-20.  The next season in 1970 Auburn and Sullivan would again lose to LSU in the rain and mud.  Looking back Pat Sullivan only lost 5 CONFERENCE GAMES in his career at Auburn and TWO were to LSU.  The other defeats were one a piece to Tennessee (1969), Georgia (1970) and Bama (1971). 

 

These two LSU losses were major factors in Auburn not winning the conference in '69 and '70.  It would not be long before the Bayou Bengals would taint another great Auburn season.  The 1972 Amazins' beat everyone including #2 Bama in the famous "Punt Bama Punt" game except... you guessed it, LSU.  Bama destroyed LSU but LSU would play their finest game of the season and beat the 1972 bunch pretty bad, 35-7.  If you are keeping count that is three horrible losses in four years!  These were some of Shug Jordan's finest teams.  Record-wise they were all better than LSU but it just seemed LSU had Auburn's number.

 

Oh and LSU would beat Auburn again the next year in 1973 and then again in 1980 (as every SEC team did that year).  Auburn won a few but over the last 25 years the Bayou Bengals would ruin Auburn's chances at a title several more times.  In 1995 LSU would beat a better Auburn team 12-6 in the ungodly humidity in Baton Rouge (I was unfortunately there) and would do it again the next season in Auburn as the old Auburn barn gym burned behind the stadium.  Auburn would miss going to Atlanta by one loss both of those seasons and they were better than LSU both of those seasons.

 

Auburn only had to beat LSU to get to Atlanta at the end of the 2001 season (the game was postponed because of 9/11) but lost that one too.  Auburn would become one of the only teams in SEC history since divisions were formed to go 7-1 in conference and miss Atlanta in 2005.  The only loss was of course to LSU in overtime as Auburn kicker John Vaughn missed five field goals.  Two years later LSU in Les Miles' first season would beat Auburn on a Hail Mary to end the game.  I mean is it starting to sink in???  Am I getting through???  These guys are Auburn's true nemesis!!!

 

In the Gus Malzahn era there have been two awful losses by good Auburn teams to LSU in 2013 and last season.  However the historic trend was broken and those two awful losses did not cost Auburn their shot at a title.  Maybe the curse is lifting, maybe things are changing, maybe it is Auburn's turn to start putting some of these losses on LSU...

 

THE GOOD

I mean wow that is a LOT of bad there.  It just boggles my mind how many bad losses Auburn has to LSU.  Fortunately there have been some big wins as well.  I think the record is still tilted in their favor but that is what makes these wins so sweet.  Interesting enough, Auburn's first win over LSU since the series started back in 1969 was in 1981, Pat Dye's first season in 1981.  Auburn would only go 5-6 that season but they would beat LSU 19-7.  Another interesting note from that game was I believe Pat Sullivan's brother Joe Sullivan was quarterback for Auburn that day.

 

Auburn would get some measure of revenge for the heartbreaking loss in 1988 by beating LSU in an eerily similar game the next season 10-6.  Auburn would go on to win a share of the conference title that season.  I was a student in the stands that day.  That victory actually started a four game winning streak over LSU, the longest in the entire series for Auburn.  In 1992, the SEC would split into divisions and LSU replaced Tennessee on Auburn's schedule.  That first season the Tigers from the plains would beat LSU in their biggest win of the season 30-28.   

 

The next season the amazing 1993 team would travel to Baton Rouge and put a complete beatdown on LSU 34-10.  I was there and it still maybe the best road win I ever witnessed.  It was so much fun.  Auburn dominated and quarterback Stan White broke Pat Sullivan's record for the most career passing yards at Auburn.  The play that stands out to me is a flea flicker off a reverse where White threw a long touchdown.  I was there with a friend of mine from Auburn and man we were whooping it up, I am actually surprised now that I know LSU fans better that we did not get in trouble that night...

 

The next season would feature the game that is probably the game that pains LSU fans the most.  It was a unique one-of-a-kind win like "Punt Bama Punt" or the "Kick Six" that you will never see again.  It was "The Interception Game".  I was there and it was my now wife of almost 25 years first ever Auburn football game.  She sure started on a good one although it did not look good in the fourth quarter with Auburn down 23-9.  There was no way LSU should have lost this game.  Auburn's offense was awful.  However LSU for some reason kept throwing the ball and the result was an inconceivable.  Auburn would intercept the ball FIVE TIMES with THREE PICK SIXES in the FOURTH QUARTER to win the game 30-26. 

 

Auburn scored NO offensive touchdowns in that game and scored 30 points.  The game stands as an absolute nightmare for LSU fans and football coaches everywhere of what might could happen.  It definitely felt good to give LSU one of those type of losses after all the pain they had inflicted over the years.  We now come to what I consider the most underrated win in Auburn history.  You never hear it mentioned with some of Auburn's big wins and you do not hear much about Dameyune Craig's epic performance.  Craig led one of the greatest fourth quarter comeback drives in Auburn history in this game.

 

It is up there with Pat Sullivan's epic last minute drive to beat Tennessee in 1971.  It is up there with Randy Campbell's drive to beat Florida State in the final seconds in 1983.  It is up there with Jeff Burger's end of game march to beat Bama in 1986.  It is up there with Slack-to-Wasden in 1989.  It is up there with Jason Campbell's unbelievable late throws to beat LSU in 2004 (which is next up after this entry).  It is up there with Nick Marshall's play to tie the game in 2013 to set up the "Kick Six".  In fact of that list this drive and Sullivan's were the only ones on the road in enemy territory.

 

Auburn was good in 1997 and would be the first team in Auburn history to get to Atlanta.  However they would not have gotten there without this monstrously underrated win.  People tend to forget Dameyune Craig after Cam Newton but Craig was an amazing player.  He was one of the first that was exceptional running and throwing.  On this night the deck was also stacked against him.  First it was a Saturday night in that hell hole in Baton Rouge.  Auburn did not have much on a running game and the defense was getting absolutely shredded by LSU running back Cecil "The Diesel" Collins.  They guy ended up with 232 yards rushing and two touchdowns.  

 

Auburn was down 28-24 and got the ball back on their 20 yard line with 3:26 remaining.  A field goal would not help, Auburn had to score a touchdown.  If Auburn gave it back to LSU they would not get the ball back.  It was now or never.  Dameyune Craig coolly led Auburn down the field and to the game-winning touchdown.  He finished the game with 342 yards passing and two touchdowns.  Craig not only put up one of the biggest clutch drives in Auburn history but broke LSU's heart as well.  I do not know why you do not hear much about this game but it is up there and definitely one of Auburn's biggest wins against LSU.

 

Before I finish this section let me pause to recognize some of the beat downs we laid on LSU during this period especially the ones involving Nick $aban.  Before that though Auburn would get one of their most improbable routs in 1999 over LSU 41-7.  This was Tommy Tuberville's first season and before this game Auburn had barely beaten Appalachian State and Idaho.  It was just incredible, it featured a touchdown off a fake kick and a dominating performance by Auburn receiver Ronnie Daniels.  This is known as "The Cigar Game" as Tuberville was trying to start a tradition after big road wins which was then labeled as the most insulting thing ever even though Bama has done it for forever against Tennessee, well maybe when Tennessee still used to be an actual competitive rival. 

 

Auburn then stomped $aban in 2000 and 2002, 34-17 and 31-7 respectively.  However Auburn's greatest win over LSU during the $aban era and maybe the biggest overall was in 2004 where Jason Campbell led another famous do-or-die drive and hit wide receiver Courtney Taylor first on a 4th and 12 play to keep the drive alive and then again on 3rd and 12 at the LSU 16 yard line for the game winning touchdown.  This would turn out to be Auburn's closest game and maybe it's biggest win for the 2004 perfect season.  This loss would send $aban running from LSU to the Miami Dolphins after the season.

 

Unfortunately though Auburn would lose 7 out of the next 9 games to LSU.  Auburn won a slugfest in 2006 7-3 and then Cam Newton had one of his greatest games as an Auburn Tiger, possibly his greatest play to help beat LSU in 2010 24-17.  Auburn just took LSU's manhood that day as the vaunted LSU defense was the #1 rushing defense in the SEC coming into that game with a bunch of future NFL players but Auburn still had over 400 yards rushing.  I was there and that was a game for the ages.  I will never forget Cam's run and Ontario McCalebb taking it to the house for the win.

 

Auburn is 2-5 against LSU since then, the biggest win was Auburn's 41-7 blowout of the Bayou Bengals in 2014 at Jordan Hare.  That was far and away that team's best performance of the season.  Auburn won again in 2016 at home and that brings us to this coming Saturday...

 

THE LAST WORD

Well there is a good summary of the history of this series.  I am not sure even the Iron Bowl or any of Auburn's great rivalries have as many historic or memorable games than this series.  Something odd or memorable just always seems to happen in this series.  There is a good chance this coming game could be a match up of top ten teams.  Auburn and LSU both started the season with big wins over Washington and Miami respectively.  This will be the opening conference game for both teams.  There will be a lot on the line Saturday afternoon in Auburn and you just never know what might could happen.