I definitely saw enough though to review the game, touch on the controversy after and talk about Auburn's next game. Auburn moves into a bye week this week and like Auburn's first bye week it comes at a perfect time. This is one of those seasons you get every few years that has two bye weeks in it. I know I need it with another soccer tournament coming up this weekend for our family. I also really like a two week build up for the last Auburn vs. Georgia game played in November. It is the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" and for me it has always been played in November. As I have mentioned in the past it was my favorite game of the year and favorite rivalry till it lost that family feel but I definitely want to savor this one last November matchup.
THE GOOD
The defense was good again except for a couple of scoring drives by Ole Miss. The Tigers held the Rebels to under 300 yards of total offense and under 25 minutes of possession time. That is domination. I am still shocked this one was a close game. However this was a good job defensively even giving up two touchdowns. Derrick Brown was a beast again leading the team in tackles. I mean wow this guy amazes you every week. He had to lead the way with senior teammate Marlon Davidson sitting this one out. K.J. Britt made his presence felt as well along with freshman terror Owen Pappoe. I love watching these guys. I love watching the energy this defense plays with. It was also good to get a lot these young defensive linemen good SEC playing time.
The good on offense was Gus Malzahn calling 44 passing plays and 46 running plays. I mean I know many of those passing plays were basically running plays but still that is a very uncharacteristic stat line from Malzahn. It is too bad it did not translate to points. I will concentrate on the good in this section though. Bo Nix had an outstanding stat line going 30 for 44 with 340 yards. It is a big deal any time an Auburn quarterback throws for 300 yards. It is just too bad that none of them were for touchdowns. D.J. Williams had another good night almost getting to 100 yards rushing plus Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams both had solid nights catching the ball. This is the kind of stat line I look for with one main running back and two good wide receivers being used the most.
THE BAD
The bad in this game was kicker Anders Carlson missing three kicks, Bo Nix having one bad fumble and the offense in general not being able to finish good drives with touchdowns. Auburn had a lot of good runs and passes but Gus Malzahn still called a lot of predictable plays that Ole Miss stuffed. You look at those stats and you wonder how you can complain but we are talking about Gus Malzahn. He still gives away so many plays by trying to run out of passing sets or telegraphing what he is fixing to run by his substitutions. I just sit there shaking my head. I remember one play where Auburn snapped the ball and the Ole Miss defensive back sprinted straight in and blew up the read option at the mesh point. That guy knew exactly what Auburn was going to run.
As I said above, there was a lot of good in this game but the bottom line is that Auburn did not look like a team that could beat Georgia or Bama. That point was emphasized with Georgia playing a pretty strong game in beating Florida. That win gives Georgia a huge amount of momentum. They are now the team to beat in the East and will have a lot to play for in two weeks. We will see how they look against Missouri this weekend after that big win but I am afraid the Bulldogs have turned a corner and will be a much better team to end the season than they were to start it. They have a good defense, a veteran quarterback and a very good rushing attack. I think Auburn still matches up with them well but I also think it is going to be a real battle and right now you have to favor Georgia.
THE UGLY
The ugly part of this game was the perceived "players calling out fans" controversy. Oh the media... ONE player tweets about a lack of energy from the crowed and ONE other player responded and the national headline is "Auburn players call out fans". I mean GIVE ME A BREAK. This is really much ado about nothing but since it did make national headlines and the masses on various Auburn forums appear to be mostly piling on the crowd Saturday I have a few comments. First if you did not pay money to go to the game Saturday, shut up. That includes the part of the media especially old ex-sportswriters who have never paid for a ticket in their lives. I just have no patience for people who have never paid the money to go to Auburn for games calling out the people that do.
Many students and fans are complete noobs when it comes to dealing with this weather. It is warm during day and everyone dresses for that but then it turns cold and it is even more cold when you are just sitting watching a game. It makes fifty degrees feel like forty, it makes forty degrees feel like thirty and so on. You have to get burned a few times to learn and that is mostly what happened Saturday. Everyone was freezing and it looked like we had the game in hand so they left. They paid their money to travel and be at that game and if they want to leave early that is their right. They made the sacrifice to come to the game and do not deserve this garbage. Please keep your righteous indignation about when other people should leave games to yourself.
THE LAST WORD
The last word I have on the previous subject is that it is never a good idea for players to criticize fans no matter how minor it is. The coaching staff needs to nip this in the bud and hopefully they have. The stage is now set for the last Auburn vs. Georgia game in November. I have mixed feelings on the change and what should happen to this series in general. I wrote previously that: "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, the stats prove it. Unfortunately since Vince Dooley left the sidelines it has slowly sunk into just another hate fest like the Iron Bowl." It is also unfair to Auburn to have to play the overall best program in the East every season.
Again I think it is time for the permanent rivalries from the East to end. It is just too unfair. I was not sure about moving this game and sure wish we would not have after the SEC decided to make things much worse. We will not play Georgia at end of season with a creampuff between them and Bama but now play LSU and Bama back-to-back to end the season. The decline of the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" is just another example that there is just not much special about college football anymore. It is all about the money and the NFL. I just hope Auburn and Georgia can play one more classic this November in Jordan Hare Stadium. They may not have played many "games of the century" but again if you look at the stats this is the "rivalry of the century". Burn the Bulldogs.
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