I knew teams would struggle without the spring and with the different compacted fall practice however I was still definitely underwhelmed with Auburn's performance on both sides of the ball outside of Bo Nix and Seth Williams. That view changed throughout the day as I watched pretty much every team struggle for at least a bit outside of Bama and maybe Florida. It was a crazy day to be sure. I have never seen a football season open with all conference games. This season is really going to be one for the books. There are no cupcakes, there are no rest games. Talent is always most important but depth and injury-luck (and I am including COVID-related games missed as an "injury" in this statement) is going to make or break almost every team this season.
Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from my vantage point yesterday...
THE GOOD
The good for Auburn was again Bo Nix and Seth Williams. Bo Nix's weakness that I saw from last season that could hurt him going forward was his accuracy. He threw some unbelievably great balls, see the Bama game, but then would miss easy ones, see the Georgia game. He just was not consistent and many times that does not improve for quarterbacks. Luckily for Auburn he looked better and more accurate to me yesterday finishing 16 of 27 for 233 and three touchdowns averaging almost 10 yards a throw. That is a tremendous day to open a season against a solid opponent (at least if you are not playing for Mike Leach). He really put some zip on the ball and appeared to throw with a lot of confidence. Of course it helps when you are throwing to...
Seth Williams. Williams was a man among boys yesterday. He is clearly Auburn's best overall player and he will be playing on Sundays next season. I do not believe I have ever seen a wide receiver be the best player on an Auburn team except maybe Ronney Daniels in 1999. As I have said many times Auburn simply has never been a place where receivers put up big stats but that was not true yesterday as Williams caught six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns. The touchdown catches were both incredible as well. Bo Nix and Seth Williams are already one of the greatest combinations in Auburn history and I think they will continue to add to their legacy this season. Obviously a team is in big trouble if they lose their starting quarterback but I think Auburn will be in just as much trouble without Seth Williams.
THE BAD
I have continued to voice along with other Auburn people the fact that Auburn's recruiting in the trenches has faded in recent years. Auburn and Gus Malzahn have recruited other positions well and done pretty good overall however they have just not got it done on the lines the last two or three years and it shows. Auburn does not appear to have any All-SEC talent on either line. I know Big Kat Bryant got hurt but it still just did not look good yesterday even with all other factors considered. People can talk about recruiting stars not meaning anything but look back at any really good Auburn team and you will see plenty of studs on both sides of the line of scrimmage. I am just not sure how good this Auburn team can be without massive improvement at the point of attack.
It also did not help that the running backs did not distinguish themselves at any point yesterday either. I love Shaun Shivers, he will always be an Auburn legend after last year's Iron Bowl. I love his attitude and effort but in my opinion he is a change of pace back. He is not your work horse. I think we should continue to use him in that capacity and he is definitely an important part of the team as a captain and a leader. However Auburn needs someone to step up and be the main running back that can get that yard when it comes to a critical 3rd and 1. I know the line let them down a lot yesterday but there were a few plays to make and they were not made. D.J. Williams did not look impressive and I knew Tank Bigsby was short but I thought he would look more like Rudi Johnson. I wish I had gotten to see Mark-Antony Richards but he is not too big either. Auburn desperately needs a running back to step up.
THE UGLY
The ugly yesterday was the cornerstone of college football games missing with the fans. It was great to see football but it is definitely not the same. It also makes that much difference. As good as Mississippi State was I think they lose that game if that stadium is full putting pressure on that quarterback. I think you saw quiet low-pressure stadiums all over the conference help the offenses. Fans are important in the NFL but not near as important as college football. They are much more a part of the game. I am certainly thankful even more now that I was able to go see last year's Iron Bowl. I am not sure things will be the same for a long time even with a vaccine. This pandemic has put in an automatic fear of large crowds for a lot of people.
The other ugly thing I saw football-wise this past week was talk of going to a ten game conference schedule permanently. Nick $aban publicly voiced his support for it as he has been asking to go to nine games for a long time. It is easy for him to say that for a perennial powerhouse like Bama. The ugly truth though is that it would destroy the bottom part of the league and even some of the top tier teams when they are down. A nine or ten game conference schedule means that Vanderbilt and the other teams in the lower half would never get to a bowl, never have something positive to build on. A school now who does not care about a national title can schedule four weaker schools and then if they can just get two conference wins they can get to a bowl and feel good about themselves.
AROUND THE CONFERENCE
The best game of the day was by far the Mississippi State vs. LSU game. It was awesome to watch State sling it around the field and to see LSU get brought down a peg after a year of everyone slobbering over them. The next best game was Tennessee at South Carolina. Both teams desperately needed that game and the Vols came out on top. Jeremy Pruitt appears to have done a tremendous job steadying the ship and slowly building things back up in Knoxville. Meanwhile this loss might be the beginning of the end for Will Muschamp in Columbia. The other Mississippi school also looked pretty good on offense but the Gators were too much. Texas A&M looked decent on defense but bad on offense. They did not look like the preseason darling they were hyped up to be.
THE LAST WORD
Bama, of course, looked once again like the most talented team in the conference. They are certainly still the overwhelming favorite to win the conference if Mac Jones continues to play well and they stay relatively injury-free. Georgia on the other hand struggled like Auburn did in the first half and had to change quarterbacks as well. They might be the powerhouse they have been the last few years but they did not look like it. That sets up a HUGE game next Saturday night in Athens. I think Georgia is better in the trenches than Auburn per my comments above but I believe Auburn has the better quarterback and the best playmaker in Seth Williams. IF the Tigers can improve some on the line of scrimmage there is a good chance Auburn would get a win in Athens for the first time in fifteen years.
