GAME 8 REVIEW: OUT SICK

Bama 42  Auburn 13.  Well that pretty much went as expected... there is not much to say. Here is your expert analysis on the game yesterday... Bama has better players than Auburn at every position.  I mean again there is not much else to say.  I know it was tough for Bama fans not being able to see Nick $aban chew out some third teamer for a mistake in the fourth quarter with Bama up 30 points but hey it was a tough day for everyone.  On that subject I wanted to dedicate this post to ol' Saint Nick since he was out sick.  I am certainly not making fun of getting COVID-19 since in the end we might all get it and it can be a deadly disease.  I do not ever cheer for anyone to get hurt or sick but I wanted to balance the coverage after listening to Gary Danielson on CBS slobber over Bama.

I mean Danielson is so full of himself and Bama it is literally nauseating.  I certainly hope ESPN does not retain him when the TV package fully moves to them.  Of course they will probably bring in someone just as bad.  Anyway I know as a lifetime sports fan and from coaching at the low level I have coached at for almost 20 years that the close tough losses stick with you.  Sometimes they stick with you more than the great wins.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the same is true with ol' Nick.  Everyone knows $aban's enormous accomplishments including another big win in the Iron Bowl on Saturday but lets slow down and take a look at some of his not-so-great moments to again balance the coverage.  Those moments that he cannot forget and keeps him yelling at those poor third stringers...

TOP TEN NOT-SO-GREAT NICK $ABAN MOMENTS

10.  He probably has managed to forget these but luckily we do not... these would be his embarrassing losses to UAB and Louisiana Monroe in his first years at LSU and Bama.  I mean I know he had some rebuilding to do but ouch.  He also lost to Auburn both of those years and had to watch Tommy Tuberville run around with six fingers in the air in his first Iron Bowl.  Again, ouch.

9.  $aban won his first national title at LSU but he did not go undefeated, LSU lost to Florida that year, and he also won a split national championship.  This was the last one of these.  LSU was crowned the BCS champions but USC won the AP title.  It is just a little thing but we know it still bothers him a little bit...

8.  All $aban talks about at Bama is the NFL and what an expert he is on it and how he can get players ready for it.  He talks about his friendship with Bill Belichick and everyone kind of thinks that $aban did have some NFL success but the truth is he did not.  He did coach with Belichick at Cleveland but they did not have success there. He coached a couple of years with the Oilers as a DB coach and of course two years as head coach of the Dolphins that produced nothing but $aban's only losing season.  His complete lack of any success in the NFL has got to get under his skin regularly.

7.  Nick had Bama turned around in 2008 with an undefeated regular season but lost to Florida and Tim Tebow in the SEC Championship and then got smoked by Utah in the Sugar Bowl.  He would of course turn it around in 2009 but those two losses to end that season had to hurt. Bama did not win anything and as you will see below, $aban has not actually completed many perfect regular seasons.

6.  Bama was back in all their glory in 2009 and were the unanimous #1 to start 2010.  Their next back-to-back looked sowed up already... till $aban and the boys were upset by South Carolina and then lost to LSU before one of the top moments on this list, the CAM-BACK.  This is $aban's only three loss season with the Tide and I know it still grates him that he had a 24-0 lead on Auburn AT HOME and LOST.  

5.  Luckily for $aban Bama fans only care about putting new "national championship" numbers on their car or pickup truck no matter how illegitimate they are.  Thus Bama fans do not seem to care about two of $aban's "national championships" where they lost to their biggest rivals, did not win their division and did not even make it the conference championship game.  This happened in 2011 where they lost to LSU who won the SEC and in 2017 to Auburn.  However the powers-that-be always put them in regardless and they were able to parlay their good fortune into two more "championships".  However we know the asterisks beside those titles still burn $aban up.  

4.  The funny thing about the whole $aban "reign" is you really never hear much from Bama fans about the 2009 team.  I guess they were not dominating enough barely beating Tennessee and Auburn in the last minutes.  However they still are the ONLY Nick $aban Bama team that went undefeated and won everything.  Almost every other year he manages to blow a game to an "inferior" team.  In 2012, Bama lost to Texas A&M, Auburn in 2013, OLE MISS in 2014 AND 2015, and of course the aforementioned loss to Auburn in 2017.  Yes, yes we know Bama still won it all several of those years but we know those blemishes on those almost perfect seasons still bother Nick.

3.  Bama and Nick had a big thing to hang on to coming into 2016 and that was the fact that when they got to the national title game, they won.  I mean even if they did not win their rivalry  game, their division or their conference... they still won that game.  That is until Clemson and Dabo finally slayed the giant in 2016 and on a last second pass no less.  I mean that one hurt.  Bama was undefeated and about to become the first team to ever go 15-0... till that play.  There is no doubt this one sticks in $aban's craw and could be #1 on this list but hey we know it is top three along with his other loss to Clemson...  Clemson and Dabo met Bama in the title game again in 2018 and they handed $aban his worst loss at Bama and denied Bama nation another opportunity to increment those national championship numbers.  I mean this was a complete beatdown, 44-16, and it once again denied Bama, $aban, and Tua of a perfect season.  

2.  Last year, LSU was obviously the best team in the country when everything was done but you know before the Iron Bowl that Bama and $aban thought they could beat them in a rematch, ala 2011.  Tua or no Tua Bama and $aban knew they could do it and all it took was a beat down of a three loss Auburn team and they would sneak in the back door again just like in 2011 and 2017 and win it all.  Auburn was not near as good as they were in 2013 or 2017.  I mean no three loss Auburn team was a match for the Bama juggernaut. After it was over the Bama fans flipped quickly to the "If Tua had been there..." card but we know Nick $aban believes they should have won this game. He knows that he still had the better team and that him and his coaching staff messed up and he is still pissed.

Ahhh it feels good.  There was the first pick-six Smoke Monday took to the house, the field goal before halftime that enraged $aban, the clutch pass completions by Bo Nix that kept scoring drives alive, the Zacoby McClain 100 yard pick-six (on a really dumb play call by $aban and his coaching staff), Shaun Shiver's "helmet popping" run, the missed chip shot field goal that would have tied the game and then of course the humiliating "twelve men on the field" penalty.  That penalty is all on $aban and the coaches.  They were about to get back the ball and had a good chance at pulling out the win before that embarrassing mistake.  48-45, you know it still has to be fresh in his mind and bothering the heck out of him even as he watched his boys run it up on Auburn this past Saturday.

1.  You know it, they know it and of course $aban knows it...  Bama was on the precipice of an undefeated perfect season and winning their THIRD national championship in a row (even if 2011 has that asterisk by it) along with getting another Heisman Trophy.  IT WAS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING.  Bama had the lead and multiple chances to put the game away but got stuffed on fourth and one and then got a field goal blocked. They then allowed a late touchdown drive that tied the game.  However they got the ball back and somehow got it past midfield and successfully got one last second added back to the clock to give them one more chance to win the game before overtime.  $aban then decided to attempt a 57 yard field goal.

They try to call this play lucky but there is no luck involved, if anything there was some horrific coaching by Nick $aban involved.  Think about it.  You already had a field goal blocked and now you are going to try an even longer field goal with an inexperienced kicker.  All I am saying is if that was Auburn I think that is a dumb call.  I actually think the higher percentage and lower risk play in this situation is a "Hail Mary".  Bama was past midfield, had big strong receivers and a Heisman candidate quarterback.  I would have been much more worried about that.  Also Auburn called timeout and replaced their man back with a kick returner.  As the "greatest coach in college football history" should you not consider that and maybe prepare for the possibility of a return?  I guess not.

The rest is history and the KICK SIX play that gave Auburn the win in the 2013 Iron Bowl and destroyed Bama and $aban's dreams of three-in-a-row is now considered the greatest play ever in college football.  It has been showed countless times and will continue to be.  You know $aban has either seen it again several times or actively avoids it.  You know it still burns him up and that keeps me warm at night.  "THERE GOES DAVIS!  THERE GOES DAVIS! AUBURN IS GOING TO WIN THE FOOTBALL GAME!  THEY ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP THEM OFF THE FIELD TONIGHT!!!" So yes while he is probably the greatest coach in college football history or close to it, he has still had many heartbreaking and enraging losses that will always bother him.  We know it and he knows it.  

So congrats Bama and Nick on another Iron Bowl win that you will try to act like does not mean much to you.  And yes we know that you have been in many more national championship contention games than us and of course we know "the number" (I cannot get out of my neighborhood without seeing it on a vehicle) but we also know that there have been just as many or more heartbreaks between those sacred wins.  We know that your average oblivious fan can probably forget those soul crushing moments but we know that ol' Saint Nick can not.  So Nick please get well soon and you will probably add another championship (with an asterisk in this COVID-19 season) for the fans to update their cars with but there is also a good chance Trevor Lawrence adds another great moment to this list as well. 

GAME 7 REVIEW: SMOKED

Auburn 30  Tennessee 17.  The Auburn football Tigers finally returned to action this weekend and I am just now getting this game review out.  They and I are both rusty from so much time off.  We last saw Auburn playing their best game of the year against LSU and then there was the official bye week and then the game against State got postponed.  It had been a full three weeks since the Tigers played when they took the field against the Vols.  I was excited as I loved the Auburn v Tennessee series.  It was the worst thing about going to divisions when this rivalry was stopped therefore it is big deal whenever the Vols roll back onto the schedule.  It is definitely not the Tennessee football program I grew up with but still a big game.  

Auburn definitely came out rusty.  I mean no matter what you do in practice you just cannot simulate game speed and intensity.  It is why so many bowl games are so bad.  You just lose your edge.  Auburn had definitely lost that edge.  You add to that fact that Jeremy Pruitt has pretty much owned Gus Malzahn and things looked scary early.  It was Pruitt at Florida State who figured out Gus' offense first and prevented Auburn from winning the national championship since Gus would not adjust.  It was Pruitt at Georgia that crushed Auburn and it's great offense the next season.  It was Pruitt leading the charge the next two years at Bama helping beat Auburn.  Gus finally got Pruitt in 2017 but Pruitt got back on track the next year leading the Vols to the upset over Auburn in 2018.

He fortunately did not follow that one up with another upset this year as Auburn woke up and with Tennessee's help took control of the game.  Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from this weekend...

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

The good in this game was the collective effort to come back after an abysmal first quarter.  Auburn got the ball shortly after the second quarter started down 10-0 and Bo Nix had thrown an ugly interception in the end zone on Auburn's last drive.  Things were not looking good.  However Tennessee made some critical mistakes and Auburn was good and opportunistic enough to take advantage of them.  The first big play came when Bo Nix hit a wide open Anthony Schwartz in stride for an easy first touchdown.  It was a busted coverage but Auburn has missed plenty of those in the Gus era so kudos still to Nix for recognizing it and making a good throw.  The defense then forced a three-and-out and the Auburn offense drove back down and tied the game 10-10 on an Ander Carlson field goal.

The half ended 10-10.  The Tigers then took the ball first in the second half and drove down to get another field goal to go up 13-10.  Kudos to Shaun Shivers and D.J. Williams for tough running with Tank Bigsby hurt early.  You have to also give the Auburn offensive line credit for their work as well.  The game completely turned though on a big play by the defense...  After losing the lead for the first time in the game the Vols romped back down the field literally running over Auburn.  There were runs of seven, eight, nine and 21 yards. This looked like it was fixing to turn into a shootout until beleaguered Tennessee quarterback Jarret Guarantano tried to force the ball into the end zone... and Smoke Monday was waiting.  Monday then took it to the house and completely turned the game around in the process.

The Auburn defense was not good statistically on the night.  In fact they would be the bad on this night.  Tennessee had 28 first downs, 242 yards passing and 222 rushing.  That is pretty bad defense but even in the midst of a tough night they made the plays when it counted.  There was Monday's game changing pick six, there was the only forced three-and-out when it was needed most and there were four sacks and six tackles-for-loss at key times in the game.  Once again I saw the overworked Daquan Newkirk down late in the game and watched him battle back to his feet and stay in the game.  These guys keep battling and on this night it may have been the difference between winning and losing.

The Tigers would then drive for another touchdown and field goal to seal the deal.  Auburn is now at five wins with an excellent chance for a winning season and even seven wins.  It is definitely a big deal in this particular season.  Gus Malzahn has done some really bonehead things at Auburn but he has held things together this season and at least kept Auburn a winning program. I have been one of his harshest critics but whenever I watch Tennessee I back off a little looking at the disaster they have become. All of my life till this last decade Tennessee was a top-tier football program. They are not anymore and I just do not see a lot of hope for a turnaround anytime soon from what I saw in this game. I think the biggest reason is great coaches and programs at Clemson and Ohio State ruling UT's recruiting territory.

THE UGLY

The ugly is going to be next week when this group of Tigers heads to Tuscaloosa to take on the Bama demolition machine.  The college football system as a whole has always been a joke.  It has always been a rigged unfair popularity contest but things have now gotten worse with so many more teams and only a few able to stack the talent. I have actually heard Bama fans talking about their "tough" years over the last 30 years and they have had a few but everyone else has had more and nowhere near the number of good years. They have built a ridiculous recruiting advantage led by Nick $aban both above and below board. I am not sure they are better than when Auburn upset them last year but Auburn is nowhere near as good on the offensive and defensive lines which spells certain doom.

It is again going to get ugly and it will take a great effort to keep it from getting completely out of hand as $aban will be looking for payback for Auburn embarrassing him so bad last season tricking him into a game losing penalty.  I truly believe Bama will display little sportsmanship and leave the starters in for at least one or two drives past when they would usually come out to get their revenge.  The Auburn defense is just not near good enough to slow down the Tide.  I just hope the offense can do some damage as Auburn will bring a decent offense to Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2014. It is years like this that make you extra thankful for huge wins like last year's Iron Bowl.  That game gets more amazing and more special the farther I get away from it.  Heck I might replay it rather than watching Saturday...

The ugly for me also is the way Bruce Pearl is treated by the national media and people in general.  He is called cheater and cheater over and over yet the people who say that cannot tell you what he has done.  Bryan Matthews on Auburnsports.com today said it best: "He lied to the NCAA about a BBQ 12 years ago and paid for it with a three-year show cause. A BBQ. One of his assistants committed a crime and paid a price along with two of his players.  That's it as far as I know so spare me your Pearl outrage. IT'S UNBEARABLY PRETENTIOUS AND CONTRIVED."  Bama is on year twelve of the greatest college football recruiting in the history of the world with no questions asked while Pearl is put down and Auburn is self-imposing a postseason hoops ban this year.  I just shake my head.

THE LAST WORD

The sad thing is that the Auburn football players on both sides of the ball will put everything into the Iron Bowl. They will give it everything they have and I am not sure how much they will have left for next week against Texas A&M which this year is a more important game.  Auburn had some key players injured against the Vols in Tank Bigsby and Brodarius Hamm.  It would be a miracle if more are not hurt this weekend against Bama.  This game will not only hurt losing it but it could be much more devastating if it hurts Auburn badly in their next two games.  That is now how things work in sports but it would be tough to take.  Auburn has next-to-no chance at Bama but has a great chance of upsetting Texas A&M at home and beating State on the road to finish 7-3. Let's just get this next one over with...

Finally and more importantly I am incredibly fortunate and thankful to be here complaining about sports. This season seems to have a little more meaning in this year of turmoil. We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

GAME 6 REVIEW: TERRORIZED

Auburn 48  LSU 11.  The Auburn football Tigers have had a tough time in this rivalry with LSU.  In fact I have always considered LSU Auburn's nemesis.  The only team to beat Pat Sullivan twice... LSU.  The only loss by the 1972 Auburn "Amazins" team... LSU.  The team that delivered Auburn what I consider their worst or second worst lost EVER by winning 7-6 thus denying Auburn the chance to play Notre Dame for the national championship... LSU.  The only team that beat the 2013 SEC champion Auburn team in the regular season... LSU.  The team that came back from a 20-0 lead to beat Auburn in 2017... LSU and there are many more.  However while LSU has delivered those heart breaking blows, Auburn always rises back up to get a little payback.  It does not make it even but it helps.

In 1993 after not winning in Baton Rouge for 50 years (although Auburn and LSU did not play each other very often before the SEC went to divisions) Stan White led the Tigers to a 34-10 beatdown of the Tigers.  I was there, it was incredible.  In 1999 a seemingly weak Auburn team came into Baton Rouge and put the biggest whipping on LSU they had ever given, 41-7...  till today.  In 2002, Auburn crushed LSU and Nick $aban 31-7.  In 2014, Gus Malzhan and the boys took out their frustration over three straight losses to whip LSU 41-7 again.  Now we can add 2020 and a brutal 48-11 stomping.  On this Halloween Auburn took the role of the unstoppable killer while LSU took the role of the weak group of people who get terrorized.  It was that decisive on a beautiful day at Jordan Hare stadium.

THE GOOD

You do not want to get carried away with one game and LSU is obviously in rebuilding mode however LSU did destroy the South Carolina team that beat Auburn two weeks ago.  Auburn could not just show up and beat LSU, they had to want it and they had to play their guts out.  They did both.  The orange and blue Tigers showed up with a mad on after three straight losses to LSU and everyone in the country saying Auburn only won their games because of lucky calls.  We can start where every game is won and that is on the line of scrimmage.  Auburn dominated the line of scrimmage paving the way for this beatdown.  The offensive line paved the way for 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing while the defensive line held LSU to just 32 yards rushing and less than 250 yards total offense before trash time.

It all starts on the line of scrimmage and while LSU is not Georgia or Bama this season they still have some good young talent and my hat is off to the Auburn linemen in this one.  Tank Bigsby averaged almost five yards a carry and scored two touchdowns behind this line and Bo Nix turned in maybe his finest game as an Auburn Tiger.  He rushed for over 80 yards with a touchdown and passed for a spectacular 300 yards and three touchdowns on 18 or 24 passing with 124 of those going to Anthony Schwartz.  Nix made the right move every time when he decided to run.  He led an all-out assault on the LSU defense that resulted in three touchdowns in the second and third quarters.  Bo Nix was simply incredible today.  The 91 yard touchdown pass to Schwartz was absolutely gorgeous.

You could say though that the defense got everything started and gave the offense many of those opportunities.  It was a 0-0 game and Seth Williams had just fumbled the ball back to LSU when Nehemiah Pritchett picked off LSU quarterback T.J. Finley and returned it 48 yards to set the Auburn offense up and Eli Stove then took it from there and made a nifty move to get in the end zone.  A few possessions later the Auburn defensive line collapsed on Finley again causing him to fumble and Christian Tutt came flying in and scored on an outstanding scoop-and-score.  That gave Auburn the momentum and then the offense put up maybe their most outstanding drive of the season.  They drove !!! 99 YARDS !!! for their third touchdown of the second quarter with Nix hitting Ze'vian Capers.

Again Auburn is still running the Malzahn offensive system.  That will never change but Chad Morris like Chip Lindsey in 2017 is making a few good changes or tweaks within the system.  The most important one was emphasized by Capers' touchdown, Morris is spreading the ball around.  For so many years Malzhan would not spread the ball around.  Opposing defenses would not seriously cover players and Auburn would never make them pay.  It seems Morris has at least convinced Malzahn of his folly.  In this game the ball was spread around almost equally between Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove and J.J. Pegues.  I know some of those are basically runs but the principle is still the same IF you do not tip your plays by subbing which hopefully Auburn is getting better at not doing as well.

The Auburn offense then came out in the second half and did something Malzahn teams rarely do, they started fast and dominated the third quarter.  The orange and blue Tigers took their first drive 75 yards with Nix running it in.  The defense then made another big play with Big Kat Bryant intercepting a tipped ball and the offense took advantage with Tank Bigsby taking it in a few plays later.  The Auburn defense then forced a three-and-out and the offense took over and drove 70 yards for another touchdown with Bigsby taking it in again.  Auburn was up 42-3 but it was just now the end of the third quarter.  One more blow had to be administered for the knock-out and when Auburn took over on their own nine yard line after the defense stopped LSU again they ended the fight with that 91 yard touchdown toss.

THE BAD

Um lets see well Seth Williams did fumble, the starting defense let LSU kick a field goal right before the half and Anders Carlson missed an extra point that would have made it 49-11...  I think that is about it.

THE UGLY

As I said three weeks ago I cannot stand Dan Mullen.  He is just as I read someone else calling him, a troll.  He is a decent coach but acts like such a jackass it is hard to appreciate anything else he does.  Again he falsely slandered Marlon Davidson last season and then a few weeks ago he encouraged Florida to pack the stadium regardless of anybody's safety concerns before coming down with COVID 19 himself along with several players where Florida had to shutdown the program for more than a week.  Well after making that big of an ass of himself he was back at it this weekend confronting the refs after a missed call and seemingly encouraging a brawl with the Missouri players plus inciting the crowd on his way out and then denying everything during an interview.  I mean wow, this guy is something else.

THE LAST WORD

The last time Auburn was this impressive against a big rival on the CBS 2:30pm game was in 2017 against Georgia and Bama.  That seems like a long time ago even with the big Iron Bowl win last season.  It was so nice to just sit down and enjoy a big Auburn win against a big rival on a beautiful day.  I really enjoyed every minute of it.  As I wrote last week this game was huge for both teams for fulfilling their realistic goals this season.  I think Auburn now has a chance at seven wins which frankly at this point would be a huge accomplishment.  Auburn now gets a bye week before traveling to play a reeling Mississippi State team and then returning home to play the Vols.  Auburn can get to six wins with just solid outing in these two games and reach their goals.  They now have the momentum.