GAME 12 REVIEW: ...

Bama 27  Auburn 24.  There is just not much to say about this game after the way it ended.  The bottom line is a bunch of millionaire defensive coaches just had to help their players convert a 4th and goal at the 31 yard line.  The analytics, the odds, the percentages were so far in the defending teams favor it is almost incalculable.  Auburn did not need blocked punts, jumps over the top, reverses, long passes, unbelievable kick returns, or helmet popping runs.  Auburn just needed to make boring mundane plays like catching a punt and stopping a team on 4th down and goal from the 31 yard line.  Auburn with the weakest defense in its history should be able to stop the Dallas Cowboys on 4th and goal from the 31 yard line.

There is literally almost no way to screw it up.  These defensive coaches found a way mainly by only rushing two men and letting the quarterback have all the time in the world to throw.  You rush three and send a delayed fourth.  Boom the game is over because he cannot scramble.  It is that easy.  This no Monday morning quarterbacking, this is no dumb fan talk, this call needed nothing but a tiny bit of football experience.  What it got was what I called out as the biggest problem in sports today, overcoaching.  Pathetic overpaid millionaire coaches trying to outthink the room.  They have only managed in embarrassing and humiliating themselves beyond the ability to come back.  If you cannot make the call in this easy easy easy defensive situation then I do not trust you to make tougher calls in tougher situations.

I am done with this season.  I am proud of the players but like they themselves would say, who gives a sh*t?  Auburn lost a game they had won.  I do not blame Koy Moore for the fumble on the punt although catching it would have probably won the game.  He is a player on the field and mistakes are made.  Stupid coaches rushing two players and blowing a 4th and goal from the 31 yard line I do blame.  I am not proud of them or happy that Auburn got so close or that Auburn "is headed in the right direction" or any of that bullsh*t.  Auburn won the game and then stupid coaches worked very hard and were successful in losing it.  This has nothing to do with recruiting or any of Auburn's other problems.  Auburn lost a huge game they had won because of nothing but overcoaching.  

There will never be another Iron Bowl easier to close than this one.  Auburn now has to wait two long years to even have a chance at beating Bama again since the Tigers have not gotten within like 30 points in Tuscaloosa in over a decade.  I guarantee Bama will not play this bad next time in Auburn and who cares if they do since they have played bad the last two times and Auburn has choked as bad as possible both times and given them the win.  They will just win in two years again because more sorry pathetic cowardly Auburn coaches will make gutless stupid calls like the last two times.  However no coach will make a stupider call and blow it worse than today where they allowed a team to pretty easily throw a touchdown on 4TH AND GOAL AT THE 31 YARD LINE. 

GAME 11 REVIEW: And it all came crashing down

New Mexico State 31  Auburn 10.  I guess that as the saying goes "what goes up must come down" but I did not think Auburn would come crashing down so soon or so badly.  A week after the best performance by an Auburn football team in years comes one of the worst losses in program history.  Auburn did not get upset by a lesser school, they got absolutely demolished by a school many people have never even heard of.  Auburn, a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and one of the elite members of that conference with multiple conference titles and a national championship in the last 20 years, got beaten soundly and run out of their own stadium by NEW... MEXICO... STATE.  There is a lot of debate between Auburn fans on how bad this loss is but the bottom line is that it is pretty bad.

I guess first, my thoughts on the game...  I guess I will start with what I just said, man it was bad.  It was so bad I started doing work around my house because I just could not sit there and watch the football or the TWO SOLID HOURS OF COMMERCIALS that come with it.  I will continue to say that sports have been almost completely ruined by commercials.  I would rather pay per game or anything other than the way it is now.  Again it really seems like you are watching three plus hours of commercials with some football mixed in.  The same is true of basketball other than the games are a little shorter however you have to watch a ton of stupid free throws along with the commercials in basketball.  It has come to the point that I have a hard time watching any football or basketball games any more.  

Back to the game...  It definitely was a perfect storm that happened yesterday to Auburn.  You had all the ingredients for an upset.  The favored team was coming off a huge win the week before... check.  The supposed cupcake coming in was a good team that could win it's conference... check.  That good underdog team had a really good quarterback... check.  That underdog team had a really good coach... check.  The underdog team got a couple of huge big plays at critical parts of the game... check.  I could go on but I think you get the picture.  Auburn was just unlucky at scheduling the wrong team at the wrong time and then of course SHOWING UP COMPLETELY UNPREPARED.  I mean what exactly was the plan on defense?  I mean New Mexico State had ALMOST 40 MINUTES OF POSSESSION.

There is always a measure of blame on the players who actually play the game but this game is mainly on the Auburn coaching staff.  The players were not ready to play and as good as New Mexico State is they do not have more talent than Auburn does.  I think the main factor is the one I just listed.  The Auburn defense allowed the other team to hold the ball for almost 40 minutes.  The offense sucked but they did not get many chances.  The defense absolutely failed in every conceivable way in this game.  They could not get stops and how in the world do you not see a fake punt coming on that play at the end of the third quarter.  You have to see there is good chance that is coming.  It was just terrible terrible coaching and that was the play that ended the game in my opinion.  That drive alone chewed 10 MINUTES OFF THE CLOCK.  TEN MINUTES.  TEN MINUTES!!!

It was just an absolute disgrace.  The offense was not much better and you can bet that the coaches at Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas are kicking themselves for not following New Mexico State's defensive game plan.  They stacked the line and took away the run AND on the read option plus pass plays always took away the running back.  They were willing to concede several big runs and passes by quarterback Payton Thorne but again completely take Jarquez Hunter and our other running backs out of the game.  It was brilliant and it absolutely worked.  They put the game on Thorne and our wide receivers and they are not good enough to win games without our running backs.  You can bet that Nick $aban, Kevin Steele, and the Bama brain trust are gleefully taking notes.  

It is done though and the question is how bad will the fall out be from this game?  I have read a lot of reactions from different Auburn fans and posters in the last 24 hours and things have broken down into the same two camps I described earlier in the season when the offense was so bad.  Both camps know the program is still in bad shape and recovering from the last four to six years of mediocre to very bad recruiting and roster attrition.  The first camp is trying to shrug their shoulders at this game like they did the mistakes on offense at the first of the season.  They say it is just part of the process.  The other camp says there is a degree of truth to that but the coaching should have been better on offense early in the season and it dang well should have been better in this game regardless of the condition of the program and the roster.

I am in the latter group.  You can try and shrug off this game but it is a big setback in this rebuild and for Hugh Freeze as head coach.  Yes I know Nick $aban lost to UAB his first year at LSU and to Louisiana Monroe in his first year at Bama.  However he did not get blown out in either of those games and he won a national championship at both schools two years after that.  If Auburn wins a national championship in two years I will fully forgive our coaches for this game.  I have also heard about all the other SEC schools that have lost games like this but I believe all those coaches have been fired and all those upsets were proof that the coach was not that good.  Is that the case here?  I can take many Auburn fans trying to not overreact but I have had enough of the ones that are just trying to shrug this off.

First, this is now the only thing anyone will remember about this season and this team.  I hate it and it is not fair but it is what it is.  Second, while it probably will not hurt recruiting too much it certainly will not help it.  Third, it really destroys any small chance there was at upsetting Bama this next weekend.  Auburn has rarely beaten Bama after a tough loss right before that game.  I do not see how it happens after this game.  Finally if Auburn loses the Iron Bowl then the Tigers will once again not have a winning regular season.  It would be the third year in a row without a winning regular season.  Has that ever happened?  I certainly admit my mistake the last few weeks writing about a winning season and just assuming that Auburn would win this game.  I guess I was part of the problem as well.  Lesson learned.

This Auburn team and staff now have to pick themselves up and prepare for the Iron Bowl.  Bama comes in at 10-1, undefeated in the conference, and on a nine game winning streak.  I am surprised at the number of fans that just assume this game will be close because Bama is coming to Jordan Hare.  I guess there is a reason for a little of that and I certainly cannot explain how Bryan Harsin almost beat Bama two years ago but I just do not see it this season.  Bama might not quite be the juggernaut it has been in seasons past but they are a very good football team.  They are built on four years of the best recruiting classes in the country while Auburn's last four recruiting classes have been mediocre to bad.  The talent gap is large in this game.

I continue to hear a lot being made of Auburn keeping it close against Georgia earlier this season.  I continue to say that yes that is true but Georgia turned the ball over several times and fourteen of Auburn's twenty points came off those turnovers.  I think that is the ONLY way that this Auburn team keeps it close in this game, i.e. Bama turning the ball over.  It is one of the major reasons Auburn was able to beat Bama in 2019 (other than having a much better team).  It could happen but I just do not think this one will be close.  I think the Bama defense is going to eat Auburn alive after seeing the blueprint this past weekend.  I think the Auburn defense will play much better but the Bama offense will break through eventually.  

I sure could have lived with that a lot better with a win over New Mexico State and a winning season already in the books...  It did not happen and now the real possibility of this Auburn team ending the season with two ugly losses is very real and it just ruins this season.  All I read is that we should not freak out so much over it because better days are ahead...  I sure hope so but the years are flying by and Auburn has not had a really good season in a really long time.  After this past game it sure seems like it could be a lot longer.

GAME 10 REVIEW: Mission Accomplished

Auburn 48  Arkansas 10.  There are those few times when it all comes together and man I have learned to try and soak up every moment.  It just does not happen a whole lot and it certainly has not happened for Auburn very much in the last few years.  As I have outlined the last few weeks I thought Auburn desperately needed a win in this game.  They got a lot more...  I thought this game would go down to the wire but it did not.  Auburn absolutely dominated Arkansas on both sides of the ball from the get go.  I was pretty blown away.  I mean even another ugly Payton Thorne interception did not change the momentum.  After all the early struggles this is what Auburn needed badly, i.e. a big win highlighting an improving offense.  Add to it that it was a conference road win and puts Auburn on a three game conference winning streak (which also has not happened in awhile) and things are looking so much better.

This win also gives, barring a meltdown next week against New Mexico State, a guaranteed winning season regardless of what happens in the Iron Bowl and in Auburn's bowl game.  I will not comment on the Iron Bowl yet but Auburn should have a pretty good chance in a bowl game for an eighth win and Freeze has a lot better record in bowl games than Malzahn did.  Of course pretty much any coach is better than Malzahn in bowl games...  Again barring something horrible next week this is mission accomplished for Hugh Freeze and his staff in their first season.  It is a minor miracle that Auburn is in this position considering where this program and roster was just a year ago.  There sure have been some bumps in the road during this season but in the end Auburn got where it needed to be.

The Tigers did it in style with three touchdown passes from quarterback Payton Thorne, another hundred yard rushing day from the resurgent Jarquez Hunter, and of course two more catches from one of the best transfers Auburn has landed in tight end Rivaldo Fairweather.  Add to that a defense that was just nasty on Saturday plus some elite special teams play and you get by far Auburn's biggest win of the season.  I am not sure what the future holds for the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn but let me say again, Freeze has done an absolutely outstanding job overall in getting Auburn to this point over the last year.  You have to remember that Arkansas absolutely beat down Auburn in Jordan Hare Stadium last season and Auburn also lost to Mississippi State.  Auburn cannot take these wins for granted period.

I honestly do not know about the rotating quarterbacks and some of the decisions on offense early but these last three wins and hopefully one next week should put all that behind Auburn and Freeze.  I mean it has been a pretty big downhill slide for Auburn since 2020.  Other than a few great moments from Bo Nix it has been a rough few years on the plains.  This game, current recruiting returns, and Auburn hopefully clinching a winning season next week all signal clear hope for the first time in a long time. Again I am not sure what the future holds for Hugh Freeze but he got the job done this year.  You just cannot overstate how much of an achievement it is to get to this point considering where this program was just a year ago.  This is definitely a win to savor and remember as a milestone even though Arkansas is obviously not a very good team. 

Of course it seems that Hugh Freeze regardless of whether he is winning or losing cannot stop from sticking his foot in his mouth.  I mean it is not a big deal but in the post game presser when asked how they turned things around on offense, Freeze basically said it was because he get involved.  I mean that might be true but you just do not say it in my opinion.  It just sounded kind of bad to me and he put another knife in the back of offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery when there was just no reason to after such a big win.  It is a minor thing but it just sounds petty.  As Kevin Costner's character in the move "Bull Durham" lectured Tim Robbin's character...  "KNOW YOUR CLICHES".  I mean just use of those well used clichés when asked that and give everybody credit. 

Auburn most avoid a bit of a trap game this week.  New Mexico State is still New Mexico State and they did lose to Auburn's opening opponent UMass who Auburn destroyed but they have rallied to be 8-3 and 2nd in Conference USA.  The Tigers should be OK but will need to at least show up for a bit.  Across the state Bama will be tuning up for the Iron Bowl with Chattanooga.  The countdown to the Iron Bowl will begin Saturday night and it will be a lot easier to get excited about it after this win over Arkansas.  The other big news out of this weekend was that several SEC coaches are on the hot seat and two have been fired.  As turmoil engulfs these schools it sure is nice to not be talking about a possible coaching change at Auburn for the first time in several years. 

GAME 9 REVIEW: Take some Vandy for what ails you...

Auburn 31 Vanderbilt 15.  Is your team struggling to keep their momentum going?  Do they desperately need a conference road win?  The prescription would be Vanderbilt.  Other than a few outlying seasons Vandy is and always will be the worst team in the SEC.  Two of those seasons intersected with two of Auburn's worst teams ever in 2008 and 2012 giving Vandy their only modern wins over Auburn and they barely got those wins.  Of course Auburn hardly every plays Vandy where our friends across the state played them every year other than two years for WWII from 1929 to 2002 (!!!???!!!).  That sure helped a lot of Bama seasons and helped them with many of their championships.  Those pickup truck bumper sticker national championship numbers would be a lot lower if they had played Florida or Georgia for all those years like Auburn did.  

I digress though.  Auburn has Vandy on the schedule this season and I am thankful for it.  The Tigers desperately needed a gimme in conference and on the road to boot.  Two big time Jarquez Hunter runs put Auburn up 14-0.  Unfortunately quarterback Payton Thorne threw a really ugly pick six to keep Vandy in the game.  But fortunately the defense held and the teams swapped a couple of punts before Auburn got a field goal right before the half and then aided by a big penalty got a connection from Payton Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather to put the score up to 24-7.  Auburn then stopped Vandy and drove it down where for the second straight week Thorne hit a short touchdown pass to running back Jeremiah Cobb.  That effectively ended the game but Vandy did drive down and get a TD and a two-point conversion to make it a little closer.

It certainly was not a perfect game by Auburn but it got the job done.  I have read a lot about Auburn's goals now for this season and I have noticed they are one game off from what I think Auburn needs to do.  Head coach Hugh Freeze said the goal is to be bowl eligible with six wins.  I am sorry I disagree I think the goal is a winning season which Auburn has not had since 2020.  Auburn went 6-6 and was bowl eligible in 2021 and then lost to Houston in Birmingham finishing 6-7.  They like adding the bowl wins to the record but always try to keep them off as losses.  They count to me.  Auburn has had two losing seasons in a row.  However if these Tigers win in Arkansas this weekend and take care of business against New Mexico they have a winning season regardless of what happens in the bowl game. 

I think they need that regardless of what anyone else says.  It is important.  Unfortunately that job just got a lot harder.  Can Auburn beat Bama at home?  Yes but the chance is low.  Auburn's best chance at a winning season is beating Arkansas this weekend.  Arkansas got a huge win and a huge boost with a gigantic win at Florida.  They will be much tougher to beat now this week.  However while they are better they are still very beatable.  I think Auburn needs to pull out all the stops in this one.  A win would take the pressure off and give in my opinion Auburn a much better chance against Bama and in the bowl game with the pressure off.  Everything would be better if Auburn can go get this win at Arkansas.  It is going to be one of those games that not many people will pay attention to but just huge for the two teams involved.

Hopefully the Auburn offensive coaches will continue to make smart decisions like these past two games.  They continued to keep it simple for the most part in the passing game as I noted last week AND THEY STOPPED ROTATING QUARTERBACKS.  I did not comment on that last week and I should have but EVERYBODY knew that was STUPID and Freeze sure looks and sounds a lot better not trying to justify that hot mess.  Now there were some bad drops this week and that could ruin Auburn's chances against Arky or Bama.  I just do not know what to say about this problem.  These guys have played football their whole life, just catch the ball!!!  The blocking will also have to hold up as Arkansas will be better than Vandy or State in my opinion.

Well we are now to the end and have a big conference game on what looks like an absolutely gorgeous cooler November day with what I think is a lot on the line.  I am really looking forward to this one.  I think it could be the tightest game of the season.  It will show us even more about head coach Hugh Freeze.  I do not really count Cal and I know the Georgia was close but you never really thought Auburn would prevail.  The losses against Texas A&M, LSU, and Ole Miss were tight in spots but did not go down to the wire.  Auburn's last two wins against State and Vandy did not either.  I think this one might be the one that goes down to the wire. 

GAME 8 REVIEW: On Target, finally!

 

Auburn 27  Mississippi State 13.  Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze finally won their first conference game of the season.  This was done by finally putting a competent passing game on the field which shockingly opened up the running game and Jarquez Hunter.  It is funny how that happens when you have a balanced offense.  The only surprising change I saw that enabled this was basically the one most Auburn fans have been asking for including me...  simplicity.  I am sorry as complex as everyone who makes their living off of football tries to make it, it is not rocket science.  What I saw Saturday was simplicity mixed with some actual blocking which is pretty important too.

Auburn's first or one of their early drives featured a straight drop back and passes to a receiver who ran what we used to call a "buttonhook", one who ran a slant, and one who ran an out.  Again it is not rocket science, all you need is a little blocking and a decently ran intermediate simple pass route.  I believe Thorne also used straight play-action on one or two of those as well.  There were no stupid RPOs but basic pass plays.  These got quarterback Payton Thorne into a groove with some confidence and then what do you know he hits Ja'varrus Johnson on a straight go route and running back Jeremiah Cobb on a simple lob both for touchdowns.  SHOCKER, you start with the basics, build momentum and confidence, and then your quarterback starts hitting some harder throws.

Again you also get the running game going and after a few big runs along with those passes your offense really starts humming!  Again, SHOCKER.  Tons of us have been saying these things every week.  I understand and will give you that A&M, Georgia, and LSU on that night had much better defenses than State but Ole Miss did NOT.  This could have all started last week.  Auburn did NOT do these things to start against Ole Miss and as we have seen many times once you get off to a bad start on offense, nothing seems to work.  I will continue to say there are basics to football and no matter how people try to make it seem so hard and complex to inflate their value, it is not.  Always go back to the basics when you are struggling.  

Auburn did that and had their best offensive day by far this season.  The Tigers slowed way down in the second half due to taking their foot off the gas and bad field position.  I was actually not as upset about that as many were.  I think the coaches could have done much better but they were scared of blowing this game and I cannot blame them especially after what happened on this field against State just two years ago.  It sure helped that State senior quarterback Will Rogers was out with an injury in this one.  This game probably would have been a lot closer and seriously tense if he would have played.   State backup quarterback Mike Wright did a decent job but he is just not the accomplished passer that Rogers is.

The defense did give up a few big plays to State but got the job done along with the special teams and Auburn got a big win.  This was the first step toward getting that winning record.  As I stated last week, if Auburn can win these four games before Bama and get that winning record the season is a success.  They can put the four ugly losses in a row behind them and really have something to build on.  Auburn has not had a winning season since 2020.  The next step is the Tigers getting their first conference road win of the season.  They get the worst team in the conference to do it against.  It is there for the taking.  Even this Auburn team would have to play extraordinarily bad to give Vanderbilt a shot at winning.

Now it could happen, Auburn is not good enough to take anyone for granted but if the Tigers can just play a solid game they should get the win and head to Arkansas with some actual confidence and momentum.  One step at a time, one game at a time though.