Auburn 2017 Preview: Opportunity Just Ahead

I always think a bit about the title of my posts.  In my experience many times something will just pop into my head that really describes how I feel about a certain subject or game.  It did not take long for this post.  I cannot think of a better way to describe this upcoming season than an "opportunity just ahead".  It is a huge opportunity for the Auburn football Tigers.  College football is about patiently waiting for things to line up and your team to have a real shot at a championship.  This is true for just about every program except those who can finish #1 in recruiting for a decade where any shady stuff done is ignored.  It is like a surfer waiting for that perfect wave to come in.

 

It takes a lot of things to line up on your football team.  First, you have to have a good quarterback.  Next you have to be pretty good everywhere else as well.  You have to be very good in the trenches.  You have to have some big-time playmaking running backs and wide receivers.   You have to be at least very solid in the back seven on defense with some veteran guys that have a nose for the football.  You have to have very good special teams play especially your kicker.  You need to have a good group of juniors and seniors that really help lead the team in the right direction.  Finally you need good coaching to put these players in the best position to succeed.

 

It takes a lot of things to line up on your schedule.  You need the right tough games at home.  You need your tough games spaced out decently.  You need your home and road games spaced out decently as well.  You need your open week in the right place.  It also helps to pick up a weaker conference foe in your rotating spot and for a couple of your regular conference foes to be hitting a bit of a dip.  For a lot of teams you need some good breaks on what happens around the country.  Finally you have to avoid injuries and get that lucky bounce of the ball at the right time during the season that every single championship team in the history of sports has gotten.

 

The 2017 Auburn Tiger football team appears to have a lot of these things lining up for it.  That is certainly no guarantee but it is much better than the years where none of these things are happening.  Unfortunately that has been true of Auburn for much of this decade.  Auburn simply had no chance to compete for a championship in 2011, 2012, 2015 and in 2016.  The best the team could hope for was a big regular season win or two and a good bowl game those years.  Auburn did get a few decent wins during some of those years and even got a good bowl or two but lost to Georgia and Bama all of them.  Unfortunately that overshadows everything else.

 

Back to the present, lets take a look at the team.  I said first you have to have a good quarterback and Auburn finally seems to have one in Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham.  Stidham did more at Baylor in three games (against good teams) than Sean White did in an entire season.  This included a 400 yard passing game against Kansas State.  Anyone who thinks it is easy to throw for 400 yards in pretty much any game between Power 5 schools is misguided.  Stidham also looked great at Auburn's A-day scrimmage and threw some beautiful passes.  People will scoff at that but all of the Auburn quarterbacks looked awful at A-day the previous two springs especially in 2016. 

 

None of this is a guarantee for success however when you have to change to a new quarterback you want the best prospect possible and I think Auburn has that.  Next Auburn has to be good in the trenches and it appears they are.  I do not think the Auburn offensive line will be as good as 2013 or even 2010 but they can be a very good line.  A good line starts with the tackles and that is the best part of this line as well with seniors Braden Smith and Darius James.  Smith has been a beast for four years and Darius James came to Auburn looking like the perfect tackle and got a full season of experience last year.  This could be his breakout season.  I think both of these guys will play on Sundays.

 

With that said, as camp has gone on the rumors have gotten stronger that Prince Tega Wanogho is making a run at left tackle.  I am glad that he is maybe good enough to be an SEC left tackle as we will need one next season but I am a little leery of making this move.  Wanogho has no game experience at all and he is going to take over the most important position on the line?  (Yes I think left tackle is still the most important position on the line with a right-handed quarterback).  I like James and Smith at the tackles better.  I guess starting Wanogho would allow Braden Smith to move back to his more natural guard spot but again I like the experienced seniors at the tackles. 

 

At the guards if James and Smith stay the tackles, it looks like there will be two redshirt sophomores in Mike Horton and Marquel Harrell.  These guys do not have the experience but they look like great prospects and will be surrounded with good veteran experience.  That brings us to center where senior Austin Golson will anchor the line.  He also got a full season of experience last year at center.  It looks like a good line with talented seniors in the right places.  The only big deficiency here is depth.  The only thing behind these guys are a lot of unknown inexperienced young guys and transfers.  Transfers are always tricky the first year.  I do not think Auburn can win a championship without Smith and James staying healthy even if Wanogho starts at left tackle.

 

On the defensive side of the ball things are kind of opposite but still good.  I do not think Auburn has a standout dominant lineman but has a lot of good solid players.  Many have tabbed defensive end Marlon Davidson a star but while he was very good last season as a freshman I do not see a dominant pass rusher like others do.  He is very good and will start at one end while it looks like Jeff Holland will start at the other.  Holland came in a very high rated recruit and has gotten a lot of experience the last two seasons.  I think he is another player that could have a breakout season.  Other players in the mix at end will be Paul James and Nick Coe plus incoming freshman Markaviest Bryant. 

 

It looks like it will be Dontavius Russell and either Andrew Williams or Derrick Brown at tackle.  These all seem to be good solid players and will have Byron Cowart backing up one of the positions and a lot of young guys that have been redshirted adding depth.  Again I do not think this is a great line but there is some talent and depth and hopefully that can wear some teams down.  Coach Rodney Garner has done a good job using his depth in the past and getting a lot of guys involved.  Hopefully he can keep it up and push all the right buttons to get the most out of this group.

 

We now come to playmakers on offense.  This appears to be one of the strongest if not the strongest part of the team IF Gus Malzahn can at least let Chip Lindsey build a high school level passing offense as compared to the middle school one Auburn has tried to run the last two seasons being completely exposed against anybody any good.  Auburn has only passed with Malzahn as coach against either bad teams or when they are running at will.  Anybody can pass in those situations.  Exhibit A being Auburn playing an entire game last season between the second half against Georgia and the first half against Bama where the Tigers only had one first down and 60 yards offense.

 

Things will start with Kamryn Pettway who established himself as another member of Auburn's proud history of elite running backs.  He rumbled for over 1200 yards while basically playing only eight or so games.  Pettway will be the foundation of the offense and I am fine with that IF again Auburn shows a little more balance and they do not injure the guy again.  I love all the Auburn writers at other sites blaming the Georgia loss on the Pettway injury.  It is still Gus Malzahn's fault as he way overused Pettway especially in blowout wins over State and Arkansas.  The coaches must do a better job of mixing the other running backs in.

 

Next on the list for me with running backs is the issue of the unbelievable underwhelming use of Kerryon Johnson.  Kerryon is not a great between the tackles runner, he can do it but to me it is a waste and he will probably get hurt.  Kerryon is the Reggie Bush to Pettway's Lendale White.  Kerryon should be used like Bush was.  Kerryon is already a proven playmaker.  Get him the ball in space, use him much more in the passing attack and find other ways to get him the ball.  I would also use him on punts like Carnell Williams did.  I think a good offensive mind and coordinator would be able to get a lot more out of a tremendous talent like Kerryon Johnson.  I believe this is another place that might be the difference between a championship and just another decent season.

 

Along those same lines is blazing Kam Martin.  I thought Auburn could have gotten Martin a ton more experience in the many blowout wins Auburn had last season.  However Gus never uses the second half of a blowout to get any better.  He just keeps handing off and slogs to an Ambien finish.  A good coach would use those times to get up and coming players quality time.  It is not unsportsmanlike to throw a swing pass or two to a 3rd or 4th string running back!  This season that time should be used to develop Malik Miller and a quality backup to Chandler Cox.  Kam Martin should be important piece to every big game plan this year.  I think he could make some big plays.

 

Finally we come to the receivers and tight ends.  I will start with the tight ends.  I have heard a lot of blather about getting the ball more to Jalen Harris and newcomer Sal Cannella.  Usually I would agree with that but with the amount of good wide receivers we have I think they should be the main priority.  Unfortunately I also think Harris and the unproven Cannella are one of the biggest weak spots on this team.  They are not anywhere close to C.J. Uzomah and Brandon Fulse who were the last good tight ends at Auburn.  I just hope they can get their blocking duties done.  Toss a few to them to put it in people's heads but as little as Auburn passes the ball the wide receivers should come first.

 

I will say again how amazed I am that Auburn has these good wide receivers.  Auburn is a school where wide receiver stats go to die.  Auburn is probably the only Power 5 school in all of college football to only have two players have 1000 yards receiving seasons in its entire history.  Yet with all that said we are looking at one of the best wide receiver corps in the country.  Kudos again to former coach Dameyune Craig for helping bring most of these studs in.  The main guys this year will be: Nate Craig-Myers, Kyle Davis, Darius Slayton and Eli Stove plus steady senior Ryan Davis.  As I have said in game reviews from last season, these guys were criminally underused. 

 

You can see the talent dripping off of them but they were stuck in Malzahn's Wing-T offense and his abysmal coaching in the passing game last season.  The receivers only hope this season is IF Chip Lindsey is a good coach and then IF Malzahn will let him build a passing game and actually use it at critical times.  I am not going to lie, I will have to see it to believe it.  It is proven that up till now Malzahn himself is simply incapable of building a good passing game.  He will run just Kamryn Pettway 30 times in a game but will never pass the ball 30 times.  Again Malzahn will not let 3rd stringers throw passes in the second half of blowouts.  He just does not get it.  You cannot get better passing the ball unless you do it every game and use little games and blowouts to get experience.  You cannot just turn it on and off like a light bulb.  Auburn will lose at least three games if the passing game is not changed and improved.

 

We change sides of the ball and look at the back seven on defense.  I remarked earlier that Auburn has to be at least very solid in the back seven on defense with some veteran guys that have a nose for the football.  I believe Auburn has that if injuries do not overwhelm them.  Auburn finally has an above average set of linebackers led by DeShaun Davis and Tre' Williams.  These guys have proven themselves and I believe are some of the top leaders on defense.  There also appears to be some decent depth around them but the Tigers really need these guys leading the way.

 

The secondary looks pretty good as well except maybe not as deep.  The mainstays will be: Carlton Davis, Javaris Davis, Tray Matthews, Stephen Roberts, Daniel Thomas, Nick Ruffin and Jamel Dean.  That is a lot of experienced players.  I hope they can stay healthy and finally put together that special season.  It has been a tough road through injuries and other things for these guys.  If the coaches can find some good consistent pass rushers I think this secondary could really make some big plays.  I know it is always like that but I really feel this unit could really bust out given the chance.  Again you wait for these years when it could all come together.

 

The final group is special teams.  Coach Tim Horton has inherited special teams coaching along with his usual running back duties after Coach Scott Fountain was relieved of his duties by Malzahn and moved to Georgia.  It seemed like Fountain had done a really good job.  I hope Coach Horton can do as good a job.  He will have the soon-to-be all-time leading scorer in Auburn history to help him in senior kicker Daniel Carlson.  Carlson might be Auburn's biggest asset overall.  The Tigers will certainly need his best again this season.  I believe Carlson could be the difference if Auburn plays well in several big games this season.  I think Auburn has the players to have good solid special teams, it is up to the coaches.

 

So there you have it, for the first time in awhile Auburn has a team capable of competing for and winning a championship.  They have the talent and also seem to have those junior and senior leaders that are needed as well.  The next question is the coaching.  This has been one of the biggest deficiencies on the team the last couple of seasons on offense.  I am tired of writing it but Auburn cannot win a championship without a good passing game.  It is just not going to happen.  Can Chip Lindsey and Jarrett Stidham finally fix this problem?  Will Malzahn let them?  Is he is even capable of letting a semi-balanced game plan be called on a team he is head coach of?  These are the biggest questions for Auburn this season.

 

Now to the schedule...  Auburn got a decent one but not a great one.  It could be better but first you have to remember Auburn can only compete for SEC titles in odd years since our awful athletic director ruined one of the best things about Auburn, i.e. having a great rival home game to end every season.  I am of course talking about his idiotic decision to change and let Georgia and Bama be both at home (odd years) or both away (even years).  It is so great on those even years when Jordan Hare Stadium lies dark and dormant in November.

 

Auburn has not played a big game at home in an even year in November since Cam Newton and company beat Georgia to win the SEC West.  Right now it looks like they never will again thanks to AD Jay Jacobs "helping the conference" so Auburn fans better enjoy these odd years.  I notice there is no way Bama would ever let Auburn and Tennessee be paired together like that on their schedule.  This single act by Jacobs will continue to haunt Auburn football for a long time.  I cannot describe the contempt I have for this buffoon and his continual missteps trying to be an athletic director.  He has proven his continual incompetence over and over again.

 

Back to this year's schedule... it is decent till mid October.  Auburn plays Georgia Southern, at Clemson, Mercer (homecoming in early September???), at Missouri, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.  This Auburn team should definitely win all those games outside of Clemson.  Auburn just has a lot more talent than all of the other teams and only travels to Missouri.  It will come down to coaching and injuries.  I actually think Auburn has a great chance against Clemson.  Clemson has won three out of the last four games they have played against Auburn and could have won the one in 2010 as well.  Auburn is due to play well against Clemson and Clemson, no matter what they say, is rebuilding after last year's title run and the loss of quarterback DeShaun Watson, the best player in the country last season.

 

After Ole Miss things get pretty tough as Auburn has to play THREE SEC ROAD GAMES in four weeks.  The Tigers have to play at Arkansas and at LSU BACK TO BACK and then get an open week before going to Texas A&M.  MEANWHILE BAMA DOES NOT PLAY ANY BACK-TO-BACK ROAD GAMES THIS SEASON.  IT IS LITERALLY LIKE BAMA GETS TO MAKE THEIR SCHEDULE AND THEN LETS THE OTHER THIRTEEN TEAMS GET TOGETHER.  It is complete and utter BS but it is one of the secrets to all those "championships".   Bear Bryant ducked Georgia and Florida for years while Auburn had to play both every year.  Bama would not have as many of those so-called championships if they had to play those teams every year.

 

Auburn should win at Arkansas but I think the Razorbacks will make them pay for it.  A bruised Auburn team will then head to Baton Rouge where history says they will most likely lose.  Auburn has only won three games in that hell hole in over 70 years ('93, '97 and '99).  I read Auburn fan after Auburn fan that think we are just going to go down there and dominate.  They obviously do not know anything about Auburn's history.  The Tigers then head to College Station before returning home to Amen Corner with Louisiana Monroe squeezed between Georgia and Bama.  Auburn should be favored in every game outside of Clemson, LSU and Bama. 

 

All in all it is not a great schedule but it is good enough to still give this team a chance at a championship.  As I mentioned above, Auburn has the right teams at home (Georgia and Bama).  It has the tough games spaced out decently outside going to Arkansas and LSU.  I think the open week is in the best place for this schedule.  It also helps to have Missouri roll on for that one other SEC road game as well as the Mississippi schools to be hitting a dip.  Now the Tigers need those good breaks from around the country and get that lucky bounce of the ball at the right time during the season that every single championship team in the history of sports has gotten.

 

So after breaking it all down I think everyone can definitely see that Auburn has a great opportunity to compete for a championship this season.  Do I think they will do it?  I am sorry to say that after watching Gus Malzahn coach the last three seasons I have to say that NO I do not.  I think Auburn upsets Clemson and finally beats Georgia but loses to both LSU and Bama.  They could win both of them but Gus Malzahn is just not that good a coach.  I just do not think Auburn can build a championship passing game under him regardless of who is hired.  I guess I will go with 10-2 but my gut says Malzahn will probably blow another one somewhere.  The only thing that makes me stay with 10-2 is how bad the conference is this season.  I hope I am wrong because an opportunity this good will not come around again for several years.

Auburn Basketball 2016-2017: Stable but not out of danger yet

(Author's note: I know this post is a tad late but hey does it really make any difference?)

Auburn basketball... the frustration continues.  Only Auburn could bring in a top coach, the first two five star recruits in the school's history plus several other very good recruits AND STILL STINK.  Yes things have improved some but Auburn is still the conference's worst program overall since 1992 with a conference high 268 LOSSES.  To put those 268 losses in conference in perspective, Kentucky has only 95 losses in conference in that period of time and Bama has 206.  After all the hype died down we are left with another losing record in conference of 7-11.  Auburn has now had only one winning record in conference in the last SEVENTEEN years.
 
Another frustrating thing is that for awhile South Carolina held the title of worst program since they entered the conference in 1992 but now even they have passed Auburn.  In fact they were the one program as bad as Auburn and they hired Frank Martin at the exact same time Auburn hired Bruce Pearl.  They have even less tradition than Auburn yet Martin had them in the Final Four this season while Auburn just notched another losing record in conference.  If the losing record in conference was not bad enough Auburn also lost to one of the worst teams in conference history in the first round of the SEC Tournament (???!!!???).  Missouri finished 8-24 and 2-16 in the SEC yet they beat Auburn in the SEC Tournament...  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
 
Sigh.  Well as always here is how we got here documented on this blog:

• Jeff Lebo was fired at end of 2009-10 season.
• After 2009-10: Auburn Basketball Memories
• After 2009-10: Auburn Basketball Analysis (Auburn has only won 34 conference games since this post was written)
• During 2010-11 season: Is Auburn Basketball Cursed?  (The Barbee era was over before it barely began)
• After 2011-12 season: Critical Condition (Auburn now has only three winning conference records in TWENTY FIVE YEARS)
• After 2011-12 season: Auburn Basketball is at a dead end
• After 2012-13 season:  "I did not post one thing on basketball this year.  Nothing has changed since the post I wrote last year titled "Auburn Basketball is at a dead end".  In fact things only got worse.  My gosh we lost our last 10 games in a row and 16 out of 17 games to end the season.  Coach Barbee even gave up during that span.  He completely lost his fire, never got off the bench and just doled out platitudes after games.  Basketball is a complete and full blown disaster.  It is dead and it is the Auburn administration's fault for letting it die on the table over the last 20 years... There just seems to be no hope for Auburn basketball."
• After 2013-14 season: A Pearl of Great Price (We got Bruce Pearl!  He can save us!)
• After 2014-15 season: More of the Same till the End (Maybe things are still looking up?)
• After 2015-16 season: Auburn Basketball 2015-16: BROKEN (Pearl becomes first coach in Auburn history to have back-to-back 20 loss seasons)

I mean what else can you say than Auburn has only had three winning records in conference in TWENTY FIVE YEARS. Most Auburn fans have no idea how bad Auburn is historically.  All they know is we had Charles Barkley and some other good players.  I guess that is why incompetent people like our current AD can hang on so long with a couple of good years in football and girl's softball.  Auburn is accused constantly of expecting too much out of the football program well that is certainly not true in basketball.

 

I even thought things might change this season with players like Daniel Purifoy, Mustapha Heron and young Austin Wiley joining midseason.  Alas it was not too be as the team seemed to get worse over the season.  There were some bright spots early in the season with wins over Oklahoma and UConn on the road but they turned out to be mirages.  Both of those teams ended the season with losing records and UConn was missing its top three players.  Those were still good wins for Auburn mind you but they were not the indicators of a program turnaround some thought.

 

Purifoy turned out to be maddeningly inconsistent and battled some injuries and while Wiley showed flashes of greatness he was just a high schooler trying to play college basketball.  Heron had a great season but it just was not enough.  Auburn had some other decent players but they just did not seem to fit together very well.  Point guard Jared Harper looked promising early and then turned into a big chucker.  Senior guard T.J. Dunans hit a lucky game winner against Mercer and then he started shooting a lot more as well.  It just seemed like everyone thought they were "the man".  Add it all together and on offense you had a lot of guys chucking up the ball the first chance they got. 

 

It was maddening to watch.  These guys have played basketball all their lives but show no knowledge of even simple tactical concepts.  Case in point, the biggest early preseason game was the Under Armor Showcase in Madison Square Garden on ESPN against Boston College, the worst team in the ACC this year and last.  However they of course took it to Auburn.  Auburn finally tied up the game in the second half after a lot of bad luck and rather than working for a good shot somebody jacked up an NBA three pointer which of course missed.  Auburn would go on to lose the game.  That kind of stuff happened all season on offense.  There seemed to be no basketball sense at all but just a bunch of ill advised chucking.

 

It only got worse on defense as Auburn turned in the worst season defensively in basketball ever I believe.  They routinely gave up 80 or 90 points a game. They ended the season ranked 319th nationally by allowing 79.4 points per game. The defensive issues were at their worst in the final month of the season. The Tigers allowed 60-plus points in the second half of three straight games and blew two double-digit leads late on the road.  It got almost comical how bad the defense was.  I like Bruce Pearl a lot.  I love Chuck Person as one of Auburn's greatest athletic legends.  However I cannot point to any facet of this team being well coached.  I just do not understand.

 

With all that said, I guess the only thing to hang on to is the fact that Auburn is recruiting better than it ever has in basketball.  The Tigers are supposed to bring in several new top recruits this coming season.  Surely we will see some dividends soon from that.  The Tigers also finished with an overall winning record which they had not done in awhile.  Of course it is hard to stay positive for long as there have been rumors of Heron leaving in the offseason.  Auburn seems to lose players every season so you know it is going to happen but to lose Heron would be devastating.  He is Auburn's best player and should be even better after a whole year of experience.  The same can be said for Purifoy and Wiley as well.  Auburn has to keep this trio together to have a shot at that elusive winning conference record. 

 

To conclude I have described Auburn basketball in the past as being in "critical condition".  Things are still pretty bad as I have described throughout this post but I think we can at least upgrade the program's condition to stable.  Bruce Pearl himself actually addressed this exact description directly: “Our program is not in the hospital. It is not in critical condition. Our program is in a great position."  I am not sure I would go straight to "great position" but there is a great opportunity to at least have a good season or two.  That would be a huge deal for Auburn basketball. 

However the program is certainly not out of danger yet.  Auburn could be in back in big trouble again if Pearl or any of these players leave.  I am just so tired of watching Auburn lose in basketball.  I know many Auburn fans feel the same way.  The fan base desperately needs a good season to have some kind of reason to keep paying attention to this downtrodden program.

2017 State of the Program - Talent that needs coaching

First, my standard intro to this post...  "It has become standard here at STR to do a "State of the Program" post following national signing day.  The national "state of the union" is always around this time as well and it just seems like the perfect time to do it for a college football team. It is the end of a complete cycle of college football starting with spring practice through the regular season and then the all important recruiting season. You really have a good pretty good feel as to where the program is since most big fans have been into it almost daily for six months. You have seen your team play an entire season and know the latest batch of recruits coming in."

Last year my thoughts on the state of the program was this:
"Overall the state of the program is what I would term tenuous.  One of the definitions of that word is: "a :   having little substance or strength :  flimsy, weak or b : shaky ".  I think that is where Auburn is at considering Gus Malzahn's stubbornness on offense and desire to fill his offensive staff with almost all "yes" men.  Beyond that the first genuine word he gives in an interview will be the first ever thus he has no relationship with the fans other than the ones that would still support any Auburn coach regardless of his record."

I also noted this two years ago and brought it up again last season and I guess I will make it three years in a row.  Gus Malzahn does not change so I don't know what else to say...
"Coach Malzahn must make some changes.  He stubbornly continued to try and run the ball even when it was clearly not working and refused many times to just call a straight pass in critical situations.  Everyone expects this to change... However I am not convinced yet things will change."

I then said this and again I hate to keep repeating myself but that is all Gus Malzahn does, repeat the same mistakes...
"Things did not change.  In fact, I am now convinced that Gus Malzahn will never wander far from the 2013 playbook.  I believe the only thing he will ever run is his power running Wing-T offense from the shotgun formation with a few passes thrown in, a "run-based play-action offense" as he has said many times.  He is just too stubborn to change no matter the circumstances."

I then noted as many others had Malzahn's inability to develop a quarterback or any semblance of a real passing game over the middle school level.  That did not change this season and I seriously doubt it ever will.  Auburn has a service academy offense with better players and a few more passes.  However Auburn only passes good when it is running all over somebody.  The offense was better this past year than 2015 because Auburn was a better running team AND the Mississippi schools were worse.  In fact lets quickly review last season...

THE PREVIOUS SEASON
Auburn lost to every good team on the schedule outside a win without touchdowns over a dysfunctional LSU team.  This was mainly because Auburn cannot pass the ball against good teams.
There was of course the opening debacle against Clemson that displayed some of the worst offensive strategy and coaching in the history of football.  This including rotating three quarterbacks and running back Kamryn Pettway not playing.  Auburn then lost to Texas A&M in a game that nobody talks about because a healthy Sean White was completely ineffective for three quarters before getting relieved.  Oh I forgot this is before the coaching staff realized that Kamryn Pettway should have been a starter at running back even though they had spring and fall practice to figure that out.

That paragraph contains a staggering amount of offensive incompetence that was then repeated at the end of the season against Georgia and Bama.  Auburn was never going to beat Bama but still managed to embarrass themselves on offense nonetheless.  The Auburn offense only managed 60 yards and one first down in four quarters (the second half against Georgia and the first half against Bama).  The worst game of the season was definitely Georgia although Clemson was close.  Auburn managed to lose to a below average Georgia team that did not even score an offensive touchdown.  It was the most unbelievable show of offensive incompetence I have ever seen.

It was not that Auburn just lost these games it was the losses coupled with the horrendous coaching that made them so bad.  However all the Auburn sites and many of the fans seemingly did not care as Auburn beat a couple of patsies in Arkansas State and Alabama A&M between those horrible losses and went on a seemingly legendary six game winning streak in the middle of the season.  During this legendary streak as stated above Auburn beat a dysfunctional LSU team with no touchdowns (LSU fired Les Miles immediately following the game) and then beat the three worst teams in the West in the Mississippi schools and Arkansas plus the second worst team in the East in Vanderbilt and finally beat Lousiana Monroe in there as well. 

It is great Auburn won those six games but it was so overblown by every Auburn site that you got sick of hearing about it.  The Tigers finished 8-4, 5-3 in the SEC and lucked into the Sugar Bowl since the SEC was so bad this season.  Auburn then got blown out by Oklahoma in New Orleans.  The official alibi from the coaches and propagated through every Auburn site was Auburn ONLY lost because quarterback Sean White was hurt (they never explained Texas A&M).  It definitely hurt losing White and Pettway at the end but that was still no excuse for not beating Georgia.

It just does not excuse the horrible play calling and head scratching decisions made by the coaches in Auburn's biggest games this season.  This leads us to our next area of review...

THE COACHES
As I noted above, Gus gets rid of anybody in disagreement with him and has filled his offensive staff with mostly "yes men".  Last season he got rid of Dameyune Craig and replaced him with his former player Kodi Burns and he got rid of J.B. Grimes and brought in old friend Herb Hand.  This season he finally sent the unqualified Rhett Lashlee packing (but only after making sure he had a job) but brought in a slightly updated version of Lashlee in Chip Lindsey.  Currently he is now in the process of getting rid of special teams and tight ends coach Scott Fountain and will likely bring in another old friend.  Running backs coach Tim Horton is still around but the rumors are he is hearing the footsteps as well.

The masses have mostly embraced Lindsey even with his previous ties to Malzahn.  The only thing that matters though is IF Lindsey is qualified to coach up a decent passing game then will he be allowed to change the offense? It does not really matter who calls the bleeping plays if the play caller is limited to what Auburn has done on offense the last four years.  The amount of true passing plays called that were not that ridiculous double-play action one Malzahn calls every game or the wheel route or the bubble screen are far and few inbetween.

Malzahn and Lashlee's biggest problem was they simply could not teach a quarterback to read a defense so in accordance with that deficiency the Auburn passing game has stayed about the middle school level.  Gus has not allowed the offense to change at all since he took over as head coach.  Is he finally desperate enough to let Lindsey change the offense?  I WILL HAVE TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT. 

On defense everyone is singing Kevin Steele's praises.  I was encouraged by the improved linebacker play.  Auburn has not had that in a long time.  However while Steele did a good job I am not sure I would go to great.  Auburn got shredded by the few good passing teams they played.  I think Auburn was fortunate that they did not play more.  Also the defense was on the shoulders of fourth year stars Carl Lawson and Montravious Adams.  I think Auburn would have been pretty good regardless of the coordinator with those two guys healthy.  I think there is still a lot of room for improvement on the defense especially against good passing teams. 

The defensive coaching staff saw only one change after the season and that was veteran defensive backs coach Greg Brown coming over from Missouri to replace Wesley McGriff who went to Ole Miss to be defensive coordinator.  That leaves Steele as coordinator along with Rodney Garner on the line, Travis Williams with linebackers and Brown with the secondary.  It is a pretty good defensive staff and I hope they can continue to build on their success this past season.

THE RECRUITING CLASS
Malzahn and company did another good job this year in recruiting with another top ten class.  It is the one thing Malzahn has kept doing right even if he cannot develop many of the good players he brings in.  The jewel of this class was five star offensive tackle Calvin Ashley.  I am praying the kid is just close to being as good as advertised.  There is a big difference in five star players and getting one that is an offensive tackle is a big deal.  A five star receiver is nearly meaningless at Auburn but a really good offensive tackle is a game changer.

A good quarterback is obviously a game changer as well and the most well known player in this year's class is Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham.  Any chances at Auburn being a better team and possibly the fate of the Malzahn himself rest on this kid.  Of course a lot of that goes back to the passing game coaching but it looks like this guy has the tools.  The coaches are already blathering on about a "quarterback competition" and I guess they have to do that but if Jarrett Stidham is not Auburn's starting quarterback next season then something has gone very wrong.

Stidham enrolled early and the coaches will have all spring with him.  Other four-star early enrollees include: offensive guard Nick Brahms, athlete Malcolm Askew and linebacker Kenny Britt.  All will add needed depth along with three star early enrollees Salvatore Cannella at tight end, Chandler Wooten at linebacker and athlete Malik Willis.  I think just about all of these guys labeled "athlete" will be defensive backs or possibly a linebackers.

Players coming in this fall along with Ashley include the following four stars: linebacker Tadarian Moultry, running back Devan Barrett, defensive end Markaviest Bryant, offensive tackle Austin Troxell, athlete Alaric Williams and wide receiver Noah Igbinoghene.  The class was rounded out with the following three stars: safety Carlito Gonzalez, defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell, athlete JaTarvious Whitlow, defensive tackle Alec Jackson, safety Jordyn Peters, cornerback Traivon Leonard, tight end John Samuel Shenker, long snapper Bill Taylor and kicker Anders Carlson, brother of current kicker Daniel Carlson.

That leaves the breakdown of the class looking like this: 1 quarterback, 1 running back, 1 wide receiver, 3 offensive linemen, 2 tight ends, 1 long snapper, 1 kicker, 3 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 3 defensive backs along with 4 athletes that will mostly like help in the secondary or at linebacker.  I have to say that while it appears the class is not quite as impressive as some of the last few years I do like the breakdown. 

The coaches were able to bring in some impact players and add some solid depth at each position.  The biggest factor along with quarterback is if the linemen offensive and defensive pan out.  They are always the most important to me because it all starts with them.  I am also hoping that one of these tight ends stick around as Auburn outside Jalen Harris has not been able to keep any other tight ends on campus for very long the last few years.  If kicker Anders Carlson is even half as good as his brother he could be the biggest signee of the class. 

It is nice to add a four star running back and wide receiver when you are already pretty stocked at those positions.  Auburn proved this season that depth is certainly needed at running back.  I am hoping that bringing in ten guys to bolster the back seven on defense will work where the coaches can concentrate on other positions next season.  Finally you always have to hope that some of these three stars turns into those big success stories that the people who dismiss recruiting rankings always talk about.  All in all it is a good solid class.  Malzahn has now put together several years of solid recruiting.  Now he just has to develop them and this is where he has come up painfully short especially on offense, his supposed specialty.

THE SCHEDULE NEXT SEASON
We have reviewed the previous season, the coaching staff and the current recruiting class, now it is time to look at the final piece of the puzzle that we know about next season, the schedule.  Again of course I will start with athletic director Jay Jacob's foolhardy mistake of letting the SEC put Georgia and Bama on the same home and away rotation.  It will continue to hurt Auburn for many years to come.  Auburn has almost no chance of competing for the SEC title in even years when it has to go on the road at the end of the season against Georgia and Bama.  Therefore Auburn almost has to beat Georgia and Bama this season especially after losing for three years in a row to both.

The eight game conference schedule with 14 teams will continue to help or hurt as well. While Texas A&M and Missouri have been successful since joining the SEC, overall I think the addition was a bad move and continues to hurt in less visible ways like football scheduling.  It means Auburn only plays every team from the East other than Georgia once every six years.  Fourteen teams just does not work well and it does not look like there will be two more great programs available anytime soon to make it sixteen.  This last expansion was about nothing but greed.

The only thing that would have made expansion a positive for Auburn would have been moving to the East.  It is Jay Jacob's biggest missed opportunity and blunder.  Auburn could be back in the East with all of Auburn's traditional rivals in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and out from under Bama's thumb plus not being stuck with the Mississippi schools and ex-Big 12 teams. 

Sound far-fetched?  Tell that to Texas A&M who is out from under Texas' thumb and regardless of what else bad happens is very happy about that.  The Auburn administration needs to continually relentlessly pursue moving to the East and make Bama pick between Auburn and Tennessee.  Call their bluff and if they picked Tennessee in that scenario then like Texas A&M and Texas things will be just fine.  Unfortunately it takes a leader with guts and vision to make a move like that and Auburn is fresh out.

The scheduling problem will remain one of the biggest factors on whether Auburn has a chance at a conference title every year.  I am definitely for a nine game schedule to alleviate this problem and getting Bama and Georgia out of this same rotation plus making every team's conference schedule more equal.  Until then you will this same commentary from me in this space every year...

Back to next season, Auburn also gets the Mississippi schools at home.  The Mississippi schools are both rebuilding so Auburn should win those games.  Auburn also gets a gift in a down Missouri program rolling on to the schedule.  That should be another win.  Auburn should also obviously win against Georgia Southern, Mercer and Louisiana Monroe.  That gives Auburn their six wins right there.  Auburn should also be favored on the road against Arkansas and Texas A&M.  Those two games will be huge.

The rest of the schedule is a bit tougher.  There is Bama and Georgia as mentioned above plus Auburn has to go on the road to Clemson and LSU.  I think the Tigers actually have a decent chance against Clemson as those Tigers lost a lot off this season's national champion squad and considering the fact Clemson has won three in a row against Auburn.  I think Auburn has less of a chance against LSU as Malzahn has been blown out every single time he has gone to Baton Rouge as a coordinator or head coach.  Other than the second half rally in 2013, a Malzahn team has never shown a heart beat in Baton Rouge.  Look at the scores in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.  I think that is a loss.

I actually think Auburn is once again better than Georgia and might play well simply due to the law of averages and the number of times they have played bad against Georgia.  Of course Auburn has played their worst game of the season three years in a row against Georgia so until that changes I guess you have to pick the Bulldogs.  It has taken two of the better teams in Auburn history in 2010 and 2013 to barely squeak by the Tide.  Bama has won every other game against Malzahn so I think you once against have to favor the Tide as there appears to be no end to their dominance with another #1 recruiting class in the house.  They were turning away four star players on signing day... it is simply nauseating. 

So with all that said I see Auburn right now going 9-3 next season.  As long as those nine wins include a win against Georgia then Malzahn is safe and will probably get another huge raise and extension even though he will most likely lose to LSU and Bama again.  From what I read on other Auburn sites we just need to be happy with that and not expect more.  That would be a good season but next season will be one of those few where Auburn has the talent and the schedule to challenge for an SEC title.  The difference in good programs and average programs is making the most of those types of seasons.  Auburn has taken advantage of these opportunities many times in the past but desperately needs to this next season. 

AUBURN HAS THE TALENT BUT IT NEEDS THE COACHING and that is the state of the program from where I sit.

2017 Sugar Bowl Review: What did you expect?

Oklahoma 35  Auburn 19.  First let me be very clear here, just like last year and earlier this season Gus Malzahn cannot be held accountable for this loss.  He cannot be held accountable because just like every other big game the last two seasons Sean White got hurt.  Auburn cannot be expected to play well or to win without Sean White.  Auburn would have blown out the Sooners if Sean White would have played.  Get that through your head!  If you don't believe me go to any other Auburn site.  In fact Gus Malzahn should get another raise and another extension for his brave coaching without the greatest quarterback in Auburn history. 

As I said in my post last week, I never thought Auburn had much of a chance in this one with or without Sean White.  I never understood all of the bright predictions.  Oklahoma was a better team with one of the most prolific offenses in the country that included two Heisman finalists.  Our defense is good but was exposed quite a bit against Ole Miss.  Auburn is lucky it did not play many good passing teams.  Our defense is not near as good against a good passing team.  Oklahoma is way better than Ole Miss and abused the Auburn defense repeatedly.  Baker Mayfield showed why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and that he has an excellent supporting cast receiving and running the ball.   

Gus Malzahn did the same thing he has done his entire career at Auburn.  He tried to run over the opposing team.  He has no other game plans.  He destroys weaker teams that cannot stop the run and gets beat by any team that can.  He showed once again he cannot coach up a competent passing game.  Auburn finished with a paltry 154 yards passing and it would have been 100 yards without a meaningless bomb at the end of the game.  Also regardless of the lies and deceptions attempted in other places, the score would have been the same with Sean White.  He cannot pass on anybody any good either.  His record of never leading Auburn to a victory against anyone any good is safe.

There is really not much else to say.  There will not be much else to say after spring practice or before next season or during next season either.  Malzahn will come out running these exact same plays every game next season as well.  He has run the same shi* for four seasons now.  Nothing is going to change next season either.  It does not matter how good Jarrett Stidham is.  He will not be successful unless Auburn has an absolutely overwhelming offensive line and rushing attack.  From watching four years of Malzahn the only thing he will practice is the read option, the jet sweep, the bubble screen, the double play-action wheel route, a few other predictable pass plays and the most important play of all... the handoff up the middle.  I cannot wait.

Sweet and Sour

It has been awhile since I have posted.  It has definitely been a busy holiday season and I was more than happy to get away from Auburn football for awhile after the last two conference games of the season.  However I have stayed in touch and have a few observations both sweet and sour on Auburn's two biggest sports teams, football and men's basketball.  There has been a lot of good since that dark Saturday after Thanksgiving in Tuscaloosa but as always that good cannot just be enjoyed but has to be exaggerated by the growing group of Auburn sites and fans that simply blow everything good that happens completely out of proportion. 

First, the Sugar Bowl...  The Auburn football team getting invited to the Sugar Bowl is a great thing.  That is something we can all agree on.  Auburn is definitely the #2 team in the conference since they not only lost to the #1 team in the country in Bama like the other 8-4 SEC teams but they also had to play the #2 team in the country as well.  Auburn had the harder schedule period.  On top of that Florida and Tennessee embarrassed themselves worse than Auburn in their last games and Auburn beat LSU.  It is a big deal getting to the Sugar Bowl regardless of how bad Auburn finished the season.

HOWEVER getting to the Sugar Bowl in no way takes away the stains from this season.  Getting to the Sugar Bowl does not make up for the horrendous coaching in the losses to Clemson and Georgia.  It does not make up for losing to Georgia and Bama for the third year in a row.  It does not make up for Auburn's coaches being completely incapable of throwing the football if they are not running over somebody.  It does not change the fact that the SEC and Auburn are not that good this year.  I cannot remember a four loss SEC team ever making it to the Sugar Bowl.

I am also sick to death of reading all these Auburn sites trying to revise history and say everything bad this season was because of injuries.  It is a gross oversimplification and it is false.  The whitewashing of these facts lets the coaches off the hook.  I have read many times in the last month that Auburn only lost to Georgia because of injuries.  That is simply not true.  Auburn was good enough to beat Georgia with injuries.  Auburn lost to Georgia for one reason and that is bad coaching. 

As I wrote in a previous post you would think from reading other Auburn sites that Auburn would have been undefeated national champs the last two seasons if Sean White would not have gotten hurt.  It is simply ridiculous and I am sick of reading it.  I never hear anyone explaining why a healthy Sean White was so bad against Texas A&M?  Oh sorry I bet it was all the offensive line's fault or maybe he was secretly hurt in that game as well.  There is always an excuse for Sean White who still has yet to lead a win over ONE legitimately good team unless you want to count LSU this season but since Auburn did not score a touchdown I give most of the credit to the defense for holding LSU under 20 points. 

I am even sicker of reading about how Auburn was one of the best teams in the country during their mid-season six game winning streak.  Again it was a good streak and I love when Auburn blows out other SEC teams as much as the next guy but this streak is not near as impressive as people try to make it out to be.  Auburn beat LSU, Louisiana Monroe and the bottom three teams in the SEC West along with the second worst team in the horrid SEC East.  LSU was the only legitimate win on a national scale and Auburn did not score an offensive touchdown in that game. It is great Auburn won those games but again this streak is being completely blown out of proportion.

As for the bowl game itself I see the chances of an Auburn win as pretty low.  Oklahoma is simply a better team.  I think Auburn will score some points but I think Oklahoma will score more.  The saddest thing for me is that it does not really matter if Auburn wins or loses.  Gus Malzahn could make this a big win regardless of what the scoreboard says if he was not the most unbelievably ridiculously stubborn person he is.  He could make everyone happy by at least throwing the ball as much as he runs it and really putting on a show (and when I say throwing the ball I mean legitimate passes downfield).

Let it all hang out!  Throw to those freshman wide receivers!  Get them involved!  Make them happy!  Make them not want to transfer.  Get all the Auburn fans excited.  Get all the recruits excited.  I believe the majority of Auburn fans to a lesser extent feel like I do.  Nobody wants to watch the hundreds of runs up the middle Gus Malzahn calls.  Again I am not saying Auburn should change to the Air Raid offense but BALANCE the offense and throw legitimate downfield passes more.  Oklahoma has one of the worst pass defenses in the country and this a New Year's Six big time bowl game.  There is not a better time to air it out some... but Malzahn won't do it.  We will come out with the same game plan as always and run Pettway or whoever with a few passes unless we get behind and have to throw more. 

On to hoops...  The basketball Tigers have started to make people notice with road wins over Oklahoma and UConn.  Now again this is definitely a big deal for Auburn and something to savor but it is also getting blown out of proportion.  It is obvious Oklahoma is not very good and UConn was already without their two or three best players due to injury and lost their next best player during the game to a concussion and they still almost won.  Now no Auburn team in the last fifteen years could have won those games so it is something to enjoy but unfortunately I still do not see Auburn coming close to the big dance in March.

That was also evident last night as Auburn blew a double-digit second half lead to lose to Georgia at home in the conference opener.  Everyone knows this group of very good freshman are going to have some growing pains but Auburn really needed to get that win last night after starting so strong.  It was a very disappointing loss.  I will say the reffing was some of the worst I have seen in awhile as Georgia shot almost 40 free throws.  However Auburn still should have won but they simply died on defense and rebounding in the second half.  The three-pointers are pretty but you have to do the defense and rebounding as well to get the win.

I do not want to sound too sour though as Bruce Pearl has done a tremendous job trying to bring Auburn basketball back from the dead.  The recruiting is maybe the best in the entire history of the program.  The current group of freshmen are amazing with big man Austin Wiley being maybe the biggest recruit in Auburn history.  He is certainly the biggest legacy recruit ever with his mom, Vickie Orr, being one of the greatest women's basketball players in Auburn history and his dad Aubrey Wiley being the leading rebounder in the SEC one year on the men's side.  This season though rests more in the hands of Auburn's other outstanding freshmen: Jared Harper, Mustapha Heron and Danjel Purifoy. 

These guys are very good, the only problem is they will not be together for long.  It is a good bet Purifoy will declare after this season so Auburn has to make it work now even with these young guys.  I love their talent and the energy they bring.  I love Pearl.  He has really gotten these guys going.  My only complaints would be the inconsistent defense and rebounding, the stagnant half court offense and these guys doing some really dumb things at the worst times.  I know these guys are freshmen but they have played basketball their whole lives.  They know this stuff.

For example, in the Boston College loss after Auburn worked so hard to tie the game in the first half they then turned it over two times in a row and fell behind again.  They worked hard again and finally tied it up again in the second half only to come down and throw up a 30 foot three-pointer and lose the chance to take the lead again.  You have to come down and get a good shot in those situations.  There is no excuse even for freshmen to blow that many opportunities. 

You saw some of that against Georgia as well.  It doesn't matter if the shot is made, it matters that you continue to work to get a good one.  This group like so many others just chuck way too many low-percentage three-pointers.  I just hope they can come back from this tough loss to have some success in-conference.  Again the improvement has to show in the conference record.  Auburn has had ONE winning conference record since 2000.  The team has to win most of their home games to accomplish that and Auburn is already behind now. 

At least we know we have a proven good coach in charge.  Even with this team's warts I love Bruce Pearl.  He is not only a good coach but coaches a brand of basketball people like to watch and unlike Gus Malzahn who could not utter anything sincere in an interview if his life depended on it, Pearl always gives great interviews.  It is just a pleasure having the guy as Auburn's head basketball coach.  I hope he stays long enough to put together at least one really good team.  The program is showing signs of life but unfortunately there is still a long way to go... 

Game 12 Review: Whatever

(NOTE: I wrote every word of this post on Friday November 25th except the score and the fourth paragraph.  THAT is how predictable Gus Malzahn is against a very good team)

 

Alabama 30  Auburn 12  Whatever.  Bama wins the Iron Bowl.  You get the best players, you win most of the games.  I am not sure how a team gets the best players for almost a decade and the NCAA never even looks around.  I mean a terrible Ole Miss team is assaulted for some sort of cheating while the machine in Tuscaloosa rolls on.  I mean nobody has recruited at that high a level for that long a time in the history of college football but hey I am sure everything is aboveboard in Tuscaloosa.  There is nothing to see there.  Just move on along.  It is all about "the process".  What a load of shi... 

I am not sure what to say about the game.  Auburn is a good running team that cannot pass very well.  They played a defense they cannot run on... so what else was going to happen?  Oops sorry I think our company line is that "hey if Sean White would have been healthy we would have won!".  Yeah that line has sure been used a lot the last two years.  If Sean White would have been healthy we evidently would have beaten Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia and maybe Bama last season.  This season you change it to played or healthy and evidently we would have beaten Clemson, Georgia and Bama.  Wow, if only Sean White were healthy evidently he is better than Cam Newton.

I am sure many will be blathering that line next season as well with these coaches running the exact same thing as this year and most likely with the exact same results.  I am called negative but check my preseason post I predicted Auburn to go 8-4, spot on.  Gus will destroy most teams if they have a weak run defense but lose to just about any team that has a good one.  That is usually anywhere from 3 to 5 teams on Auburn's schedule depending on the year.  I am literally shuddering at the thought of watching this exact same offense produce the exact same results next season. 

Gus Malzahn put up another epic coaching performance today as we had 34 yards and ONE FIRST DOWN at halftime.  That means AUBURN WENT A FULL GAME WITH ONE FIRST DOWN AND ONLY 60 YARDS OF OFFENSE combining the second half against Georgia and first half against Bama.  We are paying FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for this pathetic offensive coaching from a supposed offensive coach!!!  It is unbelievable how bad he is against any kind of good defense.  Is this a legitimate big-time college coach???  Injuries are not excuses for a performance as bad as that especially trying to put everything on losing an average quarterback like Sean White

I do not see any point in "breaking down the game" any more.  I have covered the offense above.  The defense played hard but Bama has great players on offense and they can only hold them down so much when our offense keeps giving it back to Bama.  I mean pretty much anybody could see this result coming from a mile away.  Did anyone seriously think we were going to challenge Bama after being coached that bad on offense at Georgia?  It just does not work like that.  Football teams that get better throughout the season show it on the field (even with injuries Gus).  Football teams that get better throughout the season usually have a good passing offense they can rely on.

I keep reading this was a good season on several different sites. Our top wins were over Mississippi schools with overall losing records, an Arkansas team with a losing conference record and a bad run defense plus an LSU team that is 6-4 with no quarterback either. We have lost to all the better teams on our schedule including Georgia and Bama (for the third year in a row). How is that a good season? I t could definitely be worse but for Auburn I don’t think that is a good season.  There is a difference in eight win seasons.  You can tell the difference in a good team that has improved and a team that has not.

There have been eight win seasons (not counting stupid bowls win or lose) that have been seasons to remember and many that have been seasons to forget.  Look at 1984 and 1985, two teams that could not pass and turned in seasons to mainly forget outside Bo's Heisman run.  There is 1996, much like this season, where Auburn lost all their important games.  Nobody is happy with those seasons.  On the other hand there are eight win seasons like 1982, 2002 and 2007 where the team gets better and even after losing tough games to great Georgia teams came back and beat good Bama teams.

Well this season is done and while Auburn finished with a winning record it is just another forgettable one much like 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015.  All of those seasons Auburn ended up with seven or eight wins running this same offense and lost to all the good teams on their schedule including Georgia and Bama.  I am really looking forward to the high probability of ANOTHER one next season.  Hold the phones though, Auburn still has a bowl game to go this season and if Gus lucks out and draws a team with a less than stellar run defense he can blow them out.  That could get him another big raise and contract extension guaranteeing many more of these seasons to come.

Game 11 Review: Happy and Mad

Auburn 55  Alabama A&M 0.  I have been fortunate enough to be able to be a team manager for a 7A soccer program in this state.  You are around the kids before, during and after every game.  You get close to them.  You find out what a big deal senior night is.  You find out what games like this mean to the kids who do not get to play much.  They finally get to get in and play.  It is a big deal to the players and to the coaches to a certain extent.  I know how happy I was for the seniors I was around all season to have a great senior night.  I know how happy I was for the players that did not play much for our team to get in there and do something good.

So while the fallout continues from the horrific loss last week, I was happy about a few things last night.  I am happy for Jeremy Johnson.  He had a great game in his last game in Auburn.  He deserved it.  I will continue to believe he was criminally under-coached at Auburn and any kind of decent quarterback coach could have made him into a very good quarterback.  He has all the tools and his arm and accurate throws are very rare.  He just needed a legitimate passing coach to help him make reads.  He did not find that at Auburn but he did have a few good game moments.  He also appeared to handle this very tough situation with a lot of dignity and class.

I was also happy for Kam Martin who while a freshman had maybe the best game of the night.  I know it was in the second half against a lower echelon team but it sure looks like the team could have used him against Georgia last week.  I was happy for the defense to get a shutout.  Obviously Alabama A&M was completely overmatched but it is still hard to get a shutout.  I was glad to see senior safety Rudy Ford get some snaps at running back.  I know he is glad he moved to safety as it is a much higher paid position in the NFL but I always thought he would have been a great running back.  Finally as I said earlier I am happy for all the players behind the scenes who got playing time last night.

I also want to give kudos to all the seniors who played their last game in Auburn last night.  I have already mentioned Jeremy Johnson.  I want to thank Montravius Adams, one of the better defensive tackles to play at Auburn.  He has been special since he started as a freshman but really broke through this season.  I want to thank Josh Holsey and Rudy Ford.  These guys have been pillars and battled so hard in the secondary in their four years at Auburn.  Holsey battled through injuries but really turned in a great season this year.  Jonathan "Rudy" Ford will leave as one of the greatest tacklers in Auburn history.  I want to thank Alex Kozan who also had to battle through a serious injury but was an impact player his whole time at Auburn.

Thanks to all the other guys who were kind of behind-the-scenes but had some great moments: Tony Stevens, T.J. Davis, Xavier Dampeer, Robert Leff, Marcus Davis, etc...  I will never forget Marcus Davis catching all those clutch passes from Nick Marshall on that epic last second drive to beat Mississippi State in 2013.  Finally kudos to Carl Lawson who we all thought was leaving for the NFL last January till he tweeted the "I am not leaving" scene from "Wolf of Wall Street" out to let everyone know he was staying at Auburn.  I have never been so fired up in the offseason!!!  He delivered too, he has been the leader of the defense and the leader of this team and has been awesome this season.  Kudos to Auburn too for recognizing Lawson, a fourth year junior, as a senior last night. 

There was a lot to be happy about last night but unfortunately I am still steaming mad over last week.  All I have read this week from coaches and from fan posts on various sites is using injuries as excuses.  I have read next to no accountability from the coaches other than a few obligatory lines.  There has been no true sincere accountability from the coaches.  There has only been continual in-so-many-words blaming the loss on injuries.  Plain and simple INJURIES ARE NOT AN EXCUSE for losing to a team as bad as Georgia.  I am sick to death of hearing it.  Louisiana Lafayette somehow managed to score 21 points on the Georgia juggernaut yesterday.

The coaches had to work really hard to lose that game last week that would have meant so much to Auburn.  I believe if the coaches put in John Franklin and Kam Martin in last week and run the entire second half that Auburn wins that game.  I believe if the coaches put in Jeremy Johnson in last week for the entire second half that Auburn wins the game.  ANY CHANGE would have resulted in our best offensive player, kicker Daniel Carlson, getting some opportunities.  Instead our coaches in their stubborn lunacy stuck with a quarterback and strategy that DID NOT WORK AT ALL and basically RUINED THE SEASON.  That was a game Auburn should have and could have won.

I also believe if we had any coaches that could remotely coach a good high-school level passing game we could have won.  I think it says a lot that many Auburn people the last two seasons are mad that Auburn even threw a pass in the second half against Georgia.  If that does not prove my point I do not know what will.  I am incredulous when I hear that stuff.  I believe the opposite, I believe we should have a good enough passing game to get the job done at critical moments.  Nobody was more ground-based than Pat Dye and he did what he had to do to develop a passing game that got the job done in the critical moments.  Gus Malzahn has not and never will.

With that said Auburn now heads to Tuscaloosa and the one team you cannot beat without a good quarterback and a good passing game.  I do not think Auburn has much of a chance in this one with a fully healthy team.  I do not believe Sean White on his best day is good enough to beat a really good defense like Bama has.  Unfortunately I see a game a lot like last season where Auburn keeps it close mostly due to defense through 2 or 3 quarters before that defense wears out.  Last season it was Bama 29 Auburn 13, I think that is pretty close to what it will be this season.  I sure could have taken a game like that and another loss to Bama better if we would have beaten a bad Georgia team like we should have.