Auburn 2018 Preview: Good Team, Bad Schedule

Bama fans laughing at us with their ridiculously easy schedule

 

Well here we are again... the start of another football season.  While the world drowns in fighting and negativism the optimism flows freely around the Southeastern Conference in August.  Expectations are of course high on the plains of Auburn as they should be.  Auburn returns arguably the best quarterback in the conference along with what looks like a very good defense that features a fearsome front seven.  Those are some of the biggest ingredients of a good team.  Also Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was given a monstrous new contract and is now virtually unfireable now for those that value "stability". 

 

Every year since 2009 I have done a "State of the Program" post in the spring along with this season preview.  I decided to combine those into this post since they cover many of the same things.  The only difference is I review the recruiting class in that spring post.  Next year I will post a shorter quick-take post on the recruiting class.  I will say a few words here about it since I did not post anything on it earlier this year but normally I do not talk much about freshman in a preview post because if you are talking about freshmen being impact players then you are in trouble.

 

THE RECRUITING CLASS

The recruiting class overall was Auburn's lowest ranked in a few years but still made the top fifteen.  I thought overall it was pretty good but as usual I would have liked a couple more big linemen.  I think the key to Auburn's success last season and one of the biggest positives this season is the defensive line.  A lot of that was due to Will Muschamp's direct recruiting and influence his one year at Auburn.  Auburn brought in a couple of good defensive tackles and ends but I am worried that the coaches will not keep that emphasis that Muschamp brought. 

 

The thing you hear the most that separates the good Southeastern Conference teams is their defensive lines.  You simply cannot compete for a championship without them.  It is really the biggest thing along with the offensive line other than quarterback that will decide a coach's future.  Auburn only grabbed one maybe two defensive tackles and a couple of defensive ends.  It was the same on the offensive line where Auburn also only grabbed a couple of guys as well.  They all look like some decent prospects but any attrition will leave Auburn a class of next to no linemen.

 

Elsewhere Auburn grabbed good quarterback and running back prospects in Joey Gatewood and Asa Martin.  It is good to get them in the pipeline.  My only gripe here is I do not take Auburn's other running back recruit, the tiny Shaun Shivers, seriously.  He is too small and Auburn needed to grab another big-time running back prospect.  One thing Auburn should be able to recruit under Gus Malzahn is running backs.  He has shown without a doubt that he can feature a running back and continue to feed him.  I did like getting Harold Joiner out of Mountain Brook for H-back.

 

The Tiger coaches understandably went heavy on linebackers and defensive backs.  Auburn loses several senior linebackers this season and are still thin in the secondary.  Again it looks like Auburn got a lot of good prospects and that is about all you can hope for.  It looks like several freshmen defensive backs could be used this season especially with the new redshirt rule.  The new rule says that a player can play in four games and still be redshirted.  This is a rule that finally helps coaches.  This will allow them to get most if not all the freshmen some decent playing time and still redshirt them.

 

Finally the talk of the Auburn preseason camp has been the freshmen wide receivers.  It is hard for me to take seriously as Auburn does not throw the ball that much and wide receivers outside of a good runner like Ryan Davis do not accumulate stats at Auburn.  Again there has been only two players to have 1000 yard receiving season in the HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL.  Frankly I do not understand how Auburn ever gets a good wide receiver.  It is a fact that the most important thing about a receiver at Auburn is their ability to block especially under Gus Malzahn. 

THE TEAM
Everyone usually starts with the quarterback and I am no exception.  Jarrett Stidham is a very good one and proved it last season.  Unfortunately he will held back by Gus Malzahn's shotgun-Wing T-option offense.  As I said after the SECCG loss last season...

"Gus Malzahn might have allowed offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey to do some plays against his tendencies and throw a few more of his option-style misdirection passes but that is not a long term plan for success.  Auburn will never have an actual passing game under Malzahn.  I have pointed that out many times in this space but since I have to continue to watch it I will continue to point it out.  A simple drop-back pass and read will never be a part of Malzahn’s offense.  Every pass is a misdirection or trick.  Any part of the modern passing game is just not welcome.

It is just excruciating to watch at times.  I am sorry again I REALLY HATE this offense... and now I have to watch it for many more years to come.  I mean when Auburn can run the ball the offense can be devastating but in games where a normal team would have to rely on the passing game Auburn is finished, i.e. Clemson, LSU and Georgia in Atlanta.  Auburn will never win a game through the air while Malzahn is coach.  I hate that.  It is why Malzahn continues to lose the critical games."

Stidham can only be so good under Malzahn.  Again he is just constrained by this offense, no offense is wrong word, he is constrained by this system.  This is also why I do not even listen to all the hubbub about the new wide receivers.  Auburn will pile up passing yards against teams they can run all over but they will never be able to make enough plays in the passing game under Malzahn against tough teams.  A great defense led the way last season and Auburn was able to make enough plays behind the threat of Kerryon Johnson to beat Georgia and Bama at home.  .

That also had a lot to do with both teams completely underestimating Ryan Davis.  Add to that Jarrett Stidham playing a nearly perfect game within the system behind a great defense against Bama.  Georgia fixed the problem in the SECCG and was not going to let Ryan Davis bail out Stidham.  Count on Georgia and Bama to do that again.  Luckily for Auburn most teams they play will not be able to employ that strategy because they are outmanned.  We will see if Washington is good enough.  Count on them to duplicate Georgia's game plan in the SECCG to the best of their ability. 

I guess I can go to the running game now.  The stats speak for themselves, Auburn has had a 1000 yard rusher every season for over a decade.  Yes it is easier but that is still an impressive state.  This season though might be his greatest challenge.  Between Auburn's great running backs the last decade, steady veteran Peyton Barber stepped in and ran for 1000 along with out-of-nowhere Kamryn Pettway.  I just do not see that guy this season.  Right now the Tigers have Kam Martin, JaTarvious "Boobie" Whitlow, freshman Asa Martin and Malik Miller.  I am not even going to talk about 5' 7'' Shaun Shivers or Devan Barrett.  They are not going to be the horse.

The coaches ran Kerryon Johnson into the ground instead of playing Kam Martin.  They never showed a single bit of confidence in him despite how good he looked in lesser games.  He also has been injured several times since coming to Auburn.  He is supposed to start the season on top from what I have read but I have real doubts that he is going to hold up under a normal first-string Malzahn running back work load.  I will tell you one thing, if he does I am going to be seriously upset that we did not use him more last season to spell Kerryon.  I hope he is successful though.  However if he is not then supposedly the next guy up is...

"Boobie" Whitlow, a three-star running back from Lafayette, AL.  We heard great things about the kid all spring and he could be the next Kamryn Pettway running-back-from-nowhere but I certainly do not think that is guaranteed.  Asa Martin is a great prospect and "Mr. Football" in the state last season but is he ready to pound through SEC defenses for an entire season?  There is no way.  We finally come to the guy that I think should be the between-the-tackles answer and that is Malik Miller.  He is the only one with the size and experience to do it.  I think Auburn would be best served to use him and Kam Martin as a "thunder and lightning" type combo while mixing in these other guys. 

It is a proven strategy but not one Malzahn has used during his career.  We will see but to me running back may be Auburn weakest point.  The other one is offensive line where we will go next...  The Tigers lost a lot of guys at the end of last season.  The best thing that happened in the offseason was coach Herb Hand departed and coach J.B. Grimes returned.  Hand did a good job in spots as his offensive line paved the way for Kerryon Johnson's MVP season and those big wins but he was very inconsistent and the line looked terrible early both seasons he was in Auburn.

The line starts at left tackle with Prince Tega Wanogho.  I hated when Hand tried to force him in the starting lineup last season over senior Darius James but love that we have him this season to plug in on a new and upcoming line.  I love junior guards Mike Horton and Marquel Harrell.  These guys are big, strong and experienced.  It sure seems like they are ready.  I think we are reloading at guard with these guys and guard is a big position in the Malzahn system.  The coaches were talking about moving Horton to center but it seems that has passed and I am glad.  I think we can find a center, right now it is junior Kaleb Kim, but we need Horton and Harrell on both sides of him.

That brings us to right tackle and the biggest disappointment for me of fall camp.  I was looking forward to five star stud Calvin Ashley stepping in after redshirting last season.  That is not going to happen and not only that but Ashley has been shipped off to back up at guard.  The right tackle spot is now a two-man race between graduate transfer Jack Driscoll (from that football powerhouse Massachusetts) and redshirt freshman Austin Troxall.  Hey I know these are two hard working tough guys and maybe they will be great tackles but it is just so disappointing when you grab one of these rare five-star offensive tackle recruits that is so hard to get and they do not even start.

You want to know one of the biggest reasons $aban has been so successful at Bama?  That would be recruiting and developing five-star left tackles into first round NFL draft picks.  Let us look at the list: Andre Smith, James Carpenter, D.J. Fluker, Cyrus Kouandjio, Cam Robinson, etc...  People can try and nitpick their NFL careers but these guys were absolute beasts in college.  They were all five-star recruits and just about all of them stepped in as a first quarter freshman and started for three years before heading to the NFL.  THAT is what I expect out of a FIVE-STAR offensive tackle and while it seems to happen every year at Bama, it is not happening with Calvin Ashley.

There is not much to say about fullback/H-back and tight end.  Auburn has seniors in both spots and sure needs Chandler Cox and Jalen Harris to stay healthy and be great blockers.  I hope freshman Harold Joiner can get some good reps to get him ready to take over next season at H-back.  Auburn's tight end is just a blocker and always will be in the Malzahn system so I am sure there is a back up lineman that can take over for Harris if need be.  I am not sure why people continue to talk about throwing to the tight end with Malzahn.  He barely throws to the wide receivers and does not run a tight end much of the time.

Overall Auburn is definitely not as good this season as last on offense but does have a lot of the pieces in place to have a good offense in the Malzahn system.  The biggest key again is finding a running back or backS to "tote the mail" and make the Malzahn system work.  I have to think they will find a way.  As much as I dog the passing game within the Malzahn system, there can be no question the man knows how to run the football.  Of course it will be a lot easier when you have one of the best defenses in the country as the foundation of the team...

I think some people have pushed the hyperbole meter a little too high for me on this defense but dang it is sure nice to look at the depth chart there.  I mean WOW.  You see a ton of big strong guys who have performed in big-time games.  Look at the defensive tackles: Dontavius Russell, senior; Derrick Brown, junior; Andrew Williams, senior; Jauntavius Johnson, junior; Tyrone Truesdell, sophomore.  You also have some young guns to plug in during the lesser games to get some experience.  At end you have: Marlon Davidson, junior; Nick Coe, sophomore; T.D. Moultry, sophomore; Big Kat Bryant, sophomore. 

That is an embarrassment of riches for Auburn and the foundation of this defense.  The rest of the front seven looks almost as good with an all-senior linebacking corps in Deshaun Davis, senior; Darrell Williams, senior; Montavious Atkinson, senior.  I love Davis.  I love his energy and I love his motor.  He is one of my favorite linebackers to play at Auburn and I hope he stays healthy to lead this defense the whole season.  Auburn will definitely have to rebuild next season but it is sure nice to see three seniors on top of the depth chart starting this one off.

Finally we come to the secondary.  The Tigers basically have juniors Jamel Dean and Javaris Davis starting at one cornerback and nickel plus juniors Jeremiah Dinson and Daniel Thomas starting at the safety spots.  After that Auburn has a LOT of young guys.  There has been a lot of hype and coachspeak about all of these freshmen and sophomores but we really will not know what these guys are made of till they get on the field.  Auburn's fearsome front seven should be a big help to this crew.  That along with the new redshirt rule should allow the coaches to get a good look at all these guys.

Many Auburn fans have labeled Kevin Steele great as he has guided these defenses filled with Muschamp recruits.  He has done a good job but I will say again he has struggled every time Auburn has played a good passing team.  Luckily for him that has not happened very much.  Sooner or later Auburn will play a good passing team and he has to coach better.  Also after Auburn loses most of this front seven at the end of this season we will find out what kind of recruiter Steele is.  I will stop there though, let us enjoy this season and this hopefully great defense.

THE SCHEDULE
Here we are again, the next thing I have wrote about the most on this blog outside Gus Malzahn's offensive system is "The Curse of Jay Jacobs".  He is gone but his legacy remains in his idiotic decision to change and let Georgia and Bama be both at home (odd years) or both away (even years). It has basically rendered Auburn only able to compete for SEC titles in odd years.  He not only crippled all future even-year teams but ruined one of the best things about Auburn, i.e. having a great rival home game to end every season.  It is just sad these 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 in 2010.  Right now it looks like they never will again thanks to Jay Jacobs "helping the conference".  I will continue to say that 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 short-sighted moronic decision.  I noticef people finally started talking about how bad this was for Auburn last season.  That is great guys but a little late. 

 

The rest of the SEC who hates Auburn and will never do anything to help us will never change this back so Auburn must and I mean must go at it a different way.  Auburn must move the Georgia game.  The Georgia game used to be a special rivalry but it has cost Auburn a lot.  No other SEC team has to play two teams even close to as historically tough as Bama and Georgia have been the last three weeks of the season.  It is literally impossible for Auburn to play good in the Georgia, Bama and SEC championship games.  That is three impossibly tough games in four weeks.  Auburn has won them before but it is rare.  Compare that to Bama who tried playing LSU in that spot a couple of years in the mid-2000s.  Boy they got that changed back QUICK. 

 

Auburn simply has a nearly impossible task this season even with a good team having to beat Georgia and Bama on the road at the end of the season.  People will point out the Tigers can lose to Georgia if they have no other SEC losses and beat Bama to take the West but those people do not know much about Auburn's history.  You can almost count on one hand the number of times Auburn has lost to Georgia and come back to beat Bama.  It has not happened many times.  That will be the strategy for this season though, make it to Tuscaloosa with a chance at winning the West.  Lets look at the rest of the schedule other than the end of it...

 

The difference between Auburn's tough schedule and Bama's ridiculously easy one comes down to two games.  Auburn plays two top five teams in Georgia and Washington while Bama plays an unranked Louisville team breaking in a new quarterback and the WORST team in the SEC last season in Tennessee.  Auburn also plays Tennessee as they rotate in while Bama gets Missouri.  The key thing though is Auburn has to play two of the nation's best teams while Bama does not.  It is just ludicrous, Bama fans will point to their road game in Baton Rouge but LSU lost a ton of players from last season and just made STEVE ENSMINGER their offensive coordinator???!!!???

 

Steve Ensminger could not coach an offense that could beat Nick $aban in a million years.  Auburn fans will just offer up the 2003 and 2008 seasons as evidence.  Back to Washington, Auburn will have their hands full with the Huskies who are probably the best team from the Pac-12.  Here are the quotes from a Washington season overview I read:  "The Huskies were one baffling loss away from a second straight conference title (last season), and they return an absurd amount of talent and experience...  UW returns a majority of last year’s difference-makers and, after a season opener against Auburn, could be double-digit favorite in every remaining game."

 

The Washington game could go either way.  My first reaction is Auburn had better watch out.  The Huskies are obviously a good team with a good coach and Auburn is playing in a place they have not played well in recently.  Auburn has also played really bad in their openers against Clemson in recent years.  However Auburn has a good team with hopefully a great defense.  It seems like the coaches are trying to avoid the typical Malzahn slow start but until you actually see that happen you have to go by the past.  I really just do not have a good feel for this game.  Obviously I think we will know a lot more about this Auburn team after.  The good thing is it is not a conference game.

 

Auburn should be favored in every game after Washington till travelling to Georgia.  Auburn is clearly better than just about every team in that stretch.  The Tigers will scrimmage against Alabama State and then kick off the conference season against LSU at home.  Auburn should win, see previous Steve Ensminger note.  Auburn then travels to Arkansas and Mississippi State with a home date against Southern Miss in the middle.  Arkansas is rebuilding and State has a new coaching staff.  Auburn is better than both those teams although State is probably the third best team in the conference and has a good quarterback and defensive line as well. 

 

State beat a good Auburn team in 2014 when Malzahn refused to throw the ball and gift-wrapped it for them but I still think Auburn is better team and should win.  After that Auburn welcomes Tennessee and Texas A&M to Jordan Hare with a road game in Oxford between.  Tennessee was the  worst team in the conference last season and Arkansas was not much better (thus their new coaches) while Ole Miss has been hurt by NCAA trouble.   Auburn should destroy these teams and let Gus pad his stats which he does every year against the teams he is better than. 

 

We then come to Amen Corner which I have already covered...  I guess it is prediction time.  I have correctly predicted Auburn's final record the last two seasons, 10-2 in 2017 and 8-4 in 2016.  I wish I could say it is my brilliance but it is simply Gus Malzahn.  After a few years it got pretty easy to predict Auburn under Malzahn.  It is a little bit tougher this season with so many questions on offense but not too tough.  Auburn will most likely lose two or three games.  Gus other than the 2010 "Cam-back" in Tuscaloosa has never beaten LSU, Georgia and Bama on the road as an assistant or head coach so unless something changes he will lose to Georgia and Bama. 

 

I will go with 10-2 again with a loss in Tuscaloosa but hopefully a bowl berth in another Big Six bowl game with hopefully a DECENT OPPONENT this time.  Back-to-back ten win seasons would be a huge accomplishment even with the hard time I give Gus Malzahn.  Of course I have never seen the SEC this bad two years in a row... Well there you go, another season preview and prediction to add to the hundreds of others.  Lets tee it up and get this thing going.  WAR EAGLE.

Auburn Basketball 2017-2018: OUT OF THE ASHES WE RISE

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its own fiery demise the 2017-18 Auburn basketball team rose... from the ashes of its own fiery demise to win the SEC regular season championship.  It is still simply unbelievable to me.  The last time I wrote about Auburn basketball was on September 26th when Chuck Person, the greatest player in Auburn basketball history and former top assistant coach, was charged with corruption in a sworn complaint from the FBI and arrested on federal charges.  I wrote how dark a day it was for Auburn and opined that this was the death knell for the program.  Bruce Pearl was our last chance and it seemed like it was over for him and the team when his top assistant was arrested and his two best players were suspended.  I saw Pearl's first presser of the season right after this and it was like the life had indeed gone out of him.  It certainly looked like a fiery demise for a season and a program...

Things looked even worse after the team's first exhibition game:
"Auburn will enter the regular season facing even more questions than the uncertain futures of Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy and FBI investigation into assistant coach Chuck Person after losing an exhibition to a Division-II opponent.  Barry, the No. 12 ranked Division II team, rallied to a 100-95 overtime win over Auburn before a sparse, unenthused and eventually stunned announced crowd of 6,374 at Auburn Arena on Thursday.

A day that began with Auburn announcing Wiley and Purifoy are out indefinitely due to "potential eligibility issues" in connection with the federal corruption case against Person ended with Auburn losing an exhibition to a D-II team for the first time since Nov. 8, 2010 (54-52 vs. Columbus State) under former coach Tony Barbee."

I already thought it was over for the program and when I saw this I knew it was over.  IT WAS OVER.  Auburn coach Bruce Pearl did not agree and though nobody would believe him at the time, he prophesied that this team was not done:
"I'd be optimistic," the fourth-year Auburn coach said. "We have a good team. We lost to a good team. I think they've got reason to be optimistic because we've got a lot of weapons. We've got good depth.  I can just tell you that, I'd say about half the roster didn't play as well as they typically play. We had four or five guys that did not play well - that doesn't happen very often. I think that contributes a lot. Certainly, Danjel and Austin are two of our top three players, but we've got enough right now without them to still be able to win. I'm not discouraged."

"I'd be optimistic", "We have a good team", "I'm not discouraged"...  I think he believed it when he said it because of how he led the team through the rest of the season.  It is simply one of the most incredible jobs of coaching I have ever seen in any sport.  The Tigers would get a couple of insignificant wins after losing to Barry and then lose to Temple.  It again looked just like any another horrible basketball season of which Auburn's history is full.  Auburn lost to Temple on November 17 and that is when it started.  The team came together and would not lose again for two full months. 

I am not sure when I noticed something different about this team.  Let there be no doubt I had completely given up on them and this program and I had better things to do with my time than watch another bad Auburn basketball team.  However I still would see the scores roll in.  I noticed the Tigers beat two very good mid-major programs in Dayton and George Mason but I pretty much just raised an eyebrow and not much more.  Auburn then destroyed UConn at home and that elicited from me a pretty good "huh..." but again not much more.  I think it was in the SEC opener that this team demanded to be noticed.

Auburn travelled to Tennessee to open the 2018 conference season.  Auburn had not won in Knoxville in almost 20 years in hoops.  I am sure it had been much longer since the Tigers had beaten a ranked Vols team over there if ever.  Auburn would beat the Vols 94-84 on their own home court.  No one could possibly know that this game turned out to be the SEC regular season championship game.  I mean WOW.  Looking back this win was probably Auburn's biggest of the season.  This win would give them the tie-breaker over the Vols at the end of the season and the #1 seed in the SEC tournament.  They would award the Vols a "share" of the title but there can be only one #1 seed and Auburn was it. 

This was definitely when I had to start re-thinking every thing I had assumed about this team.  I mean beating a good Tennessee team on the road???  I did not think we would win on the road all season!  The Tigers followed that up by beating a ranked Arkansas team at home.  I think everyone who followed the basketball team at all was wondering what was up.  Auburn would then beat both Mississippi schools including State on the road to bring their winning streak to 14 games.  The Tigers would then lose a close one in Tuscaloosa and that was where I regressed and went back to being doubtful of whether Auburn would have a winning record in conference since it had not happened in 17 YEARS (!!!). 

The Tigers would then rip off another five game winning streak including two more road wins to go to 9-1 in the SEC.  There was no doubt now, this team was for real however I still could not see a championship.  It was just not possible.  There was no way the worst program in the SEC (record-wise in conference since 1992) that had their historic best player and top assistant get arrested by the FBI and had their top two players suspended for the season could win an SEC title.  NO WAY.  Auburn then lost their only home game of the season by one point to Texas A&M and the Tennessee Vols were gaining ground.  There were also dates with big bad Kentucky and Bama on the horizon. 

The Tigers won on the road again in Athens to set up a huge game against Kentucky.  Yes Kentucky was down a bit but they are always very good (they would win the SEC tournament AGAIN this season) and Auburn almost never beats them.  Auburn's greatest basketball team ever in 1999 lost twice to Kentucky.  Kentucky just assumes wins over Auburn.  They also matched up good against the Tigers since they were so tall.  I sat down to finally watch a full Auburn basketball game for the first time all season.  I had watched parts of games but still had not treated one like a football game.  On top of all that Auburn had moved into the top 10 for the first time since 2000.

The Auburn Tigers defeated Kentucky soundly 76-66.  The Tigers stood up to a huge Wildcat run in the second half where their height seemed to really be getting to Auburn and they took the lead.  I, of course, was like here we go again... but the Tigers fought back outhustling Kentucky and hitting big shots.  Coach Pearl would say: "Our conditioning, our toughness, our resilience, our grit. It's why we won the game...".  It was so true.  These guys were amazing.  Auburn was definitely the smallest team in the top 10 but they just continued to overcome that game after game.  There was a chemistry, a togetherness, a "oneness" between these guys that all great teams share.  Considering everything they were up against, it was simply amazing.

Jared Harper led the team at point guard.  He is undersized and can still take an ill-advised three but his improvement from last season to the team's leader on the court this season was simply phenomenal.  Bryce Brown was simply amazing at shooting guard.  He blossomed into one of the best shooters in the country and man he hit so many big shots during the season.  Mustapha Heron, Auburn's first five star recruit ever and the only constant last season, also raised his game this season and helped the team in all aspects of the game.  He scored, he rebounded, he defended, etc...  He announced this week he is headed to the NBA and I wish him all the luck in the world.  He did it the right way.  He gave his heart and soul to the team and the program for two years and was one of the biggest reasons Auburn won a basketball conference championship.

Around these guys so many other players stepped up and played huge roles.  There was Anfernee McLemore, Horace Spencer, Desean Murray and Malik Dunbar plus freshmen Davion Mitchell and Chuma Okeke.  These guys bought in, accepted their roles and did the dirty work to help win these games.  On top of that they each rose up and played huge roles in winning several games.  When the team was behind and things looked bad, someone would step up, make a play and bring a spark.  You just do not see teams like this very much.  The big dog programs usually always win in the end, not a gutty bunch like this.  Of course behind these guys was Coach Bruce Pearl and his assistants working their butts off and encouraging the team.  It is certainly the greatest coaching job in Auburn basketball history in my opinion.

One of the things that Coach Pearl was doing came to light on a great SportsCenter spotlight on the team late in the season.  Evidently a writer for CBSSports.com predicted that Auburn would go 4-14 in conference.  I certainly cannot blame him, I would have predicted about the same thing.  However Coach Pearl used it as a motivation tool for the team.  He created a shirt with a big "4-14" on it and he wore it first before Auburn's huge upset of Tennessee in Knoxville and then the players took turns wearing it before each game.  I am simply amazed that Bruce Pearl after a pretty long career where he made some mistakes and sure took some tough turns is able to stay so positive and dig in and work so hard to save this team and program.  It is not just the coaching, it is the honest interviews with the media and rallying the fans especially the students. 

Early in the season Pearl bought pizzas for students outside waiting to get in to a game.  He and the team also went out after a big early season conference win at home to thank fans leaving the arena.  The guy is not simply coasting into retirement (i.e. Cliff Ellis) but putting his heart and soul into this program.  There is simply no other way to explain it.  There is simply no way Auburn could "luck" their way into winning an SEC title in basketball.  It takes talent, coaching and great play from all over the team over the long haul.  For a team that had this much going against it, it takes even more from the coaches and the players. 

If ANYONE thinks I am hitting the hyperbole meter a bit too hard, I would say that YOU do not know Auburn basketball.  PLEASE read my posts in the timeline I lay out HERE.  Auburn is the WORST program record-wise in the SEC since 1992.  Before this season Auburn had only won 34 conference basketball games SINCE 2010.  Before this season Auburn had only only three winning conference records in TWENTY FIVE YEARS.  Bruce Pearl who we knew was a great coach then came in and had Auburn's first back-to-back twenty LOSS seasons.  The Tigers then lost to an historically bad Missouri team in the first round of the SEC tournament last season.  It sure looked like that as good a coach as Pearl was that NOBODY could save this program... till this magical season.

I paused in my season summary with the Kentucky win.  It was such a big win but Auburn still had a long way to go to win a title and it got even longer just a few days later.  The Tigers travelled to South Carolina where the Gamecocks put a complete beat down on them.  On top of that, Anfernee McLemore went down with a gruesome leg injury.  He was out for the season with a broken leg.  I hate when coaches and the media overblow injuries but in this case it was not hot air.  McLemore had turned into one of the team's leaders and was one of the only tall players in the playing rotation.  He led the SEC in blocks (!!!) and was a key offensive and defensive player.  You could tell this one hurt and bad. 

And of course it had to happen before the biggest home game of the season... Bama was coming to Auburn and the Tigers simply had to win if they were going to have a chance to win the SEC.  It had become real clear before the Kentucky game to everyone looking ahead that Auburn was probably not going to win any more road games.  They had three left in South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas and even with things going so good those are very tough spots to win in.  We were right too because Auburn did not win any of those games.  The Tigers simply had to win their home games but after McLemore went down that task got more difficult. 

It sure looked bad with the talented Crimson Tide coming to town.  Bama underperformed much of the season but as they showed at times in the season and in the SEC tournament they have a ton of talent that can come alive.  Also, Auburn not only had an SEC championship on the line but a season on the line.  Bama can lie and alibi how great a season is without beating their main rival (like this season in football) but we know the truth.  I will freely admit that no matter how good this basketball season was, it would not be near as good if we got swept by Bama.  Auburn needed this win in the worst way... and things got EVEN WORSE at game time when it was announced Mustapha Heron had been hospitalized with a stomach virus.  I had an event I had to attend that night and did not hear any of this till I listened to the end of the game on the way home.

I know I would have probably turned it off.  Auburn without McLemore AND Heron trying to beat Bama???!!!???  I am sorry, I love the team and the coaches and they have done a great job all season but again NO WAY they are going to win without those two guys especially Heron.  Well I was wrong again, this amazing team found a way and they not only beat Bama but beat them BAD 90-71.  Jared Harper and Bryce Brown came up big AGAIN.  I mean Brown was on FIRE!!! Chuma Okeke and Malik Dunbar had their best games of the season and everyone chipped in   Coach Pearl put it best again: "It's special beyond compare," Pearl said. "This team is trying to make history. We've got a long way to go. What we're seeing is rare. This combination of grit, determination, resiliency, family, it's all right here. Enjoy this, because it doesn't happen very often."  

No it does not and the crazed students and fans in Auburn Arena enjoyed it to the fullest.  My son is in college and was at this game along with the Kentucky game and the South Carolina game to end the season.  I told him and his friends they were a part of history and like Coach Pearl said, something very rare.  Auburn despite its poor basketball history has had some great seasons but they were mostly in the old Beard Eaves MAUSOLEUM.  They were awesome but there was always a little something missing because of that awful facility.  This season it was so incredible to see the students filling up the place and sitting in the right sections front and center like a real basketball school.  It was never like that in the mausoleum.  Auburn had built its best ever basketball facility in Auburn Arena but this was the first good team to play in it.

If you build it (and I mean the place AND THE TEAM)... THEY WILL COME... and they did!!!  As a student you had to get there about four to six hours before the game to get in.  For regular fans the games were hard sellouts and scalper ticket prices high.  This Auburn basketball team not only brought the program back from the brink but energized a fan base on campus and off that were thirsty for just a good team to come along.  Some of my favorite scenes from this season was seeing the huge Auburn crowd go absolutely berserk at the end of the Kentucky, Bama and South Carolina games especially Bama.  Horace Spencer's late put-back slam brought the house down including Charles Barkley himself going nuts in the stands.

The team found a way to beat Bama and after back-to-back losses on the road they just had to get one more at home against South Carolina to bring home one of the biggest and well earned championships in Auburn's long and storied sports history.  MVP Bryce Brown pulled out of a late season slump to put up almost 30 points and help bring Auburn into the promise land beating the Gamecocks 79-70.  It got tight at the end but the Tigers prevailed and the confetti fell from the rafters.  The team gave everything they had left in the tank to finish this season's long journey to that sacred place. 

I will not soon forget sitting in my car at the old Butler High School in Huntsville before my daughter's soccer game listening to this one end.  I had a tear in my eye as this Auburn basketball team did what I thought could not be done this season.  These Tigers would finally run out of gas and lose badly to Bama in the SEC tournament and then to Clemson in the NCAA tournament but not before they would get one more big win defeating the College of Charleston in the first round of the NCAA tournament with Jared Harper and Bryce Brown hitting big shots one more time to put Auburn over the top. 

I will admit, I got pretty upset after those losses but after taking some time and then writing this post I came to the realization that for this one special season it did not matter.  Look at the last decade of Auburn basketball and how absolutely horrible it has been.  Look at what happened to start this season.  What these guys did...  I will say it one more time, it is just AMAZING.  These basketball Tigers finished 26-8 overall, 13-5 in conference and regular season champs.  They beat Tennessee, the other best team in the conference, on the road.  They beat Kentucky.  They beat Bama.  They were ranked in the top ten during the season and took Auburn back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in fifteen years. 

"The guys wanted to make history," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Winning a championship at Auburn means a lot."  "It's unreal. It's so unbelievable right now," said Bryce Brown, who became the 36th Auburn player to reach the 1,000-point mark. "I've got to thank the Lord for everything he's done for me. Knowing where we came from and where we are now, it just feels unreal. I'm so thankful, I'm so blessed."  These guys did make history and this championship means a whole lot.  I think to end this post I will just echo what Bryce said, all of us who witnessed this season also are so thankful and so blessed...

WAR EAGLE.

2018 Peach Bowl Review: DOOMSDAY

Central Florida 34  Auburn 27.  In another amazing exhibition of Malzahn-ball the Auburn Tigers laid another huge egg to start 2018.  Auburn's huge wins over Georgia and Bama at home are not looking near as good after adding two awful performances to end the season to the two awful performances to begin the season.  Auburn won 10 games but lost four in excruciating fashion.  Of course it is a good season but the performances in the losses really make you scratch your head.  The main thread though that runs through all of them is what I have gone over time and time again on this blog and that is Auburn will never have a real passing game under Gus Malzahn.  I am just going to keep referencing my ultimate post after the LSU game this season in the future every time this happens.

Of course now I have to mention that it does not matter how bad Malzahn blows it anymore since we gave him his ridiculous new contract which basically makes him unfireable for a long time.  I will also continue to say I was totally against it.  Malzahn will continue to win more than he loses but he will lose at least three or four games this badly every season.  It is just downright depressing.  I can pretty much predict exactly what is going to happen next season just like the last two.  It is not because I have some unique insight, it is Gus freaking Malzahn!  He is as predictable as it gets and that is also the reason his offenses are just not that good anymore along with not being able to teach any modern passing principles.

THE GOOD
Frankly I cannot glean anything good from this bowl game.  We were mediocre to bad in every phase of the game.  None of the units on either side of the ball played particularly well.  Heck even Daniel Carlson missed a field goal on turf!  You knew it was not going to be a good day after that.  I guess the only good thing I can say is that bowl games outside the playoff are completely meaningless exhibitions.  That would be true if we stomped Central Florida.  This bowl game has no effect on next season.  I have seen Auburn win big bowl games and the next season was terrible and I have seen Auburn get blown out in bowl games and have a great next season.  It just does not matter.  It would have been much more enjoyable to win but it just does not matter either way.

THE BAD
I could elaborate but what is the point?  Stidham made some horrible throws.  Kerryon is still hurt.  We obviously have no other running backs.  The offensive line was terrible.  The receivers had a pretty good day especially Will Hastings but Stidham just made too many mistakes.  The defense was mediocre to bad all day.  I am so tired of hearing about how great Kevin Steele is.  He is a mediocre experienced defensive coordinator who had a very good veteran defense with good leadership and chemistry this season.  It was just a special defense and he was part of it but I do not think we will see one like it again during the Malzahn era.  Even with that said, the last two seasons the Auburn defense has struggled every time they played a good passing team and that continued today.

THE UGLY
I am writing this as the last semi-final game ends.  It is going to be Bama vs. Georgia for the national championship.  It is the DOOMSDAY scenario.  I mean how is this happening in a season WHEN AUBURN BEAT BOTH TEAMS??????!!!!!!?????  Again this could only happen to Auburn.  I mean this entire day in college football has made me physically sick.  We stink it up, Georgia pulls out a miracle and Bama wins big.  I am not sure how much more I can take.  I am fixing to go on a full sports media blackout.  I am going into a vault inside a bunker and am not coming out till I do not have to hear a word about this stupid championship game.  I want to watch the NFL playoffs but I am going to have be on guard. 

THE LAST WORD
I will remember the two big wins from this season but outside of that this is not a great team.  I definitely want to forget many parts of this season but it doesn't matter as it just mixes in with the dozen other horrific Malzahn losses.  It just all looks the same after awhile and now we have many more years of watching this same old shi*.  As I said in a previous post Malzahn should get at least 8 wins next season with the Missippi schools down and with Arkansas and Texas A&M rebuilding plus Tennessee rolling onto the schedule.  He will probably blow one of them though or lose to LSU, lay an egg against Washington to start the season and then of course lose to Georgia and Bama on the road as he has never beat them on the road and probably never will.  But hey I cannot wait to start another season back where this season died in nine months! 

SEC Championship Review: Down Note

(Authors note: I am late again on post because I actually went to this game and did not get back till late Sunday and then went on business travel, apologies again...)

 

Georgia 28  Auburn 7.  A season turned around by upsetting #1 Georgia and #1 Bama at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November ended on a down note in Atlanta.  Georgia recovered from a bad start to win the SEC Championship convincingly.  I was there to see it in person.  It was tough to watch after the first drive where Auburn scored to go up 7-0 as nothing went right for the Tigers the rest of the game.  The only three drives that did not end in a punt ended in two critical fumbles and a blocked field goal.    The SEC Offensive Player of the Year, Kerryon Johnson, tried to gut it out but was ineffective as was the Auburn offense.  The Georgia defense easily stopped Auburn’s run without a healthy Johnson and then made sure leading receiver Ryan Davis did not beat them.  Auburn had nobody else ready.

It is hard to be unhappy about a 10-3 season that included wins over Georgia and Bama... UNLESS BOTH TEAMS MAKE IT TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF ANYWAY.   I mean COME ON.  It is simply unbelievable and could only happen to Auburn. I can understand Georgia since they won the conference championship but Bama?  In the season where the SEC was the worst Power 5 conference?  Bama’s ONLY significant wins were against LSU who got beat by Troy and Mississippi State who lost to a dilapidated Ole Miss team to end the season.  Tennessee, Bama’s other main “rival” finished 0-8 in the SEC, 0-8!!!  I mean are you kidding me???  The college football playoff is a complete joke like the BCS and bowl system before it.

THE GOOD
Again Auburn did finish 10-3, beat Georgia and Bama at home and destroyed every lesser conference team on the schedule outside LSU.  The Tigers had All-SEC players all over the field proving coach Gus Malzahn has been able to recruit in the shadow of big bad Nick $aban and that is pretty impressive.  The Tigers had a top ranked special defense for the first time since the early 90s and has a lot of guys that will play on Sundays.  Quarterback Jarrett Stidham, running back Kerryon Johnson, guard Braden Smith and kicker Daniel Carlson were the best at their position in the conference.  Coach Gus Malzahn obviously did some things right even if his shortcomings were shown in the losses.

Auburn did not lose at home this season.  The magic was back at Jordan Hare and that is always a beautiful thing.  I got to take my whole family to the Ole Miss game.  I got to once again enjoy big wins over Georgia and Bama with my sons.  I got to walk on the field after another epic win over a #1 Bama team.  I got to go to Toomers after both of those wins.  I then got to take my wife to the SEC Championship Game and it was awesome till that first fumble...  Also when you look around the SEC and see Ole Miss under sanctions and half the conference looking for coaches you have to be even more thankful that Auburn is good and relevant.  Auburn also has a good team coming back next season.

THE BAD
I meant everything I said in the last two paragraphs but... good gosh I still hate Auburn’s offense.  Gus Malzahn might have allowed offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey to do some plays against his tendencies and throw a few more of his option-style misdirection passes but that is not a long term plan for success.  Auburn will never have an actual passing game under Malzahn.  I have pointed that out many times in this space but since I have to continue to watch it I will continue to point it out.  A simple drop-back pass and read will never be a part of Malzahn’s offense.  Every pass is a misdirection or trick.  Any part of the modern passing game is just not welcome.

It is just excruciating to watch at times.  I am sorry again I REALLY HATE this offense... and now I have to watch it for many more years to come.  I mean when Auburn can run the ball the offense can be devastating but in games where a normal team would have to rely on the passing game Auburn is finished, i.e. Clemson, LSU and Georgia in Atlanta.  Auburn will never win a game through the air while Malzahn is coach.  I hate that.  It is why Malzahn continues to lose the critical games.  I certainly did not want to fire Malzahn or look for another coach but I did not think it would be the end of the world either.  I thought a moderate raise and extension should have been offered and then he could go to Arkansas or not.  I think this good season was built on a special defense that probably will not happen again during the Malzahn era.  I think we will soon be back to 2016.

THE UGLY
Georgia deserved the win in Atlanta.  They came with fire and a good plan on both sides of the ball.  On defense they stacked the line of scrimmage and smothered Ryan Davis and on offense they ran right at Jeff Holland and got the ball to their backs off short passes away from Auburn’s defensive line.  However they also played outright dirty football.  They committed numerous personal fouls including multiple face masks and piling on Kerryon Johnson every chance they got.  They committed so many fouls that the refs called just enough where they kept Auburn in the game long after they should have been out of it.  I have no respect for Kirby Smart or the gutter ball Georgia was playing.  It is just completely unacceptable.   It is sad to say but the Auburn vs. Georgia rivalry is no longer as special and needs to be moved to earlier in the season.

It is just too hard to play two of the top schools in the SEC every year in the last three weeks of the season.  It has killed too many of Auburn’s championship seasons and almost derailed several more.  In this new era of SEC football it has to be changed especially since the home and away rotation is the same as Bama.  It is sad but things just do not stay the same except of course for the “sacred cows” of college football always getting ahead.  As a friend told me, just about every team does have to win their conference to get into the playoff but it was not made a requirement so the powers that be can always get Bama, Ohio State, Texas, USC, etc.. in when they want.  It is pathetic and blatantly unfair.  The NFL does not give the Dallas Cowboys a shortcut to the Super Bowl, MLB does not give the Yankees an express ticket to the World Series and likewise no college football team that does not even win their own division should be in a four team playoff.

THE LAST WORD

It is really sad to feel this hollow after this kind of season but I do.  I am sorry but I have to say it again... I HATE THE GUS MALZAHN OFFENSE.  I simply cannot stand watching it.  How in the world have Georgia Tech fans put up with running the archaic triple option offense this long?  It is bad enough watching Gus' Wing-T.  He has done some impressive things but with the caliber of players he has managed to recruit he has also drastically underperformed.  Jarrett Stidham could be a good passing quarterback like Barrett Trotter and Jeremy Johnson before him but if you are not a running quarterback your talent will be wasted.  I wish we would just stop recruiting good drop back quarterbacks so I do not have to watch the waste.  That was another reason 2013 was fun to watch because at that time Nick Marshall was so raw and better at running the football it was the right thing to run the Gus offense.

Luckily for Gus the Mississippi schools are down and Arkansas is starting over.  Ed Orgeron will never be a great coach and I think Jimbo Fisher is way overrated not to mention poor Tennessee rolls onto the schedule next year.  Gus will feast on most of those teams but will lose to Georgia and Bama on the road next season plus lose another head scratcher somewhere else like 2014 and 2016.  Basically again Gus will continue to lose every game that comes down to a passing game.  I guess 8 or 9 wins with losses at Amen Corner is decent but I am sorry I am not looking forward to it.  I am not sure what I am going to write here.  I do not know how I can continue to break down years more of Malzahn games.  I can pretty much predict correctly almost every game we play in.  I went with 9-3 this season but a special defense got us one more win that I expected.  It will not happen again I do not think under Malzahn.  

BONUS BOWL THOUGHTS

Let me get this straight, we get the more "prestigious" bowl spot but we get sent to the Peach Bowl against Central Florida while LSU gets Notre Dame???  LSU has played Notre Dame several times over the last 20 years while Auburn has NEVER played them.  Do I even have to say that regardless of whether they are undefeated or not NOBODY CARES ABOUT PLAYING CENTRAL FLORIDA.  This completely stinks.  How can we get the best non-playoff bowl spot and get stuck playing in Atlanta again against a non-Power 5 team???  I mean it is like my same friend told me, the powers that be may not go out of their way to screw Auburn but they certainly take the opportunity when it presents itself... "Hey guys we have to send one of these teams to play Central Florida... of course Auburn, great idea!". 

It was great beating Georgia and Bama in November but again this season has certainly ended on a down note but hey now we get to watch basketbal... er nevermind.

Game 12 Review: Just BETTER

Auburn 26  Bama 14.  You grow up Auburn, you grow up cheering for the underdog.  You grow really identifying with David in the whole David vs. Goliath story.  It is just part of Auburn.  It still is and always will be and it was still a factor the last three weeks as Auburn was an underdog to both Georgia and Bama.  However last night Auburn was Goliath, Auburn was the stronger team.  It has happened before like in the late 80s and early 2000s but not during the $aban era other than his first year in 2007.  Auburn delivered $aban two absolutely gut-wrenching losses in 2010 and 2013 on great comebacks but last night Auburn was just the better team beating the #1 undefeated 11-0 Crimson Tide.

I have to say I have never seen a year like this or a coach do what Gus Malzahn has done although I have to say this season does closely resemble the 1989 season.  Both teams were trying to find their indentity early in the season and struggled losing two tough games but flipped that proverbial switch somewhere along the way and finished super strong beating an undefeated Bama team.  However this season does stick out for how bad Auburn looked in their tough early losses.  After the LSU game I could not even imagine this ending.  I am not sure even now knowing all I do about sports how a team could look that bad and then play this good.  It is simply amazing.

I do not take back anything I have wrote about Gus Malzahn.  He has looked that bad the last three seasons and in those early losses this season.  I can only consider the evidence before me and as I wrote after the LSU game, the mountain of evidence was massive against him.  It looks now that the LSU game finally got him to change enough to allow this team to grow and improve and become the team we have seen the last three weeks.  It was not a huge blaring change but a subtle one.  You saw an extra pass here and there, a play against his entrenched tendencies, not going quite as conservative late, etc...  He is still maybe the most stubborn man I have ever come across but evidently blowing that LSU game and the fallout from it finally got through to him.

Gus Malzahn has now completed the test that separates good solid long-term coaches from shooting stars like Gene Chizik and Terry Bowden.  Those coaches were great and the perfect match for one single season but faltered soon after.  Malzahn like Coach Dye and Jordan before him has now had great success, faltered and then built it back up again and is on the cusp of being the second coach in modern Auburn history to win the SEC multiple times.  However let me stop there and say that Auburn will have a big challenge beating a very good Georgia Bulldog team twice in a month.  It will certainly not be easy but man it is going to be a fun week looking forward to the biggest Auburn vs. Georgia game of all-time.  Auburn vs. Georgia for the SEC Championship in Atlanta.  It just does not get any better than that.

My oldest son and I on the field!

THE GOOD
The Auburn fans especially the students have really brought it against Georgia and Bama.  They created a real home field advantage that rattled both teams including Bama's two botched snaps.  Jordan Hare Stadium is usually not included among the loudest toughest stadiums to play in but in these last two big games no stadium has been tougher or louder.  I feel extremely fortunate to have been in the stadium these last two games and soak up this unbelievable atmosphere.  I think the defense is the catalyst.  It is hard to keep that fervor when your defense is bending every drive and the other team is scoring a lot even if your team is winning.  That brings us too...

THE GREAT
I knew the Auburn defense was good early this season.  I commented there was something special about them several times early in the season.  They had chemistry, leadership and energy.  You could just feel it.  They were very good against Georgia but Georgia had a freshmen quarterback playing his first big SEC road game.  The Auburn defense was great against Bama.  They shutdown the Bama juggernaut and the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Jalen Hurts.  I has been a long time since an Auburn defense has gone toe-to-toe with a great Bama team and won this decisively.  They held the Tide to 3 for 11 on third downs and shut out them out in the first and fourth quarters.

Also great this day was the Auburn offense.  Quarterback Jarrett Stidham was simply spectacular going 21 for 28 for 237 yards plus rushing for 50 yards and a critical touchdown.  Auburn fans have seen all season the flashes of how good this guy is and he then put it all together at exactly the right time in the biggest game of the season.  He made great throws and he made great decisions on when to throw it away and when to run.  Right now, Jarrett Stidham is the best quarterback in the SEC.  There is also a good argument that Kerryon Johnson is the best running back in the SEC.  He did it all Saturday running the ball, catching the ball and even throwing the ball in the signature play from this great Iron Bowl victory.  It had to have been one of the greater single play calls in Auburn history. 

It was a play that has been three years in the making.  I think Kerryon has been doing the "wildcat" play for Auburn that long and has never thrown the ball out of it.  It was a perfect call, perfect throw and perfect catch.  After that Kerryon continually pounded the Bama defense getting those tough positive yards inside.  He finished with over 100 well earned yards rushing.  He walked off the field injured but as the crowd chanted his name you knew he was still one of the MVPs this day.  Now every Auburn fan out there is hoping Kerryon can play next week, Auburn will certainly need him.  I have to also give a shout out to the new single season catches leader in Auburn history, Ryan Davis.  His 11 receptions in this game are Auburn's Iron Bowl record and with 69 catches this season, Davis broke Darvin Adams' single-season record of 60 in 2010.

Of course behind every great performance by a quarterback and a running back is a good offensive line playing their guts out.  This Iron Bowl was no different as the Auburn offensive line battled a great Bama defensive line all day and held their own.  It was like I read somewhere else this morning, this was a game played in 4 and 5 yard increments.  There were big plays but the majority of the game was a "mano a mano" battle in the trenches which Bama usually thrives on but Auburn won this day.  To put it in Pat Dye's terms, Auburn was more than "man enough" to take on the Tide.  This was readily apparent on both sides of the ball.  It also shows the one thing Gus Malzahn and his staff has done right the last few years and that is recruiting.  In the shadow of the greatest recruiting machine of all time run by $aban at Bama, Auburn was able to bring this team together.

TOOMERS



THE BAD
I hate to say anything negative after that game but I have to call out the refs.  You cannot do it when you lose or it is sour grapes so I will say it after one of Auburn's bigger wins.  What were these guys doing?  They would not call pass interference even when a guy is getting tackled before the ball gets there.  They call that deflection that hit the ground a touchdown catch for Bama. It was of course reversed but come on that was an easy call.  They then completely mess up the fourth down botched snap play.  Yes Auburn had 12 men on the field but Bama was not set and had multiple people moving.  It was a simple illegal procedure call.  The botched snap and 12 men made no difference because illegal procedure is a dead ball foul.  That is an easy easy call, again what were these guys doing???

THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The Deep South's oldest and best rivalry will now be center stage in the 2017 SEC Championship game.  Auburn and Georgia fans have been waiting a long time for this.  It seemed many times that this would happen but it never has.  I know when this game first started I thought it would happen way before now but finally after 26 games here we are.  It also will be the first one of these in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.  It should be an unbelievable atmosphere and game.  It will be the first to have a playoff spot on the line for both teams.  It is a playoff and championship game for both teams.  I think it will also be the first to feature a rematch of teams less than a month after the first game.

Auburn beat Georgia up pretty good two weeks ago and Georgia made a lot of mistakes.  I certainly expect a much closer game where Georgia cuts down on its mistakes.  The Bulldogs preparation for Georgia Tech will also certainly help against Auburn as well.  There is also the matter of Kerryon Johnson, Auburn would certainly not be as good without him.  That will be the biggest question going into the game.  However Georgia cannot escape one fact, freshman Jake Fromm will have to beat the best defense in the country for the Bulldogs to win.  On the other side, the Georgia defense will have to shut down the best quarterback in the conference.  It is tough to win a rematch but it is also tough to beat this Auburn team right now.  Let the build up begin...

Game 11 Review: The Stage is Set AGAIN

Auburn 42  Louisiana Monroe 14.  Yes, once again this post is late and yes once again it is due to soccer tournaments!   It is hard to cover all these sports in one weekend.  Luckily this game was a snoozer that next to nobody cared about.  It was just a necessary step this weekend for Auburn and Bama to get to this week and the big showdown in the Iron Bowl.  So here we are, for the second time the Iron Bowl will decide the SEC West champion and possibly a lot more.  The stage is set again for another monumental game in this epic rivalry.  While I prefer the Georgia game to this hate fest, there is no getting around how big this game and how great this rivalry is when both teams are good. 

There is really not much to say about the Louisiana Monroe game.  The team was flat and there was probably no avoiding that but everything ended up looking right by the end.  Kerryon turned in another good performance.  Jarrett Stidham despite a few mistakes had a another good day and his favorite targets, Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis, once again did most of the work catching the ball.  The offensive line was solid and well as the defense although watching Jeff Holland go down was simply terrifying.  A couple of other defenders got dinged up as well.  The only casualty right now appears to be Tre' Williams which stinks but hopefully it is not any worse.  That was pretty much the only thing I cared about in this game outside of getting the win was injuries.

Initial thoughts on Iron Bowl... I am a little disturbed from surfing different Auburn sites.  It just seems a lot of Auburn fans seem to think that because of great wins in 2010 and 2013 that some mystical forces are guaranteeing an Auburn win.  It just does not work that way.  Auburn won in 2010 because of a good team and the greatest quarterback in Auburn history.  Auburn won in 2013 because of an incredible playmaking offense and opportunistic defensive and special teams play.  It was not mystical forces.  This year's Auburn offense despite their stat padding against the dregs of the conference is not as good on offense as the 2013 team at that point.  Also other teams now know all of Malzahn's tendencies especially Bama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt who started Malzhan's downfall stopping Auburn's 2013 offense in the second half of the national championship.

The good thing is the defense is miles ahead of the 2013 defense.  However this defense has shown over the past two seasons it is susceptible to the big pass play against good teams.  Auburn has just been lucky not to play many of those.  Jalen Hurts for all his detractors is a playmaker, a lot like Nick Marshall.  He has not lost one game except for the national championship game where the defense let him down as he has put Bama back on top.  The guy is a winner.  I would much rather face Bama's backup.  It is unbelievable the complaining I hear from Bama fans about this guy.  He is on his way to maybe becoming the winningest quarterback in Bama's long and storied history.

Bama's offensive line and running backs are as good or better than Georgia and their wide receivers are better.  The Auburn defense as good as it is will have their work cut out for them.  On the other side, Bama's defense is a little down due to injuries.  However people are also taking this too far.  The Bama defense might not be it's usual juggernaut self but it is still very good.  You also have to look at the Gus Malzahn factor.  People are completely overreacting to the Georgia game.  As I wrote, that was the perfect situation for Auburn and while the offensive coaches called a better game they still made mistakes in the red zone that resulted in field goals not touchdowns.  Auburn feasted on Georgia mistakes to blow the game open.  I do not believe Bama will make those mistakes.

Prediction?  Auburn is good enough to beat Bama at home.  I believe that.  However right now unfortunately if I have to pick I just do not think Malzahn has changed enough to beat Bama.  He is still not balanced enough despite the yardage totals.  Auburn pads those passing stats by making every jet sweep a pass and all the swing passes that are basically runs.  Even in the Georgia game, Jarrett Stidham did not do many straight drop back passes. 

I believe straight passing is the only way to beat Bama outside the rare exception like the 2013 team.  I do not believe all of Auburn's motion and misdirection will work against Bama.  Basically in my gut I still do not believe in Gus Malzahn on offense.  It will take more than the Georgia game to get me to forget the Clemson and LSU games and three seasons of terrible offensive plans and play calling in big games.  I hope I am wrong.  I will be there to find out.  It is time for the IRON BOWL.

Game 10 Review: THE PERFECT STORM

KERRYON JOHNSON

32 carries for 167 yards rushing

2 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown

NICK CHUBB

11 carries for 27 yards

 

Auburn 40  Georgia 17.  My last words on my late last post on Friday were:  "This game really sets up well for Auburn.  The Tigers even with Malzahn are due to play well against Georgia.  Georgia is a running team with a freshmen quarterback coming to Jordan Hare.  AUBURN IS THE UNDERDOG even though they have a very good team.  I mean this is the perfect storm..."  I certainly did not see an Auburn blowout win coming but this really seemed like the perfect situation for the Tigers in a really big game.  That definitely turned out to be the case as the Auburn coaches and players took advantage of this great situation and did their best job of the season and annihilated the Georgia Bulldogs.  This Tiger storm washed away a lot of frustration and heartache against Georgia in one glorious night.  No mater what happens in two weeks this game mattered, a LOT.

 

Where do you start?  I will start with my walk to the stadium.  There were Georgia people everywhere and by time I had reached my seat I had just had enough.  I had enough of stupid losses to inferior Georgia teams the last two seasons.  I had enough of the blowouts to Georgia like in 2014, 2012, 2011, 2007, 2006 and 2003.  I had enough of the close losses like in 2002, 2008 and 2009.  Since blowing out Georgia in 1999, our only wins have been in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2013.  In the last 17 years, our only two convincing wins were by two of the best teams in Auburn history in 2004 and 2010.  The others were in overtime or on the last play of the game.  I mean we only have six wins in 17 years against these guys, only six!  ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH.  The mantra started weeks ago...  BEAT GEORGIA.  BEAT GEORGIA.  BEAT GEORGIA.

 

The pregame at Jordan Hare was amazing.  It was another one of those rare games where something was in the air, you could feel it.  Georgia was coming in undefeated and #1 in the country.  The flyover was incredible and the eagle soared within 15 feet of my seat.  It was so loud by kickoff...  the stage was set... I was feeling good...  and then Georgia drove it right down our throat for a quick touchdown and 7-0 lead.  I was shocked.  I just did not see that coming.  I did not see Jake Fromm hitting that pass on the first drive.  I knew we were better than that and we were.  Georgia would not score another touchdown till the game was decided.  After that drive the Auburn defense rose up and turned in a performance that will become legend.  They held the #1 Georgia Bulldog rushing attack, the best in the SEC, to 46 YARDS (!!!???!!!), 46 YARDS ON OVER 30 CARRIES. 

 

After that opening drive, the Auburn defense thoroughly dominated the Georgia offense.  The defense also had four sacks and held the Bulldogs under 250 total yards.  It was a thoroughly dominating performance from top to bottom, from the line to the secondary and back.  This defense is a special group.  They have chemistry and leadership.  "The Sensei" Jeff Holland and Marlon Davidson leading the line, DeShaun Davis and Tre Williams leading the linebackers and Tray Matthews and Carlton Davis leading the secondary.  There are a lot more leaders and playmakers I am leaving out on all those units as well.  The guys started the season on fire and have rarely let down.  They certainly did not yesterday and put up their finest performance of the season.  They will give Auburn a chance in two weeks.

 

Auburn just has a unique history of running backs.  Frankly it is amazing.  Through the years they just keep coming, in my lifetime...  Joe Cribbs, James Brooks, Lionel James, Bo Jackson, Brent Fullwood, James Joseph, Stacy Danley, James Bostic, Stephen Davis, Rudi Johnson, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons, Ben Tate, Michael Dyer, Tre Mason, Kamryn Pettway and now...  Kerryon Johnson.  You saw the talent the last two seasons but he was held up by freak injuries and Pettway stole the show last season.  This season as people left and Pettway got in trouble and then got hurt it all came down to Kerryon.  Everyone including me kept thinking another injury would get him and that he was just not meant to be the every-down-thirty-carry type running back.  Well we were wrong.  Look at the line for the game:  32 carries for 167 yards rushing plus two catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.

 

Kerryon was amazing.  He is just such a smart player.  He did such a good job selling that he was blocking before flaring out on that last touchdown.  He also does as good a job at reading his blocking as any running back I have ever seen at Auburn.  He followed the Auburn offensive line and they led the way for him dominating in the trenches.  The line did a great job especially considering the constant shuffling having to be done due to injuries.  Jarrett Stidham completes the package with his continual improvement at quarterback.  This guy is good.  He will always be under utilized in the Malzahn offense but he still stands out.  With all the team's success, I have still seen a few "what-ifs" about Sean White the last two seasons.  I do not understand it, a fully healthy Sean White is just not near the quarterback Stidham is.

 

Much of the success for the Tigers this year has been because of the huge upgrade at quarterback.  Stidham just gives that next dimension to the passing game.  He is good on the short and long throws.  He is strong and accurate.  He needs to get a lot faster on his reads but unfortunately he will not learn that under Malzahn.  The coaches obviously called a better game than usual against Georgia.  They absolutely burned the Bulldogs on the two reverse screens for touchdowns.  Those were brilliant calls.  The most glaring error that continues to kill Auburn in the red zone is not throwing on second down.  They continue to wait for third down when they have to pass.  If they want to turn around their touchdown percentage in the red zone, they have to throw early and not wait till third down.  Put the ball in Stidham's hands.  He is your guy.

 

Luckily most of the mistakes were made by Georgia.  The Bulldogs are a very good team but their weak schedule and Auburn's play forced them to make a lot of mistakes.  They looked amazing on the first drive and then the bottom fell out.  Jake Fromm missed a wide open touchdown pass, they committed numerous dumb penalties and turned the ball over on a muffed punt to start the second half.  Their defense held them in it and the Bulldogs had a chance to make it a two point game at the half.  Georgia was in business at the Auburn 26 yard line with 22 seconds left and no timeouts.  The only play especially when you are down is to take two shots in the end zone and then kick the field goal.  Georgia head coach Kirby Smart decided to run up the middle???  That had to be have been one of the dumbest calls I have seen this season. 

 

Georgia missed the field goal after the dumb call and Auburn was up 16-7 at the half.  Jarrett Stidham would take it in for the touchdown to close the drive after Auburn recovered the fumbled punt.  Ryan Davis would take it to the house on the next drive burning an obvious Bulldog blitz.  Kerryon would burn them later over pursuing again.  I then got to watch two of the best signs that maybe Gus Malzahn is changing a little.  They had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with a change of mindset.  First, Gus challenged a generous spot for Georgia late in the game when it was well in hand.  That is a change in mindset.  Next backup quarterback Malik Willis was allowed to pass on last drive of the game with all the subs in.  Those two seemingly insignificant events spoke volumes to me.  I hope they are signs of change.

 

My final thoughts are on the amazing atmosphere before, during and after the game at Jordan Hare.  I have already talked about the pregame and it was amazing but it just kept getting better as the game went on.  The crowd was awesome and the students were incredible.  I have not seen the students that into a game in a long time.  I also loved Auburn bringing back a little "Soulja Boy" as payback for Georgia's little dance party in 2007.  Great job to whoever had that idea.  It has just been so long coming against Georgia that I think everyone enjoyed every minute of it.  Of course there is only one place to go after an Auburn win of this magnitude and that is Toomers.  My Dad, son and myself headed to Toomers immediately following the game and I saw something I have never seen before and I have been to a lot of games.  It seemed the entire stadium was heading to Toomers, everybody!  The scene when you got to Toomers was just as amazing.  The masses seem to cover the entire block as the Auburn family celebrated the biggest win on the plains since the Kick Six.

 

This one is now in the books and again no matter what happens in two weeks, it was a deeply significant win.  However the Iron Bowl is the Iron Bowl and this will be the second one to decide the SEC West Championship.  My early thoughts are Bama is a little bit better than Georgia on offense.  I am not sure they are better on defense but I think they will be coached better.  You would think Kirby Smart knows Gus pretty well but he made some mistakes I do not think Bama will make.  Auburn on the other hand is as good as the Tide and will be at home.  Bama is suffering a bit like Georgia from a ridiculously easy schedule.  Auburn has had some easy ones as well but has been to Clemson and had to travel to Baton Rouge where Bama's close win over Mississippi State was by far its toughest game of the season. It is shaping up to be another great one and I can only hope it all turns out like this win for the ages over a #1 ranked Georgia team.