GAME 1 REVIEW: Just What The Doctor Ordered

Auburn 60  Akron 10.  The Bryan Harsin era got off to a good start last night at a packed Jordan Hare Stadium and frankly it was the best moment for Auburn sports since the last time the stadium was packed at the 2019 Iron Bowl.  There are many problems in the world right now that make sports seem pretty insignificant but right here I am just looking at the small little spot of Auburn University sports. Auburn beat Bama for a huge win and knocked the Tide out of any championship contention to end the 2019 football season.  Bruce Pearl then followed up Auburn's amazing Final Four run with another great season before the sports world shut down because of COVID.  

I did not ever say anything about one of the greatest seasons in Auburn basketball history that will be completely forgotten.  Bruce and the boys went 25-6 (the third best record in Auburn basketball history I think?) and 12-6 in the SEC and were looking at maybe winning another SEC tournament and making another deep run in the NCAA tournament.  That season featured some of the most exciting games and maybe the greatest regular season run of wins I have ever seen in Auburn basketball.  In one single stretch of games Auburn beat Ole Miss on the road in 2OTs, beat Kentucky at home with College Gameday in town, beat Arkansas on the road in OT, beat LSU in maybe the greatest basketball come back in Auburn history in OT and then finished the streak beating Bama in yet another OT game.  Samir Doughty, Isaac Okoro, Danjel Purifoy, and Austin Wiley.  Absolute Auburn greats gone and forgotten.

The 2020 baseball season was wiped out and then we got Gus Malzahn's last excruciating season on the plains that included exactly one big win over an overrated LSU team.  Unfortunately for Auburn things did not get any better as we went into 2021. To ring in the new year we got a typical Malzahn-ian bowl effort.  He was not there but the team played like he was losing ugly to Northwestern.  Harsin and company did the best they could to save the recruiting class but it is not a strong class.  Unfortunately this part will continue to hurt Auburn, Gus' declining recruiting efforts will continue to hamper Auburn's championship hopes long after his departure.  I do not want to take away anything from a great start last night but the bottom line for Auburn football is this coming recruiting class is critical.

Back to the start of 2021... even the great Bruce Pearl could not stop the downward trend of Auburn sports after COVID-19 started.  The basketball Tigers were just too young and the pathetic NCAA kept super recruit Sharife Cooper out over a third of the season.  The young Auburn basketball team could just never get going.  The only high point was maybe the greatest first game in Auburn basketball history put up by Cooper in a loss to a really good Bama team.  He was amazing putting up 26 points and nine assists in his debut and almost carrying Auburn to the win.  The women's basketball team went winless in the SEC and then the baseball and softball teams both crashed and burned as well.  It has just been one thing after another for Auburn sports since the start of the pandemic.

The hits continued off the field with the NIL (name, image, and likeness) ruling by the Supreme Court and the full inception of the transfer portal.  These two things will continue to effect college football going forward.  The NIL stuff was really no surprise as the greed surrounding college sports and the millions of dollars taken in by conferences, schools, and coaches continued to rise.  It was only natural that the players were going to be part of it sooner or later.  The complete idiocy of the NCAA as an organization contributed to the issue coming to a head sooner rather than later.  The biggest problem I have with the whole thing is the complete lack of any real rules regarding uh anything.  College football and basketball have pretty much become professional minor league so I am to the point I wish it would become official so we could have some rules.  College sports especially football just look like professional wrestling to me with the championship contenders picked before the season starts.

That is all external to the Auburn athletic department in these trying times but unfortunately Auburn seemingly cannot keep it together internally either.  First you have lame duck president Jay Gogue continuing to lead Auburn nowhere as he has done his entire career.  Literally the next time Auburn is PROACTIVE about anything will be the FIRST TIME.  The latest incident on his watch is evidently many of Auburn's coaches revolting against athletic director Allen Greene.  Greene while appearing to get it right with Harsin has evidently gone completely overboard cutting costs in the Auburn athletic department further hindering Auburn's collective sports teams who as I just described are up against it already.  Things have gotten so bad that Gogue moved Auburn COO Lt. Gen. Burgess into the athletic department.  You just have to shake your head...  You just do not hear sh!t like this happening in Athens or Tuscaloosa.  I mean things are bad enough and we now have a civil war in the Auburn AD???

After ALL OF THIS, we finally got into SEC media days and Auburn fans were looking at putting some of this behind us and trying to get fired up about the upcoming football season.  New Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin took his turn on the last day and ended up putting his foot in his mouth and fumbling the ball on Auburn's COVID vaccination plan.  I guess all of us can continue to argue amongst ourselves about which is worse, the disease or the vaccine, but in my opinion a sports team cannot.  You have a better chance of having a good season and winning by getting your vaccinations and Harsin basically admitted he had not gotten his and that Auburn was behind most of the conference.  This officially ended his honeymoon with many Auburn fans and started literally countless bitter arguments between Auburn fans on the subject especially in nameless and faceless forums.

Harsin and several of Auburn's coaches then contracted COVID-19 during preseason practice.  He also hamstringed the media even worse than Malzahn giving them the same limited bland short practice looks plus banning them from discussing injuries.  I am so tired of college coaches and their petty dictatorships.  Every big time college football program wants to blather on so much about the NFL well then how about you act more like the NFL on practice looks and injury reports.  The college football preseason is just so much blathering on about nothing that it is not any fun at all anymore.  Nobody wants to hear the 1000th guess about Auburn or anybody else's season.  That is why there is no preview here on this site.  You just have to endure till you finally get to the start of the season.

And that is where we finally got to last night and it was Auburn's first great sports moment since this whole pandemic started...  A beautiful day, the Tiger Walk, a full stadium, the flight of the eagle... AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A DECADE NO GUS MALZAHN OFFENSE.  I mean I think I know now a little bit about how it feels to get out of prison (-:  I will just quote a good friend of mine here on the offense last night: "You saw clean substitutions, very few penalties, decisive play calling, throwing intermediate passes, utilizing the middle of the field (on those passes), and personnel groupings that did not defy logic."  I would add did not defy logic or TIP OFF EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO RUN.  Things may go bad for this football team but let me be clear the team IS better right now.

Obviously Akron remains one of the worst teams in the country but you can blow out a team and still not get anything out of it ala Malzahn.  Gus would have run the ball 70 times in that game and gotten about the same score but we would be no better off.  Harsin and company were much more balanced which as I have screamed the last 10 years helps you get better!!!  You have to throw the ball in lesser games to be any good at it in the big games which is a lesson Gus never learned.  I did see his big win at Central Florida and all I have say to that and to the other success he will have there is his crap will work at a lesser level especially when you are the big fish in that small pond.  The fact remains is he was done after the 2017 season and Auburn is much better off regardless of how things go.

The stats speak for themselves.  Again Akron is awful but to play nearly perfect in any football game is a good thing.  Bo Nix who by the way has never been the problem was... almost perfect going 20-22 for 275 yards and three touchdowns.  Tank Bigsby and Jaquez Hunter both had over a hundred yards rushing.  Shaun Shivers was finally used as he is supposed to be used which is as a change of pace back and that resulted in him getting a touchdown running and receiving the ball.  The ball was SPREAD AROUND to nine different receivers (has that ever happened at Auburn?).  Four Auburn receivers had three or more catches and another one had two.  The young Auburn wide receiver corps looked very good.  Senior Shedrick Jackson led the way with five catches.  Finally the much maligned (I am one of those) Auburn offensive line powered the whole thing.

I also want to point out again the BALANCE.  In a game like this Auburn ran the ball 31 times for 315 yards and passed the ball 27 times for almost 300 yards.  I know many people are like so what?  For those people I challenge them to google every nothing game like this under Malzahn or frankly under pretty much any past Auburn coach.  I bet you will not find a game remotely similar to this in these type games.  I have said over and over in this blog that I hate this attitude that Auburn always has to be a running team.  I hate it because any successful team outside a few rare exceptions must be a BALANCED team.  Look no further than the football factory to our west for proof of this point.  It is also again key to maintain that balance in games like this.  IT WAS SO REFRESHING.  The "cherry on top" was the coaching staff letting backup quarterback T.J. Finley throw the ball with the third team in garbage time.  It is a little thing but it is a huge thing because your backup QB needs it so bad.

I have spent so much time on the offense for obvious reasons but I also thought the defense looked better as well.  Many people started hating on Kevin Steele when it looked like he might be the next Auburn head coach but I disliked him long before that and stated it many times in this blog.  I thought he was so overrated.  He did a decent job but it was mainly against poor passing teams.  He absolutely got roasted every time Auburn played a good passing team, every time.  I like Derek Mason's attacking style much better.  Auburn will still get burned plenty but hopefully they can also make big plays more as well.  The player of the night for me was senior T.D. Moultry who has seemingly been in exile the last two seasons.  He ended the night with seven tackles, three for losses including a sack.  I still think parts of Auburn's defensive line are undersized and will struggle against good teams but the back seven looks rock solid.

All in all, for really the first time since the pandemic hit it was truly great to be an Auburn Tiger.  That was what last night was all about.  There will be losses and tough times this season but hopefully there will also be a few big wins as well.  I am already fired up for what to me will be Auburn's biggest game of the season at Penn State in less than two weeks.  I cannot remember Auburn playing a big-time Big Ten team in the regular season...  EVER.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime type matchup.  I love our rivalries but for this year I think this Penn State game is the big one.  There will be plenty of time to talk about the conference season but right now the countdown is on to what will hopefully be a truly special game Saturday September 18, 2021.  First up though is another scrimmage against Alabama State and my hope is the Auburn football team can do the same thing in that game next Saturday they did last night, play good and get better as a team.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN

"Go west young man", well it appears that Auburn athletic director Allen Greene did just that to complete the search for a new head football coach on the plains. Greene went all the way to Idaho and Boise State University to get Bryan Harsin as Auburn's new coach. It was an absolute surprise to me and I think to most people. The truth be told I have been glued to this search since it started picking up speed and yesterday morning I was convinced the whole thing was just not serious and Kevin Steele would still end up being our head coach. I have not been a fan of Steele as defensive coordinator. I have always thought he was vastly overrated so I certainly was not in favor of him becoming head coach. Therefore considering that and where the search was yesterday, I was absolutely ESTATIC when I heard Harsin.

I guess though I need to get a few thoughts off my chest about Gus Malzahn and this search before we THANKFULLY TURN THE PAGE ON ALL OF IT. I actually got my review of Auburn's final game against Mississippi State done on time and posted early the Sunday after. I did not think Gus would be fired, I just did not think Gogue would do it and I was wrong. I did not update that post, it was the final chapter on Gus and I wanted to leave it. Several times during this search I wanted to write a post as I had some real rants ready but things were changing so fast that I wanted to wait till it was over. I also thought about doing a summary post on Gus' career but after reviewing every game in the Malzahn era I have had enough of writing about his games. 

I will give two more paragraphs to Gus Malzahn and then frankly I never want to talk about him again. Gus did some good things at Auburn. Nobody will ever forget 2013 especially the Georgia and Bama games. The "Miracle at Jordan Hare" against Georgia was just that. The "Kick Six" is the greatest play in college football history and one of the greatest games.  Gus led Auburn to destroying #1 Georgia and beating Bama, who was also #1 at the time, by more than ten points for the first time since 1969 in 2017. Those are also unforgettable games. Auburn was the best team in the country for three weeks. Finally I will never forget the Iron Bowl last season, it was an incredible game and the last one I will get to watch with my parents at Jordan Hare as they retired their season tickets. GREAT MEMORIES.

Thank you Gus for your part in those tremendous games. Thank you for the winning seasons. He is the only modern Auburn football coach to not have a losing season and that is an accomplishment. Unfortunately though I believe he was also the only modern Auburn football coach to NEVER beat Bama, Georgia or LSU on the road or win a significant bowl game. There were too many poorly coached games especially on offense. Gus could never adjust after they changed the substitution rules and defenses caught up to him. He refused to ever really adjust or change his offense regardless of whoever was supposedly calling the plays. He just never seemed to have a clue about or add any modern passing concepts. He did it his way till the end.

And it was definitely time for his Auburn career to end as I wrote in the last two game reviews. I would also like to take this time to also correct something I hear over and over during times like this but is not true, Auburn has NEVER fired a coach early. Auburn has NEVER had an itchy trigger finger. Auburn may not pick the new ones right but they have ended each coach exactly when they had to be ended. Pat Dye resigned at the right time considering his health and other issues. Terry Bowden had the worst recruiting class in Auburn history in 1998. He absolutely had to go. Tommy Tuberville's last recruiting class was also a disaster and he obviously was not ready to go head-to-head with $aban. Finally Gene Chizik turned in the worst season in Auburn history before being let go. 

That brings us to ten days ago and the beginning of this search. There is another famous saying "all is well that ends well" and I think that is true here but whew this truism was certainly tested by this coaching search. I mean what a complete disaster before yesterday. I will cover most of my angst with this search by stating two things, in this day and age you cannot do public coaching searches or use committees without making an already tough process worse. I think you have to empower your athletic director to find a candidate and use all methods at his disposal privately as possible and then present that candidate to the people who will approve the hire. Auburn may have done some of this but it just seemed too much was public regardless of all the disinformation that was out there.

There are many things about this search that still do not make sense. Did the power brokers behind-the-scenes at Auburn really think they would be able to just pop Kevin Steele in there as head coach initially? If so they are really out of touch with reality. The whole #StopSteele campaign was a PR disaster. After that exactly what happened with Billy Napier? I will say that I still think Napier was the best candidate. He grew up in Georgia and had spent time on both $aban and Dabo's football staffs and had then done a top job at Louisiana. Did Auburn offer him the job? Did they put limitations on him? What happened there? I guess we will never know but I would like to. Honestly why did we even talk to Bill Clark at UAB? The timing of that also made Auburn look really bad. 

I also got sick of hearing about coaches that get way more attention than they deserve. Hugh Freeze did some good things at Ole Miss and while I believe in forgiveness and restoration I do not think you can put him in charge of a major football program after what he did in Oxford. If I ever hear Lane Kiffin's name again it will be too soon. Folks, Lane Kiffin has to be the most overrated coach ever. He has frankly never done anything as a head coach. He was a failure with the Raiders, he quit on Tennessee and then he failed at USC and he had plenty of time. I mean enough with Lane Kiffin. I think Brent Venables is a good coach but Auburn definitely did not need another defensive head coach who would be completely dependent on a big expensive offensive coordinator hire.

There was definitely a lot of misinformation out there, some were the media and fans scrambling after anything and I am sure some was put out by Auburn's enemies. However I do think Auburn was talking to these coaches in the order the information came out and it looked really bad. It really does look like the only initial plan after firing Gus was hiring Steele and that was a really bad plan. It sure appears that Auburn has been scrambling since then. The whole committee deal and hiring process seemed hastily thrown together and nobody knew who was really in charge of the search. I guess they do now and frankly he should have been in charge the whole time. The athletic director is now like the general manager of a pro sports franchise and I believe he has to be the man.

It really does appear Auburn athletic director Allen Greene at some point did take the lead on this search and he delivered to Auburn president Jay Gogue, the board of trustees and the Auburn family as a whole an excellent candidate. I honestly did not think this could happen at Auburn but am certainly happy it did. Greene it appears finally led Auburn to THINK OUT OF THE BOX rather than concentrating on who someone had coached for and where he lived or had ties to. I have said it so many times about any search whether it be Auburn or Bama or whoever, just hire a good football coach. You have to start there. I believe Auburn has done that here. I am sure that Gus Malzahn and the Bammers were all laughing there heads off this week but I do not think they are laughing any more...

Bryan Harsin is 76-23 as a head coach leading his Boise State teams to three Mountain West conference titles and bowl games every season. The Broncos have won ten games five times under Harsin. During Harsin's tenure as offensive coordinator Boise State went 61-5 and won two New Year's six major bowl games. He also served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Texas under Mack Brown in 2011 and 2012. This guy is a proven winner and good football coach. This differs greatly from Auburn's previous hires. Gus Malzahn had only head coached in high school and one year at Arkansas State. Gene Chizik was 5-19 as a head coach at Iowa State. Tommy Tuberville did a good job helping Ole Miss dig out from harsh NCAA sanctions but nothing like this. Terry Bowden came from Samford.

The biggest question about Harsin so far is his lack of recruiting experience in the south. I am not going to argue that, it is a big question. However Harsin's experience is very similar to Urban Meyer when Florida hired him out of Utah. Urban Meyer was looked at like Harsin at that time. It worked out. Also Tennessee was in the same spot Auburn is a couple of years ago searching for a coach. They went with the Jeremy Pruitt and his southern experience. He was considered one of the best recruiters in the country and had worked extensively for $aban at Bama along with a stint at Georgia and helping Florida State win the national championship as defensive coordinator. However his recruiting greatness has not translated to Tennessee. My point is that no ties to the south is not a death knell here.

Auburn also desperately needed an offensive coach. We thought we had it in Gus but he was a one-trick pony that again could never adapt. I think I can state as fact that Harsin is a proven good offensive coach. Boise State has long been known for offensive innovation and he has been there in one position or another for all of it. They have had great running and passing games. I think if Harsin gets the players he can have some very good offenses in the SEC. I also think he can have a great defense as well. Boise has put plenty of players into the NFL on both sides of the ball. Also after reading and listening to a lot of information about Harsin, I hear good things like: serious, focused, will not back down... I like what I hear and cannot wait to watch this guy go to work.

There are no guarantees, I definitely understand that. You have to get the players, you have to get them at every position. The timing and combination of players has to be right to even compete for a title. Auburn has some serious holes in their roster that have to be fixed and Auburn is surrounded by great teams. It is a serious challenge. Harsin could fail... but on the other hand he could also succeed. Did anyone think Boise State would stay a great football program for fifteen years when he started there in 2006? That was certainly a challenge that took a lot of great recruiting and coaching. Harsin obviously wants the increased challenge of competing in the hardest conference. The facts say he is a good coach and has a good chance of succeeding at Auburn.

The next question everyone has after recruiting is what his staff will look like. Many people want a clean sweep of our staff and I am not opposed to that. However I do think many powerful Auburn people want some of the current staff to stay. At this point, I am not opposed to that either. I do think Harsin agreeing to keep some of the current staff maybe one of the things along with his low buyout that made him attractive to Auburn and got this done. He will need the help of some experienced coaches who know the recruiting areas. This might be a concern to some people but after learning about Coach Harsin, I do not think this is a concern. This guy appears to be a strong leader and again an experienced his coach. He is going to run this football program his way. I do not think we have to worry about that.

Personally I am so happy that somehow some way Auburn was able to hire a good football coach. Things looked bleak yesterday. I came home completely convinced that this search was doomed to failure. I have watched so many games in stony silence the last few years. It just has not been fun and yesterday around 5:00pm I thought I was in for years more of that but then my phone buzzed... Bama and the rest of the college football world continue to always count Auburn out  and hey I had counted us out as well. Auburn has a lot of issues and messes up a lot but it is still a special place that has always been about comebacks. I think we just made another one. I think somehow some way Auburn picked the one guy that could unite everyone and bring us back again. Lets get started!!!

WAR BRYAN HARSIN AND WAR DAMN EAGLE. 

GAME 10 REVIEW: FATIGUE

Auburn 24  Mississippi State 10.  The Auburn football team mercifully closed out their 2020 season Saturday night with a win over a really bad Mississippi State team. The game itself was the worst I had seen all season through three quarters but Auburn finally made some plays and finished the Bulldogs off. I still think it is good that the SEC played football and frankly most teams did a great job including Auburn getting a full or close to full season in. Unfortunately the yearning for football as a relief from an awful year only goes so far, it is still not much fun to watch bad football and this game was again really bad. I think most SEC football fans outside of Tuscaloosa are glad to have the season over with. I am definitely glad it is over with after watching Auburn the last three weeks.

I also could care less about watching Bama and the same cast of characters from last year play for their "championship". I mean do that many people outside these schools enjoy watching the same teams play every year? The college football system in my opinion is just broken. The governing body appears to have completely lost control of the two major sports and there is absolutely no real enforcement of any rules outside the façade of  "secondary violations" and occasionally doling out stiff penalties to schools who are not part of the "blue bloods" of football or basketball. Kansas has broken how many rules in basketball now and nothing happens? Bama is going to hit what twenty years of #1 recruiting classes without ever committing a major violation. PLEASE. 

Fatigue has definitely set in. I love Auburn football and basketball but hate the system both play in. Is it just sour grapes because my team is not that good now? Maybe but when I watch a game and am bombarded for four hours with all this play off bull***, I am going to react. When I see a rebuilding Auburn basketball team beat Memphis before the football game (a feat that never would have happened pre-Bruce Pearl) and I know these kids cannot play any postseason ball I get mad. Again Chuck Person committed a felony trying to make money himself off Auburn basketball players leaving early for the NBA. How is that an NCAA violation? How did Auburn profit from that? If he had burglarized one of their houses do we get probation for that? The blue bloods never do!

OK ok back to the game and the current Auburn situation, fatigue has definitely set in here too. I cannot adequately describe how tired I am of watching Gus Malzahn offenses flounder around. I honestly do not think I can take another year of it. I know I have said that before but now more time has passed and I think as I wrote last week that everyone affiliated with Auburn has had enough now. I have completely documented the Gus Malzhan era on this blog. I have written time and again about how bad he coaches the passing offense. Many people have written how every single quarterback under Gus gets WORSE. Nick Marshall got worse, Jarrett Stidham got worse and now Bo Nix has gotten worse. Nix, a rising star last season, finished 15 of 32 for 125 yards against a bad State team he LIT UP last season.

Frankly, I am scared to think about the type of regression we might see next season if Nix becomes the first quarterback to play three straight seasons under Gus Malzahn. Except for a few plays, Nix was just awful last night, awful. I will say a lot of it is because his offensive line is even worse and cannot pass block to save their lives but still he was really bad. It was a real mess but one guy and one play turned it around enough to win the game. The one guy is Tank Bigsby who came back with a vengeance rushing for almost 200 yards on 26 carries. As the offense was falling apart around him, Bigsby would not quit, would not go down and was definitely the MVP of the game for Auburn on offense. Bigsby's balance is unbelievable, he will get hit and grabbed and he does not go down.

However even with Bigsby's heroics the game in my opinion came down to one play. Bo Nix and Seth Williams who for awhile looked to be disconnected and mad at each other again like the South Carolina game rallied and made this play and one more as well. The first one again in my opinion was the difference in Auburn winning or losing the game. The fourth quarter started with Auburn only up 9-3 and the momentum clearly shifting to State. State had just pinned Auburn deep on a punt and it was 3rd and 7 for the Tigers at the Auburn eight yard line. State gets a stop and they get good field position with momentum and could take the lead with one touchdown. Bo Nix who as stated above has been horrible all day drops back... every Auburn fan including me is already shaking their head...

Nix then threw his best pass of the day hitting Williams in stride for a 25 yard game. That play completely turned the momentum. Tank Bigsby tore off a run for 27 yards the next play. The drive would later stall outside the State 30 yard line and Auburn would be faced with 3rd and 14. The cameras also caught State defensive back Shawn Preston Jr. talking some serious trash to Seth Williams the play before... and that was a big mistake. Nix must have saw the commotion and with the game on the line again he threw another beauty that Williams went up and GOT for a touchdown. Williams was up in Preston's face immediately letting him have it. It was the one absolutely classic play from this terrible game. I am glad we got to see Nix to Williams for two more big plays.

It could be the last time as I think Williams declares for the NFL and might not play in a bowl game if there is one. Kudos to this combination that has made some huge plays for Auburn the last two seasons starting with Oregon through the Iron Bowl last season and from Kentucky through this game this season. I was also glad to see the defense absolutely dominate State. Now State's offense does not have a lick of talent but Auburn's defensive guys have hung in all year and they needed that. Despite some of the bad things you have to give kudos to the coaches and players for working hard to stay healthy and complete a winning season of 6-4 in this crazy year. It definitely took a lot of work to do it and it is an accomplishment. These guys have definitely earned some time off.

The question now is where does Auburn go from here? As I wrote last week I think Gus' time is over at Auburn but also as I said last week I think Auburn's weak administration will not do anything this season. I have not seen anything yet that makes me think that has changed. Yes Auburn's coaches and players just completed a great effort to complete the season and get a winning record but big-time college football is a 365-day grind and the all important early signing day is in THREE DAYS. Auburn looks to be way behind at the moment with no significant immediate help in the trenches. Can the coaches at least bring in a half decent recruiting class?  Who on the current roster is leaving?  Will Auburn get any significant transfers? There are many more questions than answers for Auburn.

GAME 9 REVIEW: IT IS TIME

Texas A&M 31  Auburn 20.  Another game against a good team and another loss... I am sure many on the resident Auburn sites will point to the spots in the game Auburn could have made a play that might have won them the game. However I believe those people are deluded. Texas A&M was the better team and they absolutely dominated Auburn for the most part. Frankly it should not have been as close as it was. Auburn has some really good guys with strong character playing for them but they simply do not have enough upper echelon talent especially on the lines. Auburn's defensive line is just not good. They are good men but are simply not SEC-caliber players. The same is true on the offensive line. There is a little talent at guard but not enough. Auburn simply does not have an offensive tackle on the roster.

The quarterback play is sporadic along with the coaching. Tank Bigsby looks to be a good prospect but he is not an upper-echelon SEC running back yet and none of the other running backs are even close. Auburn has All-SEC talent at wide receiver but the line play and coaching minimize the impact they can have. Auburn as it has been most of Gus Malzahn's tenure remains above the half line in the SEC but not in the top three which has also been true over the same time period. Auburn is a decent show, a mediocre meal, a lukewarm shower... it is not bad but it just does not satisfy either. Auburn football has in some way become monotonous or boring, other than a few big wins it has been the same for a decade. Those wins have been big but over time people and teams either get better or worse.

As I and many other Auburn fans have remarked, Auburn's recruiting though ranked high has slipped over the last few years and looks really bad right now. Auburn as always has NO offensive tackles currently in the class and not enough impact players for the defensive line. As I heard an analyst for one of the Auburn sites say and write this week, Gus Malzahn's offensive tackle recruiting the past few years is completely unacceptable. It will be an incredible accomplishment for this class just to be in the top twenty. There does not appear to be anyone coming in  that is going to immediately help turn this team around. Right now from everything I am hearing is that Auburn's fate next season depends on this probable upcoming one-time immediate transfer window.

I am not buying it. I mean the only thing that is going to really make a difference is an elite offensive and defensive tackle and I just do not see Auburn being the school that gets those few guys. That brings us to my point, Auburn, while not bottoming is getting worse under Malzahn. It appears there will be no championships won with last year's recruiting class or this upcoming one. I hate to keep repeating myself but YOU CANNOT WIN AN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT ELITE LINEMEN. Auburn had no chance this year and it does not appear they will have a chance next year either. I am tired of reading about how much Auburn does with low rated recruits. That may be true but you name me a championship Auburn team and I will name you a group of elite highly recruited linemen.

Auburn is getting worse under Malzahn and with it being eight years in with two years of declining recruiting classes the answer seems clear. It is time to for Auburn to move on from Gus Malzahn. It is not about the ongoing fight between supposed "optimists" and "pessimists", it is simple truth. History has proved that nowadays other than a few rare exceptions even a good coach can only last around a decade at a school or a professional sports team. The team then just needs a new voice. This fact has been stated by many great coaches. I have called for Malzahn's head a few times on this blog and I think my reasons were valid but now I do not think it is a debate. Gus Malzahn is about to finish his eighth season at Auburn plus three as a coordinator. He has done some good things but it is time to go.

Auburn is obviously not a championship contender and with the recruiting declining things could deteriorate quickly. Gus delivered one of the great seasons in Auburn history and three really big wins since then in 2017 Georgia and Bama plus 2019 Bama. However that is pretty much it. He also has lost EVERY big away and bowl game he has coached at Auburn. He has kept his teams working hard and has done a good job with keeping good character and academic achievement in the program. HOWEVER he has been well and I mean WELL COMPENSATED for everything he has done for Auburn. In fact he has been paid more money than every head coach in Auburn football history combined. He has attained generational wealth at Auburn and has gotten to live his dream as a big-time college coach.

He should see it is time now. Do not let the bottom fall out like Terry, Tommy and Gene did. Right now he could leave the program better than he found it. However if he is as stubborn about this as he is about his offense then Auburn needs to step up and do the right thing for the program. Why should Auburn make this change now? The biggest reason is recruiting, this season is already lost and the last few have not been good. You will put the program further behind by wasting another recruiting class if you wait till after another mediocre to bad season to end. The next reasons are fans, boosters, and money as those are all inextricably tied together. Malzahn has lost the majority of them I believe, if not by the losses then by the lukewarm product on the field most of his tenure at Auburn.

Malzahn will probably continue as coach and it is an obvious prediction that next year will just be more of the same. There is a complete vacuum of leadership from the board of trustees to the president to the athletic director at Auburn. There does not appear to be anybody capable of dynamic leadership. I have no confidence that these people can bring in a better coach. Auburn could get someone worse than Malzahn and turn into Tennessee. However that fear is no longer the reason to keep Malzahn, his time is simply up. They can put it off or live in fear but another head football coach will have to be selected soon whether anyone likes it or not. It is better to do it now.

GAME 8 REVIEW: OUT SICK

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

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

TOP TEN NOT-SO-GREAT NICK $ABAN MOMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GAME 7 REVIEW: SMOKED

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

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

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

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

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

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

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

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

THE UGLY

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

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

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

THE LAST WORD

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

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

GAME 6 REVIEW: TERRORIZED

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

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

THE GOOD

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

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

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

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

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

THE BAD

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

THE UGLY

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

THE LAST WORD

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