What if the shoe was on the other foot?

So Auburn loses their third high profile commitment to Bama under dubious circumstances in less than a year. The sound you are hearing? That would be crickets chirping. But hey I am an Auburn grad and a homer right? I am just being biased getting ticked off that nobody is even paying any attention to this right? Uh, wrong. Let us take a gander at what we would be seeing if the shoe was on the other foot...

"NCAA starting Auburn investigation after firestorm of criticism

AP Auburn, AL - The NCAA opened a full investigation on Auburn University in the midst of overwhelming controversy after three recruits reneged on their commitments to the University of Alabama and signed with Auburn. It all started in February of this year when Brent Calloway, the top player in the state, who had been a Alabama commitment suddenly committed to Auburn and then was allowed to leave school and remain sequestered for a week so Alabama coaches could not even talk to him. Pete Thamel of the New York Times is reporting that an anonymous source has said that he was spotted at Disney World wearing Auburn gear during this time.

Next Cyrus Kouandjio, the top offensive lineman and according to some services the top player overall in the entire country committed to Alabama on ESPN on signing day but his commitment was never received. He then quickly backed off and committed to Auburn a short time later even though he had commited to Alabama on signing day on national TV. In that time the athletic department of his high school received a large "anonymous" donation. ESPN's Joe Schaad is reporting that an anonymous source has said the money has been tracked to a Lee County location.

Those two unbelievable last minute switches stoked the fire but things exploded this week when again the best player in the state of Alabama and a longtime Bama commit, TJ Yeldon, suddenly changed to Auburn and had his high school coach release a statement about that just hours before the dead period for recruiting started which prevented Alabama coaches from even talking to him. Yeldon who was planning to enroll early is now an Auburn student and his recruitment is over.

Alabama shock jock radio host Paul Finebaum was quoted as saying "three high profile players who were committed then all three switch right at the very end under dubious circumstances?  Come on it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out something stinks here."  Finebaum's show has been more and more explosive after each recruiting defection.  Finebaum also insinuates heavily that explosive new evidence against Auburn will come out any day."

Some tongue-in-cheek there but ""three high profile players who were committed then all three switch right at the very end under dubious circumstances" is absolute fact.  However there is no uprising since it is Bama getting the recruits but I have no doubt that the fictional article above would be pretty close to what would happen... if the shoe was on the other foot. 

Week 13 Review: Flashback

Bama 42 Auburn 14.  The exact score any person with a lick of common sense expected.  You average the totals from Auburn's four losses this season, round up and you get...  42 to 13.  I am not sure why the national media is making a big deal of this Bama win.  They just did what they were supposed to do.  They did not do anything Clemson, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia did not do.  Honestly, a neutral observer should be saying big whoop.  As an Auburn fan the game hurts of course but it was expected and again it was just what every good team we have played has done. 

I have more thoughts on the game but nothing new that I have not said all season.  I will get to that in a little bit.  As I said though this game was just a good Bama team beating a mediocre Auburn team with a score that was easily predicted.  This game will not be remembered even by Bama fans after a few years.  However last years Iron Bowl was one for the ages.  It was the greatest comeback in Auburn and Iron Bowl history and maybe SEC history.  I watched the whole game again on Thanksgiving and came away even more impressed.  Now it obviously had a lot more to do with the players than the coaches after watching this season but it was still incredible nonetheless.  It deserves another look especially with nothing positive to write about this year's game.

First my brief post on the game last year...
"I have never seen a game like the 2010 Iron Bowl and I do not think I will see another like it.  It is impossible to come back from 24-0 especially against a good Bama team in Tuscaloosa with over 100,000 fans.  When the score reached 24-0 I knew it was over.  Auburn has never had a comeback like that and I have not seen many Bama teams play any better.  It was over.  Then somehow, someway Auburn clawed their way back.  A few fumbles, a few stops, a few touchdowns and suddenly it was 24-14 in the third quarter.  I saw the sun peek from behind the clouds.  Then came the punt, the awful punt.  Auburn was about to get the ball around midfield and the chance to take the lead.  Quindarious Carr then inexplicably decided not to call fair catch for the first time all season when he actually should have and subsequently fumbled the ball back to Bama in great field position.  I felt my heart being literally ripped out.  However we hold them to the field goal and then relentlessly march down the field and somehow someway Cam gets it to one of the new favorite players in Auburn's long football history, the guy with the maybe the longest last name in Auburn football history, Phillip Lutzenkirchen.  Auburn 28 Bama 27.  One of the greatest ever..."

I feel the same way a year later if not more impressed.  It was Bama 24 Auburn 0 with eight minutes left in the first half.  Bama did not throw an incompletion till just a minute before that.  Bama had over 300 yards passing at halftime.  They were humming on all cylinders.  Auburn on the other hand, facing basically the same defense we did yesterday, did not even have a first down till late in the second quarter.  It was the worst possible scenario.  As I said above, I could not even envision a comeback at 24-0.  However the comeback had started a few moments before and here is the recipe for one of the great all-time comebacks in college football...

• It all starts with "The Fumble" with Bama up 21-0.  Senior defensive end Antoine Carter goes almost 40 yards to run down running back Mark Ingram and punch the ball out which goes through the end zone and gives the ball back to Auburn.
• Auburn holds Bama to a field goal their next offensive trip and this year's superman Trent Richardson drops a sure touchdown pass to help us out.
• Late in the second quarter the Auburn offense finally starts driving aided by two critical Kodi Burns catches on third down.  These were some of the most important and overlooked parts of this comeback.  He exorcised the ghosts of 2008 by making these catches.
• Auburn finally scores when Cam Newton hits Emory Blake who holds on after initially juggling and as the Bama defender chops his arms. 



• Bama then drives right back down the field to inside the Auburn 10 yard line right before halftime but Nick Fairley makes an unbelievable play sacking the quarterback, causing a fumble and recovering the fumble.  Auburn goes into the half down 24-7 but with some momentum.
• Less than a minute into the third quarter, Cam Newton hits Terrell Zachery for a 70 yard touchdown play and closes the gap to 24-14. 



• The defense finally starts to get some stops and Auburn drives down and Newton crashes through the Bama defense to make it 24-21. 



• Then comes the horrible fumbled punt I mention above.  This would end just about any other comeback but not this one, the defense holds Bama to a field goal.  27-21.
• The offense gets the ball back but stalls out with a 4th and 3 near midfield.  Auburn pushes all their chips in and Cam Newton and Darvin Adams hook up on one of the biggest clutch passes I have ever seen.  First down Auburn. 



• Cam Newton then hits Philip Lutzenkirchen who dances into the Bama end zone with one of the biggest touchdowns in Auburn history to complete the comeback. Auburn 28 Bama 27.
• With over 10 minutes remaining the defense holds and knocks Bama quarterback Greg McElroy out the game. 



• Cam Newton goes "Bo over the top" to convert a late critical first down and the defense holds one more time. It finally ends... Auburn 28 Bama 27. 

The 2010 Auburn Tigers were truly great and played in some unbelievable games against other good teams that will never be forgotten.  They went 14-0 winning the SEC and national championships.  Only the 2002 Ohio State and 2009 Bama teams have accomplished that.  The 2002 Ohio State team did not play a championship game but just another out of conference cupcake so right now 2010 Auburn and 2009 Bama stand alone as the best teams record-wise in NCAA history.  The 2011 Bama team cannot match these teams or even win their own division or conference.  In fact, if they lose to LSU again they will not have won any type of title this season.  So congrats on the win Bama, you have the better team this year but lighten up on the hyperbole over the next month.  LSU has a chance to be great but you can only add another debatable number to an already mythical list of national championships.

As for Auburn I will not sugarcoat it, things are not good and they will not improve dramatically next season as many will try and tell you.  I have already read one blog saying "we had a chance to win" in the second half yesterday (???!!!???).  That is one sorely deluded person.  Bama may not be near as good as their fans think they are but they are way ahead of Auburn and the game was over as soon as it started.  On top of that I cannot remember a season where Auburn was completely annihilated by both Bama and Georgia.  Jay Tate again did a great job breaking it down first.  Please take a look at that and I will comment on his points...

THE OFFENSE
I have not seen many game plans worse than the one used on Saturday.  In fact, for a coordinator labeled "one of the best in the country" and paid over a million dollars I have not seen a worse job done than this season.  Bama's defense is good but 44 yards total offense in the third quarter?  Anybody off the street could coach that good.  It was a complete embarrassment.  Auburn finished the regular season ranked 104th in total offense out of 120 teams.  That is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE when you consider what we are paying these coaches.  They have had three recruiting classes and they cannot do any better than that?  The quarterbacks except for Frazier, many of the wide receivers and the offensive tackles have also been here two or three years and the coaches cannot get them ready any better than that?  Again, completely unacceptable.  These highly paid "top notch" offensive coaches have to do better and if some leave then we better find somebody who can do a much better job than this year. 

Here are the rest of the issues as I see them...  First, we better find some good offensive tackles.  If not the rest of this paragraph is moot.  Second, we better get Kiehl Frazier ready to play NOW.  Trotter and Moseley had their chance and they are simply not good enough to play in the SEC plus it is obvious this offense needs a running quarterback (we went 7-5 with Chris Todd in 2009 as well).  Third, I think we need to tweak our offense because this offense does not work in the top levels of the SEC without a Cam Newton or Tim Tebow.  I personally like an offense like Georgia but since that is not going to happen I think we need to shoot for a hybrid-type offense like Oklahoma runs that mixes the hurry-up no-huddle with more conventional sets.  We showed flashes of that getting under center our last few games. 

Finally, if we address those issues above to some degree, then we need to then work on the passing game.  No matter what we run we have to be balanced.  We have to have a passing game.  One of my biggest complaints this year is that we did not use the Florida Atlantic or Samford games to really work on our passing game like we did last year.  You cannot just give up like it seems we did. 

THE DEFENSE
Tate pretty much sums it up: "Auburn has set another record for defensive futility. This team has conceded 4,869 yards, which is six more than the 2009 team. The biggest difference there? That 2009 number is based on 13 games. This current team has played only 12 game — and also is on pace to allow more yards per game than any Auburn team in history (405.8). "  Tate then goes on to state that he does not think Roof is the problem.  I completely disagree, I think he is a huge part of the problem but agree that Chizik is part of the problem as well.  Again like I always say when this discussion starts, the linebackers are one of the most poorly coached units on the field and that shows me that Roof is not that good a coach or recruiter.

The defense has been HISTORICALLY bad for two out of three years now and had many bad moments last year as well.  Coaching changes at defensive coordinator and in the secondary are badly needed.  Next up would obviously be recruiting.  We have some great talent in the secondary if we can find someone to coach them but need a lot of help at linebacker and a lot more beef up front.  Things are not quite as bad as the offensive line but we do not have much at linebacker and are very thin up front and that is if these young guys progress like some hope they do. 

OVERALL
Tate has some interesting observations on staff changes and if Auburn is in trouble.  He expects staff changes.  I think some are needed as I said above but the fate of Gus Malzahn is the biggest one.  Right now after that Iron Bowl performance I cannot believe his stock is still high.  I would be surprised if he gets any kind of top job.  I agree with Tate that a Conference USA gig makes more sense.  We shall see what happens.

I disagree with Tate that Auburn has not fallen far.  As I have said all season these coaches have not addressed the obvious problems in the trenches including linebackers the last three years.  It is also obvious that as Tate says, our recruiting classes have been overrated.  We do have talent but without the guys in the trenches or right now a quarterback, it does not matter. 

Tate finishes stating that Chizik "sounded like a man at a crossroads; a man in the middle of a sandstorm who isn’t sure which way to turn."  I think that is probably right on.  The next steps and choices Chizik makes will be the most important of his career and will probably in the long run decide his fate at Auburn.  Choose well coach, choose well...

Week 12 Review: Homecoming

Auburn 35 Samford 16.  Another uninspired performance by the 2011 Auburn team adding to a season already full of them.  Auburn only lead FCS (formerly Division 1-AA) Samford 21-16 in the fourth quarter.  Auburn won the game running the ball behind Mike Dyer like they have in all wins this season.  The passing game was about the same.  Auburn passed for under 200 yards again.  The only difference being a couple of down field passes to Q. Carr and a couple more swing passes to Trovon Reed.  The defense allowed Samford true freshman running back Jeremiaha Gates to run for over 100 yards.  It was not a fun game to watch but that has been true for most Auburn games this season.  Here are the quick hits for this week...

• This is just not a very good Auburn team as evidenced by their statistical positions on offense and defense.  Auburn came into the Samford game ranked 86th in the country in total defense and an even worse 97th in total offense.  Once again Jay Tate summed it up on his post right before the game...

"Auburn’s lines are not looking good. Georgia’s rushing attack cracked the 300-yard barrier last week. Georgia’s pass rushers finished the day with five sacks. You know what that means? Auburn simply isn’t getting things handled along the line of scrimmage, which is akin to suicide in the Southeastern Conference. There’s simply no way to hide that problem. And there’s no quick fix. Auburn doesn’t have anyone waiting in the wings to save it from continued distress. There’s a temptation to blame it on youth, but remember that both offensive tackles are seniors. Three of the Tigers’ four starters along the defensive line are veterans now. Each has more than 10 starts to their credit."

• That is the number one point I have been trying to make all season and even before.  The most depressing fact he points out is "there's no quick fix".  Auburn has not and is not concentrating enough of its recruiting on these positions.  I am sorry there is a big difference between a 5-star micro track star and a 5-star hulking tackle or linebacker.   TACKLES AND LINEBACKERS.  That will be the manta here at STR.  That is what Auburn needs to do, get good tackles on both sides of the ball and some good linebackers.  That has to be the number one priority.

• After the Georgia beatdown even some of the most positive Auburn people are starting to see the light...

Former Auburn player Rob Pate at Eyes on Auburn on the offense...  "I scratch my head and sit baffled at the way we go about running our offense? If we can't protect the QB in the pocket, then why don't we move the pocket? Can we not throw on the run? If we think Trovon Reed is a special talent and one of our premiere playmakers (in practice) why can't we get him the football? I guess my frustration stems from repeatedly doing the same things yet expecting different results. Isn't that the very definition of insanity?" 

Pate on the defense...  "Every game we play against a legitimate offense turns into no contest. I could live with a deficiency here or there. I can't live with complete annihilation both on the ground and through the air. And compound that with poor fundamentals? It's time for a change (and I don't make that statement lightly..."

Acid Reign at Track'em Tigers...  "We're really hurting at linebacker, and I'm not sure that we even have any long-term answers here" and "where we are going to come up with a pair of starting (offensive) tackles, I have no clue. Mosley and Greene both graduate after this season."

Jay Coulter at Track'em Tigers... "More troubling than Georgia's 12-of-15 conversion rate on third downs, was the play of Auburn's defensive line in the second half. With Richt mercifully running the ball off-tackle and substituting liberally during the final two quarters, Auburn put nine in the box and still couldn't handle Georgia's offensive line and Isaiah Crowell."

• Auburn fans at the game enjoyed a brief respite from all this as Auburn honored 1971 Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan.  People like my parents who saw Sullivan play will tell you what a special player he was.  He is not only a great football player but a truly great person as well.  Sullivan came to Auburn during one of those down periods where things had been down for awhile and Bama had been dominating the state.  Sullivan and Beasley came in and Auburn only lost 5 regular season games in three years and also applied the only whipping to Bama in the last 50 years.  Auburn has not beaten Bama by more than 10 points since Sullivan and company beat them 49-26 in 1969.  Sullivan also brought an exciting passing offense to Auburn that had not been seen before or really much since.  Auburn scored over 30 points in 22 games with Sullivan and several of those games were over 40 and 50 points plus a couple of 60 point games as well.  It was a very special time at Auburn culminating with Sullivan winning the Heisman Trophy.

• I will again point to the inspiration for the name of this blog.  David Housel does a great job detailing Sullivan's greatest games and the seasons as well in his 1973 classic "Saturdays to Remember".  I again implore anyone who reads this to find a copy of this book and read these chapters.  I cannot tell you how much you will enjoy it.  Housel starts out with Sullivan and Beasley on the freshman team (freshmen could not play on the varsity team back then).  The Auburn freshman team was down to Bama 27-0 and being laughed at.  Sullivan and Beasley brought them back and won 36-27.  Housel then takes the reader through that glorious 49-26 game and the comeback from down 17-0 to win 33-28 against Bama in 1970.  Finally, Housel describes the 1971 game against Georgia where both teams came in undefeated and Sullivan played his finest game to clinch the Heisman Trophy.

• Ah, I get chill bumps just thinking about those games above but back to the present where nothing is left but a brutal execution in the Iron Bowl next weekend.  While I do not think this Bama team is quite the "immortals" many of their fans think they are I do not think Auburn has any chance of pulling an upset out in this game.  Yes I remember 2009 but while Auburn was handicapped with Chris Todd it had the same lines that helped win the national championship last year.  It has nothing close this year.  I will be surprised if we are even able to score next week with this awful offense.  Sooner or later our defense will then give out if and it will get ugly.  This is just one of those times we have to just get through it, wear our Auburn shirts and hope we then go and recruit some TACKLES AND LINEBACKERS.

• Finally, it was sickening to watch the waves part for Bama last night as every stinking team in their way lost last night.  I have never seen anything like it this late in the season.  Four out of the top seven teams losing???  Way to go Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Clemson.  However this once again shows what a complete fraud the college football postgame system is.  It is obviously a fraud when Bama is better off concerning the national championship not winning their conference.  I guess there is still a chance Bama gets to Atlanta with Arkansas coming on strong but I think LSU will get it done at home.  Regardless, it is simply ludicrous there is not a rule that you have to win your conference to be eligible for the national championship game.  I said it almost 10 years ago when Nebraska did it and again when Oklahoma did it and I will say it again now.  What if LSU wins next week but loses to Georgia in Atlanta?  Does Bama as the true third place team in the conference go and those two do not?  WHAT A JOKE. 

• And by the way I said the same thing this January in my post on Auburn's win in the national championship game...  "However last night proved to me again that this system AS A WAY OF CROWNING A CHAMPION in maybe the largest sports entity outside the NFL is a complete and utter joke."  I am proven right again this year.  I also said several times that the SEC Championship game is more important as it is a legitimate post season game as opposed to the ridiculous BCS including after Auburn won in Atlanta last year.  We will see what happens over the next few weeks and how it all falls out.  Unfortnately I think the last good part of Auburn's season ended when the team walked off the field yesterday.

Week 11 Review: Long Road

Georgia 45 Auburn 7 and I am not sure it was that close.  There is no doubt, the results are in except for one more beatdown, it is going to be a long road to competing for an SEC championship again at Auburn.  Yes this team will improve but there is only one goal every year for any SEC football team and that is to win their division.  The only other objective is to get to a bowl if you miss the first objective.  There are no other objectives.  Auburn does not look close to being able to achieve that first objective anytime soon.
First, I thought Jay Tate at the HABOTN had the best (and first) good take on the game.  I would also like to say Tate has really stepped up his game this year and has become the best Auburn beat blogger.  His first point was Auburn cannot play big-boy football right now and I think he is spot on.  His second take is a prediction that we will see major changes on the defensive side of the ball.  He is the first one to say that and I think he is right there as well.  I sure appreciate a beat guy that will post some opinions.

There is really not that much to say at this point.  All of the problems Auburn has that caused this blowout have been evident all season and I have hit them over and over.  Again, problems can be easily seen even by a fan if you always look at the team compared to achieving that first goal for an SEC team.  I always look at an Auburn team and see if they are good enough to win the SEC West and then I look and see if that team will be good enough to win the SEC West the next season.  Auburn will not be good enough to win the SEC West next season.  As I have posted over and over, Auburn would not have a winning season this year if South Carolina and Florida had anything resembling a decent quarterback.

The number one problem as I have said over and over is Auburn is weak in the trenches.  I see a few young guys on the defensive line that might be good and some redshirts that might help on the offensive line.  Unless there are some real superstars in that group that is not going to be near enough.  What do all these guys have in common?  Lee Ziemba, Ryan Pugh, Mike Berry, Byron Isom, Mike Blank, Zach Clayton, Antonine Carter, Nick Fairley...  All of them but Nick Fairley came to Auburn Mike Shula's last year at Bama.  Fairley was initially recruited by Tuberville as well.  Again, as I have said over and over again, Gene Chizik has brought in some nice recruiting classes BUT NOT NEAR ENOUGH LINEMEN. 

Tommy Tuberville definitely deserves a lot of blame for our current predicament as he brought in next to no linemen his last two years.  However Gene Chizik has had three full recruiting classes to address this problem and did not get it done.  Football especially SEC football is won IN THE TRENCHES.  Cam Newton is great but he also had great blocking and that is how you win championships.  Auburn has not had a really good linemen class since 2006 and that is now almost six years ago.  At this point, other than maybe Reese Dismukes and  Corey Lemonier, Gene Chizik has not been able to produce any good linemen and neither of those two are tackles.  Things do not look like they are going to change dramatically anytime soon.

The number two problem has been evident for three years now.  Our defensive coaches are not very good.  There is no other way to say it.  They were horrible two years ago and horrible against anybody any good this year.  They were even bad a lot of the time with a great defensive line last year.  The proof is in the results.  Auburn has had some good defensive coordinators, we know what it looks like.  Our offensive coaches have not been much better when they do not have Cam Newton.  However unlike their defensive counterparts they have shown they can get the job done when they have talent.

I would like to add one more note here.  You can add our linebackers to both problems.  First they are part of the equation in the trenches as part of the defensive front seven.  They are also proof of the second problem as they are one of the weakest units on the field.  Good defensive coordinators do a good job with their specific units and Ted Roof has not.  However I will say he does not have a whole lot to work with.  For the life of me I do not understand why we have not been able to recruit many good linebackers over the last decade.  It is so frustrating.  It is just about as frustrating watching Auburn put safety after safety up to play linebacker.

So in summary, AUBURN NEEDS TO GO OUT AND RECRUIT BIG STRONG LINEMEN AND LINEBACKERS AND GET AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.  That will not fix things in the short term but it is what has to be done.  Second, Auburn needs to upgrade the coaching on the defensive side of the ball.  With the money Auburn is paying defensive coaches it should be getting A LOT more for its money.  The offensive coaches better step it up as well since Auburn is paying them even more.  It is also important to remember that the buck stops with Gene Chizik.  He did a great job last year but you cannot rest on your laurels in the SEC or you get steamrolled.  Just like what will happen one more time this season in two weeks...

Week 10 Review: Miles Ahead

Auburn enjoyed a bye week in week 10 of the SEC regular season this year. It is about the only good thing about Auburn's schedule. Of course, I am assuming we are going to keep playing college football. I am not sure since the greatest college football game in the history of the world was played this weekend. I guess my comments on this week will start there...

• First, let me say I steadfastly avoided all the ridiculous hype of this game and I did not watch the actual game except for overtime and then the highlights. I was glad to see how it turned out but also glad I did not waste four hours of my life watching it. Some are calling a "defensive masterpiece" but I think ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski nailed it...

"If that was The Game of the Century, then I want my 100 years back.

Top-ranked LSU's 9-6 overtime win against No. 2 Alabama Saturday evening wasn't the game of the century, decade or season. I'm not even sure it was the game of the day.

So let's get this out of the way right now: These two teams deserve a BCS championship rematch like Kim Kardashian deserves to keep her wedding gifts...

Classics don't have four interceptions, four missed field goals, 13 penalties, one fumble, one botched punt return and zero touchdowns. A punter shouldn't be the best player on the field in a classic.

Bottom line: Only a classic is worthy of a Jan. 9 rematch in New Orleans. And this wasn't one of them."

• Let me repeat the most important part: "Classics don't have four interceptions, four missed field goals, 13 penalties, one fumble, one botched punt return and zero touchdowns. A punter shouldn't be the best player on the field in a classic."

• The Bama reaction after a huge loss is always interesting and this loss was no exception. It appears the majority take is that a rematch is in the bag. Unless Bama somehow gets to and wins the SEC Championship game I find that take ridiculous on many levels.

• My first reaction would be the bullet above. These two teams are very good teams that could win a championship but they are not great teams. These teams have great defenses but have average offenses and in Bama's case poor special teams. A great team is good in all those departments. The point is that the loser of this game, Bama, is not good enough to warrant an invite to the big game considering they would not even win their conference.

• That brings me to my next point, I just do not understand why there is not a rule that you cannot play in the national championship game without winning your own conference (???!!!???). It just seems ludicrous to me in football to not have that rule. It was a sham when Nebraska and Oklahoma did it awhile back and it is now. On that point, I am not sure how you can be real proud of getting to a national championship game in football without even winning your own conference.

• Final point on this subject, Bama had their chance. They had LSU in their house and they did not close the deal. I am still wondering how the greatest coach in the history of the world, in the biggest game in the history of the world had a critical illegal substitution penalty in the biggest overtime in the history of the world?

• On the winning side you have to give credit to Les Miles, the "Mad Hatter" has taken a lot of heat in his time at LSU but he is not winning with $aban's players anymore. These are all his guys. He has also outcoached $aban on the field two years in a row (and is 5-2 against Auburn). His option call on second down in overtime was a brilliant call. If Miles notches his second SEC and national championship this year he will be in some rarified air.

• I am shocked by the complete lack of respect a lot of Bama fans and the media have for their OWN 2009 national championship team. It is very very hard to complete an undefeated season and win the whole thing. The 2006 national champion Florida team did not do it. The 2007 national champion LSU team did not do it. The 2008 national champion Florida team did not do it. Only the 2009 Bama team and the 2010 Auburn team has done it on this current SEC streak. All you hear though is how this year's defense is Bama's best defense ever, this team is so great and the tired comparisons to the 1992 team. Bama does not have a linebacker or defensive player as good as Rolando McClain. They do not have a defensive linemen as good as Terrence Cody or a safety as good as Roman Harper. They do not have a special teams player as good as Javier Arenas. Their offense is nowhere close to the 2009 unit which featured Mark Ingram's Heisman season, Julio Jones and left tackle James Carpenter. All those players are now STARTING on Sundays. This year's Bama team even if they beat LSU is not as good as their 2009 team. Have a little respect for your own history Bama.

• I will reiterate a point I made a few posts ago as well.  For some reason teams with great defenses are always put above teams with great offenses.  After hearing how these two teams are the greatest ever I would like to point out that the 2010 Auburn Tigers beat both of these teams last year and there are not many true freshman impact players on either team. The 2010 Auburn Tigers ran for almost 450 yards on this same LSU defense last year, a defense that last year had one of the best current rookies in the NFL playing for them.  I would still take our team last year over either of these teams.

• Thank goodness the hype is over and it is Georgia week, "The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry". I will put in a little of my own hype here, no rivalry beats Auburn vs. Georgia all things considered.  I do not think any football rivalry anywhere comes close when you look at the records and stats.  It has to be the closest most competitive rivalry in all of sports, here are the stats from the auburntigers.com...

"In the previous 114 meetings between the teams, Auburn leads the series against Georgia with a 54-52-8 record but Georgia has outscored Auburn by 38 points (1,809 to 1,771).  The Auburn-Georgia series is tied with Oregon-Oregon State as the seventh-most played series in the nation (Football Bowl Subdivision).  The two teams did not play in 1943, only because Auburn did not field a team due to World War II. The two teams did not play in 1917 and 1918 because of WWI. With those two exceptions, Auburn and Georgia have played continuously since 1898. The Auburn-Georgia series (114 games) is older than the Georgia-Georgia Tech series (102 games) and the Auburn-Alabama series (75 games). Auburn and Georgia first played in 1892. They first played their intrastate rivals in 1893."

• The history of the series is simply incredible.  There have been so many big close games.  I definitely would like to do a whole post on the great games some time.  Outside the stats, the schools have so many ties.  Georgia's greatest coach Vince Dooley is an Auburn grad.  Pat Dye, arguably Auburn's greatest coach, is a Georgia grad.  Shug Jordan coached at Georgia before becoming head coach at Auburn.  Joel Eaves, Auburn's greatest basketball coach became Georgia's athletic director.  There is just so much history there. 

• The only problem I have with the series is some of the current players and coaches on both sides not respecting that history.  Yes I know about all the personal fouls last year but my problem is the players and the coaches not understanding how great this rivalry is.  For example, the Bama vs. Tennessee rivalry is completely inferior when you look at the history and the stats.  It is a rivalry dominated by one team for long periods of time and features a lot of blow outs.  However the Bama and Tennessee coaches and players really respect the rivalry and really pump it iup.  I would like to see a lot more of that from Auburn and Georgia.  In recent years it appears a lot of fans want to just turn it into another sea of hate like the Bama game.  Come on guys, this game is better than that. 

War Eagle, Burn the Bulldogs...

Week 9 Review: RIP Houston Nutt

Auburn 41 Ole Miss 24 (should have been 17).  I want to change the review up a little this week as I have a number of different takes all over the map and want to avoid a long diatribe like last week...

• Rest in peace Houston Nutt as an SEC coach come December... I guess Dan Mullen will hammer the final nail into the coffin but Auburn got to hammer in the second to last one. It has been a long time coming. We have been going up against Houston Nutt for THIRTEEN YEARS (!!!). I believe that it is finally over and I have a special memorial to Nutt at the end of this post.

• Boo to bloggers who write confusing long posts like my last one. Good gosh it was horrible. I apologize to the three other people who read this blog (-: I will try to keep it tighter from now on. I will also try to keep my reviews on the present and save my opinions on the future for an after season post. Mixing them together makes for a long winded confusing post that is hard to follow.

• What I liked from Saturday... I liked that we stopped swapping in Frazier so much. I liked that Mike Dyer had a great day. I liked that Emory Blake was back. I liked watching Phillip Lutzenkirchen. I liked the way our defense played in the second half. Caveat to all this... Ole Miss is a truly bad team.

• What I did not like Saturday... I did not like the way our defense got pushed all over the field in the first half giving up almost 150 yards rushing by half time. I did not like (as I have said over and over and over) how we do not try to be more balanced. We threw the ball only 15 times just as I predicted.  We had another good opportunity to work on the passing game and did not do it.  Again we will not be able to beat Georgia or stay in the game long against Bama with these game plans.  Last year we used the lesser games to work on our passing game and it paid off big at the end of the season.  I do not understand why we do not do some of that this year. 

• I was sick of the Bama/LSU hype a month ago, now it is just nauseating.  I am going on a sports blackout this week to avoid as much of it as I can.  WE GET IT, IT IS A BIG GAME.  It is probably the biggest game of this year but get over yourself , it is not the biggest of all time or even close.  Good night Auburn and LSU met last year with almost the same undefeated records and in the top five.  Auburn then completely dominated basically the same LSU team that everyone is going on so much about this year, they do not have that many new players.  Auburn took LSU's manhood last year running up 450 yards rushing while Nick Fairley single-handedly dominated their offensive line.

Finally a memorial to Houston Nutt.  I do not think I have cussed any coach more.  This was because he was Tommy Tuberville's nemesis and simply because he has been around so long.  I remember rejoicing when Arkansas finally got rid of him only to see him rise from the dead at Ole Miss.  Luckily nobody can save the Confederates down in Oxford and he really did not hurt us and now we must say good bye...

• 1998 - Houston Nutt's best team.  Even in 1997 you could see they had a good team so Houston Nutt came and inherited all of Danny Ford's blood, sweat and tears.  With Clint Stoerner at quarterback and a lot of talent they were one horrible fumble away from possibly going undefeated through the regular season instead of Tennessee.  Unfortunately for Nutt, Stoerner did fumble in Knoxville and Arkansas, hung over from that loss, lost to a good but lesser Mississippi State the next week and did not even make it to the SEC Championship Game and lost their bowl game.  Arkansas and Nutt also beat Auburn and interim coach Bill Oliver in a close one, 24-21. It was the best effort by Auburn in that awful season. I was at that game.

• 1999 - Nutt got in the first of his 11:30 beatdowns of Auburn and Tuberville this season. Arkansas crushed Auburn 34-10 once again behind Clint Stoerner. Arkansas was not quite as good as 1998 but did upset Tennessee gaining a little revenge for "The Fumble" the year before. This knocked Tennessee out of the SEC Championship Game when they were the best team in the SEC, in my opinion, in 1999. Bama won the SEC title but Tennessee beat them handily in Tuscaloosa.

• 2000 - Auburn and Tuberville finally got on the board taking down Arkansas and Nutt at home behind Rudi Johnson in a close one 21-19.

• 2001 - In one of the most frustrating losses I have ever witnessed, Arkansas and Nutt behind a freshman quarterback named... Matt Jones blew out Auburn in the second half to win 42-17 (after you guessed it another 11:30 start time). At this point, nobody knew anything about Matt Jones, he looked like just some lanky dufus. As he shredded our defense again and again on the option I am screaming at the TV wondering how he was doing it. I remember going to my parents' garage at halftime and just screaming. You saw later that Matt Jones was actually fast but I have never seen a guy that runs fast look slower. Of course another reason I was cussing at halftime is that Auburn got the ball back with little time left and should have just took a knee. Instead, Tommy Tuberville decides this is the time to go for it and Dan Cobb throws a pick six to kill us.

• 2002 - In one of the most humiliating home defeats in Auburn history, Arkansas whipped Auburn (and first year defensive coordinator Gene Chizik) 38-17 rushing for over 400 yards (IN OUR HOUSE) including an 80 yard Matt Jones TD run at the end of the game (which by the way started at... 11:30). The wife and the kids had to leave the house for this one as I was losing my mind watching us get pushed around our own field that much. To make it worse, Arkansas was coming off the longest game in SEC history to that point, a six overtime marathon in Knoxville and Auburn was coming off a BYE WEEK. This was Nutt at his pinnacle against Auburn as he had destroyed us 3 out of 4 years and won 4 out of 5. Nutt and quarterback Matt Jones were truly Auburn's nemesis at this point.

• 2003 - Auburn and Tuberville in their best defensive game of this season went into Fayetteville and knocked off Nutt, Jones and the rest of the #7 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 10-3. Arkansas tied the game late on a long Matt Jones touchdown run but it was called back due to a holding penalty. That the refs actually made the call was amazing to me. This was definitely one of the best highlights of this season.

• 2004 - Finally... in one of the more satisfying wins in Auburn history, one of the best teams in Auburn history finally laid a beatdown on Arkansas, Nutt and Jones 38-20. It could have been a lot worse as I believe we started the game 31-0 or close to it. The defense harassed and sacked Matt Jones all day. He never did anything. It was a fitting way to say goodbye to one of the biggest villains of Auburn football we have played against in the last 15 years.

• 2005 - The run continues... Auburn behind a Kenny Irons 200 yard rushing performance (with Marcus McNeil leading the charge blocking for him) crushes Arkansas and Nutt in Fayetteville 34-17. I will always remember this game as my youngest son had just been born a few days before and we were still in the hospital and listened to it there. I also remember Arkansas being like the rest of our SEC brethren and not helping us out and preventing us from showing the game on pay-per-view for no good reason. This put Auburn at 4-4 against Nutt and things appeared back to normal.

• 2006 - This is where Houston Nutt earned his nickname "The Cockroach" as in you just can't seem to get rid of him. Auburn came into this game undefeated and ranked second in the nation. Arkansas dominated the whole way behind a devastating rushing attack led by Darren McFadden and current Auburn OC Gus Malzahn. True freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain did not even have to attempt many passes for the Razorbacks. Nutt came in and beat a very good Auburn team at home with a true freshmen quarterback. You do not get to #2 in the nation too often so it was a bitter defeat. This loss also knocked us out of the SEC Championship Game. Arkansas ended up going to Atlanta and losing to eventual national champion Florida (whom Auburn beat). Want to guess what time the game started? (To be factual this game was actually a CBS 11:00am game instead of the regional 11:30 game that the other ones were).

• 2007 - In the last game between Auburn and Nutt while he was at Arkansas, Auburn prevailed against Arkansas in Fayetteville 9-7, again playing their best defensive game of the season shutting down both Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (and Peyton Hillis). This left Auburn 5-5 against Nutt but man those five losses were really bad...

• 2008 - Once again living up to his nickname "The Cockroach", Nutt immediately gets hired by Ole Miss to replace Ed Orgeron. Meanwhile Tommy Tuberville has scuttled the ship at Auburn by hiring OC Tony Franklin and Nutt gets to beat him one more time in his last year at Auburn 17-7. Interesting note, much maligned as a quarterback, Kodi Burns did throw for 300 yards in this game. This gave Nutt a winning record against Tuberville and cemented him as Tuberville's biggest nemesis while he was at Auburn.

Gene Chizik, other than the 2002 debacle as a defensive coordinator, has had no such problems with Houston Nutt. Auburn has beaten Ole Miss and Nutt handily his three years at Auburn and Nutt's teams at Ole Miss have gone from bad-to-worse as Ed Orgeron's talent has left and Nutt's oversigning stopped by the SEC. That leads us back to the present where Houston Nutt, after 14 seasons head coaching in the SEC, will finally be gone. Unfortunately, it seems like Bobby Petrino has taken up his mantle at Arkansas as Auburn's nemesis. Petrino is now 3-1 against Auburn only losing to Cam Newton and company last year but that is a discussion for another day. Back on point, farewell Houston Nutt, don't let the door knob hit you in the...

Week 8 Review: SUNSET

LSU 45 Auburn 10, I guess this one will be labelled "The Beatdown in Baton Rouge" or maybe we need to add a "Part 2" to that since Chizik, Malzahn and company got beatdown at LSU in 2009 as well (31-3 for those who have forgotten).  The "Mad Hatter" upped his record to 4-2 against Auburn.  Well the sun is setting on Auburn's chance of improving and getting a big win this season.  As I noted in my last post, Auburn's resident big wins against South Carolina and Florida are not quite as big as many would have thought before the season as both teams are not near as good as they were predicted to be.  South Carolina's record is still good as their easy conference schedule does not include Bama or LSU.  I expect them to lose to at least Arkansas and Clemson.  Florida is just not very good.  Auburn's one and only chance for a big rivalry win this year looks to be at Georgia but I think that task will be tougher than most people think.  In fact, I think the Dawgs will win the East.  After watching how things transpired Saturday things sure do not look good in upsetting Bama this year.  Of course this Auburn team cannot afford to overlook anybody but there is no way this Ole Miss team should beat even this Auburn team in Jordan Hare.  The coaches better make sure at the very least they get this one.  At least if you get this one you have clinched the winning season and you have a bye week to try and fix something on offense.

It is funny reading some of the other Auburn blogs and forums, it is amazing how the out of sight preseason expectations have become "well we knew it was going to happen this way" quotes.  I pretty much do not have anything new to say after the LSU game that I did not write in my last post after the Florida game.  All of these problems were just as evident against Florida as they were against LSU, Florida just could not do anything about it.  My main concern is also the same as last week, this team is not improving offensively (and is still not very good defensively).  I just do not see the team getting better or coming together even considering the team's deficiencies.

Again for the record let me state like last week how great a winning season is since "I predicted Auburn to go 6-6 and am frankly amazed the coaches were able to coax a winning season out of this team. So no matter what happens the coaches will be able to declare a victory for this season."  The problem is that a 7-5 record is not going to look near as good if the team does not improve and goes out with a loss to Georgia and a beatdown by Bama at home. 

The next most popular slogan is how much better we are going to be in the next two years.  No argument here however I do not see a team coming together that can get to Atlanta anytime soon.  The main problem is where it has been all year, the offensive line.  We have a below average offensive line and I do not see a Marcus McNeil on the horizon to fix things.  Right now our hope is that Greg Robinson and Christian Westerman will save the day but they do not look like those kind of guys at this moment.  You build championship teams around great left tackles.  Name me a good Auburn team and you will see a great left tackle that is playing or has played in the NFL.  It is clockwork...  1993-1995 is Willie Anderson, 2002-2005 is Marcus McNeil and last year was Lee Ziemba.  Ziemba was an extremely underrated player.  The guy was much better than people gave him credit for and again he started more games than anyone in Auburn's football history.  I just do not see one of these guys at Auburn right now or one currently on our recruiting board.

So far Chizik's offensive line recruiting has been a bust.  Our starting offensive lines during the entire Chizik era outside Brandon Mosely have been Tuberville recruits.  No one other than Chad Slade has shown any promise so far.  Heralded recruits Ed Christian and Kendall Mack have been busts.  So again, unless Robinson and Westerman are great and somebody else steps up the offensive line's future doe not look that great if you are talking about a championship unit.  Great skill players look very ordinary behind weak offensive lines and again if you doubt it ask Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery.

That is my biggest concern looking at this year and into the future.  The next concern would obviously be at quarterback but unfortunately the success of that position is also reliant on a good offensive line.  Again and I will keep repeating it, the game is won in the trenches.  Bama and LSU are certainly proving that true again this year.  I just do not understand why our coaches do not put more emphasis on it in recruiting.  I read this week about Curtis Luper talking about finding the next Cam Newton.  That just ticked me off, there will never be another Cam Newton, they need to be looking for the next Lee Ziemba, they can find someone like that.  Moseley looks better than Trotter but neither look to be our future.  Kiehl Frazier is supposed to be the future but as Jay Coulter noted at Track'em this week, he just does not look like he is going to be ready this year or next.  However Frazier was one of the best recruits in the country and we do have big-time recruit Zeke Pike coming in this season so I think the coaches have done all they can do there.

As I said last week (again all this stuff was apparent in our "big win" over Florida), I just do not understand the constant shuffling at quarterback.  This is not "running the wildcat".  This is shuffling quarterbacks which is proven over the years to be a bad idea.  It literally never works.  They can call it whatever they want but that is what it is.  I do not think it is helping either quarterback.  It is simple to me, if we are going to continue to run the majority of the game and only throw fifteen times or less then we should start Frazier.  If not then we should start Moseley.  We threw the ball 24 times Saturday but we were behind most of the game.  In a close game it appears we are just not going to throw the ball.  In fact, I can tell you our script for literally 75% of our series.  First down, Moseley hands to Dyer.  Second down, bring Frazier in and either run him or hand off to McCalebb.  Third down (and long usually), Moseley back in to throw a pass.  Fourth down, punt.  I do not know much but I do know that is not going to beat Georgia or keep it close against Bama.  This is why I had so little hope against LSU and even less in these future games.

There is not a whole lot you can do behind our offensive line but you can do something more than run that script nearly every bleeping series.  One thing I know we can do is more short passes to get other people involved in the game and to, what an idea, show the defense something different.  Short passes are generally considered high percentage conservative plays so I do not know why we cannot try that.  Good night what were these guys working on in spring and fall practice?  Another annicillary benefit to more short passes is it might actually help recruit wide receivers.  Right now just like it was in the Tuberville days, I do not know why any good wide receiver in his right mind would come to Auburn.  You are just a blocker and you hardly ever get the ball. 

That is how I see things.  I guess for the moment lets hope we can put Houston Nutt out of his misery, add one more to our home winning streak and clinch a winning season by whipping Ole Miss.  Even this team can do that.  This game is on the coaches.  Beat Ole Miss, get your winning season and try and figure out something during the bye week.  The sun is setting...