Birmingham Bowl Review: The Future Looks Bleak

Houston 17  Auburn 13.  The dismal collapse of the Auburn football program hit another significant milestone today by losing to a very beatable Houston Cougar football team.  On October 30th Auburn sat at 6-2 that included a great streak-breaking win at LSU with a good overall season almost guaranteed (almost but now looking back obviously not) and with everyone feeling good from the fans to the players to the coaching staff.  Auburn has lost every single game they have played since that happy Halloween weekend.  The losing streak has now hit five games in a row and I believe it is the ugliest Auburn football losing streak I have ever seen.  The losses to Texas A&M and Bama were understandable but losses to Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Houston are absolutely inexcusable.  

Auburn had a 28-3 lead on State, Auburn had a 14-0 lead on South Carolina, and Auburn had every chance in the world to beat Houston.  There is just no way around it now folks, Bryan Harsin does not look like a very good coach and his staff does not look very good either.  He is an offensive coach that has given us no identity on offense and not even come close to making the best of what little we have on offense.  He seems to have no concept of how to win close football games.  I am not taking about the big ones, I am talking about the three mediocre to weak opponents I listed above.  I am talking about the bad head-scratching decisions he makes over and over again.  I understand that Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville had losing seasons as well their first year but they showed something.  They showed a distinct change.  This team has not.  The team did grab some solid wins early but then has absolutely fallen apart.

The main fault for the low level of the Auburn football program lays at the feet of Gus Malzahn and his poor recruiting in the trenches especially the offensive line.  I mean no disrespect to the players that are working their butts off and want to succeed much more than I want them to but they... just... are... not... good... enough.  Auburn does not have even ONE decent SEC level offensive lineman now that Brodarious Hamm has left.  They were stopped multiple times on 3rd or 4th and 1 by a smallish Houston defense.  It is embarrassing, it is humiliating, it is bleeping unacceptable. The poor recruiting on the offensive line has continued under Harsin with Auburn only bringing in ONE three-star linemen in the early signing period a few weeks ago (and he went to Auburn High so not a lot of credit for getting that one).  AUBURN FOOTBALL WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL OFFENSIVE LINE RECRUTING IMPROVES A LOT PERIOD.

I just do not understand what the problem is at this point.  I do not expect Auburn to compete with Bama and Georgia for elite recruits but at least compete and bring in multiple guys from the tier below that!!!  Auburn appears unable to sign more than one or maybe two decent offensive line recruits per class. IT HAS NOW BEEN FIVE YEARS OF THIS.  This is ridiculous and it is unacceptable and yes we have the right to expect better when we were paying Malzhan and now Harsin over five million dollars a year plus paying an expensive staff.  I am sick and tired of watching Auburn not get a return on their investment.  I am tired of watching Auburn pay through the nose for overrated head coaches and their staffs.  Enough is enough.  I will say Harsin and his staff are facing an uphill battle as Gus Malzahn and his staff evidently did not establish ANY type of relationship with any decent offensive linemen coming up.  

The defense has had some bad moments this season bottoming out against Mississippi State but they have also kept fighting and turned in some good performances while the offense has continued its straight downward spiral that began well before Bo Nix got hurt.  Also Derek Mason was able to bring in the top JUCO defensive lineman in the country plus a good looking transfer from Oregon.  Auburn is at least bringing in some decent prospects on the line on that side of the ball.  That at least gives some hope where after five years I am beginning to think that Auburn will never bring in a great offensive tackle prospect ever again.  Folks, look at the offensive linemen in Auburn's last five recruiting classes if you think I am exaggerating.  I am sorry I expect more from the school that has had players like Steve Wallace, Willie Anderson, Marcus McNeil, Lee Ziemba, and Greg Robinson on championship teams at left tackle with the first three having long successful NFL careers and Robinson going #2 overall in the NFL draft.  

Shocker, these guys were a huge part of the great Auburn teams you remember.  Steve Wallace started for the 11-1 1983 team that arguably won a national championship, he then went on to block for Joe Montana in the Super Bowl.  Willie Andersen started for the undefeated 1993 11-0 team and spent a long career with the Bengals and was recently nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame.  Marcus McNeil started for the undefeated 2004 13-0 team that also arguably won a national championship and went on to a long career with the Chargers in the NFL.  Lee Ziemba started for the undefeated 2010 14-0 team that won the national championship.  Greg Robinson started for the magical 2013 team that won the SEC and lost in the national championship game.  Contrary to people making it seem like Auburn wins championships with three stars, they do not.  You have to have monster recruits on the line which ALL of these guys were.  Those guys span 30 YEARS of Auburn football.  Auburn's last great left tackle was Robinson in 2013, that is now almost a decade ago.  WHEN WILL AUBURN GET ANOTHER ONE?

Am I fixated on the offensive line?  YES.  Nothing else works without it.  Tank Bigsby is a very good running back, he has basically not had ONE long run this year against anybody any good.  I think we have seen he can do very little behind this offensive line.  Bo Nix, hell even T.J. Finley would obviously look a lot better with better protection.  Unfortunately though Auburn's problems do go deeper than the line.  Finley while making a play here or there does not appear to have the accuracy to lead Auburn to any kind of good season even with a better line.  Auburn also has nothing remotely close to an All-SEC wide receiver.  That has all been on full display over the last five games.  It has pretty much been on full display over the whole season even in the wins.  The talent level across the board on offense is just alarmingly low.  Al Borges said it best when asked about his huge success coordinating the Auburn offense in 2004, he said: "it is not about the X's and the O's, it is about the Jimmys and the Joes".  

Harsin and the boys did dramatically improve Auburn's recruiting outside the line of scrimmage in the early signing period.  Hopefully they evaluated correctly and brought in some possible All-SEC players at other positions.  The problem for Harsin (even if he is not as bad a coach) is that he will have Gus Malzahn's last two recruiting classes as his seniors the next two years and then last year's weak transitional class in 2024 if he makes it that long.  Outside of absolutely monster recruiting classes that really needed to start this season I do not see how he overcomes that.  That is why the future looks bleak to me.  Harsin good or bad will end up taking the fall for Malzahn's declining recruiting.  On top of that his bad coaching this season cost him valuable patience points with the Auburn leadership and fans that he will desperately need later.

Harsin leads the Tigers to wins over State and South Carolina and things appear a lot better even if they really were not in terms of Auburn competing with the top teams.  The problem now that the season is over and the smoke is clearing over the rubble left behind is that Harsin's bad coaching in these last five games has made things worse.  You finish 8-4 and that momentum helps recruiting and getting critical transfers while now Auburn's dismal end to the season does not make Auburn look as attractive.  It is also harder when again no one knows what Auburn's offensive identity is.  There is not a lot to sell to potential great players.  That again is the most disappointing thing about Bryan Harsin to me this season. So here we are and outside a miracle signing or transfer things look even worse next year on offense with an even weaker offensive line coming back with less experience at quarterback and wide receiver running the same offense.  It is pretty rough being an Auburn Tiger right now.

GAME 12 REVIEW: The most excruciating game I have ever watched

Alabama 24  Auburn 22.  You will have to excuse me, I did not make up that title to be funny, that was actually the most excruciating game I have ever watched.  I do not want to relive it or sum it up or really talk about it anymore.  Instead I will just give ten thoughts I had about the game.  Again I am sorry that is all I got or will have.  If you saw the game you are well aware of what happened.  As opposed to other games I just do not have any opinions on the short or long term effects of this game.  Here we go in no particular order:

1. I was absolutely completely utterly wrong about everything I said about this game.  I am glad but I sure spouted my opinion on how I thought the game would go, i.e. historic Bama blow out, and I was dead wrong.  Great job Auburn coaches and players.

2. That was the greatest defensive performance by a unit compared to their talent level I have ever seen in my life.  The Auburn defense, players and coaches, literally played and coached the best they possibly could.  I have never been more proud of a group of football players in my life.  Everybody will say how terrible Bama is but they have a great offense and it was an unbelievable effort by the Auburn defense to shut them down the majority of the game.

3. Special props to Roger McCreary who might have played the greatest game by a defensive back I have ever seen at Auburn.  He also made himself some money as I think his NFL draft status will skyrocket after that game.

3. It was also an unbelievable effort by the Auburn special teams especially punter Oscar Chapman.  His punting was one of the main reasons Auburn almost won the game.  The kick coverage was also lights out.  Finally back up kicker Ben Patton hit a mega pressure 49 yard field goal in overtime.

4. I am also proud of a gutty Auburn offense.  T.J. Finley played on one leg most of the game, Tank Bigsby gave it everything he had, the receivers made some great catches, and the offensive line hung in there trying to block for predictable plays and stacked fronts most of the game. 

5. I congratulate the Auburn coaches.  The team was very well prepared to play a physical tough four quarter game when everyone and especially me expected them to fold.  It does make me a little upset wondering where this effort was the last two weeks but I still have recognize the great coaching job. 

6. Seeing how the game was going I would have run up the middle three times and got my field goal after Auburn intercepted Bama quarterback Bryce Young and got to the Bama 20 yard line in the third quarter.  You absolutely cannot take a big sack there and miss out on a field goal attempt.  T.J. Finley made a huge mistake there.  It is one more thing that cost Auburn the win.

7. Tank Bigsby absolutely cannot go out of bounds when Auburn was trying to run out clock late.  I am sorry, there is just no excuse.  You cannot do that, you cannot do that, you cannot do that.  I hate to say it but Auburn also might have won if he just would have stayed in bounds.

8. You have to send the house and sell out on short coverage on 4th and 7 on Bama's final regulation drive to tie the game.  You have one play to win the game.   It does not matter if they luck out and score.  You have to completely sell out on that play.  You get the game down to one play on 4th and 7 to win it you have to completely sell out to stop them.  This was the one huge mistake by the defensive coaches.

9. I think you had to go for two to win the game after Auburn scored in overtime.  The actual ending we got was pretty much guaranteed if you played it like Auburn decided to play it.  Again, you get the game down to one play from the three yard line to win it.  I think with the monstrous talent gap between the teams and the way Auburn looked you had to go for the win right there.  I believe that was proven right.  No guts, no glory.

10. There are no moral victories.  Auburn did make an incredible effort and had the chances above to beat a much better team for an absolute one-for-the-ages type of win.  It would have been the biggest upset in Iron Bowl history in my opinion.  However it did not happen.  I am proud of Auburn's unbelievable and very courageous effort but at the end of the day it was still a loss.  I neither care to dwell on it or remember it.  The best thing I can see coming out of the game is a recruiting boost.  The effort by the Auburn fans in that stadium was outstanding.  There has got to be some top recruits who want to be a part of that.  

Finally, congrats to Bama, they played about the worst game they could possibly play and still won the game.  Bryce Young is the best quarterback I have seen all year and he made an unbelievable throw to tie the game.  The season is over and I could care less about a bowl game.  The only thing every single person that is part of the Auburn football program should be focusing on and working as hard as the team did in that game is on recruiting.  RECRUITING IS EVERYTHING.  I hope it improves dramatically.  That is all I got.

GAME 11 REVIEW: Over before it even began?

South Carolina 21  Auburn 17.  I wrote last week that Auburn would probably get beat by South Carolina after the beyond horrible Mississippi State loss but I really did not believe that.  Auburn has much better football players than South Carolina.  It should not matter that Bo Nix was out or the defense and everyone else was down from last weekend.  That logic was reinforced literally every time Tank Bigsby touched the ball.  Tank finished the game with 164 yards on only 22 carries which averages out to almost 8 yards a carry.  He also had the look of a man who was ready to take the team on his shoulders and win this game.  There are times still even in modern football where you just chuck your cute overcoaching game plan and just ride your horse to the win.  

However the seemingly brain dead Auburn coaching staff did not use Bigsby on a 4th and 1 that literally turned the entire game in the first half with Auburn up 14-7.  First they should not have gone for it anyway with the lead over a lesser team and needing a win BADLY.  Second, if they were going to go for it, GIVE IT TO TANK.  I mean are these coaches so dense that they did not see the look on Tank Bigsby's face?  STOP OVERCOACHING and just give him the D*** BALL.  Instead they try an over-the-top pass with a nervous not-that-accurate backup quarterback into triple coverage.  Folks yes new coaches can overcome bad first seasons as you can read ad nauseum on other Auburn sites but I have real doubts about overcoming the absolute BRAIN DEAD calls I have seen from this staff over the last two weeks.

The goal is to WIN THE GAME.  Again you chuck the game plan and remember the basics of the sport you are coaching and do the right thing for the team to GET THE WIN.  This coaching staff looks really bad after the last two games.  There is no other way to say it folks.  Football has changed a lot but if you have the better team and you are running the ball well especially against a lesser team, you keep running the football.  I mean that is Football 101.  If these coaches cannot see that then again I have real doubts about these coaches going forward.  I mean I did not say Malzahn was wrong all the time.  This is a Malzahn game, you just run the ball down their throats the whole game. His problem was he could not pass against better teams and now we have a coaching staff that can or will not run the ball enough against anybody (???).  I mean it is just unbelievable to have a job that pays MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and the coaches Auburn hires cannot find a dime of common sense.  

They might say hey we do not like our running backs to carry the ball 30 times and that is legitimate although I would argue every once in a while you have to do it to avoid disasters like this game but whatever.  That is still no excuse, Jarquez Hunter who has proved himself throughout the season only got FOUR CARRIES as well???  I am literally shaking my head writing this.  What in the he!! is wrong with these coaches?  You also had your backup making his first start for you on the road and he needed help yet you throw the ball 30 TIMES???  Meanwhile Bigsby only touched the ball three times in the fourth quarter and none on Auburn's last possession???  Again this is ELEMENTARY stuff here, how can a good football coach or coaches not understand these tenets of the game?

It was the whole team as well, the defense I guess played better albeit against maybe the worst offense in the SEC. However they let a third string FCS quarterback go 10 for 15 for THREE TOUCHDOWNS.  South Carolina has a terrible offense, period, but the only weapon they had in that offense was NUMBER 11 ZaQuandre White who led the Gamecocks in rushing AND receiving.  It seemed pretty obvious early on that we should pretty much ADJUST whatever the stupid game plan was coming in and do everything we could to take away NUMBER 11.  I mean whaaat the heeeck???  I mean raise your hand if you watched the entire game and noticed that NUMBER 11 was making all their plays?  I think I see a lot of hands raised.  His teammates put the man on their shoulders after the game!!!  How many times do you see that nowadays?  I guess common sense from coaches is just too much to ask.

I said that I thought the coaches had ruined everything positive from earlier in the season in last week's collapse and well I think if there was any doubt to the truth of that statement it is gone now.  Literally three weeks ago I asked "is something special happening in Auburn?"  THREE WEEKS AGO!  I could not in my worst football nightmares envision what has happened since I wrote that post on Halloween.  You can see the cracks in the good part of the season as well.  Bo Nix's unbelievable playmaking was the biggest factor in the LSU win and Auburn played just as bad a second half on offense against Ole Miss as they did against anybody.  The Rebels had every chance to come back like State but could not capitalize.  The overall question is now just being shouted louder, i.e. what is the identity of this coaching staff?  What do they do well?  Can anyone answer that question?  I really cannot.  

Of course when it rains it pours with the evil empire heading to Auburn next week.  It is looking like it will be one of the worse beatdowns in this rivalry in Auburn.  Everyone keeps saying how Bama is not that good while their quarterback had almost 600 yards passing against Arkansas.  To be accurate Bama quarterback Bryce Young set all kinds of school records Saturday going 31 OF 40 FOR 559 YARDS AND FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  This is the perfect setup for an epic blowout as one team is down and out and the other team is talented but has yet to really put it all together.  I am again not sure how much of this game I will be able to stomach.  It really does look like the perfect storm to me.  I really think $aban and company will really have the Tide ready to make a statement while I assume the Auburn coaches will do the thing that makes the least sense...  T.J. Finley is in no way ready for a game of this magnitude and Auburn's defense is even less ready.

The only thing positive I can possibly see for Auburn football the rest of 2021 is getting a bowl game against a team just as bad and disappointing, maybe an all SEC bowl game playing Florida?  That is about it.  Auburn is currently rated pretty low overall and compared to the rest of the conference in recruiting.  Yes they get those rankings wrong some of the time but they usually get the low rated teams right...  That brings us to the title of this post, is the whole Harsin era over before it ever really began?  I know in many quarters that would be labelled a ludicrous question and that you could not possibly be able to ask that question or pass judgement on a first year staff.  I have heard the bad first years of many football coaches brought up in relation to this ridiculous take.  HOWEVER just about everyone of those coaches who ended up being successful brought in big or at least very good recruiting classes after that bad first year.  

Also coaches are given less and less time to show something ESPECIALLY on the recruiting trail.  Just about every Auburn coaching change that has been made in the modern era was made for recruiting or it was one of the big factors.  Bryan Harsin is going to have to build a very good team in basically two years after this disaster of a season, after what looks like a sub par recruiting season, after probably losing several decent players to the transfer portal, and after most likely shaking up his coaching staff.  Does anyone think he is going to be able to do that?  Coaches only get three or four years now and thanks to former AD Jay Jacobs Auburn and Harsin will be on the road at Georgia and Bama next season so there will most likely be no wins in those games next year.  If you throw in a couple of bad coaching efforts in next season like this season in addition to those likely rivalry losses it will be 2023 or bust for Harsin with Gus Malazahn's last recruiting class as his seniors.  

Call me crazy, call me whatever but I do not see it happening.  I think it is over before it really began for Bryan Harsin at Auburn.  I hope I am wrong.

GAME 10 REVIEW: HISTORIC COLLAPSE

Mississippi State 43  Auburn 34.  I painted a bleak picture last week.  I did not think I could write a more depressing post than last week... I was wrong.  The Auburn football Tigers lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the biggest collapse in Auburn football history.  Auburn blew a 28-7 lead in 1996 to let Georgia rally but that disaster does not seem to come close to what I just watched yesterday.  Auburn looked good and jumped out to a 28-3 lead and then collapsed in literally every possible way.  Here is your report card for Auburn today:  Offense - F, Defense - F, Special Teams - F, Coaching - Fx100?  I am still in shock.  I still cannot believe what I just witnessed.  I have seen some bad games on offense and defense.  I have seen a lot of bad coaching but I have never seen the utter stupidity on the Auburn sidelines I saw today.  Here is the break down:

OFFENSE, SPECIAL TEAMS, and OFFICIATING

Auburn came out of the gates and scored FOUR STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWNS (!!!) AND LOST THE GAME.  It is just mind-blowing.  There are always a few small signs before an avalanche or a large collapse, a few falling pebbles and rocks.  The signs before this one was a missed field goal and a blocked field goal.  Those plays helped take the momentum away from Auburn and give it to State.  I know the missed field goal was 55 yards but Carlson missed an easier one last week and is supposed to be one of Auburn's greatest kickers.  He has not shown that this year and did not come through here when we desperately needed him too.  The blocked field goal was not his fault but is on the line and thus on the special teams coaching which has definitely looked suspect the entire season.

However even with the bad special teams Auburn obviously still should have been better.  Tommy Tuberville while not a great coach won a lot of games at Auburn.  He was an expert at "letting the air out" in the second half if he got a big lead.  He would run the ball and run clock.  It was annoying, it was boring but it got the job done.  Auburn should have done a lot more of that today but instead, after a Demetris Robertson run to open their first drive of the second half (after State had opened the half going straight down for a touchdown), Auburn threw the ball four straight times and then gave it back to State who promptly went down and scored again.  Auburn then drove it 45 yards the next time they got it and might have put the game away with an easy field goal but again it was blocked.  State then scored again and got the lead at 29-28.  

This is the point where if I was the coach I would get in the offensive linemen's faces and challenge their manhood.  Auburn had to score or at least get a few first downs.  They went THREE AND OUT.  That is one of the points where the game was lost.  The fourth quarter had just started and Auburn was at home with the fans still barely in it.  You have to make a play there and they went out meek as lambs.  State then went down and scored again to make it 36-28.  Auburn then stalled and tried the stupid fake punt that everyone in the country saw LSU do against Bama last week, I mean are you serious?  Did you really think they would fall for that?  State did not and they got the ball back and the chance to add to their lead.  Auburn finally put some pressure on them (too little, too late) but then on a huge sack where T.D. Moultry was trying to block the pass while jumping toward the quarterback, he was called for targeting.  State then scored to go up 43-28.

It was not targeting.  I mean it was not close in my opinion and to just about everyone who has seen the play.  That mind-blowing bad call pretty much ended any chance of an Auburn comeback.  The whole targeting thing has gotten completely out of hand.  You really have to wonder what the agenda is when you see the replay officials CREATING that call (the refs on the field did not call it).  I guess the only bright spots for the offense were great days by Kobe Hudson and Ja'Varrius Johnson who both had over 100 yards receiving.  If Auburn had won the game the big news would have been Johnson's monster breakout game.  Instead we were just reminded how weak Auburn's offensive line is again.  Auburn barely got over 100 yards rushing and 57 yards of that was on Johnson's early touchdown run.  Auburn ran for almost nothing after getting a 28-3 lead with six minutes left to go in the first half.  I mean no one would have ever heard of Bo Jackson if he had these guys blocking for him.

DEFENSE and COACHING

I have already mentioned some of the bad calls on offense and the idiotic fake punt.  Now back to the horrific targeting call... Where the hell was Harsin?  I said something like this about a similar horrible call in the Georgia game.  They basically gave the game to State on that beyond awful call so as a head coach you have to burn the joint down after a call like that in a situation like that.  Let them give you a flag, you have got to go absolutely go crazy after that bad of a call.  I did not see it.  I am really just kind of hitting the small stuff though compared to the defensive coaching in this game.  That is all on Harsin, Derek Mason works for Harsin and Harsin could have easily ordered Mason to turn up the pressure.  Instead these guys RUSHED THREE MEN ALMOST THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF.  These coaches let Will Rogers stand back there WITH NO PRESSURE and go 24 OF 25 FOR ALMOST 300 YARDS AND FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  

FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  FIVE TOUCHDOWNS.  I thought Penn State was bad but this was the worst I have ever seen.  WHAT COULD THESE GUYS HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN THINKING???  You have to try and get pressure on the quarterback.  That is an absolute FACT in football.  It is an even more obvious fact when he is just standing back there with all day and COMPLETING EVERY PASS HE THROWS and leading his team to a score on every drive.  Every coach involved in that debacle does not deserve the money they are getting paid.  I hate everything about Auburn's defensive strategy.  Defense is about being aggressive and flying to the football.  The Auburn defense is not very good but the players had to play with basically one arm tied behind their back with this HIDEOUS AWFUL TERRIBLE coaching.

MISSISSIPPI STATE SCORED OVER 30 POINTS IN THE SECOND HALF.  I have to hand it to Harsin though, he managed to maybe top his awful calls on defense to MAKE THE WORST LATE GAME CALL I THINK I HAVE EVER SEEN.  Auburn scored with three minutes to go in the game and if they kicked the PAT they would be EIGHT POINTS BEHIND, AGAIN EIGHT POINTS BEHIND (that is a touchdown and a two point conversion). They had all three of their timeouts and plenty of time left in the game to stop State and drive down to try to tie the game and send it into overtime.  HOWEVER HARSIN CHOSE TO GO FOR TWO!!!???!!! IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY WHY?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????  This not an argument, there is absolutely no reason to go for two there, NONE.  NONE!!!!!!!!!  I still cannot believe it !!!  CAN THE MAN NOT ADD???!!!???  

The call is indefensible.  Auburn gets within eight with over three minutes and all their timeouts plus some momentum, they actually still have a chance even after all I have written.  Harsin took care of that though by going for two... and it failing.  AUBURN THEN TRAILED BY NINE POINTS, TWO SCORES!!!, AND THEIR CHANCE WAS TAKEN AWAY BY NOTHING BUT AN INSANELY, OUT-OF-YOUR-F***ING MIND CALL!!!!??????!!!!!!!!!!  Again can the Auburn coaching staff NOT ADD???!!!???  I still cannot get my mind around this call.  I will never get my mind around this call.  All that is left is the ruins and smoldering ashes of the 2021 Auburn football season.  Everything good this season just went out the door in the midst of this historic collapse.  The streak-stopping win at LSU, the wins against Arkansas and Ole Miss, and anything else positive IS GONE.

It is all gone after this epic disaster and the worst collapse in Auburn history.  The only thing anyone will ever remember about this season is this game.  The fallout will only continue as Auburn will probably get beat at South Carolina next week and then will definitely get beat down at home by Bama.  Who cares about a crappy bowl game that will probably also be a loss as well? This disaster will also probably hurt recruiting as every school will tell every recruit what I just wrote in the previous paragraphs and then ask them if they really want to play for these guys?  I do not know how to end this post.  The leadership and everyone connected to Auburn University football BETTER WAKE UP.  You better start pouring money and going ALL IN on the program or Auburn is about to permanently become second tier in the SEC and pretty much never contend for the SEC championship... LIKE THE TEAM THAT JUST CAME BACK FROM 25 POINTS DOWN TO BEAT THEM.

GAME 9 REVIEW: ALL ON THE LINE

Texas A&M 20  Auburn 3.  I apologize for the late post but I have had soccer tournaments, soccer tryouts, etc... all weekend and to begin this week.  Unfortunately I was able to see most of this game and I guess the more things change, i.e. new coaches, winning in Baton Rouge, and so on, the more things stay the same, i.e. below average offensive lines, horrific offensive performances on the road, and so on.  Gus Malzahn's offensive coaching was one problem but his recruiting his last three years was a bigger problem.  Many of us pointed this out over and over but Auburn was stuck with his horrendous contract.  Now the Auburn football program has this albatross hanging around their neck and that albatross is three full years of bad recruiting plus the coaching change ruining Harsin's first recruiting season. I hate to keep harping on this but it is evident every week.

Bo Nix had a bad game and Auburn's wide receivers are in an SEC-sense TERRIBLE.  That is also the result of bad recruiting by Gus Malzahn.  I do not mean to personally insult these men who work so hard and I will cheer them on but I have to call it like I see it.  You just do not see a playmaker or even a third team All-SEC wide receiver in this bunch.  Anyway people have been harping on Nix and the wide receivers and they are part of the problem but the main problem remains the offensive line.  Also the defense has hung in there and done a good job but they too cannot be championship calendar without better personnel on the line.  I have said it before and I will say it again, name an Auburn championship year or great team and I will name you some really good to great linemen on both sides of the line.

Auburn stopped the bleeding for a little bit better year in 2019 with UMass transfer Jack Driscoll and project Prince Tega Wanagho panning out for their last season in Auburn.  That allowed Auburn to get a big win and upset over Bama but not much else.  Gus Malzahn could not recruit a big-time-almost-ready-to-play offensive tackle and it is literally killing Auburn.  Bo and the receivers would look a lot better if Auburn had an offensive line that could block consistently even against tough opponents for Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter.  This line cannot do that or give Nix any time.  It was hard to watch in 2018, 2019, 2020, and now also in 2021.  It will be hard to watch in 2022 as well because nothing is changing because it does not appear any elite tackles will be coming in this year.  NOTHING CHANGES TILL THEY DO.

Auburn has a few good prospects but it does not have a Willie Anderson, a Marcus McNeil, a Lee Ziema, or a Greg Robinson coming in to save the day.  I also do not see a Quentin Groves, a Nick Fairley, a Dee Ford, or a Derrick Brown coming in on the defensive side either.  The big time recruiting schools like Bama, Georgia, and so on have already been talking to any one who looks like they could be this kind of player for two years.  Auburn is already out.  Am I painting a bleak picture?  Well yes I am, again just look at Auburn's history the last 10, 20, or 30 years...  good linemen equal good seasons, no good linemen equal bad seasons.  It really is in many ways that simple.  As I said it is getting harder and harder to get those guys and that is why Auburn has only challenged for an SEC title one time since 2013 which is getting farther in the rear view mirror.

Again this year will end pretty much like last year which is pretty much like the year before and so on... Auburn should be good enough to beat Mississippi State and South Carolina but they could lose one too like they did to State in 2018 and South Carolina last season.  Regardless of Auburn's hideous performance this past weekend everyone is saying how vulnerable Bama is since they did not beat LSU to a pulp.  Yes Auburn has a chance since Bama is not the unbeatable juggernaut they were last season but everyone is just playing into their hands.  Bama is down a little but they are still a very good and extraordinarily talented team that is younger and slightly less experienced than normal Bama teams.  The moment you make them an underdog they will beat you.  I still predict Bama will beat Georgia in the SECCG.

I do not think I have ever seen Auburn win the Iron Bowl without being better than they are now on both sides of the line of scrimmage.  Auburn had a winning record and played Bama at home in 2011... and got annihilated. One of the big problems with that team was the poor units on both sides of the line. Auburn has had many big upset wins in the Iron Bowl but... you guessed it, they were again better on both sides of the line.  Auburn will finish either 7-5 or if it can avoid an upset in the next two weeks 8-4.  Basically the same record as 2018, 2019, 2020...  I wish there was something else to say.  I really do but there is not.  Really when you look close it really does remain true that: "there are no miracles on the football field" as Pat Dye once said.  

It is tough to hear but it is where Auburn is at, you will know if things might change by the recruiting class.  In 1993 after losing Dye and finishing a disappointing season, Terry Bowden brought in LT Willie Anderson who is a candidate for the NFL HoF.  In 2002 after a horrific ending to the season including "Black Saturday" to Bama, Tommy Tuberville brought in LT Marcus McNeil who played for years in the NFL.  In 2007 Tuberville brought in LT Lee Ziemba who would become an All-American and in 2010 Gene Chizik brought in LT Greg Robinson who would become the second pick in the 2014 NFL draft.  What did all four of these elite offensive left tackles have in common?  They all were major pillars to undefeated seasons in 1993, 2004, and 2010 plus a near national championship in 2013.  We need one of those type players on the line and their commitment will be the herald that things could change down on the plains...

Until then we will continue to see games and seasons like this but I guess the good news is as you look around the country and see the situations that Florida, Texas, and Nebraska are in, we at least know that it could be worse.  It could be a lot worse.  

GAME 8 REVIEW: Is something special happening on the plains?

Auburn 31  Ole Miss 20.  I asked the question in the title of this post and after Saturday I think the answer is YES, there is something special happening on the plains.  Does that mean they can not go down in flames next week at Texas A&M?  Absolutely not, this is still a flawed team and certainly not close to the most talented team in the SEC.  Most likely, they will lose to the Aggies, beat the next two and lose to Bama BUT after what has happened the last two games, there is a small, tiny, sliver of a chance that this Auburn team could do something magical.  That in and of itself is amazing.  You see it in these locker room videos the last two games, I have not seen anything like that in a long time.  I give props to the players and the coaches.  I certainly was down on both after Georgia and Georgia State, I did not see or think I would see the fire I see now in this team.  Auburn has been missing this "oneness", as Pat Dye called it, for a long time.

THE GOOD

That is why you cannot completely measure players by size and estimated talent level.  You are seeing them become better as a TEAM.  The coaching staff also came through again by having a team ready to play after a bye week.  You can never take that for granted.  These Auburn Tigers were ready to play and watching everyone pick Ole Miss on College Gameday was the last straw.  The Auburn defense usually looks completely outmanned every time you compare them to their opponent but these guys just keep fighting and have slowed down every team they have played other than Georgia breaking through late.  I think the Derrick Mason effect we all expected right off the bad is finally being seen.  Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo also called a good game.  Auburn has continued to pass the ball all year and hey what do you know they have improved at it!  That was a concept foreign to our last coach.  You have to be able to pass.

Bo Nix was simply better than the much more hyped Matt Corral and I do not think it was just Corral's ankle injury.  Do I think Nix is a better quarterback overall, I do not but last night he was better which bodes well for Auburn.  I mean just look at the numbers...  22 of 30 for 276 yards and a touchdown plus two more touchdowns running the ball.  Nix also distributed the ball to TEN different receivers for at least the second time this season.  That NEVER happened with Gus Malzahn in a big game that was not a blowout, ever.  Also FINALLY Tank Bigsby finally returned with a monster game rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown.  This was this year's offense at their best running the ball well and making big pass plays off that.  The coaching staff also called good plays in critical situations.  You add that to a fired up defense and you get a big win like this.

THE BAD

Unfortunately Auburn's biggest issue was also on display last night and that is the sinking spells the Tigers hit on both sides of the ball each game.  The defense had their bad run in the first half when Ole Miss grinded out two double-digit play touchdown drives in a row.  The Auburn defense just has those few series every game where they look so bad but to their credit they usually come back to get big stops and they did in the second half when the offense went in to their funk.  Auburn came out ON FIRE scoring four touchdowns in the first half but after missing a field goal on their first drive of the second half, the offense completely went into their shell.  They did not score a touchdown in the second half.  They gave Ole Miss every chance in the world to get back in the game.  It was hard to watch.  Auburn has got to stop these long bad stretches to keep this run going.  The only game left that is probably a sure win is South Carolina. 

Luckily for Auburn there was plenty of bad on the other side as well.  Lane Kiffin is again in my opinion one of the most overrated coaches in history.  He is a good offensive coach, he runs the Gus Malzahn offense as it should be run.  The way he is running it is what I was asking for the entire time Gus was at Auburn.  I mean Ole Miss' running plays were all Gus staples but their passing game was miles better.  However Kiffin is just a complete jerk as he proves over and over, and his penchant for going for it on fourth down is just stupid.  Analytics do not take into account the stadium noise and intensity or the mood on both sides of the ball.  Ole Miss desperately needed points to give their players a boost and they also needed to get to just one score behind.  Analyze that!  Kiffin though still went for it and buried his team in the process.  

THE UGLY

Vanderbilt should not be in the SEC.  It is as plain now as it has been for decades.  The top high school teams draw more fans.  They are never competitive and a few lucky winning seasons in the last 40 years does not change that.  I know they love pocketing the money but it appears their fans have finally completely given up.  It is just not fair to the school or anyone involved with the football program.  I just do not understand competing in perpetuity with no chance of ever really winning.  Again it just does not make sense for anyone involved.  Thing are also getting a big ugly down in Gainesville as Florida took a beat down similar to Auburn against Georgia yesterday.  The difference is that Mullen has been at Florida for four years now and that was his fourth loss this season.  The natives are getting restless and it could not happen to a better guy.  

Georgia is also riding high with their "best defense ever" but things could still turn ugly for them.  Bama is not the juggernaut they were last year and they have some warts but if they run the table (which hopefully they will not) they will beat Georgia in my opinion.  Stetson Bennett is not going to beat Bama regardless of how good their defense is.  Mark it down.  They better get J.T. Daniels back but even then I would pick Bama but Georgia would have a better chance.  Things got ugly for Kentucky as they went down hard for the second week in a row.  Every time you count the Bulldogs out they seem to get a big win.  Auburn needs to fully focus on Texas A&M but win or lose they better get ready for State.  Mike Leach, as weird as he is, is a decent coach.  He is not great but he seems to knock off one or two teams every season.

THE LAST WORD

 It is just one of those seasons for Auburn, every game seems to be the biggest of the season.  I guess that is what happens when an underachieving team wins some big games.  The Tigers now have played themselves into championship contention and every game is a playoff game.  Auburn has managed to win all the right games and I know this sounds weird but also to lose the right games.  The Penn State loss does not hurt them in conference and if you have to lose in conference you want to lose out of division.  This has put a two loss Auburn team in the race for the SEC Championship.  It all comes down now to what has been Auburn's home away from home in College Station.  Unbelievably Auburn has still never lost on the road at Texas A&M.  Auburn has won every time since the Aggies joined the SEC.  Can Auburn extend the streak against a surging Texas A&M team coming off a bye week?  Can they put themselves in position for a winner-take-all Iron Bowl?  We will know the answer around 6pm next weekend.

TRIVIA QUESTION

The worst Auburn team to win at Texas A&M was in 2015 when Auburn finished the season 6-6.  It was much maligned quarterback Jeremy Johnson's biggest win in my opinion and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's finest job that season.  The defense won the game for Auburn by terrorizing Texas A&M's star true freshman quarterback?  Who was that quarterback?  

Scroll down for the answer...

TRIVIA ANSWER:  The quarterback was this season's likely NFL MVP, Phoenix Cardinal quarterback Kyler Murray.

GAME 7 REVIEW: AGAINST THE TREND

Auburn 38  Arkansas 23.  As I titled this post I thought Auburn really rose up against the trends that were telling everyone this was a loss.  I thought the Tigers coached and played their finest game of the season in this one.  Auburn had a shot against Penn State but it was like they were just hanging in there.  Bo Nix almost single-handedly led the win at LSU.  Arkansas was on a two game losing streak but they had beaten Texas and Texas A&M while almost taking down Ole Miss as well.  Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman has done some good coaching the last two seasons so not only did Arkansas have the home field advantage it looked like they had the coaching one as well.  Finally any longtime Auburn fan can tell you how things usually go with 11am kickoffs in Fayetteville.  The trends in this one had everyone in the country except the homers predicting Arkansas to win the game.  I know I did not feel good at kickoff.  

Last week I ended my post stating: "This game coming up comes down to the coaches in my opinion.  Who can get their teams ready to play and get the win?".  I then stated I thought it would be Pittman and I then asked Bryan Harsin to prove me wrong.  He did and that is the story this week.  Bryan Harsin and the staff at Auburn finally showed me something.  They helped get the players off the mat after a brutal beatdown by Georgia and they got them ready to play on the road with an 11am kickoff.  Again, just a cursory view of Auburn's history shows that is no small feat.  Auburn came to play on both sides of the ball and seemed to just want it more than the home team.  That is coaching and I am definitely glad to be proven wrong.  This was an absolutely huge win for Auburn going into a bye week before a big home game against the Ole Miss Rebels.  Auburn desperately needs the bye and it was so good  to get a win before it.

THE GOOD

There is a lot of this to go around this week.  The Auburn offense was very good most of the day.  The Tigers came out and drove down the field and put it in the end zone on a big play and great pass by Bo Nix to Ja'Varrius Johnson.  The forty yard bomb was absolutely huge as the Tiger offense has been missing the big play most of the season.  That is EXACTLY what the Auburn offense needed to do.  Auburn put up one more big touchdown drive in the second quarter and in the second half Nix connected with Demetris Robertson for a 71 yard touchdown pass.  The offense then followed that big play up with a drive for a field goal and one more big touchdown drive.  Nix finished 21 of 26 for almost 300 yards and those two big touchdowns.  He also spread the ball around to TEN different receivers.  The Auburn wide receivers after being dogged out all week caught nearly every ball that came their way this week.

You have to feel good for those guys after the beating they took all week from the fans and the media.  Now the offense definitely had a big swoon at the end of the second and beginning of the third quarter.  Bo Nix made his only big mistake of the day throwing an interception right before halftime and then the defense allowed the Razorbacks to drive down and score and get the momentum.  Arkansas took the opening drive of the second half and drove for a touchdown to take the lead.  The Razorbacks then forced Auburn into two 3-and-outs.  It looked like it was Arkansas' time however the defense then made a huge play getting a sack and fumble in the end zone to give Auburn back the lead and the momentum.  The Tigers never looked back.  Like the big pass plays on offense, this was the big forced turnover that the Auburn coaches have been expecting from this defense.  It was arguably the biggest play of the game.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

First there was the report of a crazy Bama fan fatally shooting another Bama fan last Saturday after the Tide's loss to Texas A&M.  Next Vol fans pelted the field with various objects at the end of their loss to Ole Miss including a golf ball allegedly thrown at former Vol coach Lane Kiffin.  The SEC has adoped the moniker "that is just means more" but I mean come on people.  It is still just a game and you have just got to get a hold of yourself.  I was in the middle of the Bama mob after "Wrong way Bo" and the Van Tiffin kick in 1984 and 1985.  I had to get to my car after Bama stopped Frank Sanders one foot short in their home game in 1994.  I was there till the end in Jordan Hare on "Black Saturday" in 2001 when Bama won 31-7 and the Bama fans in attendance seriously rubbed it in.  I was there for that awful SEC Championship game against Georgia in 2017 with a bunch of a-hole Bulldog fans.  I know the rage "that turns good men cruel".

However before you do something stupid you just have to get control of yourself.  As we were getting heckled all the way out of the stadium in 94 I told my brother "just walk out with class".  That is all you can do.  I have also found a good way to handle it is to in the words of Patrick Swayze "just be nice" during those times.  I was with my wife at the 2000 SEC Championship game when Florida beat the stew out of Auburn.  Our tickets were in the SEC East section and we were getting ridden hard by some Florida frat boys.  They were screaming at us till I finally turned around and said "hey you guys are right you have a really good team and you are kicking our ass".  They almost immediately relented and were nice to us the rest of the game.  I am not saying it works every time but it can turn a volatile situation into at least a tolerable one.  

THE LAST WORD

You also have to remember that it is those tough times that make the big ones so sweet.  Bama won a national championship in 1992 and Auburn lost perhaps its greatest coach and was placed on NCAA probation.  The Tigers then won 20 games in a row over the next two years and it felt so good after going through that.  Auburn went to the mountain top in 2010 but then fell into the deepest valley by 2012.  In 2011 Auburn was blown out by every good team they played and as most everyone remembers in 2012 Auburn had literally the worst season EVER.  Meanwhile Bama won national championships in 2011 and 2012.  I literally had to almost walk away from college football it got so bad and made me so mad but then we got the beautiful 2013 season.  Sports can drive you crazy and drive people to do really stupid things and that is why you have to check yourself and remember things will get better, well unless you are a Vandy fan...

As I said earlier the 2021 Auburn Tigers football team now enters their bye week for the stretch run.  The Tigers have won the important games to keep them in the race for the SEC West.  It is obviously a long shot that I do not think will happen but it is a big deal.  The big road win did a lot to stabilize things but it is also wise to remember this team also barely avoided losing to Georgia State and in the end did not even really challenge the best team from Georgia.  Auburn also might be facing the two best teams on their schedule outside Georgia and Bama after this bye week.  Things can still go really good or really bad, this team must continue to improve.  That is head coach Bryan Harsin's current challenge.  I was mad last week and impressed this week, I honestly do not have a real gut feeling on how this is going to turn out.  My best case scenario for what I think might happen is this team going 3-1 in their next four games losing to either Ole Miss or Texas A&M and beating the other plus State and South Carolina.  It starts now using these next two weeks to prepare and build on a good first half to this season.