Don't ever count out the Ole Ball Coach!

So we head to good old South Carolina. Last year this was a game to enjoy, I think every SEC teams enjoys beating up on Steve Spurrier just a little. We will call it pay back for years of running up scores! At the same time he is still Steve Spurrier, he might not have the talent he did at FLA, but he can come up and bite you just the same. He is an offensive master mind and would love nothing more than a momentum game to get his team kicked started in the right direction, and who better to do that then the #2 Tigers.

Then there is the short week, while I dont think this was an issue since we played Buffalo, it could be some issues when it comes to routine, especially being an away game. Thursdays nights are weird, and weird things happen, overtime, weird injuries, trick plays, it all has to be considered.

With all that said, Auburn is way to talented on defense and offense. We have the leagues top rusher, one of the leagues best QB's and a defense that held LSU to just a field goal. Auburn is well coached and well prepared, Buffalo will be an after thought and our eyes will be on that visor across the field.

Prediction Auburn 35 USC 10(Touchdown on some trickery)

So where is Buffalo?

I heard this asked a lot of me from my co-workers and friends this past week. Yes it is Buffalo, New York. Ok now that we got that cleared up! The game, well I listened to half of it in anger and the other half in partial dis-belief.

I know this was a let down game, I know that we most likely used this past week to prepare for USC not Buffalo, but at the same time seeing 10-0 and half and 17-7 half way through the third was just insane. Buffalo is one of the worst teams in Division I, most likely Arkansas State will be a harder team to play. With all that said, it was nice to see that Tate has some real promise and almost nice to see Brandon Cox kind of struggle through some things and get it write headed into three SEC games that will put us in the West driver seat or see us drop from the radar. So I will take 38-7, I would have liked that score in the first half so all the starters would have been officially removed, but hey I will take it. Plus not to mention based on the scores around the top 25, a lot of teams had let downs.

Then there is the issue of #22. And some of you might call me harsh, but there is nothing good about him having a good game against Buffalo, because all that can do it possibly put it into Tubbervilles head that he can play in big games. Lets get this straight he had one good game that is it, one good game! Say it over and over, it does not make up for the fumbles and lost yards that he posts everytime he is on the field against any team worth a dang. So please Tommy keep Trey off the field and just let the 6th year senior graduate. Ok said my peace on that.

Lastly there is the issue of the Bama game. I am not going to laugh or point, because I really do believe Karma is a...well you know. But I will say after last year getting ripped into by Bama fans after the John Vaughn incident and after this past week getting ripped into that we are cheaters and won on a bad call, I did take a small amount of pleasure seeing the ball kicked wide right, but couldn't help but feel for the guy when he did it again in overtime. I am of the belief that a good Bama teams serves Auburn in the long run and would like to see the Iron Bowl become more than a rivalry game, but I did enjoy that game just a little bit.

WAR EAGLE - ALWAYS FEELS GOOD TO BE 4-0!

EVER TO CONQUER, NEVER TO YIELD

First off let me start by retracting my prediction that John Vaughn would have his revenge. After watching a shanked kick hit the upright again, everyone knows Vaughn is a great kicker but LSU has his number.

It goes without saying WAR DAMN EAGLE! In a game that saw more speed and hard hits than any other game on separation Saturday, possibly in this decade, Auburn came out on top. Any fan across the nation has to tip their hats to both teams. It was what football used to be before the writers at ESPN and across the nation made it boring to play defense, even though time in and time out it is what wins championships. Auburn and LSU are among the best in college football right now, and it was sad to see a team lose a game like that and to drop below teams that would not want to see LSU walk into their field. It is proof while the SEC has weak teams just like the next conference (see Ole Miss and MSU), that their elite make it the best and toughest conference to play in and to win a championship in.



To the game...lets start with the offense. I look at it this way, Alabama won the national title with Jay Barker at quarterback. Why is this important you might ask? Because it was offense that was good enough to win every game. Now I dont think this was our best offensive go at it, our line was a little soft, kenny had flashes of greatness but did not seem like it was dialed in, vaughn missed a chip shot and cox was too hestitent trying to not make mistakes, but the bottom line is all your offense has to do it be good enough to win, especially when your defense holds a team to 3 points that was averaging 45. I think in the next couple weeks you will see a more focused offense that will key in on play action to set up everything, and Borges has not let us down yet, so a 7 point win is no time to start doubting him.

The defense. The scary part is there were times I thought we played really poorly and we still held LSU to no touchdowns, something that has not been done since the 90's. We are soft in the middle, but with the addition of Sears and Blackmon I think our linebacking core will be that much stronger. I did not like the fact that we did not show a lot of blitzes, but I will give Auburn the benefit of the doubt since we held some of the top receivers in the country to no TD's. Our speed was great, we swarm to the ball, tackling was good at times and bad at others, but overall we were prepared to play and that is a testament to the coaches and the players.

The Call. Wow I am tired of hearing about this. I get it, Bama fans and LSU fans are ticked. Bama fans all I have to say is get a life and worry about your own team who struggled to put 17 on the board by the half against Louisiana Monroe. LSU fans I can sypathise with, after such a hard fought game you never want it to come down to a call and I cannot say I would not be doing the same thing if I were them, but at the end of the day, whether the rule is right or not, it was the right call. Two reasons...1)If was knocked away (more than tipped) and therefore deemed uncatchable and pass interference cannot be called. 2)The play is not reviewable by the rules and it is a judgment call made on a bang bang play, and there is room for human error. Either way it is sad that this is now taking away from a game that was one of the best I have ever seen.

MVP. Kody Bliss! Without him our defense would have been put in 10 times worse situations and I think would have given up points. No one wants to give credit to a kicker for a defensive battle like that game, but without Bliss flipping the field everytime we went three and out on our own 20 we would have been in a lot worse shape.

It was a priviledge to be in the stands for such a game and remarkable to watch two teams so hungry to win that it came down to 5 yards. War Damn Eagle and congrats to both teams on a game that will be remembered as one of the greats.

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Prediction for this weeks game...Auburn 56 - Buffalo 0, and I would be surprised to see Cox or Irons play more than a series or even a snap. Either way it will be a nice week to recover from such a brutal game.

5 Missed Field Goals Later

Five missed field goals and a loud clank of the post left Auburn with their first loss in the SEC and controlling the west in the hands of other teams (Thanks Alabama). The 2005 game will stick with all of us, about us much as the 10-9 loss most likely stuck with them for the entire year of 2004. We can take a lot from that game. We can move the ball, we can score points, and we can hold our own in their stadium, what we can also take from that, they can come into our house and do the same thing.

LSU is a strong team, fast on defense and have a tree for a quarterback that Will Herring better take better shots at then the one he tried on MSU last week and got side stepped.

Auburn is quick to the ball, efficient on offense with really only one mistake on the board, and seems to be pretty disciplined right now.

But really we know nothing about these two teams. They have played teams they should beat and have done it efficiently, and with little to no injuries. So it is put up or shut up. Who is worthy of their ranking and a run at the SEC Championship and possibly more? Come to play or you will get destroyed, because both teams have coaching staffs that can smell blood and will jump to make a statement. LSU doesn't understand why Auburn is ranked higher, Auburn doesn't understand why USC or ND is ranked higher, well here is a national stage for both to prove why they belong. The sad part is win or lose I think both teams will prove they deserve to be where they are at the top, but one will fall in the ranking real hard because that is just the name of the game when it comes to college football polls.

Keys to the game: Defense Defense Defense! Balanced attack on offense with a heavy dose of pounding the football to set up a tired defense in the fourth quarter. And hopefully better than 5 missed field goals.

Key Stat: Past 6 games each team is 3-3, all three wins for each team are at home...heres to praying that will not change.

Prediction: Auburn 20 - LSU 17 (John Vaughn gets revenge.)

AU 34 - MSU 0

When was the game over? Or is the better question did it really ever start. MSU played hard, especially there front 7-8 in choosing to get beaten by the air and holding our running game at least in check. The sad part for MSU is they are not even in the same league as someone like Auburn right now, and most likely 5-6 other SEC teams.

Auburn's passing game was nice to see, our ability to win two games two different ways has made some defensive coordinators at least think about packing 9 in the box and covering man to stop the run. Would some fans like to see us run up the score, sure, we all want to be USC, but Tubberville has never been one to run up the score to prove a point. Bottom line is LSU was already being planned for before the first snap of the MSU game was taken. MSU might be back some day but for now, you chalk it up to a good prep game for LSU.

The Real Heroes - 9/11

I know this is a football blog, that I get on here and ramble about Auburn football and the stupid system, but when it all gets down to it, without real heroes like the ones we found coming out of fire stations and not stadiums on September 11, 2001, we would not have the freedom to ramble like we do.

I sat in my car this morning listening to the replay of the days events, and I just hit the steering wheel in frustration. On that day, it did not matter who you were, man woman or child, black or white, republican or democrat, you were attacked. Our way of life was attacked, and it had nothing to do with an Iraqi war or a Iran war or Israel, all things that we blame now. It was purely because those people got up in the morning and lived in the greatest country in the world. People can blame President Bush, I don't, people can blame President Clinton, I didn't, but if people don't wake up and realize it is not caused by a President or a foreign policy, that it is about a hatred so deep America can not fathom it, and in doing so have lost focus on the pure unadulterated fact that they want to kill us.

I am not stupid enough to say political debate is not good for this country, because it is, but decent on the war on terror has gotten out of hand, and by doing so we are doing an injustice to the heroes that died that day and to the heroes that have died before them. Demand a new course of action, but don't think for a minute you will win by coming home. Coming home will fuel an already fueled enemy. A good opponent always smells blood, and if I was watching the news in this country I could smell it all the way from Bin Laden's cave. If we retreat the war will be brought to our streets, our shopping malls and our schools --- and if you don't believe me then watch the news coming out of Israel. This is an enemy that does not fight man to man on a battlefield, it is a coward that does not see a difference between soldiers and your wife/husband and kids.

The heroes of 9/11 deserve a resolve that demands for us to find a winning strategy no matter what politics you believe in, they do not deserve retreat, because not one that day that died in those towers, or the pentagon, or on Flight 93 has the option to retreat, and many never even thought about it.

I pray that God will bless this country, bless our troops, bless the families of the victims, and help guide this country in such troubled times. I hope someday we can honor those fallen by picking this country up and defeating an enemy that has had more resolve than any other enemy in our history, and show why this is a country that will never let anyone threaten that freedom which we hold so dear.

God Bless America! And don't ever forget!

Like throwing darts blind folded!

What can you compare the polls to this year? It is like throwing darts blind folded. Sure lets make Texas number 2 after beating North Texas, that way we can have a #1 vs #2. Sure lets make ND and USC #2 and #3 setting up an end of the season show down for the national title. It is perfect, if one loses sure we will let an Auburn or LSU in, but if they dont we get the matchup everyone wants....right? WRONG! The polls are almost becoming something to laugh at this year. Until this week there has been no real shake up that is worth talking about. No one besides OSU has established there position at the top, everyone else (including Auburn) has played basically games they are suppose to win and win big. Sure ND did not win against GT like one might think being ranked 2, but GT plays up to hard teams and down to crappy teams, it is there style. This is more fuel to the fire for week three or four polls instead of preseason, because the bottom line is experts have no clue...none. ESPN College Gameday has made 4 preditions for the national title winner, and two have already lost...Miami (What was Herbsteit thinking?) and Cal (What was Corso thinking?). After week three depending on what happens, I think we will at least know if LSU or AU is for real, or ND or Michigan, or FLA or TN, or USC or Nebraska. Why not wait till this week or next for that matter, let everyone get the week teams out of the way and start playing some before we deam a national championship game in week 2. It is crazy and all it does is hurts the sport. I know with this many teams someone is always going to be left out, but an and 1 system or 8 man playoff has to be better than what we have!

STUPID POLLS

Not that it really matters this early (at least you hope, because there are some scenarios that could make this early season move tragic for Auburn), but how can a team beat an unranked team and move three spots. How can Texas move up when Notre Dame defeated a much better competitor at GT home stadium. I hate Notre Dame, but they did nothing to move back, and USC nor Texas did anything to move up. Over the next couple weeks it will be clear the cream of the crop, especially with the following games.

USC v Nebraska
ND v Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan St.
Auburn v LSU
Florida v UT
Ohio State v Texas

Polls get more and more rediculous and the argument for week 2 or 3 polls is getting greater and greater. But now with USC moving up it does set the possibility for the winner of the OSU v Texas game to run the table as well as USC and that will be your national title game, and Auburn or maybe even West Virginia could say nothing about it (Even more fuel for an AND 1 system). Preseason polls are great for fans but serve the teams 0, take Cal for instance, ranked 9th and taken to school, or even Auburn two years ago, ranked 6th and whooped at Auburn. It just does not make sense.

Just a fans rant, but something has got to change, everyone knows that with 100+ teams nothing is simple, but there has to be something better than this.

Looking Past MSU

After a 40-14 win, one can't help but look past 0-1 MSU to hated west rival LSU and a top 10 showdown. But, one hopes Auburn and Tommy Tuberville are not. Even though MSU lost its opener to South Carolina, it played fast defense. They also lost their starting QB, and have replaced him with a mobile QB that can always cause defenses havick, especially ones that could be dialing it in until the next week. Lets not also forget that Florida walked into Mississippi State two years ago ranked in the top 10, and walked out with a loss. Sylvester Croom is a well trained coach that has that program at least leaning in the right direction. Week 2 should be just like week 1 for Auburn. Slow start due to a pumped MSU defense, but slowly dominating a game that should be over by the end of the half.

Auburn I do not think will get caught looking ahead, but MSU is still the second step of 12 to getting to a BCS Bowl or even a national title, and should be taken seriously, especially since every SEC fow at home can be dangerous.

Prediction for the week: Auburn 45 - MSU 6.

AU 40 - WSU 14

College football is here and what a weekend it was down on the plains. We arrived on Friday to a packed out city already. After enjoying dinner and a fish bowl at Niffers, a local restaurant, we headed onto campus to set up for the tailgating and realized that half of the 90,000 fans had already set up.

On Saturday we set out for our tailgating spot, which it must be said that tailgating in the SEC is an art and sometimes a comedy to watch some fans get a little too much into their friends Bud Lite and Miller Lite. Walking around campus it gets you fired up for the game that is still 6 hours away, you start to think about your time on campus as a student and sometimes weird to see the dozens of changes made to the campus you practically lived on for 4 years. We did the typical rounds to the overcrowded overpriced bookstores, where we of course spent to much money on a hat and two shirts. We then ventured to the landmark, Toomers Corner, and for anyone planning on visiting Auburn, Toomer Corner is a must, their lemonade is legondary (althought a little overpriced). We then headed back, passing the stadium on the way and see students standing outside 3 hours before the game. Ah the days of being a student and having to be at the game that early. WOW that sucked! Sure is nice to have regular tickets now.

Tiger Walk! One of the coolest traditions for people to experience. The mob of fans that crowd the streets to slap the hands of Tommy Tuberville and the Auburn football players is amazing to see. Sons climb on their dads back, people climb trees, it is a site to see what people will do, you hear the band leading fight songs, the chearleaders chanting, it is enough to make everyone chant WAR DAMN EAGLE, and a ball have not even been snapped.



The Game! I must say I was nervous going into this, I felt we should win, but I did not know if we would. WSU has the 18th ranked offense in the nation, but also went 4-7, so I felt like we were going to score points. After an amazing flight of Spirit, and a really cool intro it was game time, put up or shut up for the #4 Tigers. After watching the first defensive series you thought this was in the bad, with one sack and a hurry WSU went three and out to give the ball up to the #1 offense in the SEC. Kenny Irons then stormed onto the game with an opening 40 yard run, and you thought good we are off to the races. "Not so fast my friend!" Auburn while moving the ball basically as they pleased could not finish. Brandon Cox seemed tight, but still was not making the mistakes he made in the opener last year, and then there was Kenny Irons being Kenny. After a few field goals, including a 54 yarder, the tigers were leading by only 5 (12-7), when finally the Tigers were able to put it into the endzone with a screen pass to Lester. At this point you felt the game was in control. Auburn tacked on another touchdown before the defense had a huge breakdown and let WSU score an easy touchdown to bring the score to 26-14 and seemingly the momentum was with WSU, as there defense dropped Irons for a lost and sacked Cox to set up a punt on 4th and 16, when the old river boat gambler called the fake from inside his own 20, that resulted in a 40 yard run, but 0 points. The big part was it really broke WSU's spirit. Auburn would then take advantage of a tired defensive front and tack on two more touchdowns to take the game 40-14.



Overall the Tigers looked good, we missed a few tackles, Cox started tight, Kenny let his mouth run a little too much, and heck you know that was not our entire offense or defensive packages. MSU should play hard but the Tigers look like they will go into a showdown, for basically the SEC West two weeks from now again LSU. Auburn needs to tighten up the middle and the safeties need to make better decisions, the offense just needs to continue to find its stride, and work on finishing better, too many redzone opportunities lost. But as I said 40-14 in game one against a pac 10 team and not Western Kentucky is good with me.

On a note, it is really funny, and maybe best for now, that Auburn is #4 in the nation and getting no press time even with a solid win, still the obsession with USC and ND is still there, and I am sure now UT.

Until next time, WAR EAGLE!