If Pigskins Could Fly

SEC Picks - Bowl Game Spectacular

2007-12-29T08:09:00.000-06:00

You didn't think I'd forget about you, did you? This blog has definitely taken the back seat lately. After finals, I was busy working on the yard and house. Then came the nice Florida trip to spend Christmas with the in-laws. Blah, blah, blah. Let's get to the diddly-poop. In order to squeeze in as many honey-dos as possible before next semester, this one will be short and sweet.

MSU 21 - UCF 13

Colorado 17 - UA 9

UK 38 - FSU 21

AU 21 - Clemson 10

Wisconsin 28 - UT 24

Mizzou 52 - Ark 45

UF 56 - UM 30

UGA 35 - UH 24

LSU 35 - Ohio State 21

Good Luck Coach Borges

2007-12-11T07:25:00.000-06:00

Al Borges has resigned as Auburn's offensive coordinator. He will not be with Auburn at the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Despite his recent predictable play-calling, I'm going to miss seeing him in orange and blue. I wish him well.

Posting will remain light until I am finished with finals.

Fun With CBS

2007-12-04T13:07:00.000-06:00

Since Auburn wasn't in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, I had to do something to make it a little more exciting. I decided to come up with an SEC on CBS drinking game, much like the Bob Newhart Show drinking game.

This task seems simple enough, but creating a drinking game is more difficult than you would think. There are several rules you need to follow when creating a drinking game.

The drinking should be steady throughout the duration of the game, with not much downtime in between drinks.
All "players" should be able to make it to the end of the game.
There needs to be enough drinking to get everyone drunk.
There has to be balance, meaning all drinking doesn't occur in only one part of the game. This goes back to rule number one.
No one drives after playing the game!

I know that seems simple enough, but it really isn't. Have you ever tried to come up with a drinking game using TV or movies? If you have, you probably had to alter the rules at some point in the game because there wasn't enough, or there was too much drinking.

What makes this even harder is the length of football games, which are a good bit longer than most movies. I wanted to be able to see the final whistle, even if in double vision.

There was one final element to the game that I wanted to add. I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it, so I left out anything play-related.

Here are the basic rules that I came up with:

Take a drink when the following happens:

Verne Lundquist laughs.
Gary Danielson mentions mentions "modern day football". This can also be "modern football", really, any combination with "modern" and "football" in it.
The announcers mention other CBS shows.
Gary states something obvious. ie. "If he drops the ball, it's a fumble."

Take two drinks when the following happens:

They go back to the studio with Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman.
They go to the sideline with Tracy.
Integrated sponsor names are mentioned. ie. Aflac Trivia Question, Home Depot Penalty Comparison, etc. . .

Finish your current drink when the following happens:

Someone mentions "BCS".
Verne or Gary says "my goodness" or "my gracious".
Someone mentions that Gary played Purdue.
Someone mentions that Gary played in the NFL.
Verne calls a player the wrong name.

Drink an entire 500 ml bottle of Listerine (the yellow kind) when the following happens:

Verne, Gary, or Tracy says anything remotely intelligent.

It's always fun to throw in a rule that will never be used.

With the rules laid, I played the game. Needless to say, I spent halftime wandering around the front yard with my pants around my ankles. I got to visit Brookwood Medical Center to have my stomach pumped sometime during the third quarter. I don't know.

Things are a little fuzzy, but I think it was Gary Danielson's "modern day football" comments that did me in, because they usually followed by Verne laughing.

I finally watched the fourth quarter. It was then that I heard one of the dumbest statements ever uttered by someone calling a college football game, and that includes Pam Ward. Verne Lundquist said that the chop block on Dorsey against Auburn cost LSU a chance at going to the National Championship game. Of course, Gary agreed.

I'm not going to go into why that comment was so...idiotic. Chances are, if you need it explained to you, you wouldn't be able to read my blog anyway.

SEC Picks - Week 14

2007-12-01T09:56:00.000-06:00

I never got around to writing a dedicated post for the Auburn/Bama game. Life is busy right now. I'll just reiterate here that I'm thrilled with the win.

Well, there's only one game this week, LSU vs UT.

LSU has plenty of distractions with Les Miles's coaching decisions. After last weeks loss, they aren't playing for the NC anymore. Both of these factors could drop their level of intensity today.

On the other hand, a lot of people are saying that UT is hot right now. Not me, though. They've barely squeezed by their last two opponents.

I'm going to go with LSU 48 - UT 35.

Game on Saturday?

2007-11-27T11:59:00.000-06:00

I realize I'm a little late in posting this. I went 3-3 last week, and am now 69-25. I won't go game-by-game this week.

So yeah, I picked Bama to beat Auburn. I just had a bad feeling last week. It wasn't a lack of faith, or a reverse-mojo ploy for good luck...just a bad feeling. I'm certainly glad I was wrong! I hope to have a dedicated post about the game later on this week.

So what's with the talk radio this week? No one wants to talk about the game. No one really wants to talk about bowl bids either. It's all about where Tuberville, Muschamp, Borgess, hell, everyone down to Auburn's waterboy will end up.

Sheldon Haygood's talk more about Tuberville leaving the other night than the actual game. His laughable prediction was LSU. I guess he had to come up with something after TAMU was out of the picture.

On my drive home yesterday, Finebaum was interviewing someone and all they talked about was about Auburn coaches leaving. I changed stations and Dunaway and Brown were talking about the same thing. I went to the show with Stabler thinking that they would surely be talking about the game. Nope, Auburn's coaching situation.

Every Monday this year, people have talked about the previous Saturday's games, particularly the Bama games. After all, Birmingham is still a Bama town, though not by as much as it used to be. But yesterday? Nada. No strategy talk, bowl projection talk, or "what if" talk. No throwing SJPW under the bus, or talks of, "if Saban had his own players." It was all talk of Auburn's coaching staff.

This morning, what were they talking about on the Opening Drive? Possible positions that could be filled by Auburn's current coaching staff.

Honestly, this game seems to have disappeared like a fart in the wind. And why? Because the Bama nation wants Coach Tuberville out of town. They aren't used to losing six in a row, so they're panicking like never before.

I will give credit to the many wonderful Bama blogs (check my links) out there that actually have talked about the game. Sure, many have also talked about the coaching situation. After all, it's big news (though, no news). But they haven't completely ignored the fact that there was a game played on Saturday. Why not the "legitimate" media?

Well, shit sells these days. And by shit, I mean a) tabloid "news", and b) stuff that panders to the target audience. That's exactly what the local sports media is doing now.

We all know the ringleader. He's been extremely successful pedaling the tabloid junk. The rest of the local sports media are just following suit. Either that, or they're just drooling Bama fanboys (see Melick/Gattis). I don't know if I should, but I'm giving most of them the benefit of the doubt.

Iron Bowl Pregame

2007-11-24T14:41:00.002-06:00

Well, it's that time of the year again. It's hard to explain, but I'm excited for this one...but I'm not.

Overshadowing the players this year are the two coaches. For Alabama, you have coach Nick Saban. He has such a nasty attitude. I wonder why?

For Auburn, you have coach Tommy Tuberville. Some people call him wingnut. What the hell's a wingnut?

Both of these coaches are seasoned veterans with a combined 23 years of experience as head football coaches in Division 1. Their coaching styles are completely different. Saban has a more animated approach.

Yikes. I could, but I'm not going to go there!

Tuberville has a relaxed approach. This is about the most animated you'll see him unless he wants to argue with the officials.

I would have posted the animated gif but it looks exactly like the picture. Exciting, huh?

Usually, I ask some pregame questions before kickoff. This game is different so I decided to do something else. Instead of asking questions, I'm going to make a few suggestions to the players.

I'm not too worried about the defense. To put it another way, I don't want to think about our DBs trying to cover DJ Hall. So I'll focus on the offense.

My first suggestion is for Robert Dunn. I guess this could apply to the other receivers, tight ends, running backs and the defensive secondary (not thinking about it!).

The ball is not a hot potato. It will not hurt you to catch it. In fact, it'll probably feel pretty damned good. All of those people in the stands wearing orange and blue will cheer for you. You might actually put six on the board after you catch it. If you bat it down, all of those people in crimson and white shirts will cheer. You don't want that!

My next suggestion is for the offensive line, mainly Lee Ziemba.

Don't get too excited! Remember playing "red light-green light" when you were a kid? I'm sure you were a big kid. Being so, you were probably pretty slow. I'd imagine you never won while playing it. Well, now you're a man. You definitely aren't the slowest anymore. Think of this game as your time to finally win "red light-green light". You have to remember that if you jump early, you lose. Don't jump offsides, you win! As an added bonus, you could win the football game as well. Then everybody's happy!

My final suggestion is for Brandon Cox.

This is it, man. Sure, you'll more than likely have one more game, but this is the one you'll be remembered for. This is your last hoorah at Jordan-Hare. This is your last chance to beat Bama. Make too many mistakes and some fans, not I, will never forgive you. Just ask Stan White. To avoid this from happening, make your decisions wisely.

No matter how well you think you can throw the ball do not throw it into coverage. Single, double, triple, it doesn't matter. I can't stress this enough.

I've taken the liberty of highlighting all of the areas at Jordan-Hare where you can throw the ball when you get into trouble.

Any area outside of the highlighted area is fine as well. Remember, an incompletion is always, ALWAYS better than an interception.

To the rest of the team.

Relax and have fun. We're behind you 100%. Keep a level head, and we can expect to see some of this Shula-like behavior:
And hopefully we'll see Tubs pull one of these:

I would also accept the following, but my records indicate that Tuberville has no extra fingers.

One last thing before I go... WAR EAGLE!!!

SEC Picks - Week 13

2007-11-23T18:10:00.000-06:00

Whoops! I forgot there were games today! The two games that I missed will not go on my record.

East

UGA at Tech - UGA's on a roll. What gimmick will Richt use this week?
UGA 35 - Tech 21

UT at UK - Tennessee has a hard time stopping the pass. Kentucky is pretty successful at passing the ball. UGA's going to Atlanta.
UK 42 UT 41

UF vs FSU - Florida is probably the best three loss team in the nation. Yeah, I know they got blown out by UT, another three loss team.
UF 38 - FSU 30

USC vs Clemson - This one's tough to call. When in doubt, the OBC wins out.
USC 21 - Clemson 14

Vandy vs WF - Vandy...blah.
WF 28 - Vandy 24

West

LSU vs Ark - Believe it or not, I had a feeling this would happen. However, my brain would have probably kicked in before I made that prediction. Never the less, ouch!
Too late!

Auburn vs Bama - My gut says Bama. Seeing as how my gut was right about LSU/Ark, so I'm not going to listen to my brain.
Bama 17 - Auburn 14

MSU vs OM - I was going to call MSU in a close one.
Too late!

Who Owns the Refs? - Revisited

2007-11-21T09:20:00.000-06:00

It's Iron Bowl week, so I decided to do another comparison of penalties called in Auburn's and Alabama's games. In doing so, I also compared their opponents' penalties against Auburn and Alabama to what they averaged against other opponents.

When I compiled my first "Who Owns the Refs?" entry, Auburn and Alabama had only played four games. They both have now played eleven games, so we should be able to get a better idea of who really owns the refs in this state.

Here are comparisons of penalties per game and penalty yards per game for Alabama, Auburn, and the SEC average.

Hmmm, interesting. While opponents were penalized more times for more yards against both teams, Alabama certainly takes the cake.

Auburn is on par with the SEC average in penalties per game and penalty yards per game. Alabama is penalized less for far less yards than the SEC average. They're number one in both categories in the SEC. When it comes to penalty yards and opponent penalty yards, Alabama is number four and number three in the nation.

Of course, there is no distinction between offensive and defensive penalties here. I'm definitely not going to sift through a bunch of play-by-plays to get the information either! However, we can see which offense is getting more of a boost from penalties by comparing first downs gained by penalties.

I included the total chart because it paints a better picture of what's going on. Auburn has gotten more first downs from penalties than the SEC average, but so has their opponents. The gap between first downs awarded to Alabama compared to their opponents is amazing. They've received more first downs from penalties than any other team in the nation. There are only four teams in the nation whose opponents have received less first downs from penalties than Alabama. Could this be because of Bama's schedule?

Auburn and Alabama have had six common opponents this year. Are their non-common opponents skewing their numbers? After all, USF and KSU are two of the top penalized teams in the country. Let's see how Alabama's and Auburn's opponents averaged against other teams.

I took the average from the opponent teams, excluding Alabama for their comparison and Auburn for theirs. Western Carolina and Tennessee Tech were excluded from this average.

Teams averaged less penalties for less yards when playing other opponents than when playing Alabama and Auburn. There is clearly a larger gap for Bama's opponents. The teams they've played have averaged less penalties for less yards per game than Auburn's opponents, yet they averaged more penalties for more yards when playing Bama.

What about their opponents' penalties?

Auburn's opponents benefited from the same number of penalties per game against other teams than they did against Auburn. The yardage is about the same as well.

Again, there is a clear difference between the number of penalties called when teams have played Alabama. Those teams benefited from more penalties for more yards per game against other opponents than the teams Auburn played. Head to head, Bama's opponents didn't get nearly as many calls or as many yards as Auburn's opponents did.

What about first downs?

Opponents got more first downs from penalties against Auburn than against other teams. Likewise, Auburn received more first downs from penalties than the other teams they played. That pretty much balances out.

Bama's comparison speaks for itself.

Basically, teams have been penalized more, for more yards, and given up more first downs from penalties when they played Bama than when they played other teams. It's not even close. And it's because of this we can conclude that Bama fans have no business complaining about calls.

I'm not sure if Bama owns the refs. Every team in the SEC has gotten their share of BS calls this year. But this screen cap taken from the Bama/Ole Miss game is mighty suspicious.

Saban

2007-11-19T14:19:00.000-06:00

When it comes to Alabama, I don't do a lot of trash talking. Sure, I'll make the occasional jab. I'll call their quarterback Sara Jessica Parker Wilson, and all of that fun stuff. Nothing too serious. I'm not a trash talking kind of guy. I just want to get this out of the way.

The following isn't trash talking. It's merely me expressing my opinions. I apologize if I offend anyone.

Saban disgusts me, bottom line. It has nothing to do with the fact that he's Alabama's coach either.

Pat Forde said it best,
With Nick Saban en route to a coronation in Tuscaloosa, it's officially time to change the vocabulary used to describe college coaches.

"Integrity" is out. "Character" is out. "Teacher" is out. "Leader of men" is out.

"Liar" is in.
Does this apply to all coaches? No, but it certainly applies to Nick Saban.

Why "integrity" is out.

integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty

This one's easy. "I'm not going to be the Alabama coach." - Nick Saban

As Michael Ventre put it,"the Saban lie is a doozy, a humdinger, that earns him inclusion in the Sports Liars Hall of Fame."

Nick Saban is not a man of integrity. He is an unethical liar.

Why "character" is out.

character - qualities of honesty, courage, or the like

No matter how the local "media" tries to spin it, DJ Hall was supposed to be suspended for the game. After struggling in the first half, Saban decided to play him anyway. When asked about the suspension after the game, Saban's response was, "It was what it was."

Basically, Saban went back on his word (suspension) for the sake of winning at all costs, and then didn't have the courage to answer a simple question about his decision.

Nick Saban is not a man of character. He is a dishonest coward.

Why "teacher" and "leader of men" are out.

From Ian Rapaport's column:
The players on the University of Alabama sideline began to head for the locker room before the clock struck 00:00. Most exited without a handshake for the opponent, and all exited with their chins hanging in the dirt.
Those aren't men. Of course, Saban thinks they are. And among those "men" is Simeon Castille, who Saban says is, "one of the finest young men on our team." This was after Simeon was arrested for disorderly conduct.

If this is an example of "one of the finest men" on Bama's team, I'm at a loss for words.

From the police report.

"The suspect stated that this was going to hurt his draft status and squatted against the wall and appeared to be crying."

It appears that one of Bama's finest only cares about himself.

What did this "teacher" do to punish Simeon? What about Fanney, Upchurch, and Deadrick?

No suspensions. Saban keeps discipline in house, unless your name is Keith Brown, Prince Hall, Antoine Caldwell, Marlon Davis, Glen Coffee, Chris Rogers, Marquis Johnson, or DJ Hall. Which more than likely means that Fanny, Upchurch, Deadrick, and Castille were not punished at all.

Castille went on to throw bottles at the crowd in Mississippi. I'm sure he wasn't punished for that either.

Nick Saban is not a teacher or a leader of men.

Pat Forde is definitely onto something. Liar doesn't quite fully describe Saban though. He's much, much more.

Week 12 Results

2007-11-19T11:01:00.001-06:00

I went 5-1 this week. That brings my total to 66-22.

I had my usual results post written. I don't know why, but it disappeared. Out of spite, I'm not going to rewrite it.

SEC Picks - Week 12

2007-11-17T08:34:00.000-06:00

East

Georgia vs. Kentucky - Kentucky's offense is more like Tennessee's, so they very well could rack up the points today. Coming off of a big win, Georgia will have to keep their heads out of the clouds and stay focused. They have to win today to remain in the race for the East.
UGA 35 - UK 28

Tennessee vs. Vandy - Like UGA, UT must win this game if they want to make it to Atlanta. A loss would certainly clench the East title for UGA (if they beat UK today). UT should win this one without any problems.
UT 30 - Vandy 17

Florida vs. FAU - At least Florida keeps creampuff money in state.
UF 58 - FAU 21

West

LSU at Ole Miss - Ole Miss had a much needed off week last week (lucky!). It still won't be enough.
LSU 35 - Ole Miss 7

Auburn - Off

Alabama vs. La-Monroe - TAMU beat La-Monroe 54-14. Will this be used as a comparison between Fran and Saban? It will if Bama wins by a wider margin.
Bama 38 - La-Monroe 10

MSU at Arkansas - MSU has earned upsets by forcing turnovers...mostly in the air. Advantage, Arkansas. Felix Jones is injured. Advantage, MSU. McFadden is not injured. Advantage, Arkansas.
Arkansas 28 - MSU 17

Another Egg Laid

2007-11-12T09:35:00.000-06:00

Brad Lester...not having fun.

From middle school through high school, my football team had one of the most talented around. A good number of those guys received full rides from Division 1 schools, with one of them ending his career in the NFL. Several others played at 1AA schools, and one or two received scholarships in other sports. There was no doubt that we had some athletes, but we could never really get things going. Everything fell flat at game time.

Pregame was the same every week. We weren't allowed to go home after school. We had to sit around the gym or locker room...quietly. In between playing cards and/or taking a nap, different groups would briefly meet with their coaches to watch film, or go over last minute game notes. We would eat our pregame meal in silence, and file into buses.

We were never allowed to talk on the bus rides to wherever we were playing. The coaches always said that we were supposed to use this time to think about the game. I always dreaded the bus rides. Not a single noise was heard but the bus's engine. I could drink two pots of coffee and still struggle to stay awake in that situation.

After arriving to the field, we would walk to one end zone and then the other without saying a word. We'd put our shoulder pads and helmets on in the locker room and head out to stretch and warm up. We weren't allowed to talk while stretching.

Back in the locker room, we'd huddle around. The coach would give a speech about how every game is important. They always read the same poem in monotone before the Lord's Prayer.

After the Lord's Prayer, it was always something along the lines of, "Alright, you ready to get pumped!?!? You ready to win this thing!?!"

To this day, I don't understand the "pregame logic" of these coaches. I'm not sure how it is/was at other schools, but this is not the way to go about things. We were lulled to sleep for several hours then expected to get pumped up five or ten minutes to kickoff. Not only were we lulled to sleep, but the constant silence never did anything but build tension. This was nothing but a recipe for disaster.

What does this have to do with this past weekend? Look at Georgia. I think one of the main reasons they've turned a corner is because Richt is allowing his players to have fun. The result is a more relaxed team. The result is a a team that's pumped up and full of energy throughout the game. Some people may not agree with his tactics, but the results speak volumes.

You can say that Auburn lost b/c Cox reverted to Mr. Hyde, because our DBs can't cover man-to-man if their life depended on it, or because Tuberville was preoccupied during the week. Whatever the case may be, I think everyone can agree that Auburn's play was completely lackadaisical.

I don't know what goes on during Auburn's pregame. Over the past few years, there have been several games where Auburn came out playing like they had just woken up from a coma. This year, their disappointing performances were against Kansas State, USF, MSU, and Georgia. Auburn was outscored in the first quarter of those games 30 to 6.

The results are similar when looking at last year's games against Arkansas and Georgia, where Auburn was outscored 17 to 0 in the first quarter.

The year before that? 20 to 0 in games against Georgia Tech and Wisconsin.

Even going back as far as 2003, it's evident that Auburn has trouble getting up for some games. That year, they were outscored a whopping 37 to 0 in games against USC, Georgia Tech, LSU and Georgia.

I think you get the point. Something about Auburn's pregame needs to change. If you've seen footage of Tuberville before games, it's evident that he isn't much of a motivational speaker. Perhaps he needs to hire someone on that is. Too bad this guy isn't around any more.

Week 11 Results

2007-11-12T09:27:00.000-06:00

I went 3-3 this week. My total record this year is 61-21.

The East went 2-0 against the West this week, making them the king of the SEC. They were 10-8 against the West this year.

East

UGa 45 - AU 20
Richt overpowered Auburn's white jerseys by using ultra extreme black jerseys. Seriously, Auburn just looked flat.

UT 34 - Ark 13
It looks like UT studied some AU/Ark film before this one.

UF 51 - USC 31
No surprise here. I thought it would be a little closer, though.

UK 27 - Vandy 20
Again, no surprise here.

West

LSU 58 - La. Tech 10
Boring.

MSU 17 - UA 12
Like I said pregame, "MSU can pressure the quarterback..." SJPW needs to learn not to crumble under pressure. I almost forgot to add that Saban got Croomed. That phrase is losing its luster, isn't it?

SEC Picks - Week 11

2007-11-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

I'm sick right now, so I'll keep this brief.

East

Georgia vs. Auburn - Two good running teams on offense. Auburn gets the edge because of their run defense.
AU 34 - UGA 21

Tennessee vs. Arkansas - UT's defense can't stop anything. Only one team has been able to stop the Razorback's running game.
Ark 42 - UT 34

Florida vs. USC - USC is crumbling. I'm going to break my own rules and underestimate the OBC.
UF 34 - USC 30

Kentucky at Vandy - Woodson should have no problems with Vandy's defense.
UK 35 - Vandy 14

West

LSU vs. La. Tech - It's nice that LSU keeps their money instate.
LSU 45 - La. Tech 0

Alabama at MSU - MSU can pressure the quarterback but seems to have trouble with the finesse run. Saban won't get Croomed this year.
Bama 28 - MSU 10

Week 10 Results

2007-11-05T16:17:00.000-06:00

I went 7-0 this week. My total record for the year is now 58-18.

The East went 0-1 against the West for the second week straight. They're now knotted up at 8-8. The two regular season East vs. West games left are Auburn/UGA and Ark/UT. Who will prevail?

East

UF 49 - Vandy 22
Like I said, "Florida will win easily." Why have Tebow and the starters in during the fourth quarter, though? There was no need for it.

UGA 44 - Troy 34
Seven total turnovers between the two? Yeah, this one was ugly. There are two things that stand out to me from this game. Troy UGA, and UGA went 2 for 11 on first downs.

UT 59 - ULL 7
South Carolina still holds the distinction of being one of two teams ULL was able to hold under 30 points this year. 1-7 North Texas is the other.

West

LSU 41 - Bama 34
After repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot, LSU finally prevailed. Without the penalties, this one wouldn't have been as close. Six of Bama's twenty first downs were from penalties. Coincidentally, they are tied with Northwestern for having the most first downs gained by penalties in the nation. I smelled some Cajun spices on some of the replay calls, but Bama has no room to complain about those.

Auburn 35 - Tennessee Tech 3
Wow, I almost nailed this score! It's good to see that the backups got plenty of playing time in this one. I honestly didn't think I'd see Blake Field's name mentioned again. Boring opponent, boring game.

Arkansas 48 - USC 36
McFadden and Felix Jones are both like Matt Jones. They're some of the most exciting players I've ever seen, and I will shed no tears when they leave Arkansas!

OM 38 - NWSU 31
Ole Miss almost blew this one. How many times this year have they fallen flat late in the game? Orgeron should probably look into hiring a new strength and conditioning coach.

SEC Picks - Week 10

2007-11-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

My computer time has been short this week. I guess there really isn't too much to talk about this week Auburn-related anyway. Watson Brown is coming to town!

What is this, opening week? The SEC has four out of conference games this week against two Sun Belt schools, and two 1-aa schools. At least Troy has a winning record. Anyway, here are my picks.

East

Florida vs. Vandy - If I told you two things about this game, "One team is coming off of two heartbreaking losses, and the other is coming off of two big wins," and then told you that the teams were Florida and Vanderbilt, you would probably guess that Florida had just beaten their last two opponents. Then after I revealed to you that you're wrong, you would probably argue that Miami (OH) isn't a big win, but any win over a D1 opponent is big for the Commies. Yeah, this has nothing to do with the game. Florida will win easily.
UF 34 - VU 10

Georgia vs. Troy - This has all the makings of an upset. Georgia finally played with a real sense of urgency last week. Now, they play a game that's hard to get excited about. They'll win, but it'll be sloppy.
UGA 28 - Troy 21

Tennessee vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - The Cajuns beat North Texas earlier this year. So they've got that going for them, which is nice. But they're ranked 112 in scoring defense. Teams are averaging 37.8 points per game against them. Can you guess what team scored the least points against them this year? *Look to the bottom of this post for the answer.
UT 42 - ULL 17

Kentucky - Off

West

LSU vs. Bama - This one's tough to pick. LSU's defense can get to the quarterback, and SJPW seems to make stupid decisions when under pressure. I don't think Bama's defense compares to Auburn's, and look what LSU did to them in the second half. On the other side of the coin, Bryant-Denny Restaurant is going to be electric tomorrow night. When it comes down to it, LSU is more talented than any team Bama has faced this year...by a long shot.
LSU 31 - Bama 17

Auburn vs. Tennessee Tech - Auburn will be short several players for this one. I'm sure Tuberville won't even go vanilla in this one. It'll be watered down plain on offense. Even so, easy running for the Tigers.
AU 34 - TTU 0

Arkansas vs. USC - I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Arkansas is going to get their first SEC win tomorrow...Ole Miss doesn't count.
Ark 28 - USC 17

MSU - Off

Ole Miss vs. Northwestern State - If it wasn't for a pesky scheduling error, the Rebs would be undefeated in their out of conference games this year. Seriously, you know they meant to schedule Southwestern Missouri Commonwealth Polytechnical College for the Deaf-Branson instead of Mizzou. Someones head will roll for this.
OM 34 - NWS 10

*answer: South Carolina - Yeah, I actually forgot to answer this!

Week 9 Results

2007-10-29T11:07:00.000-05:00

I went 3-3 this week. That brings my overall record to 51-18.

The East went 0-1 against the west making them 8-7 for the season. The West is catching up! With only three more East vs. West games left, can the West come out on top?

East

UGA 42 - FLA 30
Like I've said before, if Tebow gets injured, Florida is in trouble. I'm not sure if the week off had any affect on UGA's play, but they definitely looked like a different team on Saturday.

UT 27 - USC 24
USC's offense looked like it was actually coached by the OBC racking up 501 yards on offense. Four turnovers will do you in every time.

Vandy 24 - Miami(OH) 13
It looks like Vanderbilt is following other SEC teams by using a two-QB system. Will it be as predictable as Auburn's? Nickson ran the ball 11 times, and didn't throw it once. It looks like the answer is yes.

West

AU 17 - OM 3
Tuberville coaches some of the most boring football in the SEC at times. Even so, a win is a win, and 420 yards on offense isn't too shabby either.

Ark 58 - FIU 10
Is Arkansas looking to join the Sun Belt? This is their third opponent from that conference. Jones outgained McFadden in this one. I think he's emerging as the better back between the two. Time will tell.

MSU 31 - UK 14
Any Auburn fan will tell you what five turnovers against MSU will get you. Kentucky, we feel your pain! Woodson is now removed from the top spot of my Heisman list.

Ole Miss Pregame

2007-10-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

I have one question this week.

Can Auburn stop Hardy and Perry from getting to Cox?

If Auburn can do this, I think they will be fine on offense. I'm not too worried about Auburn's defense.

SEC Picks - Week 9

2007-10-26T15:58:00.001-05:00

East

Florida Vs. Georgia - Georgia hasn't looked too hot their last two games. They've had an extra week to prepare for this one, but I don't think it will be enough to stop Tebow.
UF 38 - UGA 21

Kentucky vs. MSU - Kentucky should be able to bounce back after being knocked back down to earth last week. Woodson will put up some big numbers against MSU's defense.
UK 42 - MSU 17

South Carolina at Tennesses - This one will be interesting. Both teams are coming off of losses. USC's good defense matches up well with UT's good offense, and UT's crappy defense matches up with USC's crappy offense. Tennessee is missing something this year, and I'm not sure what that is. The Old Ball Coach should prevail in this one.
USC 21 - UT 14

Vanderbilt vs. Miami (OH) - Vandy would probably do well in the MAC. They're coming off a big win, which could potentially bite them this week if their heads are too inflated. They pretty much have to win this game if they're planning on bowling this year. Their next four games are going to be a lot tougher.
Vandy 28 - Miami (OH) 13

West

LSU - Off

Bama - Off

Auburn vs. Ole Miss - Ole Miss has given several good teams a run for their money this year. They're bound to upset at least one team this year. Looking at their remaining schedule, this is the most likely week. Unless Auburn reverts to their first three games playing style, they should win.
AU 28 - OM 23

Arkansas vs. FIU - FIU has the 102nd ranked rushing defense in the nation. With that, they are ranked dead last in scoring offense. I think it's safe to say that Arkansas has the weakest out of conference schedule in the SEC
Ark 55 - FIU 3

The Tubs Don't Lie

2007-10-26T09:44:00.000-05:00

When asked whether he he was going to leave Ole Miss Tuberville responded by saying, "They'll have to carry me out of here in a pine box." Contrary to popular belief, this was not a lie.

Tuberville waves goodbye to Mississippi.

People argue that the "Tub-Boat", built by Tuberville and his wisecracking father-in-law, isn't actually constructed of pine. What those people fail to recognize is that "pine box" is a synonym of casket.

People also argue that no one actually carried him out of there. This is just simple symbolism, people. "They" refers to the ponies under the hood.

So there you go. Tuberville didn't come out and say, "I'll leave Oxford in a casket hot rod," but he certainly didn't lie. Maybe he should have dumbed down his wording for the anti-Auburn crowd, but like Pat Dye says, "Hindsight is 20/20."

Tuberville, Cutcliffe, Orgeron

2007-10-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

I was a Sophomore at Auburn when Tuberville made the move from Ole Miss. At the time, I thought it was a poor choice hiring a coach that was barely over .500 at a school in the same conference. It was odd that Auburn would hire a coach who was 0-4 against the Tigers.

I remember how pissed off Ole Miss fans were after Tuberville left them for Auburn. They resented him for stabbing them in the back, and they resented Auburn for stealing their coach. Signs bashing Tuberville were seen all over Oxford his first trip back. Ole Miss fans booed during Auburn's alma mater.

Ten years after Tuberville's first year at Ole Miss, Orgeron coached his first game as a Rebel. I decided to compare what he's done so far to what Tuberville did his first two and a half years, well, because I was bored.

Both men took over a team that was 4-7 the previous year. The team Tuberville inherited was on probation and compiled a 2-6 SEC record. The team Orgeron inherited went 3-5 in SEC play under Cutcliff the year before his hiring. Even though Tuberville took over a team that was on probation, I think it's safe to say that both coaches took over comparable situations.

In his first two years and eight games into his third year, Tuberville went 16-14 overall and 8-14 in SEC play. So far, Orgeron is 9-22 overall and 3-18 in SEC play. It looks like Tuberville did a better job than Orgeron. You know who else did a better job than Orgeron? David Cutcliffe.
Cutcliffe was 21-11 overall and 11-10 in SEC play during the same time period of his career at Ole Miss...even better than Tuberville.

Of course, these kinds of comparisons are completely useless. Tuberville is an excelent recruiter and left Cutcliffe with some ponies in the stable. One of the alleged reasons Cutcliffe was let go was because he didn't meet recruiting expectations, so you could argue that Orgeron inherited a team that lacks a lot of talent.

So what's going to happen to Ole Miss? I don't follow recruiting that much, so I'm not sure where they're going in that respect. Will Orgeron get to hang around long enough to coach his own team? Only time will tell on that one. After all, Tuberville didn't turn out to be a poor choice after all.

2007-10-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

Tuberville demonstrates the proper response to a BS call.

Well, what can I say? I'm not too bummed about this loss because I think Auburn played very well. It would have been nice to have a "w", but sometimes it's not in the cards. Like Will Collier, you won't hear me claiming any sort of "moral victory." A loss is a loss.

There is a lot of talk about Tuberville's decision to squib kick late in the fourth quarter. Both coaches made questionable calls in this game. Miles's decision to throw the ball worked. Tuberville's decision to squib kick did not. That doesn't make Tuberville any less of a coach.

What's up with SEC refs this year? They are absolutely horrible. Are they making up their own rules? In the Florida/LSU game, they called back a kick return from a replay that was definitely disputable. In the Florida/Auburn game, they called a penalty that was eliminated in 2003. Who can forget the replay call in the Ole Miss/Bama game (aside from Bama fans)? In the LSU/Auburn game, they nullified a penalty from a replay, and gave LSU a first down with a horrible spot.

Bad calls or not, LSU won the game by pulling it together in the second half. I will not take anything away from their play. They truly deserved the win.

Vols Fan 3 - Bama Game Thoughts

2007-10-22T10:58:00.000-05:00

Saban denotes Bama's win streak against UT. Says
one fan, "It's only classless when Tuberville does it."

Let's see how my Pregame Questions were answered in this one.

Can Tennessee's defense stop...anything? Apparently not. SJPW looks great when he isn't pressured, and has all the time in the world to make a decision.
Will Ainge be able to complete a long pass without it being called back because of a bogus call? Yes, but Bama did manage to get two bogus calls. The first one should have been an interception. In fact, the flag was thrown after the ball fell into UT's hands. The next play, Keith Brown pushes off a DB (no call) to catch a touchdown pass. The second one should have resulted in a fourth down. No, they called defensive holding on UT, and Bama got the first down. This resulted in a 20 yard field goal attempt instead of a 40 yard attempt.
Will Tennessee allow Javier Arenas to have big returns? Javier Arenas returned a kickoff for 62 yards. So no.

Bottom line, Bama tore UT a new one. However, Sylvester Croom is definitely on to something. Officials can definitely give a team unfair advantages. But Bryant Denny Restaurant gives a new meaning to "home field advantage." Whether it's turning sprinklers on to stop their opponent's drive, or making the play clock nonfunctional during their opponent's drive, they're going to have a home field advantage like no other.

After this loss, I think Fulmer's "hot terlet" just got a little hotter. I hate it for the guy because he's done so much for UT. Aside from five years spent at Wichita State and one year at Vandy, Fulmer has been involved with the UT football program since 1969. Results are everything, though. I'm sure he will be allowed to resign sooner than later.

This concludes my week as a Vols fan.

Week 8 Results

2007-10-22T08:16:00.000-05:00

I went 4-2 this week. That brings my overall record to 48-15.

This week, the East went 0-1 against the West, and are 8-6 for the season.

East

FLA 45 - UK 37
This wasn't quite the blowout that I predicted, but I don't think Florida ever lost control of the game. Woodson earned even more of my respect during Kentucky's last drive. Even with eight seconds left, it was obvious that he knew, not thought, that Kentucky still had a chance to win.

Vandy 17 - USC 6
It appears that this was the game originally scheduled for Lincoln Financial. They should have stayed with this game. Vandy finally went with Adams at quarterback for the entire game. His numbers don't appear to be that great, but considering the defense he was facing, it looks like he did quite well.

West

LSU 30 - AU 24
Both teams played well. This was a great game from start to finish.

UA 41 - UT 17
Tennessee just flat out gave up late in the third quarter. SJPW looked great against UT's non-defense. The score should have been 17-14 at the half, but the outcome more than likely would have been the same. I'm not as impressed as others seem to be that Bama suspended players before the game. They did what they had to do.

Ark 44 - OM 8
McFadden and Jones looked like the two-headed monster again.

WVU 38 - MSU 13
I'm happy to see an SEC team play a game like this, even if they do get blown out. The SEC will continue to get snubbed by much of the national media until every team schedules out of conference games like this every year.

LSU Pregame

2007-10-20T15:18:00.000-05:00

In only have one question before this game.

1. Can Auburn play a perfect game?

I hate to be doom and gloom, but this is probably the only way they'll be able to pull this one off.

Vols Fan 2 - Bama Pregame

2007-10-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

It's almost noon and I haven't started watching the game yet. I'll start it after I post this. As a Vol fan this week, I'm going to ask some pregame questions for their game.

Can Tennessee's defense stop...anything?
Will Ainge be able to complete a long pass without it being called back because of a bogus call?
Will Tennessee allow Javier Arenas to have big returns?

I think those are fair questions. Number two is definitely a legitimate question. Bama's opponents have had long passes called back in at least half of their games. Last week's just took the cake.

Auburn vs. "Heed"

2007-10-19T12:43:00.000-05:00

"That boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts. Now that was offsides, wasn't it? He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow."

Let's hope that Miles will be crying himself to sleep tomorrow night on his huge pillow after losing. It'll take a near flawless game on Auburn's part to pull this one out. LSU is the real deal.

Offense - I'm excited that Auburn will be opening up their offense tomorrow night against LSU. Not that I don't enjoy a good low-scoring slugfest, because I do. I just think they'll need to in order to win.

LSU has the number one scoring and rushing defense in the SEC. LSU also leads the SEC in sacks, which could mean big trouble for Cox.

Auburn has played only two teams that can compare with LSU's sacking ability, KSU and USF. As of yesterday morning, both of these teams were averaging more sacks per game than LSU. They also forced Cox into making bad decisions. KSU had 5 sacks and 8 quarterback hurries, and USF has 2 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries against Auburn. You can bet that Les Miles and defensive coordinator, Bo Pelini, are going to try to exploit this.

Auburn hasn't had much success on the ground against powerful rushing defenses this year. This can partially be attributed to Brad Lester's absense. The impact he has made since his return is definitely evident, but I'm still not certain his presense will make much difference against LSU's stifling D. After all, they're only allowing 68 yards per game on the ground.

It would be nice if Borges pulled a Muschamp and completely obliterate the force he's facing this week. I would like to see more passing, but Auburn's going to have to establish the run early in the game before doing so. Either way, they're going to have contain Ken Dorsey and know where Craig Steltz is at all times.

Defense - LSU has the number two rushing offense and the number eight passing in the SEC. This balances out making them fourth in the SEC in total offense.

After last week, I have no worries that Auburn can stop the run, but what about the pass? Auburn has given up some big plays this year through the air. It seems that Wilhite is good for at least one boner play a game. The linebackers pass coverage leaves a lot to be desired as well.

It looks like Aairon Savage might get to play, which is good. Quentin Groves is back, and will be able to put pressure on the QB. Even with their return, I'm still not convinced that Auburn can consistently stop the pass.

Luckily, LSU's offensive weakness is their passing game. Matt Flynn hasn't been impressive at all this season. I have to agree with Richard Pittman at Geaux Tuscaloosa when he says, "As for Perrilloux, it is clear that he is the more talented QB between he and Flynn." Don't tell Miles this. I'd much rather see Flynn lining up behind center tomorrow than Perrilloux.

SEC Picks - Week 8

2007-10-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

East

Florida at Kentucky - I'm calling a Florida blowout here. They've had two weeks to get over their loss to LSU and prepare for Kentucky. Kentucky is coming off of a three overtime win against LSU. You don't play LSU for four quarters and not come away banged up and worn out. Add three overtimes to that, and you know Kentucky had to of been hurting the first part of this week. With the death of Michael Guilford, this game will be emotional for the Gators.
UF 34 - UK 21

Vandy at USC - The Ole Ball Coach is 14-0 against Vanderbilt. Tomorrow, he will be 15-0. Vandy's offense can't seem to find its groove this year. USC has a powerful defense that should be able to shut the 'dores down. Vanderbilt should be able to put more than six points on the board if they start Adams instead of Nickson. They haven't done that yet this year, which is a complete shock to everyone. Bobby Johnson will probably stick with Nickson for at least one quarter.
USC 28 - Vandy 6

UGA - Off

West

Auburn at LSU - LSU and Auburn have the top two scoring and rushing defenses in the SEC. LSU's offense is averaging over 100 yards more per game than Auburn's. The posibility that this one could get a way from Auburn is there, but Miles will probably looking for a conservative win after last week's loss. ---edit: Auburn has the number three rushing defense in the SEC.
LSU 14 - AU 10

Tennessee at Alabama - This game should be the oposite of the AU/LSU game. Tennessee has a great offense, and a horrible defense. Alabama has a decent offense and defense. I have to give Tennessee the edge here factoring in the Fulmer Equation. There's nothing he likes better than beating the Tide.
UT 35 - UA 31

MSU at West Virginia - West Virginia has the sixth ranked scoring offense in the nation, averaging 42.8 points per game. Mississippi State is, well, Mississippi State. It's good to see an SEC team playing a tough out of conference game.
WVU 48 - MSU 21

Arkansas at Ole Miss - The two dumbest coaches in the SEC, perhaps the entire Division 1, will meet in Oxford this weekend. This is like two schoolyard bullies meeting after school to fight. Only their friends (fans) care who wins. Everyone else just wants to see the train wreck (final score). It's always tough for a team to bounce back after getting completely robbed like Ole miss did last week. The Arkansas offense will bounce back and put some points on the board.
Ark 34 - OM 14

Vols Fan - One Week Only

2007-10-18T13:28:00.000-05:00

"I'll get you my fatty. . .and your little hound too!"

I have an unspoken pact with one of my best friends where I become a Tennessee fan one week out of the year, possibly two. I'm talking about the third week in October and if the Vols and Tide win their division, the SEC Championship game. Of course, this doesn't involve me being "just happy" if Bama loses. I have to become an actual Tennessee fan. With that, my attitude has to change for the worse. I have to trash talk and all of that fun stuff. So yeah, go Vols!!!

Everyone knows that the Philsbury Doughboy owns the crapstain. After all, he's amassed an 11-3* record against the turd. He also went 2-1 against the Buhr while playing offensive guard for the Vols. However, he's only 1-2 against the Wicked Witch of the SEC West.

A bammer would say that Fulmer's losing record to the Wicked Witch gives them an advantage, but to the trained eye of a Tennessee fan, they're nothing but a redneck idiot. That lying SOB has never played the Southern Sumo under these conditions.

Saban at Bama is no match for Fulmer.

That's right. Fulmer will extend his total domination over the turd Saturday morning, and the cups will come flying to the field at Bryant Denny Restaurant.

*Was 10-3-1, but the crimson cheat forfeited 1993 giving UT the win.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Part 2

2007-10-17T08:02:00.000-05:00

Remember when FSU coaches hid their signal caller from the Bama sideline? Aside from a few bloggers, not that many people talked about it. At the time, I found this very odd because it was one of the most bazaar things I'd ever seen at any level of football. I never even heard Finebaum mention it, which is surprising considering Gary Danielson's comment.

It turns out that not that many people saw this part of the game. Perhaps fans changed the channel after the first half snooze-fest. Or perhaps people just didn't care about it. Whatever the case may be, here's the video.

Is that Verne Lundquist, or Ed McMahon doing the play-by-play? "Yes!"

* Update — According to scalpem.com, using a towel/blanket is now a part of FSU's signaling. Thank you NoleCC for the update!

The SEC on TV

2007-10-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend, the Bama/Tennessee game will be aired on Lincoln Financial, and I can't remember the last time that this game wasn't covered by CBS. TideDruid isn't too happy about this, and rightfully so. He expresses his frustration here:

"What amazes me about this AM kick-off is the fact that for the first time in a while, both teams are having pretty decent seasons. The same could not be said these last 2 seasons (2005 UT and 2006 Bama were both mediocre teams, although they ended up on CBS). Now we have to deal with the army of Daves as LF Sports comes to town *grumbles due to hatred of watching LF Sports games*"

So why not this year? The answer lies in the other SEC games.

Last year, the Bama/UT game was easily the top choice. Both Auburn and LSU were playing out of conference patsies, USC had Vanderbilt (SEC patsy), and Arkansas and Georgia were playing the Mississippi schools.

This year, there are two in-conference games where both teams are ranked: Florida/Kentucky, and Auburn/LSU. The Florida game will be covered by CBS, and the Auburn game will be covered by ESPN. But why will the Bama game be on LF instead of ESPN2?

I searched for an explanation of how the television contracts work. The official SEC site gives a list of networks contracted to televise SEC sporting events.

"The SEC has television contracts with CBS Sports (national), ESPN (national cable), FSN South/FSN Southwest/SUN Sports (regional cable) and Lincoln Financial Sports (regional syndication)."

I then found this article that does a good job explaining the selection process.

Basically, big wigs from ESPN and CBS get together every winter and rank what they feel as being the ten biggest SEC games in the upcoming year. CBS gets seven of these games, while ESPN gets three (4th, 7th, and 10th ranked games).

After that, CBS gets priority for all SEC home games. ESPN gets second choice, LF gets third, then ESPN2.

There are also certain stipulations each network must follow. CBS can carry only two SEC home games against non-conference teams, which could be one of the reasons why the UA/FSU game was at a neutral site. A team can only be covered four times throughout the regular season by CBS. Lincoln Financial must cover every SEC team at least once.

The line-ups can still change week by week, which is why a full schedule is never released. CBS can change their game, as long as its not one of the three ESPN's preseason choices. I imagine this is what happened this weekend.

One of the three games ESPN chose to cover this year is the Auburn/LSU game. Up until last week, ESPN listed the Bama/Tennessee game as being covered by CBS. This leads me to believe that it was one of CBS's preseason choices. After Kentucky upset LSU last week, CBS decided to cover their game instead. It's either cover a rivalry game that doesn't have hold much importance on a national level, or a game against two ranked teams with Heisman hopefuls.

Apparently, this doesn't happen often, but it does happen. CBS dropped the Iron Bowl in 2003 to cover Ole Miss and LSU. The winner of that game would decide who was going to Atlanta. Eli Manning was in the race for the Heisman, so there was national interest there as well.

So the original schedule was more than likely UA/UT on CBS, AU/LSU on ESPN, UF/UK on LF (probably), and ESPN2 may or may not carry an SEC game. The current schedule is UF/UK on CBS, AU/LSU on ESPN, UA/UT on LF, and no SEC game on ESPN2.

I have to agree with TideDruid's amazement. I never thought I'd see the day when the Bama/Tennessee game gets bumped by Kentucky.

Auburn vs. Arkansas - Brief Thoughts

2007-10-15T14:10:00.000-05:00

There really isn't much I can say about this game. The white jersey streak continues. I have no complaints about how my pregame questions were answered. Like nearly everyone else, I didn't think anyone would find a way to contain the two-headed monster this year. Not only did the Auburn defense contain them, they shut them down.

How do you stop Felix Jones? You hit him...hard.

Meet Tray Blackmon...

Week 7 Results

2007-10-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

I went 5-1 this week. That brings my overall record to 44 - 13.

This week, the East went 2-0 against the West, and are 8-5 for the season.

East

USC 21 - UNC 15
They almost blew it in the second half, but still came away with the win.

UT 33 - MSU 21
The scores were a little higher than I predicted in this one. I forgot Tennesse has a good offense, and no defense.

UGA 20 - Vandy 17
I've said it 100 times over. Richt teams are inconsistant.

West

UK 43 - LSU 37
I was way off on this one. Woodson is back to being my favorite for the Heisman after this one.

Auburn 9 - Arkansas 7
"White jerseys?" Blackledge mentioned this several times during the game. More about this one later.

Bama 27 - OM 24
Thanks to ~~a group of officials that wanted to call it a day~~ indisputable evidence on a replay, I was right on this one.

Auburn Rushing Defense vs. Arkansas Rushing Offense

2007-10-13T11:24:00.000-05:00

Well, I've opted to take a less serious look at the Arkansas game this week in lieu of talking about the impressive stats put up by the two-headed monster. In all honesty, I've tried not to think about their ability. I never thought I'd see the day where an Arkansas player scared me as much as Matt Jones. Now, they have two that fit this bill. With that, it's time to take a good look at Arkansas rushing offense, and Auburn's rushing defense with a little help from Scott at The Hog Source.

Scott first talks about Auburn's rushing defense here by saying,"Auburn cant stop the run." I commented that Auburn is 3rd in the SEC in rushing defense only allowing 116 YPG on the ground. I think Scott got his wires crossed because he then responded to my comment by stating that Auburn gave up 300+ rushing yards against South Florida. Actually, Auburn gave up 319 total yards (135 rushing). No biggy, I make mistakes like that all of the time.

Now, let's look at this homerific comparison between Auburn and Arkansas. On Arkansas' rushing offense:

"Our 2 best rushers are at a combined 1410 rushing yards. An average of 338.4 yards per game, and 7.4 yards per carry.
…Advantage Arkansas. This was a no brainer from the begining, we have the 2 running backs in the country."

You'll get no argument from me here. These guys are the real deal! Scott then downplays Auburn's wins:

"They have win’s over New Mexico State, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, and Florida (overrated?). Their 3 game winning streak that they are bragging about so much. New Mexico State, Florida, and Vanderbilt. Wooo. That would be like us bragging about our 2 game winning streak over North Texas and Tenessee Chattanooga."

First of all...no one's bragging. Auburn fans are excited to see their team actually playing football now, but bragging? Nah. Second, Vanderbilt and New Mexico State are really no big deal, but Florida at "The Swamp"? Yes, that's very impressive. Third, Auburn has beat four BCS schools, and lost to two. That's not very impressive, but it's still better than Arkansas' 0-2 record against BCS schools. A three game win streak involving two BCS teams, one which was ranked in the top five, is a lot more impressive than winning two games in a row (three is a streak) against a team that's now 0-5, and a team that's 1-4 in 1aa play.

My initial response to Scott included the following,

"If you’re going to downplay Auburn’s losses because of their competition, then you should also mention that Kentucky, Troy, and North Texas are 91st, 117th, and 118th in the nation in rush defense. Not to mention that UTC is 1aa."

Hey, tit for tat. His response:

"Kentucky was a loss. Troy and North Texas werent. The fact is, we contributed to them being ranked so low in rush defense. No team that we face, win or loss, ranked or unranked, have been able to stop our run. We have been posting 300-400+ yards rushing on every team we play."

I'm not sure why the mention of losing to UK, and beating Troy and North Texas. I agree 100% that no one has been able to stop the McFadden/Jones combination, but Scott's next sentence got me thinking. How much has Arkansas'rushing offense skewed their opponents' rushing defense stats? Also, can Auburn stop the run or have they played piss-poor rushing teams? I used cfbstats.com to see.

First, let's take a look at how Arkansas' opponents have performed against the run this year.

	Rank	TD	YPG	Total
Troy	117	14	350	1470
Bama	45	5	301	812
Kentucky	91	7	338	1102
N. Texas	118	20	446	1276
UTC	1AA	-	219	-

Now, let's take away the Arkansas games and see where the teams would rank.

	Rank	TD	YPG	Total
Troy	119	11	280	1120
Bama	24	3	102	511
Kentucky	60	6	153	764
N. Texas	106	15	208	830
UTC	1AA	-	209	-

Arkansas only made a real contribution to Alabama's and Kentucky's rushing defense rankings. Troy actually drops to last place without the Arkansas game. Bama's rush defense is solid. There are no arguments there. But one needs to take into consideration that the only other rushing team Kentucky has played this year was Kent State, and they gained 324 yards on the cats (UK's achilles?). Also, UTC has done the best in stopping the hogs' run, and that's with McFadden and Jones playing into the fourth quarter. It's also worth mentioning that Georgia Southern rushed for 324 yards against UTC.

Let's now take a look at how Auburn's opponents have performed on the ground this year.

	Rank	TD	YPG	Total
Kansas St	99	10	110	549
USF	37	13	181	905
MSU	51	11	161	966
NMST	85	3	122	612
Florida	21	17	203	1217
Vandy	69	6	142	708

Now, let's take away the Auburn games and see where the teams would rank.

	Rank	TD	YPG	Total
Kansas St	77	10	131	522
USF	29	11	193	770
MSU	56	10	158	790
NMST	84	2	123	492
Florida	16	16	221	1106
Vandy	68	5	144	575

Other than against Mississippi State, Auburn's rushing defense has performed better against these teams than other opponents. The most significant appears to be Kansas State, but the most impressive is Florida. Auburn held them to only 111 yards rushing. LSU, who has the number four rushing defense in the nation, only held them to 156 yards. So Scott's impression that "Auburn can't stop the run" is false. Now, will they be able to stop the run against Arkansas? No, but neither could Bama or Kentucky.

Let's now look at Auburn's rushing defense compared to the average Arkansas opponent's (minus Arkansas games, excluding UTC). Let's also look at a comparison between Arkansas' and the average Auburn opponent's (minus the Auburn games) rushing offense.

AU Rushing Defense
	Rank	YPG
Opp Avg	77	186
Auburn	33	116
Delta	44	70

Ark Rushing Offense
	Rank	YPG
Opp Avg	55	161
Arkansas	2	338
Delta	53	-177

Auburn definitely hasn't seen a rushing attack like the one Arkansas has. However, Arkansas has seen a rushing defense comparable to Auburn's. And that defense is Alabama's. Arkansas rushed for 301 against them. Seeing how Auburn could be without four of their defensive starters, I don't see how they're going to stop the Arkansas run.

Arkansas Pregame

2007-10-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

I only have two questions for tomorrow's game, but they're big ones!

1. Will Auburn's defense be able to contain the two-headed monster that is the Arkansas backfield?

McFadden and Jones perform for the home crowd before kickoff.

2. Which Cox will show up? The one that threw six picks and fumbled once the first three games, or the one that actually looks like a fifth year senior?

SEC Picks - Week 7

2007-10-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

East

Florida - Off

South Carolina at North Carolina - Spurrier went 3-0 against the heels while at Duke. Not too much has changed with UNC's football program. The OBC now has SEC talent. This one could get ugly.
USC 28 - UNC 10

MSU at Tennessee - This will be the Great Pumpkin's first opportunity to get "Croomed". This is also the first time in several years that UT doesn't have an off week before the Bama game. Trap game? Nah, but it'll be closer than people think.
UT 24 - MSU 14

UGA at Vanderbilt - UGA is 0-2 in SEC East play. This is a must-win game for them. They'll get it done.
UGA 28 - Vandy 10

West

LSU at Kentucky - Sidelines shows Andre Woodson's pass efficiency game by game. His second to lowest rating was 66.71 against LSU last year. LSU's defense is better this year. Ouch.
LSU 28 - UK 17

Auburn at Arkansas - White jerseys? Fly in the ointment? This one is really hard to call.
Auburn 27 - Arkansas 20

Alabama at Ole Miss - Ole Miss won't be able to get it done this weekend, but they'll keep it close.
Bama 21 - OM 17

Road Game Streak? Even Better!

2007-10-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

After I posted yesterday, I started to think about Auburn's loss to LSU in 2004. That's seven SEC road games in a row that Auburn has won. That's pretty impressive, but I'm not sure people are picking up on the real story here.

There's a slight difference for SEC teams when playing road games at LSU thanks to Gerry Dinardo. He successfully lobbied to have a 1982 rule that prohibited home teams from wearing white jerseys overturned. So LSU, like they did before 1982, wears white jerseys for their home games. Except now, they only wear them when playing SEC opponents.

What does this have to do with Auburn? It's pretty obvious, but let's take a look at their losses over the past few years anyway.

2007

vs. MSU

vs. USF

2006

vs. UGA

vs. Arkansas

2005

vs. Wisconsin (Capital One Bowl)

at LSU

vs. Georgia Tech

2004
Undefeated!

2003

at UGA

And there you have it. Auburn has't lost a game wearing white jerseys since November 15, 2003.

Auburn will be wearing white this weekend in Arkansas. The week after that, they'll be wearing their blue home jerseys at LSU. I'm not trying to jump ahead here. Arkansas will prove to be a very difficult game, but wouldn't it be cool if Auburn pulled a 1996 Vanderbilt against LSU? You know, just to stick it to them.

It's actually too late for Auburn to decline LSU's request to wear white jerseys at home. The NCAA rule book states,

Players of opposing teams shall wear jerseys of contrasting colors, and the visiting team shall wear white jerseys. White jerseys may be worn by the home team when the teams have agreed before the season.

What if the streak continues, and Auburn drops a few while wearing blue? What will become of the beloved blue jerseys?

Woah, slow down there, Antoine Carter! Let's not jump the gun on this one.

If Houston Nutt has anything to say about it, the streak will end this weekend. It'll take a lot more than my wacky "White Jersey Theory" to win that game.

Arkansas, a Pain in the A**...

2007-10-10T12:47:00.000-05:00

Nutt to Tuberville: "Gotcha!"

Auburn (4-2) at Arkansas (3-2)

The Auburn/Arkansas game always seems to be downplayed a bit. I'm not sure why. It's one of those games that you can never predict.

Tuberville has gone into this game with a better record than Nutt six out of eight meetings, but he's only 4-4 against him (3-3 when having a better season). This of course is leaving out the only time these two coaches met while Tuberville was still at Ole Miss, which ended in a 34-0 win for Arkansas.

Nutt seems to do a better job of pissing in Auburn's cereal than any other coach. When he beats Tuberville, he really beats him. Arkansas has won by an average margin of 22 points in Nutt's 4 wins against Tuberville at Auburn. Take into consideration that for three of those seasons, Auburn went into that game 6-1, 4-1, and 5-0 while Arkansas was 3-3, 2-2, and 3-1. Auburn was actually the underdog for Tuberville's other loss against Nutt.

Everyone knows that Tuberville is good for laying at least one egg a season. In all honesty, most coaches are. At any rate, games against Arkansas make up a decent percentage of Tuberville's eggs. It's definitely clear why Auburn fans get a little nervous every year when the Arkansas game rolls around.

But there is some good news. Auburn has won their last two trips to Fayetteville. In fact, Auburn has done quite well on the road the past few seasons. RazorBloggers Network points this out, “…amazingly, the Tigers are 12-1 in their last 13 SEC road games since 2004.” The one loss was that wacky voodoo overtime game in Death Valley.

So where does the advantage lie this Saturday? Tuberville's propensity to lay an egg against Arkansas, or his ability to have Auburn well prepared for away games? I'm guessing neither. These are just coincidences derived from useless stats.

Here are a few more useless Tuberville (at Auburn) versus Nutt stats that you might find interesting:

Auburn has gone into the Arkansas game following a win seven out of eight times, losing the only time it followed a loss.
Arkansas has lost six out of eight games the week after playing Auburn, losing all four when Auburn won.
Auburn went on to win the SEC West two out of the four times they beat Arkansas, winning the SEC championship game once.
Arkansas went on to win the SEC West two out of the four times they beat Auburn.
The team that has scored over 20 points has won the game seven out of eight times. The only exception to this was the 10-3 Auburn win in 2003.
Both teams are 2-2 at home. For you math wizards, that means they're both 2-2 away as well.

Vanderbilt Game Notes and Thoughts

2007-10-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

Tuberville gets his 100th SEC win by totally domniating Vanderbilt. Auburn is starting to play like...Auburn.

Good

Brad Lester is back!
Cox was 14 for 17.
Auburn converted 6 out of 11 third downs.
Take away 1 Vanderbilt drive, helped by 2 bogus penalties, and Auburn would have had a shutout.
Rodgeriqus Smith is stepping up as Auburn's much-needed playmaker at receiver.
Dunn only had one reception, but broke like, 20 tackles to turn it into a 33 yard gain.
Byrum booted one out of the back of the endzone.
Tyronne Green was named "SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week" for his performance against Vandy.

Bad

Jason Bosley sprained his knee. He could be out next week against Arkansas.
Cox's lone interception was pretty boneheaded.
Burns only threw the ball once.
Auburn returned two kickoffs, and were called for a 10 yard penalty on both of them.

How were my pregame questions answered?

1. Will Auburn be awake for this one? Yes! Auburn looked wide awake for this one. Not only that, but Tuberville had the focused look on his face that he usually reserves for top 10 opponents.

2. Will Quinton Grove’s absence make a big difference? No. Neither was the absence of Aairon Savage, Tray Blackmon, or Merrill Johnson. I can't help but wonder how they would have looked at full strength. Either way, the future looks bright.

3. Will Cox throw the ball away (Vandy has 10 picks this season)? Yes. Cox had one pick. Aside from that, he played pretty well.

4. Will Borges show more creativity in his play calling? The beer was flowing and the grill was glowing so I can't really answer this. Did he really need to be more creative in this game? Probably not.

Broadcast Sidenote

I'm glad that LF shows games, but the production needs to improve beyond camcorder status. Also, can we do without American Karaoke loser, Chris "Nickleback-like-crappy-vocals" Daughtry every few minutes? Granted, it's better than the Brooks and Dunn, "AAAAooooooooo, let's play some footbaw", but so is slamming my testicles repetitively in a car door. Coincidentally, that's better than having to listen to Daugherty as well.

Week 6 Results

2007-10-08T08:16:00.000-05:00

I went 6-2 for week 6. That brings my overall record to 39-12.

This week, the East went 0-2 against the West.

East

USC 38 - UK 23
Discussed here.

UT 35 - UGA 14
Slow start. Check. Coach on the hot terlet. Check. Beat a favored, highly ranked team on national TV. Check. Is Fulmer a more rotund, in your face version of Tuberville?

West

LSU 28 - UF 24
Great teams find a way to win. LSU is a great team.

AU 35 - VU 7
Domination. More on this one later.

UA 30 - UH 24
Most of the fans didn't see Houston's last drive that almost put the game into overtime. Apparently, Bama's intensity left with the fans.

Ark 35 - UTC 15
Was Arkansas looking ahead to next week?

MSU 30 - UAB 13
Auburn fans were sweating well into the fourth quarter during this game. MSU continues its domination over Conferense USA teams with this win.

OM 24 - LT 0
Ole Miss is an enigma. There, I said it.

Vanderbilt Pregame

2007-10-06T11:05:00.000-05:00

The big questions of the day are:

Will Auburn be awake for this one?

Will Quinton Grove’s absence make a big difference?

Will Cox throw the ball away (Vandy has 10 picks this season)?

Will Borges show more creativity in his play calling?

I’d love for number 1 and number 2 to be “Yes”. If Auburn is awake, everything should fall into place. If they aren't, I'd like to know what's going on the night before home games.

SEC Picks - Week 6 (cont'd)

2007-10-05T11:14:00.000-05:00

My prediction for the UK/USC game was a bit off. Those pesky turnovers will get you! The fact that Woodson was able to throw for 227 yards against a defense that was only allowing 107 yards per game passing is very impressive.

Here’s the rest of the SEC.

East

UGA at UT - Tennessee has had two weeks to prepare for this game. For the past few years, they’ve had an open week before they played Bama. It never looks like they gain much of an advantage in doing so. Stafford should have a field day with UT’s defense.
UGA 28 - UT 10

West

Florida at LSU - Ole Miss and Auburn showed Florida’s vulnerabilities. I don’t think Tebow will be able to gain much on the ground against LSU’s stifling defense. I expect this to be a low scoring affair.
LSU 17 - UF 7

Houston at Bama - I’m not sure why all of the local heads are playing Houston up. Sure, they’ve been able to score on the teams they’ve played. That’s really not saying much. Bama should win this one.
Bama 35 - Houston 24

Vandy at Auburn - This one is an early home game against a lesser opponent after a big win for the tigers. And the Auburn family thinks in unison, “Oh, crap.” If Auburn plays like it did last week, this should be no contest. But like I said, early home game etc… Vanderbilt’s veteran defense could cause problems for Cox. This one will be ugly, but I think Auburn will win.
Auburn 21 - Vanderbilt 10

UAB at MSU – This one will be boring.
MSU 33 - UAB 10

Chattanooga at Arkansas - Just for grins, Nutt should leave their starting offense on the field the whole game and see how many yards Jones and McFadden can rack up.
Arkansas 70 - Chattanooga 0

La. Tech at Ole Miss – Only one thing is guaranteed in this game. One team will walk away with their second win for the season. La. Tech gave Hawaii and Fresno State headaches earlier this year, but was crushed by Cal. Ole Miss gave Florida a rough time, and that’s about it. Never the less, Ole Miss should win this one in the air.
OM 32 - La. Tech 24

SEC Picks - Week 6

2007-10-04T17:36:00.000-05:00

I don’t like change. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully adjust to all of these weeknight games. It just throws my brain all out of whack. However, I’m very excited about the game tonight between Kentucky and South Carolina. Kickoff is in a few hours, so I guess I better get my pick in now.

This one is fairly difficult to pick, but I’m going to have to give the advantage to Kentucky. And my reasoning? They can run the ball.

South Carolina has the number 1 pass defense in the nation only allowing 106.4 yards per game. They have only allowed two passing touchdowns while collecting six interceptions. Advantage, Cocks? Not necessarily.

Kentucky’s pass defense is ranked 26th in the nation only allowing 181.6 yards per game. They have allowed five passing touchdowns while collecting nine interceptions. That should raise some eyebrows because South Carolina has thrown eight picks so far this year (compared to only two thrown by Kentucky).

Both South Carolina’s and Kentucky’s rushing defense are nearly identical statistically. Kentucky has allowed only 10 more yards this season on 15 less carries than South Carolina.

What makes that interesting is that South Carolina hasn’t been able to run the ball that well this year. They’re only averaging 4 yards per carry and 159.6 yards per game. Kentucky is averaging 5.76 yards per carry and 203.2 yards per game. With that, they have 14 rushing touchdowns to South Carolina’s 8.

Useless statistics aside, Kentucky has more to prove than South Carolina. They also have a true leader in Woodson. Despite USC’s powerful passing defense, I’m looking for him to have a good game. If he does, he should be on the top of everyone’s Heisman list.

UK 28 - USC 17

I should have my other picks posted tomorrow.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

2007-10-03T08:49:00.001-05:00

First, there was Stoops alluding to the notion that Saban had people spying on OU's practices before the Sugar Bowl. Then there was that pesky "bought audio tapes" situation at Miami before upsetting highly favored New England 21-0. Next, Bill Belichick, who helped groom Saban, was busted videotaping opponents' sidelines in order to learn their signals. After that, Mark Richt, who has one former Saban staffer underneath him, closed UGA practices for the first time in seven years the week they were to play Bama. Finally, FSU, who has two former Saban staffers employed, used a wall of players and a blanket held by freshman Jacob Stanley to hide their signal caller from the Bama coaches.

I wonder how the conversation between Coach Bowden and Stanley went...

Bowden: Simmons, git over here!

Stanley: Yes, sir. But it’s Stanley.

Bowden: Okay, Simmons. That sombitch Curry stole my job at Bama, now he’s stealin’ my signals!

Stanley: Uhhh, Coach. It’s Sab-

Bowden: Look, Simmons. You’re from Jacksonville, right?

Stanley: Yes, sir. But my name is Stan-

Bowden: I want to use you in front of your home crowd, Simmons.

Stanley: That’s great, Coach! You won’t regret it. But my name is Stanley.

Bowden: I don’t want that sombitch Curry seeing our play callin’ signals, so your gonna hold this blanket up so he can’t. Understand, Simmons?.

Stanley: That’s…yes, sir. I’m Stan-

Bowden: Good. We’re gonna show that Curry what for.

Stanley: Yes, sir. But it’s Saban…not Cur-

Bowden: Your name’s Saban? Hell, son. Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been callin’ you Simmons this whole time!

Not to have someone outdo him in accusations that Bama cheats, Fulmer is already busy having a blanket constructed to hide him when UT plays the Tide.

No need to worry, Tide fans. Saban is always one step ahead. He has constructed a bulletproof plan to infiltrate enemy lines undercover.

*The links in this entry have been corrected.

It's Like Clockwork

2007-10-02T10:44:00.000-05:00

Paul Finebaum is about as predictable as Al Borges's play calling this year. When Auburn does poorly, their trusties are looking to give Tuberville the boot. When Auburn is doing well, Tuberville is looking to take another coaching job.

After losing to USF and MSU, Finebaum repeatedly called Tuberville a bad coach. He constantly talked about the droves of Auburn fans that wanted him fired, though I never heard any of these fans. After the MSU loss, Finebaum wrote this in his column:

Tuberville has the security of a $6 million price tag on his head. However, if things don't change quickly, will it be enough to keep him in the good graces of the Auburn family?

That week, he told the guys on the Opening Drive that he didn't think Tuberville was going anywhere. The question was asked whether or not Finebaum thought Tuberville might leave on his own. His answer was no, because Tuberville and his family are happy in Auburn and he just had a large house built down there.

Let's fast forward two weeks. Auburn just upset the number three team in the nation. Finebaum has now changed his tune. Tuberville, the horrible coach that he is, is now on everyone's wish list. Finebaum blabs,

Tuberville would emerge at or near the top of anyone's list of top contenders for the job. He might also be hotly pursed by Arkansas after the expected removal of Houston Nutt.

Not bad for a horrible coach that none of the Auburn fans or trustees want, right?

Finebaum adds,

Tubs knows the terrain in Aggieland, having spent a brief period of time out there as R.C. Slocum's defensive coordinator.

I guess coaching at a school for one year means he's going to take the job and run. I probably shouldn't mention that Tuberville didn't even consider leaving Auburn for Miami like Finebaum was trying to push last year. I shouldn't mention that Tuberville coached there for eight years either.

And what about the fact that Tuberville and his family are happy in Auburn, and just moved into a 9,000-square foot house? Well, Paul's changed his opinion on that as well.

So, would Tuberville take the money and run? Are you kidding me? Tuberville may have stopped the hemorrhaging with the Florida upset but he's not stupid.

No, he's not stupid. But Finebaum's predictable routine is.

Florida Game Notes and Thoughts...

2007-10-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

What a game! Auburn looked like a completely different team. I'm happy to say that both of my pregame questions were answered "yes". Auburn stopped Florida on their opening drive, and Auburn converted 6 out of 14 for 42.8%. That's still not great, but it's better than 33.3% they had coming into the game.

Borges's third down play calling was about the same as it has been. However, Stewart had his first attempt and conversion on the ground this year. Also, Auburn did throw the ball on a third and three, and ran a draw play on a third and eleven. The pass worked, but the draw didn't. There is a definite pattern in Auburn's first and second down, which I mention in the following game notes:

Good

Florida didn’t score on the opening drive!
I like the play calling on Auburn’s first drive. The offense is playing with intensity.
Auburn’s defense is swarming tonight.
Billings just caught one across the middle and was crushed. I don’t see how he held onto that ball. (The emphasis here is that he held onto the ball.)
Other than the late hit, Savage is having a great game. He just made another stop on third down.
Cox is looking good. It helps when his receivers actually catch the ball!
Wow, Billings was wide open on that play. It looks like Borges has been working on some zone-buster plays.
Fannin is running like a madman on this drive.
Ziemba is looking impressive. He just helped Fannin gain an extra 4 or 5 yards by pushing him from behind.
Thompson has been in the backfield a good bit tonight. He hasn’t been able to connect back there yet, but he’s definitely breathing down Tebow’s neck.
Horrible call on the punt. Tuberville is livid, and gets flagged too. I think his reaction will light a fire under his defense. (It's good to see him so emotional.)
Wow, Byrum doing the gator chop after making that. He earned it!

Bad

Kickoff coverage needs some work.
UF has a late hit, and Bosley can’t keep his cool. You can’t blame him, but even so…that’s a 15 yard gift that he just handed back to UF.
Cox just scrambled. Borges could backpedal faster than that.
It’s obvious. Auburn’s going to run on this first down. They do, and Tate is dropped for a loss.
Cox has another ball batted down, and throws into coverage the next play. This doesn’t look like the same team that was out there during the first half. Just as I typed that, Cox was sacked.
Borges needs to mix things up when Burns is in the game. It’s pretty obvious that he’s going to run the ball, and it’s pretty obvious that the defense knows this.
Bad call by Mushcamp going after Tebow. Bad coverage by Etheridge.
2nd and 1, and it couldn’t be more obvious what Florida’s going to do. Tebow still makes 12 or so yards.
Will it hurt Borges to throw the ball on first down? I’m starting to see a pattern here. Auburn runs on first down. If they gain anything, they run on second down. If they don’t, they pass it the second down.

Here are a few things that I find interesting:

Florida came into the game averaging over 500 YPG on offense. Auburn held them to 312.
The last team to shut out Florida in the first half was South Carolina...in 1992.
The last five times Auburn has beaten Florida (including Saturday), the gators were ranked in the top four.

Overall, I'm very happy with how Auburn played. I'd like to know what they're doing different for away games. I know they stay in a hotel, and all of that. Teams used to do that for home games as well, but I'm not sure if they still do. If not, maybe that might help things for Auburn at home.

Week 5 Results

2007-09-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

I was 7-1 in week 5. That brings my overall record to 33-10.

This week, the East went 2-1 against the West.

East

AU 20 - UF 17
Tuberville has made a history out of winning these types of games. If there's a time I prefer to be wrong, this is it.

USC 38 - MSU 21
It looks like USC has found their QB in Smelley. MSU's QB situation is back to being a questionmark.

UK 45 - FAU 17
UK is now ranked in the top 10. They'll be tested next weekend against USC.

UGA 45 - OM 17
This one wasn't close like I thought it would be. UGA ran all over the OM defense.

UT off

Vandy 30 - E. Mich 7
Yawn.

West

LSU 34 - Tulane 9
For some reason, this game couldn't keep my interest. It was a lot closer than most people expected, but LSU still beat them soundly.

FSU 21 - Bama 14
Like I said, this would would come down to Bama's passing game. They were 28/53. Unlucky for Bama, FSU found their QB during the game.

Arkansas 66 - North Texas 7
Jones averaged 18.9 yards per carry. He is now averaging over 10 yards per carry this year. He's good, but a lot of that has to do with defenses putting more focus on McFadden. That's one heck of a duo.

Florida Pregame

2007-09-29T19:06:00.000-05:00

Kickoff is less than five minutes away. I have two big questions for this game:

Can Auburn convert on third down?

Can Auburn finally stop a team from scoring on their opening drive?

I’ll be happy if either one of those questions is answered a “Yes”.
Florida's crowd is nuts tonight. There's a definite advantage there.

Oh great, Blackledge is doing the color. I guess I should prepare myself for him arguing all calls against Florida.

Interesting...

2007-09-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

During my usual game day morning browsing, I found something rather interesting on FSU's official athletic site. This bit of knowledge is part of the Alabama Football Trivia that was compiled by Alabama Sports Information:

2. Prior to today's game in Jacksonville, when was the last time Alabama played a regular-season neutral site game?

A: Alabama defeated Ohio State 16-10 on Aug. 27, 1986 at the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

That's right, Legion Field was not a neutral site.

SEC Picks - Week 5

2007-09-28T21:33:00.000-05:00

East

Auburn at Florida - Tuberville has made a history out of winning these types of games. Looking for any possible advantage that Auburn might have, I came up empty handed.
Tebow 28 - Auburn 14

MSU at USC - USC seems to be having some trouble on the offensive side of the ball. Not so much on the other side of the ball. That could spell trouble for Hennig.
USC 21 - MSU 7

FAU at UK - Some people are saying this is a trap game for UK. I'm saying that if North Texas can put up 20 points on FAU, Woodson can put up at least 30.
UK 35 - FAU 14

OM at UGA - This one could actually go either way. OM showed the world that they could fight last week. However, this isn't their week to pull off an upset.
UGA 28 - OM 21

UT off

Eastern Michigan at Vandy - I sure wish the SEC would quit scheduling these teams.
Vandy 38 - Eastern Michigan 12

West

LSU at Tulane - I hate playing the "chain comparison" game, but LSU beat a team 45-0 that beat Tulane 38-17. Miles needs to move Flynn back to his natural position of backup QB and let Perrilloux light up the Green Wave defense.
LSU 60 - Tulane 6

Alabama vs FSU - Believe it or not, this is the toughest game to call this week. FSU's offense is horrible, but Bama's defense isn't exactly LSU's. FSU does have a a good defense, specifically their run defense (74.7 YPG). Bottom line, Jessica Parker will win or lose this game.
FSU 24 - Bama 23

North Texas at Arkansas - Jones is averaging 9 yards a carry this year. McFadden is averaging 6 yards a carry. North Texas has had an average of 51 points per game scored on them.
Arkansas 42 - North Texas 13

Auburn's Third Down Conversions

2007-09-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Auburn is dead last in the SEC and ranked 92nd in D1 in third down conversions. But why? Bad execution? Predictable play calling? Whatever it is, they need to figure it out if they're going to win some more ballgames this year.

After reading a breakdown of Auburn's first down plays against NMSU on The Joe Cribbs Car Wash, I decided to do the same with their third down plays. Like Jerry Hinnen of TJCCW, I looked through the play-by-plays on The Official Website for Auburn Athletics.

After collecting the data, I broke it down into three different yardage situations: 4 or less yards, 5 to 7 yards, and 8 or more yards. I then divided each of these situations into passing and rushing. I included sacks with the pass plays. I also included what I assumed to be quarterback scrambles with the pass plays. I made the assumption based on who was carrying the ball, how many yards they needed for the first down, and whether or not they were hurried. I did this because I wanted to try and focus on the play calling, and not the execution.

Here is a breakdown of Auburn's third down conversions so far this year:

Yards	Rushing			Passing			Total
to gain	Att	Conv	%	Att	Conv	%	Att	Conv	%
4 or less	14	9	64.3%	5	1	20.0%	19	10	52.6%
5 to 7	1	1	100%	17	3	17.6%	18	4	22.2%
8 or more	1	1	100%	19	4	21.1%	20	5	25.0%
Total	16	11	68.8%	41	8	19.5%	57	19	33.3%

Basically, if Auburn is within four yards of a first down, they're probably going to run the ball. If they need more than that, they're going to put the ball in the air.

Keep in mind that one of the passing plays in the "5 to 7" range was actually a Brandon Cox Scramble. With that, three of the passing plays in the "8 or more" range were QB scrambles, one resulting in a first down. Also, one sack is included in the first two ranges, while three is included in the third.

To further break down this information, it is necessary to look at what types of plays were ran. Keep in mind that the play-by-play does not indicate whether or not the play was a draw, trap, play action, etc. . . I tried to do my best with the information at hand.

Here is a breakdown of running plays on third down:

	Left				Right
	TE	OT	OG	C	OG	OT	TE
att	2	0	2	5	1	0	6
conv	2	0	1	3	1	0	4
%	100%	-	50%	60%	100%	-	66.7%

I guess you can't tell much from this breakdown other than Auburn isn't running the same play over and over again.

Here is a breakdown of passing plays on third down:

	Left				Right
	sideline	flat	middle	screen	flat	sideline
att	5	7	13	1	3	3
conv	0	3	3	0	0	1
%	0%	42.9%	23.1%	0%	0%	33.3%

As you can see, the majority of passes thrown are across the middle, or to the left. That's understandable since Cox is a southpaw. Included in the incompletions are two interceptions; one across the middle, and one down the right sideline. Not included are five sacks.

I didn't include the yardage situation for the last two graphs. There isn't much to tell in the rushing category. Most of the rushes are in short yardage situations. The passing category is a little different.

All four of the passes thrown in short yardage situations were to the left; two in the flat, and two down the sideline. The situations where five to seven yards are needed are across the board. Ten of the passes across the middle were in long situations.

It looks like Borges calls a variety of plays, but it doesn't look like he mixes them up too much in different situations. If it's third and five plus yards, he sends in a passing play. If it's third and less than five yards, two to five, he's going to run it. I understand the need to pass on third and long, but I'm not sure if it's necessary to do so 34 out of 36 times. Where's the play action on short situations? What about a draw, or a reverse on long situations? Anything different might help boost Auburn's third down percentage.

I'm not one to put all of the blame on Borges. Five of the missed conversions were sacks, but that doesn't compare to 31 incompletions and 2 interceptions out of 36 passes! Who's to blame there? Cox? The receivers for not getting open, and dropping balls when they do? Borges for calling a pass play on nearly all third down and five plus yards situations? I'm going with all of the above. Something needs to change.

Blogspot makes it difficult to post tables...

Who Owns the Refs?

2007-09-26T08:22:00.000-05:00

Bama fans like to claim that they own the SEC, but what about the refs? No way! They never get the calls. In fact the refs are always out to get the mighty Tide. So what's the truth? I had the time, so I looked up the penalty numbers for Auburn and Alabama in their first four games. I then went a step further and looked up each of their opponents' penalty numbers as well.

Here is a basic comparison of the penalties called in Alabama's and Auburn's games this year:

	Pen.	Yards	Pen./G	Yards/G	1st dns	1st dns/G
Bama	22	184	5.5	46	10	2.5
Opponents	27	267	6.8	66.8	3	0.8
Auburn	24	208	6	52	9	2.3
Opponents	34	265	8.5	66.3	7	1.8

In a direct comparison between the two, Auburn is averaging 0.5 more penalties and 6 more penalty yards a game than Alabama. Auburn opponents are averaging 1.7 more penalties and .5 less penalty yards a game than Alabama's opponents.

Both Alabama and Auburn have less penalties and penalty yards than their opponents. There is a wider margin of penalties called in Auburn's games. However, there is a wider margin of penalty yardage in Bama's games.

The numbers that really stick out are the 1st downs gained from penalties. Alabama has 7 more 1st downs attributed to penalties than their opponents. Auburn only has two.

You can't find out that much looking at the first set of numbers. Kansas State, one of Auburn's opponents, is averaging 133 yards of penalties a game. On the other hand, Vanderbilt, one of Alabama's opponents, is only averaging 42.7 penalty yards a game. So I decided to look at what Alabama's and Auburn's opponents were averaging in their other games in regards to penalties.

Here is a comparison of the average penalties called in Alabama's and Auburn's opponents' other games and what was called in their games against the Tide and Tigers.

	Pen./G	Yards/G	Opp. Pen./G	Opp. Yards/G
vs. others (avg)	6	50.5	7	53.1
vs. Bama	6.8	66.8	5.5	46
vs. others (avg)	8.6	79.8	7.8	60.3
vs. Auburn	8.5	66.3	6	52

This might paint a clearer picture of what's happening. On average, teams have been penalized more and for more yards when playing Alabama than when playing other teams. This hasn't been the case for Auburn's opponents. Compared to other teams the opponents have played, Auburn and Alabama get called for less penalties, and are penalized for less yards.

So what does this information reveal? Other than the fact that I had too much time on my hands yesterday, it doesn't reveal too much. By these numbers alone, it would appear that Bama is benefiting more from the refs than Auburn is. In reality, these statistics only scratch the surface. They don't indicate the situation surrounding each penalty. Also, there is no record of "no-calls". Alabama and Auburn fans will just have to keep arguing over who owns the refs. There is one thing we can all agree on, though. If ESPN analyst, Todd Blackledge, had his druthers, Bama would have 0 penalties for 0 yards this year.

Week 4 Results

2007-09-24T09:56:00.001-05:00

I went 6-1 for week 4. My overall record is 26-9.

The East went 3-1 against the West this week. The East has two undefeated teams and three one-loss teams. UT is pulling up the rear with a 2-2 record. The West only has one undefeated team and two one-loss teams. Arkansas and Ole Miss only have one win. The West is definitely down this year, but they have the team that will win the conference.

East

UF 30 - OM 24
So this one wasn't quite the blowout I predicted. What went wrong for UF? 127 penalty hards definitely didn't help. Ole Miss did gain more yardage than UT against the gators. Maybe they aren't as bad as everyone thought. Nah, it's just one of those one-offs.

UGA 26 - Bama 23 (OT)
My gut wanted to pick UGA for this game, but I think a little homerism might have been involved in that. My brain said "Bama" so Bama I chose. Even with 2 interceptions, Stafford was impressive. UGA's defense further proved that Sara Jessica has trouble when pressured. At least he put the blame of the loss on himself, which is more than I can say about Saban.

UK 42 - Arkansas 29
This one was a tale of two offenses. Bama exposed Arkansas' weak secondary last week. Woodson took advantage of this throwing for 265 yards and 2 TDs. The hogs could only muster 1 offensive touchdown. That's amazing considering how many yards they got on offense, 495. Jones averaged 11.1 on the ground and returned a kickoff for a TD.

UT 48 - ASU 27
UT's opponents are averaging 439 yards and 37.5 points a game. Those numbers a skewed a bit by the Cal and UF games, but ASU still managed to gain 377 yards and score 27 points. The great pumpkin really might be on the "hot terlet".

Vandy - off

West

LSU 28 - USC 16
This one went as expected. LSU held the cocks to only 17 yards on the ground, but Smelley and Mitchell were able to gain 244 yards in the air. Flynn was only 8 for 19 and threw his first interception of the year. LSU's offense only gained 70 in the air. That looks to be their weakness. Their defense is an absolute force though.

MSU 31 - Gardner-Webb 15
Yup, Gardner-Webb's high-powered offense put more on the boards against MSU than Auburn did last week. They also managed to not turn the ball over 5 times. Kudos to them.

Auburn 55 - NMSU 20
Auburn fans are celebrating after this one. Not because of the win, but because of the play. Yes, NMSU is a bad team. But hey, so is MSU. The fans are celebrating because the Tigers actually looked like a football team. Auburn fans rolled their eyes when Cox fumbled his first snap of the game, but their hearts were warmed when the student section started chanting his name later on in the game.

SEC Picks - Week 4

2007-09-22T09:58:00.000-05:00

Florida at Ole Miss - The Florida offense is averaging 55.7 points, and 521.4 yards a game, while the Ole Miss defense is allowing 30 points, and 466 yards a game. Yeah, this one will be a blowout.
Tebow 60 - Hotty-Toddlers 14

South Carolina at LSU - Even with two patsy-games, South Carolina's offense hasn't been able to put up impressive numbers. LSU's defense has. They're only allowing 2.3 points a game. With that, they've allowed less than 100 yards passing and only 30 yards on the ground a game. Granted, they've only played a vastly overrated Virginia Tech, but it's impressive none the less. The cock's passing defense will give Flynn some trouble.
Drunks 24 - Cocks 10

Kentucky at Arkansas - Did Arkansas learn from their mistakes last week? If they come out in that man-to-man BS that did them in last week, they'll be in some serious trouble. On the other side of the ball, can UK's defense stop the WildHog formation? The answer is no, no they can't. This one will further prove that the SEC might not be known for it's powerful defenses anymore.
Shats 38 - Bacon 34

Arkansas State at Tennessee - Tennessee has allowed 41 points a game this year. ASU doesn't appear to be chopped liver this year. They made a game against Texas pretty close. Then again, look what happened to the horns last week. Most years, this would be a game where the great pumpkin could relax, work out some kinks, and play some of those younger players. This year, not so much.
Viles 28 - Tontos 14

Vanderbilt off

Georgia at Alabama - UGA's defense, which I thought would be their weak point this year, seems to be doing quite well. Will they be able to walk into Bryant Denny restaurant and make a statement? Pressuring Sara Jessica is a must for the UGA defense. But when you see that Bama has only allowed 4 sacks, and UGA has only 6 sacks, you have to wonder if they will be able to. If the energy is the same as last week, Bama will win.
Tampons 21 - Dawgs 20

Gardner-Webb at MSU - Croom's boys deserve a game like this after beating Auburn last week.
Croomdogs 35 - Runnin' 1AAs 6

New Mexico State at Auburn - I am 100% honest when I say I have no idea how to call this one. I have never seen a team at any level playing with such a lack of intensity and emotion. On paper, this one looks like a New Mexico State blowout. Thank it's played on the gridiron. I'd like to give Auburn a nod for home field advantage, but the only games they've dropped last year and this year have been at home. I'd like to see Burns get the nod this week. I'm sorry, but if the starter can't get it done, it's time to start playing the future.
Wounded Tigers 21 - Aggies 17

Week 3 Results

2007-09-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

Is it Friday already? Wow! I haven't had a chance to breathe this week! I went 5-3 last week leaving me with an overall record of 20-8.

East

UF 59 - UT 20
Wow, I guess I gave UT's defense a little too much credit. I've said all along that Tebow is the real deal. Is anyone still doubting this after Saturday's performance? I'm still surprised that we haven't seen more of Tebow's backup. Is Meyer just trying to pad is stats? If Tebow goes down, they're in trouble.

USC 38 - SCS 3
Boring!

UK 40 - UL 34
Speaking of "the real deal", Andre' Woodson be thy name! I honestly don't know why this was considered an upset, and why more people weren't picking Kentucky. Middle Tennessee State put 34 points on them!

UGA 45 - WCU 16
How much money is Western Carolina making from the SEC this year?

Vandy 31 - OM 17
Maybe Auburn isn't the worst team in the West after all. Ole Miss averaged 1.7 yards per rush...against Vanderbilt! I know they returned most of their defense, but it's still Vanderbilt.

West

LSU 44 - MTSU 0
Miles opted to play Perrilloux instead of Flynn this game. Well, at least Matt is used to being a backup. Even still, this is just another boring patsy game.

Bama 41 - Ark 38
This was the most exciting game I've seen this year. Bama looked good on offense at times. JPW still makes bad decisions when he's under pressure. He did throw the ball inside the 10, though. I the past, he's been too run-happy in that area. Bama's defense has some holes. So does Arkansas. Man to man coverage on the last drive? Someone needs to be shot for that.

MSU 19 - AU 14
I was never sold on Muschamp. I can't stand the bend but don't break defense. The opposing team has scored on the opening drive against Auburn in all three games this year. There, so no one will ever accuse me of putting all of the blame on Cox. Speaking of which, just bench him. He isn't performing well. Burns is young and doesn't quite know the offense, but he moves the ball. He also gets his team fired up. Cox looks and plays like he's on Ambien. He needs to snap out of it. If not, he needs to call plays into Burns.

SEC Picks - Week 3

2007-09-15T09:41:00.001-05:00

I've been way to busy this week (again) to get this blog rolling. Eventually, I'll find my voice and be able post regularly. For now, it's just for my entertainment. Here are my thoughts on the two instate teams, and my picks for the rest of the SEC.

On Auburn and MSU: I posted this comment on Best of the SEC Blogs, "Their defense matches up well against Auburn. Holmes and Brown are both NFL-caliber players. You can bet that Croom is going to line them up on the same side as Auburn's frosh linemen. They were able to pressure Flynn the entire LSU game. Cox doesn't have the supporting cast that Flynn does, and has been making piss-poor decisions even when NOT under pressure. Groves et al will be too much for Hennig. Auburn will win, but it won't be a blowout."

On Bama and Arkansas: This is a very tough game to call. Arkansas only returns one starter on their OL. They will match up well against Bama's weak front seven. McFadden and Jones should put up 100 a piece. I think Bama should be able to move the ball on offense as well, but this will be the first semi-good defense that they've faced this year. Bottom line, McFadden and Jones will win it for the Hogs.

East

UT - 28
UF - 31

South Carolina State - 6
USC - 42

Louisville - 31
UK - 42

Western Carolina - 0
UGA - 52

Ole Miss - 21
Vandy - 17

West

Middle Tennessee - 0
LSU - 56

Arkansas - 28
Alabama - 24

MSU - 3
Auburn - 17

A whole lot of talk, but from where?

2007-09-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

I listen to the Opening Drive in the mornings, and Finebaum in the afternoons. I've heard numerous Bama fans call both shows and talk about all of the "aubies" calling for Tuberville's head. I've also heard Finebaum, and Tony Kurre mention this several times. I find it strange that I haven't heard a single caller doing this. I also haven't spoken with a single Auburn fan who feels this way about Tuberville. What's the deal? Am I listening at the wrong time? Are the hosts and Bama callers full of it? Either way, I'm not hearing it!

There has also been discussion over whether or not blame should be placed on Brandon Cox for the loss against USF. My take on this? Partially.

Cox had this to say about his performance:

"It's decisions, mainly, and trying to make things happen to much," Cox said. "I've just got to take what they give me and not try to force things. If it's not there, don't try to make something happen."

As a professional armchair quarterback, I have to disagree. Cox is not trying to do too much. He is not playing to win. He is playing to not get injured. Here's why I feel this way:

1. The offensive line performed well against USF. Cox didn't have defenders in his face all night long like he did against KSU, but he sure did play like it. He was throwing the ball early off of his back foot into double and triple coverage the entire game.
2. The few times that he was pressured or actually decided to scramble down the field, he went completely limp before getting hit. I noticed this in the KSU game as well. Before he gets hit, his head and shoulders drop.

This leads me to ask if there is something going on that the public doesn't know about. How many concussions has Cox suffered from over his career? It's pretty evident that he suffered one during the KSU game. The "How many concussions are too many?" argument is a whole separate can of worms, but if Cox has had several already, I'm not sure if he should still be playing. I would rather take my chances with a backup quarterback than having someone permanently injured.

Whether the above scenario is true or not remains to be seen. Maybe Cox isn't keeping his head on straight during the week. I don't know, but the fact remains that he is not mentally there during the games. Sure, he doesn't have the supporting cast that he's had during the past two years, but some of the mistakes he's making are just too questionable for a fifth year senior with two years starting under his belt.

Week 2 results

2007-09-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I went 6-3 for week two. I should have gone with my initial feelings about UGA and USC. I'll organize this by my rankings.

East

UF - Easy win for them over Troy. I don't understand why Meyer isn't working in a backup for Tebow more during these patsy games. Tebow's the man, but no one is immune to injuries.

USC - "South Carolina is going to surprise some people this year." That was my preseason assessment of SC. Never underestimate Spurrier. Richt has always been inconsistent.

UT - I was too busy watching the Auburn train wreck to even notice this game. It looks like UT started out fairly slow. Ainge put up some good numbers.

UGA - After looking like the most prepared team in the SEC, they looked flat against USC. They have Western Carolina this week, who got blasted by a team that lost to UK 40 points. Maybe they'll use this time to work out the kinks.

UK - Another creampuff week. They went into halftime tied. Was it halftime adjustments or a lack of substitutes for Kent State that turned this into a blowout. Who cares? It's Kentucky.

Vandy - A questionable call resulted in momentum for Bama early in this game. Vandy would have lost anyway. Nickson looked pretty bad. Adams fared a little better. The defense was able to pressure JPW a good bit.

West

LSU - I knew Tech was nothing but an overrated media doll. Just because the school went through a major tragedy doesn't mean that the football team will be any good. LSU's offense is coming together. Their defense isn't just the best in the SEC, but the best in the nation.

Arkansas - McFadden and Jones had a combined 400 yards against the bye. They should have a field day against Bama's weak front this week.

Alabama - Their defense gives up some big plays, but they're usually called back. JPW doesn't perform well under pressure, but has a good supporting cast. Their first real challenge will be this weekend.

Ole Miss - No one will ever call me a homer after this...well, maybe. Ole Miss has no defense, but they have shown some brilliance on offense. It doesn't take much of a defense to stop the next team on the list.

Auburn - The team did come out and played with some intensity this game...just on one side of the ball. The defense is spot-on (aside from the blown coverage in overtime). On offense, Auburn is 5-28 on third down conversions, has allowed 6 sacks, and has turned the ball over 7 times in two games against mid-tier teams!

Mississippi State - Henig would have some great numbers if MSU played in Conference USA. Unfortunately for him, the SEC is known for their defense.

SEC Picks - Week 2

2007-09-07T09:50:00.000-05:00

It always happens when I start something to entertain myself...life gets busy. So yeah, this blog has been pretty thin in content. Oh well, here are my picks for this week.

SEC East

Florida vs. Troy - Arkansas was able to run all over Troy's defense last week. Florida should be able to put up some big numbers on the ground and in the air this week. Like against Arkansas, Troy will be able to put a few on the board, but it still won't be close.
Tebow 42 - Condoms 21

UGA vs. USC - I thought USC was going to be hot this year, and UGA was going to be rebuilding. If last week was any indication of how these teams will do this year, I was completely wrong. If UGA is as prepared as they were last week, this one will be ugly.
Dawgs 28 - Cocks 10

UT vs. Southern Miss - Southern Miss has a back that could play anywhere in the SEC. Unfortunately for him, I can't say the same about the OL. Fulmer will have his boys ready to play after losing to Cal. The kinks in the offense should be ironed out this week.
Viles 34 - Eagles 14

Kentucky vs. Kent State - Kentucky's offense is going to have another great day. What's the over/under on them getting 500 yards?
Shats 48 - Flamers 12

Vandy vs. Bama - No one pisses in Bama's cornflakes quite like the Commies do...by losing. Bama usually has a hard time blowing them out. They squeaked by last year, and this year? The Commies brought most of their starters back, and the game is in Nashville. However, this one won't be the super close game that a lot of people seem to be predicting. It'll be an ugly win, though.
Tampons 21 - Commies 7

SEC West

LSU vs. Virginia Tech - Virginia Tech played East Carolina, minus their QB, last weekend. The line was 27.5. They won by 10 only putting 17 on the board. Running game? Nonexistent. This game will be played in the dreaded "Death Valley".
Corndogs 28 - Pokies 10

Auburn vs. South Florida - South Florida comes into Auburn a week after struggling with 1-AA Elon. Auburn played horribly last week. If history repeats itself tomorrow, Auburn will come out explosively. Tuberville seems to always redeem himself after a poor performance.
Tigers 24 - Cows 10

Arkansas - off

Ole Miss vs. Missouri - This one doesn't really excite me at all. Missouri should win this one even without a running game.
Tigers 24 - Hotty-Toddlers 14

Mississippi State at Tulane - What is it about these Mississippi teams that bore the hell out of me? Tulane is in a conference where MSU could be competitive. Maybe that's why they play two out of their three out of conference games against Conference USA teams. Out of sheer boredom, Tulane wins.
Wave 28 - Croomdogs 27

Grading Auburn - Sort Of

2007-09-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

I apologize to my two or three readers for the delay, but the wife, dogs, and house come first!

QB – C+
Cox is slower than frozen molasses on Christmas Eve. His interceptions weren’t really bad passes, but good execution on the defense’s part. Several of his incompletions were dropped balls. He gets the + for not completely losing his head.

RB – I
This could have been an A, but do to "unresolved academic issues", Lester had to sit out. The rumor fairies have been working overtime on this situation, but no one really knows what’s going on. KSU was stacked the box against a young offensive line, and Tate still managed to pick up 82 yards. Stewart is 6’2, but looks like he’s 6’5 when he runs down the field. He’s been at Auburn for what seems to be ten years. He should know by now that he needs to get low to bust through tackles.

WR – B
There were too many dropped balls. And I’m not talking about dropped balls after acrobatic leaps. There is no excuse for dropping a perfectly thrown ball. The tight ends looked great, and are the only reason this is a B and not a C.

OL – C
KSU brought the house. Ziemba had a few mental mistakes. Dunlap apparently had the worst game. I put 3 of the 5 sacks on Cox.

Offense – C+
I would like to think that the vanilla offense was by design. You know, a “don’t tip you hand before SEC play” kind of deal. That’s merely wishful thinking, but when they REALLY needed points, the playbook expanded a little. Overall, they just looked lackadaisical.

LB – B
Blackmon and Evans both had interceptions. Other than that, I didn’t even realize there were LBs on the field. KSU only had 16 rushing attempts, though.

DL – A
Quinton Groves is an animal. Sims, Coleman and Marks did there parts as well by putting pressure on the quarterback.

DB – B
Overall, they looked good. There were several dropped interceptions, but most DBs aren’t known for their hands.

Defense – B+
Other than the first drive, I don’t see any major complaints about their performance. They did what they needed to.

Special teams – B
The kicking game looked good. Dunn seemed to have borrowed his gloves from Tre Smith. Catch the ball before you start moving!

Week 1 Results

2007-09-02T10:29:00.000-05:00

I went 9-2 in my predictions. I would brag, but most of the games were no contests.

Florida vs. Western Kentucky – “Tebow won't be tested and I'm sure he won't play a down in the second half.”
UF 49-3: I was pretty close on this one. Had the thunderstorm not rolled in, It could have ended 56 – 3. Tebow proved that he is the real deal…against a crappy team. He won’t really be tested until their third game against UT.

South Carolina vs. Louisiana Laffayette – “I have a hunch that Smelley will do fine.”
USC 28-14: By the numbers, it looks like he did alright. However, Beecher did better. USC allowed over 300 yards on the ground…not good.

Tennessee at California – “Wearing panties is more accepted in LA, so Ainge will feel more relaxed.”
Cal 35-14: I never thought Cal could drag UT into a PAC-10 shootout. Ainge did seem to be more relaxed than in the past connecting 32 out of 47 passes.

Kentucky vs. E. Kentucky - Shats 34 - Sanders' Brigade 0
UK 50-10: Woodson had some good numbers, but it was against a high school team.

Georgia vs. Oklahoma State – “UGA will fall this weekend.”
UGA 35-14: This is my biggest blunder of the weekend. UGA looked like one of the best prepared teams in the SEC this weekend. However, Georgia fans need to worry about their run defense. Take away the sacks, and OSU’s YPR goes up a good bit.

Vanderbilt vs. Richmond – “…a very rare occurrence will take place Saturday...Vandy will be undefeated!”
Vandy 41-17: It won’t last long. Richmond put up 306 yards on offense, and they’re no Bama.

LSU at MSU – “This is almost as bad as scheduling a 1-AA patsy for the first game.”
LSU 45-0: Appalachian State would have scored at least 50 on MSU. LSU looked sloppy. Their offensive line needs to start gelling or they could be in trouble.

Auburn vs. Kansas State – “The fact that this is a night game, which is very key, at Jordan-Hare will be the difference.”
AU 23-13: Crowd noise really got to KSU’s young offensive line. Auburn looked like a solid 7-5 team. I’ll go into this game in more detail later.

Arkansas vs. Troy – “…the Jones / McFadden combo is too much…”
Arkansas 46-26: McFadden had 6.3 yards per carry, and threw a TD pass. Jones had 10.8 yards a carry, and ran a kickoff return back for a TD. Them’s good players!

Alabama vs. Western Carolina – “Saban beats an extremely underrated 1-AA team and solidifies himself as the second coming of the Bear.”
UA 52-6: Yep, Saban is bulletproof after this win. Just for giggles, Shula’s team beat Western Carolina 52-0. Bama was cruising in the third quarter with a decent lead, and JPW was still in the game. Shula was billed an idiot after doing that with Croyle.

Ole Miss at Memphis - Hotty-Toddlers 14 - Basketball 13
OM 23-21: Ole Miss was up 20-0 at half. What happened? I don’t know, but Memphis made it a game while piling on some yardage.

SEC vs. 1-AA - Does it get any better?

2007-08-29T09:09:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like some jackass telling you who's going to do what before it happens, and I'm no jackass. I don't claim to have super powers. I mean, I have them, but claiming them would make me look pompous. With that said, sit down and let this pompous jackass tell you what's going to happen this week.

SEC East

Florida vs. Western Kentucky - Well, at least Western Kentucky is 1A now. Last season, they were 6-4 in 1-AA play. They also had a loss to Georgia (48-12), which brings up the question, "How in the hell does a team like Georgia allow a 1-AA team to get a safety!?!" Back on topic, Tebow won't be tested and I'm sure he won't play a down in the second half.
Gators 56 - Giant Red Blobs 7

South Carolina vs. Louisiana Laffayette - South Carolina plays host to Sun Belt juggernaut, Louisiana Laffayette. Bold move, Spurrier, bold move. Will Smelley, whose name will be said with delight by everyone, be able to handle one of the worst defenses in 1-A? After all, Mitchell is suspended. I have a hunch that Smelley will do fine.
Cocks 38 - Ragin' Drunks 13

Tennessee at California - Wow, an actual opponent! I don't think there are too many Krispy Kremes in Los Angeles, so Fulmer won't be in full form. But the Vols downfall could very well be Eric Ainge's jammed pinky finger. Wait...what!?! Are you fucking kidding me!? A jammed pinky finger!? It's time for stick man to put on his big-girl panties and play some ball. Wearing panties is more accepted in LA, so Ainge will feel more relaxed.
Orange Panties 21 - Over-rateds 17

Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky - Eastern Kentucky? You know they're jealous as hell now that Western Kentucky has made it to the big time. Who would have thought that there were that many schools in that state with football teams? I don't know anything about Eastern Kentucky other than their mascot (Colonels), and I don't care to.
Shats 34 - Sanders' Brigade 0

Georgia vs. Oklahoma State - If only Richt could harness the awesomeness that is Joe Kines, for he knows how to beat Oklahoma State.

No one, including Bama players, can understand the incoherent ramblings of a mad genius such as Kines. That's why Bama lost that game (along with 100 other excuses their fans could come up with). And it's for this reason that UGA will fall this weekend.
Chap-wearers 28 - Dawgs 24

Vanderbilt vs. Richmond - Okay, so we have another 1-AA patsy. Richmond did beat Duke last season 13-0, but so did everyone else who played them. Never the less, a very rare occurrence will take place Saturday...Vandy will be undefeated! They've only won four openers since 1990, and three of those were against Wake Forest. Johnson needs to get on the horn about next years schedule, stat!
Funny Hats 28 - Arachnids 0

SEC West

LSU at MSU - There is no stadium more dreaded in the SEC than MSU's Davis Wade Stadium...by the fans. This place is about as intimidating as Mike Shula in a tutu. This is almost as bad as scheduling a 1-AA patsy for the first game.
Corndogs 42 - Croomdogs 3

Auburn vs. Kansas State - Tuberville typically lays an egg in these situations, but last years win over a mediocre Washington State gives Auburn fans some hope. Even still, KSU has a reputation for upsetting the favored team. Ask any Oklahoma or Texas fan, and they'll tell you. The fact that this is a night game, which is very key, at Jordan-Hare will be the difference.
Tigers 21 - Grapes 9

Arkansas vs. Troy - Could this be another upset opener by Troy? They have a great QB in Haugabook. Nutt's a damn moron, too. However, the Jones / McFadden combo is too much for most SEC teams, let alone a Sun Belt powerhouse like Troy.
Bacon 35 - Condoms 28

Alabama vs. Western Carolina - A patsy non-conference game in Tuscaloosa? The Bear would be proud! I wager that over a million Bama fans will order this slug-fest on PPV. Sara Jessica Parker Wilson better watch out. Western Carolina likes to play tricks by placing invisible tripwires on the field. I'm sure Brodie has warned him about it. Saban beats an extremely underrated 1-AA team and solidifies himself as the second coming of the Bear. In turn, five players get arrested on the strip while celebrating the big win.
Tampons 48 - Catamounts (seriously!) 0

Ole Miss at Memphis - Ole Miss squeezed by this perennial powerhouse last year 28-25 on national TV, which made Orgeron one of the most feared coaches in the land. But this year, the game is in Memphis' house. You don't come into their house and beat them, unless you're Arkansas State, Tulsa, Southern Miss, UFC, Houston, Marshall, UAB, oh...and Ole Miss the year before by a landslide 4 points. Only a top-tier program like UAB can do the unthinkable by beating Memphis three years in a row. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Ole Miss will join them this Saturday.
Hotty-Toddlers 14 - Basketball School 13

Picking My Nose

2007-08-28T13:21:00.000-05:00

God gave me my face, but he let me pick my nose. You know what else I like picking? How the SEC teams will do in conference before a single down has been played.

SEC East

1. Florida - Tebow better be the real deal because Florida is going to have to replace the majority of their defense this year. No worries, Tebow will have a nice target in Senior receiver, Caldwell. Look for Harvin to put up some big numbers on the ground as well.

2. South Carolina - South Carolina is going to surprise some people this year. They were in every ballgame last season except for one and are returning 10 returning starters on defense. Everyone is talking about Tebow and Woodson, but Mitchell is no chopped liver. When he's on his game, he's a definite threat. And NEVER underestimate the Ole Ball Coach.

3. Tennessee - Ainge is going to have a hard time finding a receiver with a lot of game experience, so Coker needs to step it up. That's going to be tough with a subpar offensive line. Will Cutcliffe be the difference UT's offense needs?

4. Kentucky - Woodson is good, but not good enough to compensate for lack of talent on Kentucky's defense. They are returning several starters on that side of the ball, but keep in mind that Kentucky's defense was one of the worst in the country last year.

5. Georgia - Georgia's defense was ranked 8th in the nation last year. Too bad they're only returning three starters. On top of that, Paul Oliver will be ineligible to play. This will be a rebuilding season for UGA.

6. Vanderbilt - It would be nice if Vanderbilt proved me wrong on this one. After all, they do have most of their defense returning. Everyone wants them to succeed.

SEC West

1. LSU - LSU will have the top defense in the SEC. This will be enough to compensate for problems that could emerge on offense. Flynn has been a career backup. Will he bring enough to the table for LSU? A favorable home schedule should have them winning the West easily.

2. Auburn - If Lester, and Cox can stay healthy, Auburn will have a good season despite their grueling away schedule. This might prove difficult considering the lack of experience on the offensive line. Auburn's defense will be the second best in the SEC.

3. Arkansas - The stable is full, but there is no real quarterback to act as a decoy. Couple this with a relatively inexperienced line, and you can expect every team to stack the box against them this year. McFadden might have put the nail in the coffin by appearing on the SI cover.

4. Alabama - If the current trend continues, half of the Bama squad will have seen the inside of the Tuscaloosa jail by the end of the season. Saban will be the factor in winning close games, but Bama's weak offensive line and running game will keep Wilson scrambling all season long.

5. Ole Miss - Ole Miss will have one of the stronger offensive lines in the SEC West. However, they will have to replace all of their linebackers. Orgeron just doesn't seem to get it done. This year won't be any different.

6. Mississippi State - Even with 10 returning starters on offense, they will still end in last place in the West. MSU should be able to beat Gardner-Webb, whoever the hell that is.

The Doctor Ordered It

2007-08-28T12:28:00.000-05:00

This is just what the internet needs, another sports blog. I give it two or three weeks before I lose interest, and move onto something else.