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.
