Iron Bowl Pregame

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!!!

Arkansas Pregame

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?

Week 4 Results

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.

A whole lot of talk, but from where?

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.

Grading Auburn - Sort Of

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!