SB Nation - Kodi Burns

Fear-o-meter: the Auburn offense.

Rodger Sherman — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:50:16 -0000

So, I told y'all about Auburn, the college, and Auburn's names, but I haven't told you much about Auburn's football team.

You might remember I used to do bi-weekly preview posts, one about the other team, and then one about how I expected Northwestern to play that team. Then, one week, I didn't do it, and we beat Iowa. So I didn't do it the next week, and we won again. Don't mess with success. So I'm doing it slightly differently.

I've constructed this: the fear-o-meter. As you can probably tell from the left side, I'm a big fan of o-meters, so, here's another one. I'll tell you how scared on a customized scale you should be of a varying aspect of our opponent's team and gameplan.

It goes from things you should be the least scared of to most scared of:

Chinchillas. Soft, furry, and adorable.
The Swine Flu, represented by the cover to Tony Yayo's mixtape of the same name.
Public speaking. Not really that scary, but the one thing people generally say they're scared of.
The Most Dangerous Game, represented by the poster to the film "Surviving the Game" starring Ice-T and Gary Busey. The Most Dangerous Game, of course, refers to either "game" as in "something you hunt", in which case the most dangerous game is man, or "game" as in "contest", in which case the most dangerous game is used to refer to one-on-one ten-beer, ten-cup beer pong, but probably should be used to refer to something more dangerous, like six-bullet Russian roulette.
Clowns. Yeesh.
Zombies. Self-explanatory.
Kidney stones, highly inaccurately represented by a picture of a kidney bean and a stone, because I really didn't want to google image search "kidney stone".
Flying sharks. The image is taken from the motivational poster.
The 2012 apocalypse. I was debating whether to put this or kidney stones, but they're both pretty bad.

Ignore the km/h markers and the red line pointing to zombies: I made this using Preview in about 13 minutes, so chill out. I'll tell you exactly how scared of each thing you should be.

First off, disclaimer time: to be honest, I don't know as much as I'd like to about Auburn as I'd like - I only got to watch a half of one of their games this year. I planned on watching a few of their archived games on ESPN360, but apparently I can't do that because I'm not on a college campus anymore, and don't get the service. So everything you read below is based on me doing a lot of reading, perusing stats, and watching highlight footage. But for the real scoop, you should probably ask an Auburn fan.

So now, on to diagnosing Auburn's offense, after the jump:

Quarterback: All things considered, Chris Todd had pretty good season, throwing 21 touchdowns to only six picks, picking up 8 yards an attempt for 2377 yards, pretty good considering where he's come from. You see, Todd has had a rather freaky career: he started out at Texas Tech, where he played well in limited mop-up action in their crazy spread offense but obviously wasn't going to be a part of the plan. He wanted to transfer to Auburn, but rather than spend a year not playing, he went to juco for a season, where he played at a school called Hutchinson, and quite frankly, he was very bad there: he went 104-212 with six touchdowns and eight picks. Not stellar numbers, especially considering the lower level of competition. Last season, he looked shaky again, starting the team's second game and four more after that, but only completing 55% of his passes and tossing six picks to five touchdowns, and went down with a shoulder injury that ended his season early.

This year he threw six picks again - the difference is he threw 21 touchdowns to go along with it.

But I wouldn't get freaked out by that stat. Todd isn't an astonishingly great quarterback as a 21-6 ratio would seem, and after a very strong early part of the season, he's looked suspect at best as Auburn got deeper into their conference schedule. Todd is definitely solid: when his receivers are open, he'll hit them. (See: 17-18 with four touchdowns against Furman, 19-26 with five against Ball State, 25-35 as a Texas Tech quarterback with their freaky all-out passing Michael Crabtree offense.) But when they're not, we've got issues (see: throwing more picks than touchdowns two years ago at a junior college.). Todd has shown the maturity this season by not forcing stupid passes - hence the only six picks - but against good defenses, he's shown a really tough time getting anything going. (See: the games Auburn has lost this year, where he's thrown five of his picks and been dragged down for 13 of his 18 sacks.) In those situations, he just sort of holds on to the ball, and sometimes heaves up a pass that has no chance of being received. There's a reason that just four weeks ago, people were talking of benching him. He doesn't have a particularly strong arm due to a career riddled with shoulder injuries, and he can't run with it (negative rushing yards on the year), but he's pretty accurate with the short stuff, and at times can use this to pick apart defenses, although the golden boy that emerged over the beginning of the season tailed off towards the end.

Fear-o-meter: Zombies.

Also playing a little bit of time at quarterback is the decently named Kodi Burns, who plays Auburn's version of the Wildcat. He was a starting QB last year, tossing two touchdowns and seven picks, but after that sorta bad season, he was converted to wide receiver, where he's been pretty sub-par at that too, with only four catches on the year. But he's looked alright running the Wildcat, throwing for two TD's and running for five more, but he doesn't throw much - he's 4-13 out of the set passing, but has ran the ball 51 times.

Fear-o-meter: Public Speaking.

Running back: Ben Tate is a fantastic running back, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. The senior ran for 1254 yards on 5.2 yards a carry with eight touchdowns, and that's not even telling the whole story. He's fast, strong, and long story short, was the second best running back on a team in the state of Alabama. There's only so many ways I can say "uh-oh" in a paragraph.

Fear-o-meter: Flying Sharks.

Onterrio McCalebb is Tate's change-of-pace backup, and he literally provides a change of pace, as he's probably speedier than Tate but isn't as good at finding holes up the gut as Tate. He got the ball 99 times - a decent amount for a backup - and turned that into 547 yards, 5.5 a carry. He ran for 114 and a touchdown against Mississippi State, and nearly outgained Tate against Georgia with 60 yards on the ground on only 11 carries while Tate had one of his worst games with 67 yards on 20. Basically, don't forget about McCalebb.

Fear-o-meter: Clowns.

Last but not least, Mario Fannin and his backup, Eric Smith. They're more in the vein of what we call "superbacks", but they actually have a vital effect on the game. They primarily block, but are the third options in Chris Todd's passing game as he loves to throw to guys these two out of the backfield, particularly on screens, and the pair racked up a combined 629 yards receiving, including 82 on this brilliantly edited youtube clip of a screen against West Virginia. Fannin also gets the ball a decent amount, rushing for 271 yards on 8.5 - 8.5! - yards per carry, while Smith added 99 of his own. Teams might overprepare for guys like Tate and wide receiver Darvin Adams, but these guys might slip under the radar and help Auburn's spread offense dink and dunk down the field a la NU.

Fear-o-meter: Clowns.

Wide Receiver: Basically, there's one guy to worry about. Darvin Adams is Chris Todd's first, second, and third options on most pass plays, and it shows, as nobody else on the team is close to his 855 yards and 10 touchdowns. By comparison, Terrell Zachary has 466 and five touchdowns, and four of those scores and 241 of the yards came on four passes. Adams is the team's only deep threat, but he's worth paying attention to as he will get open down field - the question is whether or not Todd hits him.

Fear-o-meter: Kidney Stones.

The rest of the unit, as noted, is rather slipshod. Lots of dropped passes, and not much production. Terrell Zachary has been able to get open for big plays, generally against inferior opponents, but he's not the type of guy worth double covering or anything. If you're wondering, Auburn's leaderboard for receiving yards goes like this: wide receiver, wide receiver, H-back, H-back, tight end, running back, wide receiver, tight end. Tommy Trott is a decent tight end, but he's a goal line threat and little more.

Fear-o-meter: Swine flu.

O-line: Haven't been great at giving Todd a lot of time, but Auburn's spread isn't necessarily predicated on that. They've been good at opening up holes for Tate and at giving Fannin room to run off of those screens, and it shows. All in all, a pretty decent o-line. They gave up only 1.5 sacks a game, and as noted, 13 of those came in their losses, when the failure was probably on any receiver to get open, causing Todd to hesitate and take too long. The line produced two all-SEC second teamers in left tackle Lee Ziemba and Ryan Pugh, and this is pretty much all I can say about them. For what it's worth, Ziemba is one of the few offensive linemen in the country to have recorded a reception, as Auburn runs a trick play in which he runs a screen route but unfortunately for Ziemba's stats, it went for -3 yards.

Fear-o-meter: Zombies.

Auburn's offense: It's a good one. You don't score 32.9 points a game in the SEC by accident. That being said, it's a stoppable one. Teams have shut down Chris Todd rather easily, and when they do that, regardless of how otherworldy Ben Tate is, they generally aren't going to win with a spread offense if they don't have any semblance of a passing game. (Theory in numbers: Todd has thrown under 200 yards five times this season. Four resulted in losses for the Tigers, and in those four losses, Tate averaged 107 yards on the ground, which isn't too bad. The fifth game was a 49-24 romp over Mississippi State that featured 390 yards on the ground.) (More theory in numbers: Darvin Adams recorded either a touchdown or 100 yards receiving in six of Auburn's seven wins, and failed to do either of those in four of their five losses.)

I look at this team and see a very good offense. But all things told, they're passing game, although it's worked well, seems just a few tweaks away from getting shut down completely. This is a team that lost five of their last seven games, and one of those wins was against Furman, and a major contributor in those losses was Chris Todd's inability to perform at the same level that he had at the beginning of the year, whether it be due to a nagging shoulder injury, not enough time being given from the line, or failure of his receivers besides Darvin Adams to do anything that could compel a defense not to focus their cover Adams with all they had. So although it's a unit with major scoring potential, and one that certainly causes a major threat, it's flawed.

Offensive fear-o-meter: Zombies.

So that's that. I'll have another one on the defense sometime, not necessarily soon, but sometime.

The Light of a Clear Blue Morning: Thoughts on the Iron Bowl

Todd — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:55:27 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

22 days ago: Alabama's Roy Upchurch (5) catches a 4-yard pass from quarterback Greg McElroy (12) late in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game as Auburn's Neiko Thorpe (15) and Antonio Coleman (52) pursue at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Alabama won 26-21. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Browse more photos »

OTS will have his initial impressions up later, but there's a few things I wanted to note after looking at the box score and thinking back on all the things we said about this game over the past week. Although the Tigers managed to outgain us in total yardage (332 yards to our 291) and hold us to only 73 yards rushing (and a horrible 2.1 ypc average), there were quite a few other factors that played heavily into the Tide's victory:

1. QB Play: All week long "taking Ingram away and making McElroy win the game" was considered the key if Auburn hoped to pull the upset. Well, they succeeded in both aspects but it didn't turn out like Auburn hoped. Compare the stat lines.

	Comp	Att	%	Yds	YPC	TD	INT	Sack	YdsL
McElroy	21	31	67.7	218	10.4	2	0	3	7
Todd	15	25	60.0	181	12.1	2	1	3	32

When it came down to it, McElroy completed at a higher percentage and moved his offense while Todd gave Alabama two scoring opportunities with turnovers. Barron's INT set up the FG that drew Alabama to within 1 point, and his fumble on a sack by Eryk Anders resulted in a missed FG. And while we're talking sacks, both QBs took three, though Todd managed to lose 32 yards when getting hit while McElroy gave up only 7. Further, McElroy operated the two minute offense to perfection on the final drive, leading the Tide down the field on a 15 play, 79 yard TD drive to take the first lead of the game, all while completing 6 of 7 passes and converting three 3rd downs (including the TD throw to Upchurch). The closest Auburn came to mounting a similar lengthy drive was the 12 play, 58 yard second TD drive (after the recovered onside kick), which was greatly aided by a false start penalty and a unsportsmanlike call on Justin Woodall's boneheaded tantrum.

2. Number of Snaps: Thought it might not have seemed like it, we did flip the script on Auburn, holding them to only 59 offensive snaps while getting 67 ourselves. It was the lowest number of offensive plays Auburn has run in conference play (with 61 against LSU being the second closest).

3. Cheap Scores: On the Radio Hour we talked about the need to keep Auburn from getting cheap scores on our defense. I said repeatedly that Malzahn's offense is so good at it's misdirection and causing missed assignments resulting in big gains that it would present a challenge for our defense, forcing us to stay at home and take proper pursuit angles all while playing at the same aggressive speed we've come to prize. Sure enough, two of Auburn's three* TDs came as a result of missed assignments and Auburn's players making plays in space that could have been stopped short but for a) effort on their part and b) poor technique on ours.

Cheap TD the First: Terrell Zachary rushes for a 67 yard TD on a reverse. How did it happen? As Bamagrad noted, Eryk Anders lost contain on the reverse and let the play get rolling, but two other players could have kept Zachary from the end zone. Kareem Jackson had a shot at a tackle after getting off of a block by an Auburn offensive lineman, though it would have been an ankle tackle at best. Arenas also had a chance but he overran the play, allowing Zachary to cut back inside and reach the end zone for the score. A missed assignment and a bad pursuit angle gave Auburn their first score of the game.

Cheap TD the Second: In the 3rd quarter, with Alabama having tied the game back up at 14 before the half, Chris Todd finds a wide open Darvin Adams for a 72 yard TD. It was a two play scoring drive (Kodi Burns had rushed for four yards on first down) that put the Tigers right back in the driver's seat, and it came on a missed assignment. We'd been having success with the corner blitz and went back to the well, but Mark Barron, instead of staying over the top, stayed shallow and allowed Adams to blow right by him, resulting in the second "cheap" score of the game. That's 14 points given up by the defense because of missed assignments.

4. Extending Drives: Alabama had 13 drives in the game (including the two play drive at the end of the first half with :39 left on the clock) and made first downs on 8 of them (62%), while Auburn managed 14 drives and managed a first down on only 6 of them (43%). That includes their two play, 72 yard TD drive. Going further, only 3 of their 14 drives resulted in a scoring opportunity, while six resulted in 3 and outs, two ended in turnovers, and the final drive...well, you know what happened there. Meanwhile, Alabama had four 3 and outs and a turnover on downs, but otherwise was generally able to extend their drives into scoring opportunities (punting only once after having previously converted a first down on the drive).

5. Taking Their Best Shot: Lost in the hoopla of Auburn's quick start and control of the scoreboard until late in the game is that Alabama won the final three quarters 26-7 and effectively stymied the Auburn offense through the latter half of the game. Credit the team's resilience and confidence for not panicking and continuing to grind away.

Putting it all together, the game played out like a lot of us expected. Auburn sold out to stop Ingram, threw everything they had at us early, and managed to catch us off guard for some easy scores. Thankfully, it also played out for us like we pretty well expected; we limited their snaps, took advantage of take aways and good returns by Arenas, and when it counted dug down and ground out a win against a thin and gassed defense.

* while the third TD came after an actual drive, that drive was forced to cover only 58 yards after a surprise onside kick that should have been tipped by the weird formation Auburn was using. I won't say Auburn didn't earn the TD, but I will say they caught us napping once again to set up the score.

Time To Give Thanks...

Jay Coulter — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:12 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

Browse more photos »

It seems Thanksgiving and the end of football season gets here a little quicker each year. It's almost unfair that baseball and basketball can linger on forever, yet the game we love most comes and goes within a matter of weeks. So here we are again, the end of another football season and the beginning of another round of holiday madness.

If you've been a reader of Track'em Tigers over the past three years you know that one of my favorite things to do each Thanksgiving is to stop and give thanks for all the many blessings I've received in life. This is hardly an original idea. For as long as I can remember, I've been getting up on Thanksgiving morning and racing to the paper box to grab a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to read writer Furman Bisher's annual holiday column. Nowadays, I just crank up the computer - and no, it's not the same.

Bisher retired earlier this year after more than half a century behind the typewriter. Maybe it's fitting that his career comes to an end at a time when the newspaper business is also taking its last breath. He will be remembered as perhaps the greatest sports writer in the history of the South. I hope he won't mind if I take a page from his playbook and share with you all that I'm thankful for this year. Without further ado...

I'm thankful that for the past 16 years I've called the same woman my wife. I guess these days that's a lot of years. Talking her into marrying and staying with me is the crowning achievement of my life. If I never do another thing else, I've done pretty well.
I'm thankful for the hiring of Gene Chizik as Auburn football coach. He wasn't my first, second or tenth choice, but I'm sure glad he's here now. He may not become the next Jordan, Dye or Tuberville, but he sure carries himself the way an Auburn football coach should. He's been nothing but class since his arrival.
I'm thankful for two of the greatest kids in the world. There's not enough money in the world to replace the feeling of seeing them come through the door each evening. I don't deserve them, but I'm sure glad God sent them my way.
I'm thankful for Chris Todd and Kodi Burns. Their pictures will never be on the side of the stadium, but the lessons I've learned from them this year are more important. The next time you face adversity at work, stop and think about these kids and what they've been through on the football field and how they've handled it. It's better than any self-help book.
I'm thankful for the 13 years I had with my Newfoundland - the best dog a man can have. As I write, I do so with a heavy heart. Today, I had to put him to sleep after a short illness. As you can imagine, he's become family after all these years and right now I feel like I've been punched and kicked in the heart a thousand times. To borrow a line from the Georgia faithful, "He was a damn good dog."
I'm thankful for people like Jana Tarleton. As president of the Columbus/Phenix City Auburn Club, she started a program called Tigers For Heroes. Each week she searches all across the Tiger Nation for Auburn football tickets to give out to service members who were injured in combat. What started as something small has grown quickly. Thanks to her, these deserving veterans are getting a chance to feel the Auburn Spirit.
I'm thankful for all the many regulars here at Track'em Tigers. I can't thank you enough for spending part of your day with us. Reading your comments, I realize I'm not nearly as smart or knowledgeable as you are about Auburn football. One of the highlights of my day is reading your thoughts.
I'm thankful for Thom Gossom. The former Auburn player helped break the color barrier on The Plains and now shares his story with others. Thom's experience at Auburn was not like most, yet he still loves his school and continues to be a tremendous ambassador. Do yourself a favor and pick up his book, Walk On. It's a must read for all Auburn people.
I'm thankful for the three guys that share the stage with me here at Track'em Tigers. They are simply the best. Not only are they great writers and knowledgeable about Auburn football, but most importantly they care. Keeping up a daily blog is not easy - especially in March. Yet they always come up with interesting stories. It's a pleasure working with each of them.
I'm thankful for Coke in a stadium cup at Jordan-Hare. Is it just me or do cokes taste better at Pat Dye Field than anywhere else on earth? And no, it's not the bourbon.
I'm thankful for our visitors from other schools. There are a number of Alabama, LSU and Georgia fans who visit TET regularly and share great insight and enjoy the rivalry between the schools. Football is a lot more fun when fans can discuss it intelligently.
I'm thankful for the new SEC television agreement and big screen televisions. I'm not a fan of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, but I have to give him props for the new television deal. Having access to every SEC game, every week is unbelievable. It's hard to believe that growing up, I spent most of my Saturday's listening to Auburn on the radio.
And finally, I'm thankful for beating Alabama six in a row. The odds are long Friday, but the streak gives us all hope that things will turn around quickly. If you are making your way to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday please drive carefully.

Happy Thanksgiving. Beat Bama!

How to Win The Iron Bowl.

Acid Reign — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:12 -0000

Bama's last visit to the Plains didn't go so well!

War Eagle, everybody! Like the Auburn football team, I've taken a few days off from college football. For the team, it was all about the fatigue. Auburn has played 11 straight weeks in a row. Only Vanderbilt has it worse. The Commodores will have played 12 in a row, when this season ends. They'll be rewarded by a 2-10 season, most likely. For me, the time off has helped me purge the taint of a bad weekend all around. Auburn's loss was painful, but I salute the effort of a fatigued, undermanned squad. I can't say the same for my Dallas Cowboys. When the first frost hits, the Cowboys' collection of superstars and veteran free agents pack it in. Who would you rather have pulling the strings: Bobby Lowder, or Jerry Jones? Things could be worse, Tiger fans!

After some well deserved rest, it's time to gear up for a visit by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Many Auburn folks I've talked to this week are already conceding a Tide win. I say that it doesn't have to be that way! Auburn can play with anyone, when they are executing well. The Tigers can beat Bama, if they run the ball, stop the run, and don't turn the ball over. The Iron Bowl last year was a tight game, till Auburn handed Alabama the ball 3 straight possessions in the 3^rd quarter. We can't do that, this year at home!

Keys to Auburn victory, after the jump!

Auburn needs to effectively rotate defensive linemen. There was a Zach Clayton sighting in the Georgia game, and here's hoping he's healthy for the Iron Bowl. We need to rotate both the tackles and ends, and keep them fresh for Bama's 4^th quarter push. If we have Antonio Coleman and Antoine Carter playing every snap of the first three quarters, we won't be able to stop Bama in the 4^th with the game on the line.

At linebacker, Auburn SORELY needs Eltoro Freeman back. It's no coincidence that Georgia outscored Auburn 31-10 after Freeman left due to injury. With Freeman, Auburn stopped the run. Without him, Georgia moved the chains. Craig Stevens, and Josh Bynes need to have career games. Auburn's linebackers must attack, and shut down Bama's running game.

Rotation in the secondary will be important, too. Safeties WILL have to come up and make tackles, in this one. Bama gets a lot of successful blocks out of their receivers, tight ends, and fullbacks. While I applaud the efforts of young Darren Bates and Demond Washington, we need meaningful snaps out of Mike Slade and T'Sharvan Bell, too. Neiko Thorpe MUST keep his man in front, this game. Alabama WILL try a few play-action bombs at Thorpe, and he's GOT to be ready! If Bama tight end Colin Peek returns for this game, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alabama throw some passes in the flat to him. Auburn safeties will have their hands full trying to cover Peek. Walter McFadden must continue his excellent play. Last season in the Iron Bowl, McFadden limited Julio Jones to 3 catches for 36 yards. If Jones is held to 36 or fewer yards this year, Auburn has a great chance.

Clinton Durst needs to have a great game in this one. His numbers may not be helped, but he should avoid punting the football where Javier Arenas can get it. Arenas is averaging over 13 yards per return. A 35-yard kick out of bounds is an improvement over letting Arenas possibly break the game open. Likewise, this might be the one game where I'll approve of the squib kickoff strategy. On returns, we've got to find some way to keep Demond Washington fresh for these. Did you know that Bama is dead last in the SEC, in kickoff coverage? Bama averages 38.6 net yards per kickoff, which is even worse than Auburn's 39.7.

Auburn's offensive line will have a tough task in this Iron Bowl. Bama has three HUGE defensive linemen, and big backups as well. All three linemen nearly DEMAND a double team block, then Bama usually sends an outside linebacker (Eryk Anders, Cory Reamer) as a rush-end. You don't know till the snap which side that end is coming from. The double team on Terrence Cody is probably inevitable, with the other guard pulling, for Auburn. I'd expect Alabama to attack Andrew McCain, who's been very vulnerable to the speed rush this season. On passing downs, McCain MUST get that first step back with the correct foot, and get his shoulders turned. On run downs, he's got to get his head across. Auburn must get the front four blocked, to get the running game going. Bama is number one in the league in run defense, giving up only 2.4 yards per carry. Please! No false starts or illegal shifts! Lastly, if we've got 3^rd and 1 or 4^th and 1, we've GOT to STOP trying to pull linemen!

Guess which Bama player leads the team in tackles for loss? Would you believe that it's Javier Arenas? Nick Saban LOVES him some corner blitz! Arenas is tied for 3^rd in the SEC, with 10.5 tackles for loss. How do they DO that? Well, safety Mark Barron slides over when Arenas blitzes. Barron has 7 pass breakups and 4 picks, which ties him for the lead in the SEC in passes defended. Justin Woodall, the other safety isn't bad either. Auburn needs some sort of "automatic" check when Arenas slides down the line just before the snap, both the receivers AND Todd. Bama always tips it, a second or two before the snap, AFTER you've meercatted to the sideline and changed the play. Auburn needs a two man route and quick throw underneath, to defeat that Arenas corner blitz. No one blends coverages like Alabama. Auburn's going to HAVE to be patient, and rely on crisp throws under the coverage. The Tide defends from the inside-out. To attack that, you've got to throw successfully to the outside. Auburn's greatest offensive failure in last year's Iron Bowl was only TRYING two passes to the sideline. Bama will bait quarterbacks into trying deep balls. Chris Todd must choose his times carefully.

For Auburn backs, it's really simple, this game. Eric Smith and Mario Fannin have to block like they've never blocked before, and Ben Tate and Onterrio McCalebb have to run like there's no tomorrow. Extra hard fought yards move the chains, and are the difference against really good defenses like Alabama. There won't be big holes and lanes. The backs are going to have to create. Above all else, Auburn must hold onto the ball no matter what! A deep interception is kind of like a punt. But even a single fumble in Auburn's own end of the field could lose the game.

Chris Todd, this is it. This is your big chance! Todd has had an amazing story this season, coming back from the brink to lead this team. It's been an up and down year, but now Todd can cement his legacy. If Auburn beats the Tide, Todd will go down as a legend. Todd needs crisp, accurate throws, and must avoid throwing into coverage. We'll certainly need that 5^th year senior maturity and leadership, in this tough ball game.

In other strategy notes, I'm not sure we need to run the Wildcat at all. Alabama has a series of defensive packages for it, including a two deep zone that still manages to overload the sweep side of the formation. A counter might work against that, but a Kodi Burns lob ball against that zone could be disaster. One thing I'd like to see occasionally is a flipped offensive line, and a Todd half roll to the right. With Ziemba out front, and McCain somewhat protected by the motion, Todd can do some damage throwing to the right, especially on the wide side of the field. I'm not sure about the hurry-up offense, in this one. I think it backfired, last week. We got tired on the line faster than Georgia got tired on defense, it looked like. Bama's not really a team you can wear down, defensively. We need to run some reverses to Fannin, Zachary, and McCalebb. Bama will not likely be vulnerable like some teams, but we need those plays to keep the Tide defense honest. Defensively, we've got to use more run blitzes. We're not going to be able to sit back in cover-two all day with Josh Bynes dropping in the middle. Bama will run it till we stop 'em.

It's soon to be Iron Bowl week, folks! I'm fired up already! I'm looking forward to a great week of analysis and fever pitch!

This Auburn Team Is Special

Jay Coulter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:23 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

The Chris Todd story is one of the best in college football this year.

Browse more photos »

The look on Auburn running back Ben Tate's face said it all as the clock hit zero in Sanford Stadium Saturday night. He left everything he had on the soggy turf in North Georgia. As has been the case on too many occasions this year, giving everything was not enough. This senior class will never know the joy of beating Georgia.

Auburn turned in what may be its best effort of the year in Saturday's 31-24 loss to rival Georgia. It was far from its best game, but you can't argue with the effort. Georgia's Mark Richt would likely have at least two more wins, maybe more if he could get the same get up and go from his star-studded roster.

The 60 minute session in Athens was a case study of Auburn's season. Gus Malzahn's offense showed flashes of brilliance, but like so many other Saturdays it was not sustainable. All of the fears about the Tiger defense came home to roost. Even with the Dawg's A.J. Green out for most of the game with injury, Georgia exposed the Auburn secondary for what it is - a patchwork unit with many guys who have no business playing deep into November.

Saturday's loss hurt. In some small way that's progress. Last season's losses brought anger. This year they bring hope. Chizik started the season with a skeptical and divided Auburn Nation. In 11 short weeks he's brought the family back together. Most were outraged over his hire - count me among them. Today I'm sold. Chizik was the right hire and he's my coach.

This team will go down as one my favorite. They'll not be remembered for greatness and will hardly leave a mark in the record books. In all my many years of following Auburn football, few teams have cared and tried as hard as this one. These players have endured a coaching change, the hiring of an unpopular coach and a prolonged quarterback battle. It would have been hard to blame them if they simply threw up the white flag and went to the house. In fact, many of them did.

The ones who stayed will leave a legacy. No, this senior class will never walk out of Sanford Stadium with hedges in hand, but they will be remembered for much more. They've put Auburn football back on the path to redemption. There are enough storylines from these players to make a dozen Lifetime movies.

I'll say it again, is there a better story in all of football than that of quarterback Chris Todd? A year ago he was loathed by most fans and his name was interchangeable with embattled former offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. Smart money said he would do what he's always done, look for greener grass and move on. Now, with one regular season game left, you hate to see the senior leave.

How special was the touchdown catch by Kodi Burns in the first quarter? He's hardly the heralded player fans thought he would be, but it's hard not to love him. He may not be big on skills, but his heart more than makes up for it. His selfless actions back in August when he lost the staring quarterback job to Todd set the stage for this team overachieving.

Now we turn our attention to the big one, the Iron Bowl. There's no kidding ourselves. This is a tall order Auburn is facing. If you didn't have a dog in the hunt, you would give the Tigers no chance. This is one good Alabama football team, especially on defense. On paper, they are better at virtually every position on both sides of the ball.

With that said, don't throw in the towel just yet. Auburn will have two things going in its favor - fresh legs and big hearts. That may or may not be enough in two weeks. Regardless, this team has brought a lot of joy to fans over the past three month. Auburn football is fun again. There's hope in the air.

I already can't wait until next year.

Tigers Hold On Against the Rebels!

Acid Reign — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:33:37 -0000

(Head Coach Gene Chizik never shows emotion!)

War Eagle, everybody! It's the first happy football weekend for the Tigers, out of the last four! It's time now for the Acid Reign Report, on Auburn's miraculous 33-20 win over the University of Mississippi Rebels. Auburn faced a mismatch on paper in nearly every phase of this game coming in, but managed to emerge victorious by double digits! Both teams made plenty of mistakes, but Ole Miss made more. Auburn got a few fortuitous bounces, and took good advantage. Both teams had penalties, and for the first time in weeks, it was fairly even on both teams.

The Auburn defense was facing a tall order against the talented Rebel offense, and were gashed to the tune of 394 total yards. Dexter McCluster, who Auburn absolutely HAD to stop, finished with 207 total yards. McCluster paid for it in blood, though. Auburn defenders lowered the boom when they could, pounding the diminutive Rebel speedster. McCluster had to leave briefly in the second half, but came back valiantly late. Auburn made a serious effort with stunts and a few blitzes, and delivered enough hits to shake Rebel quarterback Jevan Snead off his game. Some of it was schemed but mostly, the Auburn defensive line and linebackers rose up, and beat on a young Ole Miss offensive line. Snead was limited to 16 completions on 35 attempts, with two picks by Walter McFadden, 175 yards, and one touchdown. That's a 2.1 net yards per pass average. Coverage by the secondary improved enormously, but the guys dropped nearly a half dozen possible interceptions. On the most difficult interception attempt, Walter McFadden made the play. On a ball that nearly hit the turf, and bounced off the straining hands of the Rebel receiver, McFadden snagged the carom one-handed, heels just over the boundary, and sprinted to a pick-six-touchdown! (How's that for a comma-splice?) Auburn gave up yards in chunks, including a 79 yard McCluster run. In the end, Auburn was able to turn the Rebels back every time in the 4^th quarter, holding Ole Miss scoreless to preserve the victory.

Special teams continued to run hot and cold. Clinton Durst hit great punt after great punt, till a shaky 33 yarder late. Chris Todd nailed the pooch punt of the year, coffin-cornering it out of bounds at the Rebel 1 yard line. Phillip Pierre-Louis didn't fumble a punt, but he let one go that was downed at the one, and danced like a man possessed on two others, netting only one yard with plenty of room. I fully expect that he will treat us to a Michael Jackson moonwalk, against Furman. Seriously, PPL, break it forward, please? Kick returns were decent, but kickoff net CONTINUES to be horrible. With the first return given up for a touchdown on the season, the kickoff team managed only a 33.8 yard net, even with Morgan Hull averaging kicking it to the 8 yard line. Wes Byrum continued his excellent ways, hitting on 4 extra points and a field goal. Byrum outkicked Ole Miss kicker Joshua Shene, who came into the game perfect on the year. Shene pushed a 44 yard field goal wide, and kicked an extra point into the line, which Auburn's Demond Washington scooped up and raced in for two points.

Auburn needed to stretch the field on offense. Everyone in the stadium held their breath on repeated tosses downfield, often into double coverage. Todd let it go downfield a bunch, and ended up with a great net yards per pass average, 9.6. Darvin Adams got open and made 4 clutch catches, and Terrell Zachary made a couple of GREAT ones! Tommy Trott had a terrible drop, and a magnificent TD on a ball slung up for the corner by Kodi Burns, off his back foot, being pressured. The Rebels were looking for Mario Fannin and Terrell Zachary on the reverse, but were hurt twice by freshman Travante Stallworth on that play. Ben Tate continued his outstanding play running the ball, powering for 148 rushing yards and a 53-yard back-breaking touchdown. The Tiger offense out-gained Ole Miss, 400 yards to 394. The Ole Miss defense's previous high given up for the season was 354, against Alabama.

Unit Grades, after the jump!

Defensive Line: B+. It was hardly a perfect game up front, especially given that the team gave up 394 yards. Still, there was some good pressure at times on Ole Miss, and eight tackles for loss. Auburn has been able to rotate six or seven up front all year, and it's going to help us going into Amen Corner.

Linebackers: B-. It was feast or famine in the linebacker corps. Sometimes we filled holes and blasted the runner, and sometimes we got pinned inside and burned. The swing pass to backs was KILLING the linebackers early, but adjustments were made well. A number of McCluster runs bounced off linebackers and gained a ton more yardage. Eltoro Freeman was again a force up front. He's very young , and when he gets out of position, it's ugly. It's the second week in a row that the young star has given up a 60+ yard TD run. Still, Freeman led the team in tackles, and was an inspiration. When he actually knows the defense well, he'll be really scary! The stat guys totally missed it, but Adam Herring got a few snaps, and made a huge tip on a pass when Ole Miss was in the red zone.

Secondary: B. This was a night and day improvement by this unit. Coverage was too soft early on, but as Snead started feeling pressure, the corners were able to crash the outs and hitches aggressively. When Zach Etheridge went out early, I was REALLY worried about the safeties. We lost a bit in tackling ability without Zach, but I think Mike Slade brought more speed to the equation. Ole Miss wasn't able to get it done downfield, even with that situation. T'Sharvan Bell and Demond Washington acquitted themselves well, and Neiko Thorpe made some plays. If this group continues to improve, they'll do well against Georgia and Bama.

Punting: B+. Durst hit some monster shots, but might have out-kicked his coverage some. The last kick, when we need to play for field position, was pretty poor. Durst averaged 42 yards on his six punts, but Marshay Green returned 3 of them, for 43 yards. The 29 yard Green return in the third quarter (the longest given up on the season) could have been costly, but Ole Miss fumbled it back on the Auburn 24. A net of 34.7 is a bit down, for us. I can't say enough about Chris Todd's pooch punt that went out of bounds at the one. That was a thing of beauty!

Punt Returns: D. No turnovers is an improvement. The dance moves, with room and blocking, were not. Phillip Pierre-Louis is a rookie at this gig, and I'm not suggesting we replace him. He just needs more coaching. When he learns to step fearlessly into the catch, and heads a few straight up field at a 45 degree angle or less, it will scare coverage teams to death. He's got some great (dreaded buzzword!) potential!

Kick Returns: B. This was a surprisingly solid effort. Ole Miss popped 'em up to about the 12 yard line, and Auburn returners Demond Washington and Phillip Pierre-Louis made 'em pay on field position, averaging 27 yards per return. That set us up on 3 returns outside the 35 yard line. That's pretty sweet, if we can keep that up!

Kickoffs: D-. Well, we tried kicking them deep this week, but Morgan Hull was not consistent. He managed two into the end zone, but 4 others were short. Auburn had a TREMENDOUS hit on the first return, causing a fumble that Auburn could not corral. Despite the negative on that play, Ole Miss averaged 30 yards per return, with one broken for a touchdown to pull Ole Miss within 11. Auburn did improve from a 26.0 yard net a week ago, to 33.8. I'll give a pass, this week.

Placekicking A+. Maybe I should count off on the 36-yard Byrum field goal that SHAVED juuuuusst inside the upright, but it counts 3 points, just the same. Byrum was perfect again. Foot Lauderdale has hit all 34 of his extra points, and is 13 of 14 on field goals. The only miss was from outside 40 yards. Magnificent, Sir Byrum, absolutely magnificent!

Offensive Line: B- This was a so-so performance, at best,but a winner nonetheless! Ole Miss has a great line, and depth. Auburn helped out on the scheme, giving the line help with several max-protect packages on the deep balls. Our tackles had maybe the worst day of the year trying to handle Greg Hardy and Kentrell Lockett off the edge. In this game, on 3^rd and +7, it was probably better to just run a draw. It would have saved Chris Todd some hits! Still, the Ole Miss ends had only 8 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. We lost the guard/center gap a couple of times, letting Jerrell Powe roar inside for tackles in the backfield. On a D-line that had Jerrell Powe, Lawson Scott, Kentrell Lockett, and Greg Hardy, Ole Miss only produced 9 tackles. No holding penalties for the line, and only one false start on Mike Berry. And of course, one delay of game on an early snap, courtesy of indecision by Roger's Redding's Buffoons.

Receivers: B. After the catch drought the past three weeks, one HAS to love 7 catches for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns from the starters. Travante Stallworth ran two key reverses for first downs, and Kodi Burns was actually used as a receiver on a nice motion in, reverse out catch for 8 tough yards. There were some bruising blocks downfield, too. Some of the best plays downfield weren't catches, but rather swat-downs by Terrell Zachary on deep balls he wasn't going to be able to catch. Todd chunked it deep for Zachary multiple times, and Zachary did a good job of protecting his QB on those. Tommy Trott had a BAD drop on one pass, but made up for it with a NICE over the shoulder catch on a Burns loft in the end zone.

Running Backs: B. There was some hit and miss on blitz pickup, but enough success to allow Todd to set up to go deep multiple times. There was some good screen offense early, from Mario Fannin and Eric Smith. Ben Tate does some awesome running in traffic. His 148 yards on the day gave him 1067 yards in nine games. He's on pace to finish the regular season with 1422 yards, which would be the third best rushing season in Auburn history, behind only Bo Jackson and Rudi Johnson. Ben's rapidly approaching some rarefied air, around these parts!

Quarterback: C+. Super improvement from the past couple of weeks, but there was some shaky play as well. First off, the Wildcat was pretty much totally useless, except for Kodi's beautiful heave for a TD. Neither Burns throw was proper form AT ALL, but the one we needed got there for six. Rushing out of the Wildcat was snuffed, as nine or ten Ole Miss defenders attacked the line when they recognized Burns in the shotgun. Todd made some big throws, but it was scary. There were two deep throws where Terrell Zachary really made him look good, and a coverage bust that allowed Darvin Adams free for a TD. Todd made an absolutely awful decision late, giving up a 20 yard sack-fumble when we were trying to run the clock down. Luckily, two negative plays, a hold and a sack forced Ole Miss to punt for a touchback. Is Todd's arm OK? At times, he overthrows, at times he bounces it. Against a scary front and linebacking corps, Todd did OK, except for the fumble.

Auburn came up with a great win today! I didn't hold out much hope after the LSU effort, but these Tigers don't quit! We needed to go downfield on offense, play hard against Dexter McCluster, and rattle Jevan Snead. Auburn accomplished all three things, and came up with a win a little bigger than I predicted back in July. No, Ole Miss fans, we didn't score 34 like I thought we would, but we'll take 33!

The win over Ole Miss makes Auburn bowl-eligible at 6-3, and gives the team a great lift going into Homecoming against Furman. If Auburn can continue the improving play in Athens, an 8 win season is still within reach, and if we win that one, we'll host Alabama with a rising swell of confidence! Black Friday might be the end of the Tide's unbeaten run, if we continue to play well and the breaks fall like they did today!

War Eagle, everybody! WAR EAGLE! Ain't it grand? Nothing like winning!

Auburn Takes a Beating in Baton Rouge.

Acid Reign — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:49:08 -0000

(LSU cruises past Auburn, 31-10.)

War Eagle, everybody. It's time now for the much belated Acid Reign report, on Auburn's 31-10 loss to LSU, in Death Valley. The game was a chance to take advantage of a struggling LSU offense, and get back into the SEC Western Division race. Instead, Auburn regressed for the third week in a row. All was not gloom and doom, in this one, though. Auburn fared decently on both lines of scrimmage. Where Auburn and LSU diverged was in the play of skill folks, on both sides of the ball. There is no quick fix for this Auburn football team, either. Auburn will lose a number of key players over the next two graduating classes, and will have to look for replacements among incoming freshmen to fill many of those spots. Such is the fate of an SEC school with only 74 scholarship players. We'll continue to cheer on our beleaguered Tigers, regardless.

When you take a 31-10 beating in the SEC, there is usually plenty of team-wide blame to go around. This week, the most glaring culprit would be the lack of offensive production. When Auburn rolled up 469 yards against the Monte Kiffin/Tennessee defense, I opined that one could get a lot done on offense, if the two outside receivers could occupy four defenders downfield. Auburn's wideouts have not occupied even two defenders downfield, in the past three weeks. Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU have felt free to blitz corners and cover with safeties, or to cover man to man, and blitz safeties. As a result, Auburn is now attempting to run the ball against more defenders than blockers on most plays. Production has plunged. The question becomes: whom to blame? Have the receivers stopped getting open? Has the quarterback lost the ability to throw to them? Or are the wrong plays being called? Gene Chizik and Co. aren't saying.

Through three quarters against the LSU defense, the tape showed the LSU defense often giving the Auburn outside receivers a LARGE cushion, sometimes as much as ten yards. We did not attempt a simple hitch, or wide receiver screen, THE WHOLE GAME. Maybe it was called, but we never saw it run. We ran lots of screens to backs, and suffered a HORRIBLE day blocking on the perimeter, but that's a different issue. Auburn didn't ATTEMPT a pass towards a wide receiver till a one-yard check-down dump off to Zachary, with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Auburn MIGHT have called a downfield pass play on the next drive, on 3^rd and 7. Against a 7 man rush, with 6 blockers, Chris Todd held the ball, fumbled, and LSU had it at the Auburn 16. What was called, we have no clue. The short pass was there, as both corners bailed backwards. You have to fast forward to the early second quarter for the next involvement of the wide receivers. On first down, Todd had ALL DAY to throw on a play fake, then tried to force one into to double coverage to Jay Wisner, on the short side, AFTER Wisner had run out of real estate. Interception. Todd's next two wide receiver attempts came on 3^rd and 17 (out of bounds towards Emory Blake), and 3^rd and 20 (again to Blake, basically thrown away.) Todd had another sack-fumble during this stretch.

In the third quarter, we didn't pass towards a wide receiver till third and goal at the 7. It was to Darvin Adams, of course, on an out run short of the goal line, into double coverage. Incomplete. Next drive, trailing 24-3, we faced a crucial 3^rd and 4. Corners bailed at the snap. Todd tried the out and up to Zachary, couldn't get by the defender. Out and UP?!? We haven't completed a hitch pass in three weeks, and we expected LSU to bite on an out and up? Before we get it back again, it's 31-3. Next possession, 2^nd and 17 we tried to pass. Seven man rush, Todd got sacked again. PLENTY of cushion on Zachary to the wide side, but we don't even ATTEMPT to zip it out there and get some of the yardage back. Next drive, Todd's last, we don't attempt to go downfield again till 3^rd and 8. A sack off the corner blitz, leaving Zachary and a TON of room over on the wide side with a safety 15 yards back. I have to wonder, at this point. Is it the play calls? Is it Todd not pulling the trigger? We've GOT to get the wideouts involved again, or we'll get blown out on Halloween, against Ole Miss. Cornerback is the weakest point of the Ole Miss defense, and we MUST exploit that! Whether it's Todd, or Caudle, we MUST gun that ball in there, and make plays on the perimeter! Of all of the things to be angry about in the 2009 Auburn/LSU game, the lack of passing to the wide receivers stands out the most, to me.

Auburn's defense was hardly stellar, in this game, either. Except for one play against LSU running backs, Auburn played well. Containing the Quarterback on the scramble was a different story. It's been a sore point all year, and Auburn's woes in that department are not even new to this year. What is alarming from this game is the 7.5 yards per pass given up. Neiko Thorpe and Walter McFadden got worked over, in this one. McFadden managed one great pass breakup in the 3^rd quarter, but he was beaten by Brandon LaFell, spun around, for a second quarter score. LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson was able to loft the ball up to covered receivers, confident that his man would come down with the ball. Auburn is running with receivers, but is not making the play when the ball gets there. That's something to work on. Tackling and pass rush continue to be problematic, but the defense enjoyed a healthy infusion of Eltoro Freeman and Antoine Carter. Those guys have missed most of the year, and appeared to be much fresher and aggressive than the rest of the defense. Next week, it's incumbent upon Ted Roof to utilize these guys to get into the Ole Miss backfield, and work on Jevan Snead. Secondary tackling remains poor. There was one LSU touchdown where Antonio Coleman and Zach Etheridge had Jefferson bracketed. Coleman left his feet, leaping at the pump fake, and Etheridge took a short angle. Jefferson sprinted into the end zone, on what should have been a sack. The icing 69 yard run in the third quarter was on Neiko Thorpe and Darren Bates. Neither guy was blocked. They got split up the back side on that run, and were left standing slack-jawed. The defensive mistakes in this game are correctable. The real enemy is fatigue. Most of these guys have played nearly every defensive snap of the season. Relief isn't in sight till mid-November, unfortunately.

Special teams continue to earn the "special" label, and not in a good way. We had another fumbled punt. We can't manage 40 yards per punt, anymore. Return blocking remains non-existent. Net kickoffs continue to get worse. We averaged only 26.0 net yards, in this game. LSU averaged starting at their own 44 yard line. We'd have done better kicking every kick out of bounds.

Unit Grades, after the jump.

Defensive Line: B. We had decent gap control, and a good spark on the pass rush from Antoine Carter. Auburn didn't get enough heat on first-down play action, but that's understandable facing a deadly backfield like LSU has. Where Auburn loses points is on the scheme: We continue to drop defensive ends into pass coverage, and it's pretty much been useless against SEC opponents. Asking an end, even a guy like Antonio Coleman, to cover Trindan Holiday or Keiland Williams, is ridiculous. We'd be better served rushing the passer.

Linebackers: B-. We continue to miss tackles, but with the addition of Eltoro Freeman to the mix, we were pretty solid against the run, for the first time all year. The linebackers forced LSU to throw it to move the ball consistently. Unfortunately, LSU did quite well through the air. Points off on repeated loss of contain on quarterback Jordan Jefferson.

Secondary: F. Take away one rip-out on a long pass by Walter McFadden, and this unit was pretty helpless in coverage. We couldn't chase down Jordan Jefferson on scrambles, couldn't contain Sheppard beyond the tackle box, and couldn't knock the ball away from LSU receivers. The secondary did make 23 tackles, but well over half were assists. Considering that LSU completed 22 passes, that stat isn't very good.

Punting: C. Clinton Durst killed 3 of his seven punts inside the LSU 20, and did manage one spectacular 58 yard rain-maker. ON the other hand, we were treated to a shank and a slice, at critical times during the ball game. LSU did not manage a single return. We'll grudgingly take a 39.7 yard net, against LSU.

Punt Returns: F. Poor decisions all around in this one, and again, no blocking. We let one easily returnable punt hit and roll, fair caught another with room, then fumbled one in traffic. The fumble was particularly ugly, because Phillip Pierre-Louis did not use proper form. He tried to short-arm the ball with a defender right there. Had he stepped up and caught it into his body, he'd likely have drawn an interference flag.

Kick Returns: C. We actually blocked a wee bit better, this week. Mario Fannin had one of his trademark "run into the first guy down, and fall" returns, but Ben Tate, Phillip Pierre-Louis, and Demond Washington all had decent distance returns, getting yards after contact.

Kickoffs: F. Again, I suppose I should be thankful that we didn't give one up for a score. Still, a 26.0 yard net HAS to be one of the worst figures of the year, in the NCAA! I am NOT a fan of our current sky-kick and prayer style!

Placekicking A+. Wes Byrum was perfect on two kicks. We're not giving him NEARLY enough opportunities. He's performing at an All-SEC level, but won't get noticed with only a couple of kicks a game.

Offensive Line: B+. Points off on an Andrew McCain false start. He's officially taken the false-start poster-boy status away from Lee Ziemba, in 2009. The play was a bad call, due to a defender being in the neutral zone, but still. You can't move before the snap! Period! Auburn's line actually held their own quite well against a good LSU front, in this game. LSU had to outnumber our blockers, to stop the running game, and didn't get much pressure on Todd unless they blitzed.

Receivers: D. This is an awfully harsh grade for a unit without even a single drop. A lot of it likely had to do with the scheme, but these guys never got involved. Tommy Trott made one good 15 yard catch, but otherwise seemed to whiff on every screen block he attempted. We ran one end around to Zachary, into the boundary, for a big loss. Nice plays at the end of the game by Blake and Lutzencirchen to get us a TD, but that's trash-time stuff. We've GOT to get more out of these guys, whether it's blocking on screens, or simply executing a 5-yard hitch route. We've got NOTHING going on the outside right now, and defenses know it.

Running Backs: B. There is only so much a back can do, outnumbered in traffic. Eric Smith continues to function well as a lead blocker, and as a screen receiver. Kudos to Tate, Fannin, and Smith for hanging onto the ball and not fumbling. Points off on a couple of pass protection gaffes. Hideous job on 3^rd and 1 on the first drive, on Tate and Smith. It was a wingback, under center formation, with a quick snap. Both guys were leaning to the right, telegraphing the play. And Smith fell down on his block. Tate was stacked up with no chance, on that one. We didn't pick up the corner blitz terribly well, in protection, either. Note to Gus: sit Onterrio McCalebb down, till his ankle heals. A slow, 160-pound back won't do, in the SEC.

Quarterback: D-. Again, I have to wonder if it's the scheme. Chris Todd doesn't seem willing to try anything towards a wide receiver, till it's third and long. Holding the ball on all-out blitzes is a big no-no. A senior should at LEAST toss it up, down the sideline, and give his receiver a chance. Heck, the way we're punting, we might be better off with an interception! Kodi Burns had the chance to make opponents respect his arm in the Wildcat, and missed a wide-open Fannin. Neil Caudle looked good, late. He's got an arm. Made some tough throws in traffic. Maybe not the wisest throws, but he was at least trying to get something done downfield. Caudle did make a wrong read on the read-option, when he was in there. Ended up being a blocker. Should Gus and Gene yank Todd? Debate will rage, all week. I'm not sold. It sure seemed to me that the play caller was afraid to test LSU's corners, this week. If we're going to keep Todd back there, we need to let him chuck it. He's not a runner. If we want to just take sacks, heck, let Ben Tate run the wildcat. If we want to take Chris Todd's starting job, we need to at least give him a chance to fail. As much as I hate to say it, we're calling plays scared, right now.

Auburn's divisional championship chances are officially gone, as of this week. I think the most important thing, from this point forward, is to develop our schemes, and our young players. I'm not in favor of burning redshirts at this point, but I think snaps for guys that are going to lose a year anyway, such as Neil Caudle, should be a priority. We've already burned a year on DeAngelo Benton, Emory Blake, and Travante Stallworth. Put 'em out there, and throw the ball to them. Run Jonathan Evans in at linebacker every other series. Let Eltoro Freeman run wild. Get T'Sharvan Bell, D'Antoine Hood, and Mike Slade some snaps. We may well lose to Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama. We're going to have to get some young guys ready, for the future. Most importantly, it's up to us supporters to NOT jump off the bandwagon, in these difficult times. None of our coaches deserve to be fired, at this time. They are doing the best they can, with a limited stock of players.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to Halloween hosting Ole Miss. I've watched a decade of Houston Nutt. I KNOW what he'll do. He's going to load the box, and GET AFTER the QB. We have a GREAT chance to open it up, and make some plays. We can use our newfound players Eltoro Freeman and Antoine Carter, and heat Jevan Snead up. I think Auburn has a great chance at pulling the upset, next week in Jordan Hare! War Eagle, everybody! Don't get down on your Tigers! Beat Ole Miss!

Auburn Fizzles against the Wildcats.

Acid Reign — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:18:21 -0000

It's time to cool off, and give this rebuilding team a chance. We knew it would be tough, this year.

War Eagle, everybody. It's time now for the Acid Reign report on Auburn's 21-14 loss at home to Kentucky. At the midpoint of this season, we now are beginning to get some answers about this team, and not many of those answers are pretty. The Tigers have serious flaws and are really struggling with the fundamentals of the game, such as blocking and tackling. Even the simple things like throwing and catching the ball, lining up correctly, and not moving before the snap are issues. There really won't be time to boot-camp these things, till we get to bowl practice. We have what we have. I call on all Auburn fans to stay behind this team, and cheer them on through the tough weeks ahead. The players will need your support!

It is a weekend where everything went wrong, for Auburn. This morning, even the Auburntigers.com website is messed up. It's very tricky to get past the clever opening advertisement pages for the basketball teams. Neat stuff, but someone forgot to put a "bypass" button on there! As expected, Auburn's defense was more physical this week, and actually contained a run-heavy Kentucky scheme for 3 quarters. Fatigue set in late, and Auburn was mauled in the 4^th period. Even with the improvements, Auburn is still making too many tackles in the secondary. Kentucky ran the ball 49 times, and completed just nine balls. Out of those 58 opportunities the Auburn secondary made 27 tackles, nearly half. Josh Bynes led the team with nine tackles, but didn't get much help from the other linebackers. Stevens had seven, Herring 3, and Evans 1. That's only 20 linebacker tackles, when the other team ran it 49 times. We continue to hurt, on defense.

Special teams play took a step back this week, too. Weather probably did play a part. It seemed like Auburn was kicking against the wind the whole game. Kentucky's average position after kickoffs was their own 40 yard line. We could just kick it out of bounds every time, equal that field position, and not risk a TD on the return. (Except that the smart opponents would make us kick it again.) Punting was weak, although we did have good coverage. At least the return game didn't have any turnovers. Otherwise, it was unproductive. Kentucky killed 4 punts inside the Auburn 20, and our kick return average is down to seven yards. As fast as teams are getting down the field, defenders like LSU has might well just be able to field the kickoff on the fly. We are slowing no one down on the other team's coverage units.

I've seen bad offenses at Auburn before. What's new this year, is how much it has declined since the first three games. I've never seen this much variation in a single season. Every offense is dependent on its quarterback, of course. Chris Todd has not made the throws, the past few weeks. He's not really throwing the weak balls as much as he did last year, but his accuracy has seriously waned. I wonder if the shoulder is still bothering him? As others such as Col. Angus have pointed out, Todd really seems locked in on Darvin Adams most of the time. When Todd did get the ball in the same zip code as the receivers, there were some drops. One way or another, we have to get better throwing the ball. For the first time this year, I think Gus Malzhan called a pretty poor offensive game plan. Probably the worst call was sending 160-pound Onterrio McCalebb, bad ankle and all, into the line on a short yardage play. Our reverse threat with McCalebb has diminished, too, and teams are now just following the guards to seek out the ball. Our best reverse threat now is Terrell Zachary, but we only tried that once. It picked up 15 yards. Ben Tate continues to run the ball well, but needs to have some help from other skill players. Our offensive line played pretty decently, till the avalanche of 4^th quarter penalties.

Grades, after the jump

Defensive Line: B-. It was a courageous performance by a banged up unit. I don't think we have a healthy defensive end. Against a good offensive line, Auburn got some disruption in the middle, and even some pressure on Kentucky's few passing attempts. Outside contain was spotty, but the worst damage was done in the middle. We often got out of our gaps up front. The quarterback keeper up the middle was a good play for Kentucky, all day.

Linebackers: D+. Josh Bynes basically held the front seven together by himself against Kentucky, but was hardly perfect. All of the linebackers are still taking bad angles on ball carriers frequently. Bynes' worst play was on the quarterback keeper that tied the game at 14. Josh Bynes came unblocked up the middle, but tried to dive at the QB's legs. All he had to do was run through Fiddler, and it would have been a big time sack/stop, and Kentucky would have had to try the field goal, rather than tying the game. Craig Stevens is pretty easily blockable. Lanxter and Matthews, Kentucky's wide receivers, both were able to shove Stevens completely out of bounds on a couple of sweeps. Adam Herring over-pursues, and continues to be burned by the cutback.

Secondary: C+. We continue to miss a lot of tackles, and this game, opted for a pretty soft cushion on the wide receivers. Luckily, Kentucky didn't try the hitch pass much. It was there, all day. We utilized a lot of cover one robber, bringing a safety down to help with the E and F gaps, and it helped hold Kentucky down for much of the game. We have to do that, because our linebackers can't get off blocks. In the 4^th quarter, though, Etheridge, Bates, and Slade were too exhausted from making tackles and chasing backs. We just could not track Kentucky runners down in the secondary, late.

Punting: D+. Maybe it was the wind, but we got no distance on most of our punts against Kentucky. There was one 54-yard monster from Clinton Durst that flipped the field, and set up our only touchdown. Take that one away, and Durst only managed 32 yards per punt. The vast majority of high school punters in our state can do better than that. If there's a silver lining, Randall Cobb only managed to return two of seven punts, and we held him to two yards. On the other hand, most receivers aren't set up to handle 30 yarders. Auburn even managed an illegal formation penalty, on one punt.

Punt Returns: B. Surprised? There wasn't much we could do, here. Kentucky punted six times. One was a touchback, 4 were inside the ten yard line. Phillip Pierre-Louis did exactly what he was supposed to do in those situations: get away. Points off on the blocking, on the one punt that was returnable. PPL did exactly the right thing again on that one, fair catching.

Kick Returns: D-. We pass because we didn't turn one over. With a game upcoming against Les Miles, I don't think that will continue. Kentucky used the sky kick on 3 balls, and we were limited to 7.0 yards per return. Phillip Pierre-Louis made his debut on this unit, and tried to run over the first man down, on both tries. Didn't work. Fannin was swarmed early, on his 11 yard return, as well. We can't get the usual block in the back flag on these things, because we can't block at all on returns, it seems.

Kickoffs: F. Without giving up a touchdown, we averaged a 29.3 yard net, on our three kickoffs. Any way you slice it, that's a total "fail." Auburn abandoned deep kicking, for the sky-ball to the 25. Kentucky STILL managed 15 yards per return with three different players.

Placekicking A+. Wes Byrum was two of two on extra points. We gave him no other opportunities.

Offensive Line: B+. Points off on the false starts in the 4^th quarter, but this unit played well enough to win, aside from that. I haven't really graded it to be sure, but I think nearly every play, each lineman successfully blocked the guy they were assigned to. We had only one negative carry, and no sacks, all night. Auburn threw the ball 25 times, and Kentucky only had two quarterback hurries. Auburn averaged 5.8 yards per rush. Whatever was wrong with the offense, it wasn't up front.

Receivers: C. There were some wrong routes run, some lackluster downfield blocking, and a few drops. We're starting to see the receiver corps we envisioned back in February, and that's not good! Tommy Trott was part of the 4^th quarter false start parade. Terrell Zachary continues to make plays after the catch. We just need to get him the ball more.

Running Backs: B. Ben Tate continues to pile up the yards, but he took a lot of carries to do it. Lead blocking fell off in this one, with neither Eric Smith nor Mario Fannin able to handle 260-pound linebacker Micah Johnson. Tate could shovel forward for 3 pretty well, but was not going to get loose for the big one, this game. Note to Gus Malzhan: defenses have figured out that 3^rd down wheel route to the fullback. Might want to swing it the other way, to the tailback, a bit.

Quarterback: D+. In this game, Chris Todd did not really give us a chance. If he did anything well, it was getting rid of the ball. He also executed a pair of pretty decent runs, and even threw a couple of blocks in the Wildcat. Todd reminded me of Daniel Cobb, throwing the ball. Cobb, as you'll recall, was another Auburn junior college transfer, who came in with shoulder problems. Both quarterbacks were streaky, looking brilliant at times, and at some points totally unable to connect with open receivers. Todd was great early in the year, but his accuracy is suffering badly, right now. His confidence HAS to be down a bit, too. Bonus points for some good play in the Wildcat, from Kodi Burns.

In a spread offense, the threat of throwing to any of those split-out guys HAS to be there. Right now for Auburn, defenses are starting to ignore anyone but Darvin Adams, on the outside. We can talk downhill running in press conferences, and impress the old guard, but we've got to throw it better, to have any chance of winning our remaining SEC games. Rather than calling for the hook on Chris Todd, I think we have to trust the coaches we hired. They'll make the right decisions. We have to believe that. It's still a top-shelf staff. They didn't suddenly get stupid, in the month of October.

At Auburn, we believe in work, hard work. And that's what this team will do, work hard in the coming weeks. Stay behind your Tigers, folks. Shame on the fair-weather fans who exited early, Saturday. This team deserved better.

Q&A With Red Cup Rebellion

kleph — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:01:02 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Positively Farveian. Not shown, greying three-day growth of stubble.

Browse more photos »

Late yesterday we were able to capture Juco All-American from fellow SB Nation blog covering all things Ole Miss, Red Cup Rebellion, and subject him to interrogation to learn what Houston Nutt has been doing in all those closed practices this week. Turns out these were predominated by debate on what to wear to the square after the game. Still, we withheld grain alcohol from him long enough to get a few answers about the game itself which we now present for your edification.

Roll 'Bama Roll: For whatever reason, Jevan Snead has not performed up to expectations this season. Can you find a legitimate reason for that, i.e. something which could be corrected moving forward, or is this simply a case where Snead just isn't as good of a player as he was hyped to be in the preseason?

Juco All American: Well, first of all, our pass protection has struggled. But even when it’s not bad and Jevan isn’t pressured, he plays like he is. Due to early season struggles on the offensive line, he just assumes there’s heavy pressure on every play. This has led to throws across his body, coming off of his back foot, even while there’s good protection.

But an even larger problem appears to be that Jevan stares down his receivers. We haven’t seen a quarterback who is capable of checking down effectively or picking up blitzes. He plays like he’s a first year starter.

Lastly, there’s Jevan’s "gunslinger" attitude. He models himself after Bretty Favre, and that’s probably a reason for the interceptions. Why we didn’t see as many interceptions last year with the same mentality is anyone’s guess. My guess is that Mike Wallace’s speed made up for a lot of Jevan’s miscues. You can force the ball when it’s a fade route to Wallace.

RBR: The Ole Miss offensive line looked fat, slow, and out of shape against South Carolina, turning in a pretty abysmal effort. Nine days later, however, they did a great job of shutting down a fairly potent Vanderbilt pass rush. Exactly what gives here? Which performance is really more indicative of the true quality of the offensive line?

JAA: Wow. Fat, slow and out of shape. You’re absolutely right. Our offensive line was huffing and puffing on the sidelines even though they were never playing in the game.

I think that the two new starters on the offensive line grew up a good bit in the week between South Carolina and Vanderbilt. I think they realized that it wasn’t going to be a cake walk, and their teammates probably helped them realize that.

Also, we gameplanned around our inefficiencies on the left side of the line by rolling Jevan right or giving LT Bradley Sowell some extra blocking help with a tight end, fullback or halfback. I’m not sure how effective a blocking halfback will be against your blitzing linebackers and defensive ends, but it worked against Vandy, and you have to get one win at a time.

RBR: Coming into the year, Ole Miss was generally thought to have one of the worst defensive backfields in the SEC. Despite this, the Ole Miss secondary has looked very good early. So, is the Ole Miss secondary truly a good unit, or have they just created a mirage by stopping a few largely ineffective passing attacks?

JAA: The secondary is easily the most improved unit on the team. Last season, Kodi Burns and Chris Smelley (who you might now know as a catcher for your baseball team) each threw for over 300 yards against us. Yeah. It was that bad.

This year, we have seen our secondary that appeared somewhat raw last season transform into a group with good technique and discipline. I really think most of this falls on the coaching staff. They worked with our worst unit and made it good. It’s certainly not great, but with our pass rush, it may not need to be.

I think the biggest shocker to me has been the out-of-the-blue emergence of senior CB Cassius Vaughn. Vaughn started for us last year, but there was a noticeable talent gap between he and Marshay Green (our other starter). This season, I would venture to say that Vaughn has passed Green in performance, at least when the ball is in the air. Several times this season, Rebel fans have seen Vaughn break up a huge pass that looked to be caught. We’re all excited to see if we have any answer for Julio Jones. I know he hasn’t produced this season, but I also know what he’s capable of doing. It’s scary.

RBR: Until he leaves for the NFL, I imagine every 'Bama fan will have nightmares about Greg Hardy. We all know that he's a terror off the edge, but he really hasn't been able to stay healthy the past couple of years, and it still doesn't seem like he is 100% right now. Exactly how healthy is Hardy now, and how have the injuries limited his effectiveness?

JAA: Hardy may not be 100%, but he looks close. Against Vanderbilt, he made the opposing right tackle look stupid play after play. Hardy only came away with one sack, but there were several times that Greg dictated what was going to happen on the play.

He’s a physical freak whose nickname is "The Beast." Hardy also appears to have an axe to grind with everyone who called his work ethic into question. This season, he writes the words "Doubt Me" in his eye black. Yeah. Even as fans on our own team, we’re terrified.

He’s probably the best defensive end to ever play at Ole Miss. Sure, I’m sure that 150 pound Whitey Mc1940 was good, but Hardy is just unreasonable. He’s built like a run stuffer, but he has the skills of a pass rusher. Look out.

RBR: We talked about on the RBR Radio Hour last night how this could be the biggest win at home for Ole Miss in ages, so I'll ask directly here: With Alabama, undefeated and #3 in the country, coming into Oxford, in a historical sense, exactly how big of a win would this be for Ole Miss? And, if this does come to pass, give us an idea of the type of hangover you will have afterward.

JAA: If we win this game, we’re honestly in the driver’s seat for the SEC West for the first time in ages. At this point, I feel like we’ll lose more than 2 games, but if we could beat Alabama, I think it’s because our offense will have emerged to what we hoped it would be before the season.

If that’s the case, we could seriously end the regular season at 11-1. While Auburn and LSU look slightly scarier than they did before the season, both pale in comparison to Alabama. While this is faulty logic, I just feel like if we beat Alabama, we would certainly beat Auburn and LSU. The other teams don’t scare me at all.

11-1 would likely put us somewhere in the top 7. An SEC Championship game versus Florida, who we somehow managed to beat last year, would be on the horizon. Remember, Ole Miss has never even been to Atlanta.

Anyway, the root of the question was the hangover part.

I’m going to be drinking a large amount of Maker’s whether we win or lose. If we lose, it’s to drown my sorrows. If we win, it’s in celebration that the countless hours I spend blogging about the Rebels aren’t for naught. Either way, the hangover’s a bitch.

Tigers Hold Off the Vols!

Acid Reign — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:35:46 -0000

Neiko Thorpe and Craig Stevens celebrate with the Auburn fans, after beating Tennessee, 26-22!

War Eagle, everybody! It's time once again, for the Acid Reign report, on Auburn's excellent 26-22 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers, in Knoxville! In football, the game's often about fortune, particularly the bounces of that prolate, elongated spheroid. Tennessee came up on the short end of luck, repeatedly. The newspaper folks in Birmingham believe that despite the final score, the game wasn't even close. I disagree. Auburn left two fumbles on the ground, but the ball bounced the right way, and Auburn kept it. Chris Todd had an interception overturned on replay, and had several more ducks chucked up into the night air in Knoxville that fluttered fortuitously to the turf. Meanwhile, the Vols suffered through numerous just-off-the-hands passes that were incomplete. When Jonathan Crompton lost the handle on a ball, there was Josh Bynes for Auburn, to set up a field goal. Don't get me wrong, though. Auburn came in with a great plan, fought hard, and deserved to win.

Offensively, Auburn faced a tough challenge. Tennessee's Monte Kiffin used some Tampa-2 looks, but also used a bewildering array of blended coverage, and opportune blitzes. UT did a good job of adjusting AFTER Chris Todd would check off. This resulted in Auburn running the play clock down MUCH more often than in past games. Finally, I think it got to the point that Auburn just started running the play that was sent in, no matter what. I was particularly worried about Auburn's chances of running the ball, in this one. Bart Eddins did an admirable job filling in for suspended starting guard Byron Issom. A somewhat simplified blocking package helped, and Tennesssee's vaunted D-line was slowed down sufficiently for Auburn to churn out 459 yards of offense. Tennessee was determined not to give up the big play, and with Eric Berry back in the secondary, Auburn was equally determined not to turn it over to him. The Tigers needed to play a turnover free game, and thanks to those lucky bounces, did exactly that.

Defensively, this game was a mixed bag. Auburn attacked the line of scrimmage well, causing trouble in the Vol backfield. Tennessee had plenty of big plays, including 5 runs of more than 10 yards. But, Tennessee could not string together a series of 4 to 5 yard runs that could move the chains. They had to rely on the arm of Jonathan Crompton, and with a sub-50% completion percentage, the Vols could not mount enough scoring drives. I suppose I have not scouted Crompton well enough, this season. He's gotten a ton of unfavorable press, but I don't think he played that badly, overall. His receivers didn't help him, at all. Crompton was not sacked, and did not throw an interception. While he wasn't terribly accurate on his short to medium throws, if it gets to a receiver's hands (or backside, or their helmet!), the receiver should catch it! Auburn's focus was to stop the run, and make Crompton be patient, and it worked. Barely. If Tennessee had caught the ball better, we might all be writing about a tough Tiger loss.

Special teams took a giant leap forward this week, with no major mistakes, and some actual excitement on the kick return unit! All is not well, of course. Tennessee ripped the kick coverage unit for 25 yards per return, and we had a couple of shaky-looking punts. I think, though, that we're really working on directing punts away from return men, and UT managed only one nine yard return, on 6 Auburn punts. Wes Byrum continues to be amazing, and his leg was the difference in the ball game. While UT's Lincoln was missing a chip shot field goal and getting an extra point blocked, Byrum was busy nailing 4 of 5 field goals. Byrum had his first miss of the year, but big deal. It was a 46 yarder. You're going to miss those, occasionally.

Grades, after the jump!

Defensive Line: C. I will admit that this unit did a pretty fair job in gap control most of the time, setting up the linebackers to make plays. Otherwise, it was an anemic performance, highlighted by a non-existent pass rush. The defensive line made a total of six tackles (2 for loss), and one quarterback hurry. That's NOT going to cut it in Fayetteville, next week!

Linebackers: B+. Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens had superb games, combining for 20 tackles. Eltoro Freeman, despite playing nearly every snap, was pretty much invisible. Had one quarterback hurry, no tackles. The other two guys controlled the line of scrimmage on most plays, hurried the QB twice, and even broke up 3 short passes. If we can continue to tackle at the point of attack, October might not be such a bad month for Auburn, after all!

Secondary: C+. There were WAY too many Tennessee receivers wide open underneath, and too many missed tackles that allowed short plays to become big gains. Auburn basically had Tennessee shut out, in the first half, till Zach Etheridge let the tight end get behind him. A safety can't do that, PARTICULARLY in prevent defense, near the end of a half! Neiko Thorpe and Walter McFadden were less effective than usual, in coverage, but both made up for it with good run support. Darren Bates had a nice game, with six solo tackles, as well. Several sure interceptions were dropped in this game.

Punting: B+. We punted six times, once off of a trick play pooch attempt by Chris Todd. The trick didn't really work, and the ball hit for a touchback. Clinton Durst's average looked good at 43.6 yards, but he's not hitting the ball as solidly as last season. We're getting lucky rolls on those things. Tennessee went after Auburn's protection scheme, and did not get there for any blocks! It wasn't very pretty, but you have to be pleased with a 40.6 yard net.

Punt Returns: C. Anthony Gulley got a chance to redeem himself this week, and let 'em both hit and roll, the second was downed at the Auburn 17. Exit Gulley, enter Phillip Pierre-Louis. PPL had two returns for only 9 yards, and added two fair catches, and let only one short punt hit the ground. This was the best return man performance of the year, by far! PPL made good decisions, and hung onto the ball in traffic. This is exactly what we need, going into the meat of the schedule! We now have a return guy, let's try to get at least a block or two, next week, in the return game.

Kick Returns: A. Auburn showed a spark, this time. UT's first kick was a squib, and Eric Smith turned the corner for 14, just before the half. The second half opened with a STRONG 35-yard tackle breaking effort by Ben Tate. McCalebb weaved through traffic for 39 yards on the next one. Then McCalebb rocketed 52 yards on the last one, and nearly broke it for the TD! We're starting to get actual blocking on these, and it's becoming a strength!

Kickoffs: D. Morgan Hull hit the ball pretty well early, kicking the first one 4 yards deep in the end zone, but weakened with each subsequent kick. The last two only reached the ten, and seven yard lines. A 65 yard average is respectable, and we had no out of bounds deals. Coverage was spotty, as usual, for the most part. Tennessee was getting an effortless 25+ yards, every time, till Jay Wisner stood up Oku for only 14, on the last kickoff. Tennessee averaged 25 yards per return.

Placekicking: A. Wes Byrum had his first miss, from 46 yards, but hit everything else. Byrum had 3 chip shot field goals, a 43-yarder, and hit both extra points.

Offensive Line: A. When you run for 224 yards, and put up 459 total on a Monte Kiffin defense, you're doing a tremendous job up front! We had just a couple of protection errors on stunts, and one false start. This was a super effort, and great job filling in by Bart Eddins!

Receivers: B. It was another solid effort blocking downfield, but our guys struggled to get open against some shifting coverage, and made a few wrong route adjustments. Tennessee doubled our outside guys on most plays, so there wasn't much opportunity, there. There were only six Auburn receiver corps catches, in the game, 2 by Adams, 2 by Zachary (including the game clinching TD on a quick hitch/blitz beater that T-Zach took to the house!), and one apiece for Trott and Wisner. Had one ball that hit Trott's hands, but it was an awkward throw. Kodi Burns dropped a sure first down pass right in his chest. Darvin Adams saved Todd with a tremendous catch on an air-ball thrown up for grabs.

Running Backs: B-. Ben Tate had a powerful game running the ball, but had a fumble in the red zone, his second of the year. Onterio McCalebb ran well, too, with some tough inside yards, but had a couple of notable gaffes in blitz pickup, and dropped a touchdown that might have made it a blow-out. McCalebb added 62 receiving yards, giving him 113 offensive yards. Mario Fannin made some nice blocks, and had a good field-stretching 32 yard run. Off the bubble screen, though, he usually could not make the first man miss. Had one 16 yard reception on the throwback pass, but the other 5 catches produced only six yards. Fannin also dropped a couple of balls.

Quarterback: A. Chris Todd didn't exactly light 'em up, in this one, and had a few throws that Tennessee might have picked off. But, Todd did a great job of managing the game, and kept Auburn out of numerous bad plays. Even with a half dozen dropped balls this time, Todd hit on 19 of 32, for a respectable 6.8 net yards per pass. Todd showed tremendous poise and reflexes under pressure, avoiding a number of sure sacks with miraculous dump-off passes. Todd's lone miscue was a mishandled snap in the red zone that Onterrio McCalebb covered. Kodi Burns continues to run the Wildcat for tough yards, and made a great throw to Fannin on the wide receiver reverse/throwback.

Auburn did exactly what they had to do, going into Knoxville. They disrupted Tennessee's bread 'n' butter running game, and continued to generate offense. The special teams stepped up, and played pretty close to a complete game, for the first time all year. It wasn't always pretty, and Tennessee came roaring back in the end, but the Tigers held on for a 26-22 win. They don't come often in Knoxville, as this is only Auburn's third win in Neyland Stadium in the past 30 years. With the win, Auburn is 5-0, and has equaled their wins from last season. The offense is only one point shy of its total points, in 12 games last year!

From Tennessee, I think most of us were looking for widespread buffoonery from Lane Kiffin and his players, but we didn't get much of it. Yes, there were drops, and receivers not looking for the ball. But for the most part, Tennessee looked like a well-prepared team, with a good plan, and great effort. It's way too early to write the Kiffin era off. If Tennessee can cut down on mistakes, they'll beat a lot of folks down the stretch, this year.

Next week, Auburn faces a big challenge on the road in Fayetteville. Arkansas has a great quarterback in Ryan Mallett, and their receivers will not drop balls like Tennessee's did. Auburn will have to play well, and continue the offensive onslaught, to have a chance to win. It's great to be an Auburn Tiger, folks, and thanks for reading!