Bowls

Ok, I am several blogs behind. Sorry, this isn't my real job. I'll get caught up with all the action this week, but here are my on the record picks for today's bowl games. They snuck up on me with the weekends falling when they do.

Temple over Wyoming
Utah St over Ohio
San Diego St over Louisiana-Lafayette

Check back this week for a full bowl rundown, Auburn coordinator talk, BCS Championship blabber and more.

Week 12: Occupy the BCS

Get yo'self some Turkey Day football update!

Today the blog will be in a slightly different format. We will begin by recapping the madness that was last week's epic collapse of top teams, and finish with an Auburn recap and Iron Bowl preview. Enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope this entertains you while millions are being bored by the parade.

Nation

• So you remember last week when I said that the schedule was boring and that you should do something else? Well, I seem to have forgotten that outside of the SEC, elite teams really aren't elite and sometimes lose to Iowa State. Or Baylor. Or USC. Anyway, Alabama fans had their greatest hopes realized, while the BCS may have had their worst. 
• Oklahoma State choked massively. I honestly can't fathom how a team with this much offensive talent and skill fell to Paul Rhoads's squad. I suppose 5 turnovers and 87 penalty yards will do that to you. What a huge letdown for the Big 12ish, who saw their National Championship hopes crash with the Cowboys and....
• The Sooners flop to Baylor. Robert Griffin III played like a Heisman candidate, and Landry Jones didn't. If Griffin doesn't get an invite to the Heisman ceremony in New York, then the ceremony should be ashamed. With the parody that exists this season, he may get left out, but it would be a travesty. When Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech several weeks ago, I predicted that it wouldn't be their only loss. I also predicted early that Baylor would upset someone big. I wouldn't have predicted this to be the week, however. Next week's Oklahoma-Ok State game lost a lot of its luster with these two losses.
• A week after knocking off #4 Stanford, Oregon flopped against USC, ending their chances at a rematch with LSU in the BCS Championship game. Matt Barkley looked like a Heisman candidate. LaMichael James did not. Kenjon Barner was the top back for the Ducks, but it wasn't enough, Alejandro Maldonado's kick at the end missed, and the Ducks missed their chance.
• Clemson absolutely flopped. The Tigers turned the ball over four times and lost to a pretty terrible NC State team. I don't think they would have jumped high enough even if they hadn't lost, but this only furthers the mantra that Clemson always chokes. Fortunately for Dabo Swinney, this is a relatively young team, especially on offense, so the Tigers will be back next season.
• Which brings us to the SEC. LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas are the top 3 in the current BCS.  LSU and Arkansas play tomorrow and the Iron Bowl is Saturday. If LSU wins, they will face Georgia in the SEC Championship. Many of the BCS experts believe that they could lose to Georgia and still make the championship. I am skeptical. If Arkansas knocks off LSU, madness will ensue. That will create a 3-way tie for the SEC lead. What happens here is that the BCS rankings determine which team goes to Atlanta. Unless of course the top 2 teams aren't separated by more than 5 spots (which they won't be). In that case, the head-to-head will determine who gets to face Georgia. To me, that seems to give Bama the edge should LSU fall. 
• Disappointing loss for Vanderbilt in overtime against Tennessee. The Dores still have a chance to get bowl eligible with a victory at Wake on Saturday, as can the Vols against Kentucky. 

Iron Bowl

• Auburn and Bama bowl struggled mightily with FCS teams in the first half last week, only to pull away in the second half. It seems to reason that both were probably looking ahead and probably spent the week game planning for one another, rather than for their opponents.
• Auburn will have to play by far its best game of the season and Bama its worst if Auburn is going to come away with the victory. 
• The Tigers have done decently with straight ahead running teams in the last couple years (Alabama, South Carolina), at least as compared with the overall lackluster defense. The Tigers will sell out to shutdown Trent Richardson, and make AJ McCarron beat them. Will that be enough? Probably not, but it's worth a shot.
• Both Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn insisted that they won't change anything and won't resort to trick plays. I'm not buying that. Auburn has been planning for this game all year. With the struggles this team has had, I expect them to pull out all the stops in hopes of pulling off an epic upset and saving a bit of the season and getting momentum going into next season. 
• Brandon Moseley is questionable after leaving last week's game with a knee injury. If I was putting money on it, I'd say he plays. Eric Mack played pretty well at guard in his stead, as Chad Slade shifted to tackle. Slade and Mack will both have to fight to have starting jobs next season, but even if they don't start, they will be very important backups. 

Happy Turkey eating everyone!

Week 11: Better Late Than Never

Sorry for the delay folks. Mono has been trying to keep me down for about three weeks now, so hence the delay. Anyway, let's get on to a review of last week's action.

Auburn

• Auburn made Saturday's matchup with Georgia uglier than I think anyone ever imagined. Auburn has struggled with the Bulldogs in recent years, but this was worse than anything we've seen during the Chizik era- even this season's LSU game. 
• Auburn got absolutely manhandled in every single aspect of the game. Auburn couldn't run the ball (and didn't really attempt to), couldn't pass/catch the ball (with the exception of Emory Blake), couldn't defend the pass, and couldn't defend the run. Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas both went over 125 yards on the ground, and Aaron Murray completed 18 passes for 224 yards (an absurd 12.4 yard average) and 4 touchdowns.
• I'm not going to dwell on the specifics. It was ugly, and I think all Auburn fans would agree that that is sufficient. Let's take a look at what the causes and solutions are.
• Auburn is getting demolished on the offensive line. I've mentioned before that this is an offensive line that is lacking in both talent and experience. Based on Gene Chizik and AJ Greene's comments this week, they may also be lacking leadership (they're not the only one's). I've mentioned before that this is a ridiculous hodgepodge of guys who really aren't SEC starters. Greene is a converted defensive end, Moseley a converted tight end (both in the last 2 1/2 years), John Sullen is average, Chad Slade might get there, but he's young and not talented enough to make up for his inexperience, and Reese Dismukes is a true freshman. Auburn really needs an infusion of talent on the line in order to turn things around next year. Currently redshirting Christian Westerman and Greg Robinson are extremely talented and will help next year, but incoming recruits will also have to help. Continuity is another big factor, which Auburn may get next year when they put 5 guys out there who they are fully comfortable with and who can grow and gel together. The rest of this year doesn't look so hot.
• The defensive line is young, and is getting handled by bigger, more physical offensive lines. This shouldn't really surprise us, but for some reason it continue to frustrate us. Auburn starters rotation on the defensive line is made up of exclusively freshmen and sophomores. The talent is there for this crew, but experience and strength are not yet on their side. The future is bright however.
• Bad news for T'Sharvan Bell, who went down with a knee injury Saturday. He will require surgery and will miss the rest of the season. The good news for Bell- this at least gives him a pass on the criticism I would have put on him this week. Phillip Lolley and the rest of his corners are not so lucky. The corners were absolutely embarrassed by Aaron Murray and his receivers. They were constantly out of position, beat deep, not looking back for the ball, and just downright bad. Lolley and others made excuses this week, but the reality remains- this unit has to get better. Again, this is a young unit (with the exception of Bell) that will get better with time and experience, but for now they just aren't getting the job done. 
• Eltoro Freeman is playing at an absolutely elite level. The problem is, he is the only player on the defensive side of the ball doing so. Everyone else looks overmatched, undersized, and unprepared. That's what happens when you lose over 30 players from one year to the next, I suppose.
• We saw on Saturday why Clint Moseley didn't get the starting nod from the beginning. When Moseley threw the pick 6 to Rambo, I mentioned to those I was watching the game with that we would now see  what he was really made of. The knock on Moseley has always been the extremes of his emotions- not being able to bounce back from a bad play. I didn't like what I saw. Moseley looked flustered and hesitant after the interception. He will need to build confidence in himself and in his teammates going forward if he hopes to contend for the starting position when next season rolls around. 
• Congrats to Steven Clark who was named one of nine semi-finalists for the Ray Guy Award, given each year to the nation's top punter. Clark responded by not allowing Georgia to advance a punt, and averaging 41 yards.

SEC

• South Carolina knew that it had to keep winning in order to keep its hopes of an SEC Championship berth alive. The Gamecocks did so against a struggling Florida team. Not exactly impressive fashion, but Connor Shaw got it done. Spurrier and company must now hope that Georgia slips up against Kentucky, which seems unlikely.
• Especially since the Wildcats got absolutely mauled by Vanderbilt. Watch out for the Dores. One more win makes them bowl eligible.
• And they still have Tennessee to go. The Vols are winless in SEC play after Arkansas became the latest opponent to tear up Derek Dooley's squad. Tough days in Knoxville, and a likely loss to Vandy won't make it any better.
• AJ McCarron struggled again as Bama picked up an uninspiring bounce-back win over Mississippi State. Alabama may be the 2nd best team in the country, but the offense will have to look much better against Auburn if the Tide hope for voters to give them a rematch in the BCS Championship. I'm sure Auburn's defense will be happy to oblige.
• Ole Miss lost by 20 to Louisiana Tech. For some reason, Houston Nutt is still at the helm until the end of the year. Not sure why a team playing so poorly would fire the head coach mid-season and keep him around til the end. It only causes more embarrassment. 

Nation

• Two nice Thursday wins in a row for Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech last week, and then last night over UNC. The Hokies are in position for a pretty nice rematch with Clemson for the ACC Championship.
• Nebraska gave Penn State its first Big 10 loss in its first post-Paterno game. The Nittany Lions still sit atop the division, on pace for a matchup with Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game.
• West Virginia knocked off Cincinnati, continuing to muddle the forever uninteresting Big East championship race.
• Oklahoma State looks quite impressive. I would be glad to see that offense matched up with LSU's defense in a National Championship game.
• Thank you for playing Boise. Hopefully this will finally end all of the nonsense that we see every year about the Broncos deserving a shot at the National Championship. They lose the only challenging game they play every season, so I'm not inclined to ever give them a shot against the nation's elite teams, who play a tough schedule week in and week out.
• As I predicted on multiple occasions, Stanford fell to Oregon. The Cardinal just never really looked the part of an elite contender to me. Oregon is placing themselves in a position to possibly set up a rematch of their own with LSU should a few things fall their way. 

That's all for this week. This weekend's schedule of games is utterly uninspiring, so find something else fun to do.

Week 10: "The Game of the Century?"

A few initial thoughts before we move to the "Game of the Century"

• Penn State ought to be absolutely ashamed of itself for the way that it handled the Jerry Sandusky situation. Coverups as they relate to recruiting or college athletes are one thing, but covering up or even not fully exploring an incident of sexual abuse involving a young boy (which has now become 9 young boys) is something totally different and unacceptable. There should be no one safe through this investigation who had knowledge of the accusations and didn't pursue them. 
• That includes winningest coach of all-time Joe Paterno. A career that probably should have ended a couple years ago in honor and esteem, will now do so shamefully and forever tarnished. This should definitely be JoePa's last season, and Penn State should start afresh from top to bottom next season, ridding itself of any personnel who took part in such a shallow-thinking and heinous coverup.

• Had I posted the blog Sunday when I initially intended to, I would have looked like a genius for the second time this season, predicting a coaches firing within days of it occurring (hours in the case of Mike Stoops). Unfortunately, it took me until Tuesday to post, and thus Houston Nutt was fired before I was able to post my prediction that it would come after this week's atrocious loss to Kentucky.
• I was looking over my Auburn position roster (which has seniors in bold), and realized that were it not for the last month of Eltoro Freeman's phenomenal play, and the last 3 years of frustration and jubilation that have been Neiko Thorpe's career, Auburn fans probably won't notice much change at all when next year's team hits the field. Sure, there will be other seniors gone, but with the young depth that Auburn has been putting on the field and developing this season and small number of seniors on this year's team, the transition should be seamless. This assumes that Auburn doesn't attempt to make Kiehl Frazier the starter, and understands that Auburn will still be likely integrating at least 3 new linemen in all likelihood (Christian Westerman, Greg Robinson, and JUCO commit Will Latu). 
• Missouri is officially a member of the SEC. If that excites any SEC fan outside of maybe Arkansas, I'd love to hear why. Columbia, Missouri isn't exactly a destination roadtrip, and I'm not really sure what Mizzou brings to the SEC, other than 2 big TV markets (Kansas City and St. Louis) and an obnoxious third Tiger.

LSU-Alabama

• To say that those of us who watched the so called "Game of the Century" were a little let down is probably fair. To say that we should have expected different is probably foolish. What we got was a fantastic defensive battle between two fantastic defensive teams, a game that regulation time couldn't decide, and two very conservative offenses. We got what we expected in the defensive department, and therefore to expect a whole lot out of the offenses would have been silly. What we didn't see, however, was any sort of creativity on offense, any risk taking, or any trick plays whatsoever. Granted, those plays are much more difficult against the top tier defenses that the Tide and Tigers possess, but they are at least worth a shot, particularly when you simply can't get close enough to kick a field goal, no matter how hard you try.
• By absolutely no means should the Alabama loss be put completely on the shoulders of Cade Foster or Jeremy Shelley. There is no way that he should have been put in the position to constantly be kicking 45-53 yard field goals and been expected to make them. His previous career long? 49 yards. His success when kicking field goals over 50 yards? 0/3. His kick record for this season? 1/3. This is not a man on who's shoulders the "Game of the Century" should have been placed 4 times. That is simply bad coaching. When you have a Heisman frontrunner, you put the ball in his hands and let him win the game. When it comes down to the 30 yard line and your calls are not good enough or gutsy enough to get you into the red zone, or at least into a reasonable field goal distance, that isn't on the kicker. I've seen plenty of terrible comments directed Foster's way, but this should all fall on Nick Saban. By attempting 5 long field goals (1 successful), and deciding to run out the clock at the end of regulation rather than trying to go for the win, Saban played the game as safely and conservatively as it can be played, and this time, it cost the Tide a shot at the National Championship. Don't blame that on the kicker.
• The Alabama fan's guide to still getting to the National Championship (in increasing order of importance):

1. Auburn beats Georgia this weekend (- to Boise for UGA losing, + to Bama for Auburn winning; Boise probably wouldn't jump Bama either way, but better safe than sorry)
2. Oregon beats Stanford this weekend (Bama would still have to beware of Oregon creeping back up; a Stanford victory would definitely have the Cardinal jump the Tide, at least temporarily)
3. Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State in the final week of the season.
4. Bama beats Mississippi State, GSU, and Auburn.

SEC

• Big win for Arkansas over South Carolina. Keep in mind, Arkansas still has LSU in the final week of the season, and this game has been unpredictable in past years. The Razorbacks could really throw a wrench in things across the country by knocking off the Tigers in Baton Rouge. I don't expect it to happen, I'm just stating the facts.
• I honestly thought before the game started that Vanderbilt might beat Florida. And they did....in the 2nd half. The Dores simply got too late a start, and couldn't pull off the upset in spite of a great comeback. Expect James Franklin's team to continue to improve and to be a force in the East next season (Franklin currently has Vandy with the nation's 24th best recruiting class).
• Removed post predicting Houston Nutt's firing.
• Georgia now fully controls its road to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Auburn will look to take away that control on Saturday, in Athens. 

Around the Nation

• Iowa beat Michigan. Is that impressive? Not particularly
• Nebraska didn't wait long before correcting me for every saying anything mildly positive about them. Disregard last week's favorable comments toward the Huskers after this weeks loss to Northwestern.
• Southern Miss is having quite the nice season. Unfortunately, they don't play Houston, so we may never know if either was really legit. I suppose the bowl games will tell. Hopefully both get matched up with non-Big East BCS conference teams.
• Big victory for Oklahoma State, at least in terms of confidence (or cockiness). The Cowpokes held off a great effort from Kansas State to slide into the #2 spot vacated by Alabama in the BCS. 

That's all for this week. No matter how much you like this blog, don't make out with it. I have mono.

Week 9- Lutzenkirchen!!!!

Auburn

• Philip Lutzenkirchen is phenomenal. That's all there is to it. Not only was he an absolute asset in both the run and pass blocking games, but he made perhaps the play of the year with his one-handed catch, transfer, and dive for the pylon. Clint Moseley seems to have a pretty good rapport with Lutz (who had 2 TD's on the day), so I would look for a slight role increase as the Tigers get into Amen Corner. 
• Clint Moseley's arm strength is a key that the Auburn offense didn't have during the first half of the season. Long passes to Quindarius Carr and Emory Blake showed what had been missing from Gus Malzahn's attack. The long pass opens up the run game, and vice versa, but when the passing threat isn't there, teams can stack the box and make Mike Dyer a non-factor. This is a big step forward for this offense. Great performance for Moseley, albeit against poor competition.
• Give Ted Roof and company credit for the second half adjustments in the run game. Ole Miss dominated on the ground during the first half, but Auburn made adjustments, put more men in the box and made Randall Mackey throw the ball. The result, Mackey proceeded to overthrow receivers by an average of 10 yards per attempt. Good decision Roof.
• At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Eltoro Freeman has taken his game to a new level. We all knew that The Bull had this in him, but we hadn't seen it with any consistency during his time on the Plains. This makes 3 weeks in a row where Freeman has played at an elite level and is a big reason why the Auburn defense is so improved. 
• Neiko Thorpe played one of the worst games I have ever seen from a senior with 4 years of playing experience. Thorpe single-handedly gave up a touchdown by whiffing on tackles on two Brandon Bolden runs, including a 38-yarder and the touchdown run. Thorpe tackled with his head down, not even looking at the ball carrier and payed the price. If he doesn't improve during practice, expect to see more and more Erique Florence as the season goes on. Florence is the future, and already does a lot of things better than Thorpe (like turn and play the ball in the air). 
• The offensive line looked at least somewhat improved this week. AJ Greene still missed to many assignments, but Auburn honestly doesn't have any other options at tackle other than pulling Greg Robinson's redshirt, which won't happen. Chad Slade looked better, and Brandon Moseley and John Sullen looked solid. Georgia will be a big test in two weeks, but the Tigers have two weeks to continue to gel, so I expect a solid performance.
• Yesterday was an excellent example of why Jay Wisner is on the field so frequently. While his physical attributes and raw skills are nothing to write home about, Wisner is the Kodi Burns type, doing the dirty work when it comes to blocking for teammates. He laid several big blocks to spring Mike Dyer and a couple receivers. Trooper Taylor has always said that the guys who get on the field are the ones who learn to block. Take note DeAngelo Benton.
• It was painfully evident how important Emory Blake is to this Auburn offense. After watching a team that couldn't do a thing during the passing game for the last three weeks, Blake came in and immediately made plays. Five catches for 71 yards doesn't really jump out at you, but the element that he brings to the vertical game is irreplaceable.
• This team is young, but the future is bright. At the end of the season, Auburn's only contributors who will leave due to graduation are Freeman, Brandon Moseley, Greene, Thorpe, and Carr. The entire defensive line and backfield will return, and injured freshmen Kris Frost, Sammie Coates, and Chris Landrum should help bolster a group that has already seen 4 true freshmen start this season. If currently redshirting Greg Robinson, Christian Westerman, and JUCO commit Will Latu can successfully integrate into the line, this team has a potential to be very good next season.

SEC

• Vanderbilt will be a team to be reckoned with as long as James Franklin is the coach. For the 2nd week in a row, the Dores took a Top 25 SEC team to the wire. If not for a red zone fumble that was returned for a touchdown or a missed field goal at the end of regulation, the Dores would have knocked off Arkansas. This team doesn't have the talent level of many other SEC teams, but Franklin has inspired a confidence and grit that will keep Vandy from being the SEC dore mat (you see what I did there? huh?).
• Mark Richt has saved his job. After Georgia's victory in the Grande Sized Drinking Festival in Jacksonville, the Dogs are in position to make an appearance in Atlanta. Granted, they will get destroyed by either Alabama or LSU, but it is definite progress for a Georgia team that had seemed to be trending downward for several years. 
• Georgia doesn't control their own destiny, but with South Carolina playing without Marcus Lattimore for the rest of the season, they might as well. The Cocks barely beat a bad Tennessee team, and Alshon Jeffery only touched the ball only three times. That is not a recipe for success, and I don't expect South Carolina to be able to beat both Arkansas and Florida. 
• Mississippi State beat Kentucky for their first SEC victory of the season. I doubt anyone cares other than Dan Mullen.
• In case you have missed the entire season, Alabama and LSU play next week in a game that has the potential to be one of the most epic in recent college football history. 

Nation

• We knew it was only a matter of time before Clemson blew it. It should come to no one's surprise that Georgia Tech was the team to wreck the dream. Tech runs an offense that you won't see anywhere outside of Navy, and is unpredictable week to week. Add in a Tajh Boyd off week, and you have a recipe for disaster. The Tigers should still be able to get to the ACC Championship and thus a BCS bowl, but this is a huge disappointment for Dabo Swinney's team and the ACC as a whole.
• Stanford almost joined the Tigers in Upsetville, needing a triple overtime touchdown to down USC. As you may recall, I have been a bit skeptical of this Cardinal team all season, and this shows why. The Cardinal don't face a very tough schedule, but a matchup with Oregon in a couple weeks looks like trouble to me.
• Goodbye Wisconsin, thank you for playing.
• Big East football makes me puke in my mouth a little.
• Want to know why Houston is undefeated and still only ranked #14? Because they play in a conference where you can put up 73 points on a conference opponent, have a quarterback throw for 9 touchdowns in a game, and have a receiver gain over 300 yards in a game. Add in non-conference games against UCLA, North Texas, Georgia State, and Louisiana Tech, and you see why folks are unimpressed with Case Keenum and the Cougars.
• Nebraska is quietly playing some pretty nice football. The Huskers knocked off Michigan State, and out-defensed the country's 7th best D. Penn State and Michigan still loom, but Nebraska looks to be in pretty good shape in their first year in the Big Ten.
• Kansas State, welcome to big-time football. The next month will be rough for the Wildcats. Oklahoma started what could be 4 straight losses as the Cats actually play competitive teams. Oklahoma State looms next week, and the Cowboys don't look ready to back down any time soon. 

That's all for this week. Try to stay on task this week as visions of Purple and Crimson sugar plums dance in your head. 
 

Week 8- Ouch

Auburn

• To say the game was ugly would be an colossal understatement. The Bayou version of the Tiger was so superior that Auburn looked like a MAC team. Honestly, we should have expected this. Fortunately for Auburn and unfortunately for our sanity, Auburn managed to win 2 games against teams who weren't as good as we thought they were, to give us the illusion that this team might be competitive. If we had our wits about us, however, we would have remembered that this team lost over 30 players from last year's team, is playing about 75% freshman and sophomores, has only 5 healthy senior contributors, has had terrible injury luck, and is about 10 players short of the roster limit. Let's be honest- with everything that LSU has going for them right now and everything Auburn doesn't, this game looked about as it should have. 
• The offensive line was terrible. Gene Chizik can attempt to deflect blame away from them or call it a team breakdown, but there's no denying it. Clint Moseley rarely had time to get throws away, and the run game was almost non-existent outside of a few McCalebb sweeps. 
• Considering the circumstances, Moseley actually performed quite well. He was under duress all game and still came away with some nice throws and decent composure, though there were still times when he held the ball too long. That blame doesn't lie completely on him, however, as the receivers weren't doing a sterling job of getting open. Being without Emory Blake certainly did not help.
• The special teams finally let Auburn down. Stephen Clark came back to earth in a big way, shanking a couple punts and failing to help Auburn win the field position battle. In the return game, Auburn lost its first fumble of the year (last team in the NCAA to do so) as Tre Mason got lambasted by Jarvis Landry. LSU's coverage units were flying down the field and laying the smack down. 
• The defense wasn't terrible. Looking at the score, you probably wouldn't believe this, but they were put in tough positions all game. Robensen Therezie and Chris Davis both got burned by Reuben Randle, and Auburn struggled to get stops late in the game, but it was still an improvement over the efforts during the beginning of the season. However,....
• Gus Malzahn is definitely making adjustments to help the defense, and the offense is suffering because of it. Auburn is working to milk the clock during the entire game, which simply isn't Malzahn's style. You'll recall the last couple of years that Auburn frequently scored on drives lasting less than 2 minutes and were prone to take a shot deep or run multiple trick plays on one drive. To put it plainly, Malzahn can't do what he wants because if he does the defense is on the field more and then unable to stop opponents. Chizik denied this during press conferences each of the last two weeks, but if you have watched the games, you know he is blowing smoke.
• There's always next week. Fortunately for Auburn, that means Ole Miss and a solid chance for a rebound and bowl eligibility.

SEC

• This video is crunk, but even it doesn't do justice to just how amazing November 7th's Alabama-LSU matchup should be. This is a matchup of undoubtedly the top 2 teams in college football, 2 phenomenal defenses, and two uber-passionate fan bases. I'm have no loyalties either way, and I'm still a bit giddy in anticipation. Bama's victory over Tennessee on Saturday was a slow start, but that is part of the allure of both teams. They are big, strong, and deep enough to wear down the opponents and then smash them into oblivion.
• Vanderbilt may have found a little offense in the form of Jordan Rodgers. The passing performance wasn't impressive by any means, but his arm strength and running ability open up the field for Zach Stacy to do his thing, which is what the 'Dores need in order to be successful. 
• Arkansas struggled out of the gates against Ole Miss, but you just knew that the Hogs weren't going to go away and that Ole Miss would blow it. That is exactly what happened, and the Razorbacks continue to roll. 

Nation

• Remember when I told you several weeks ago that I never believe in the legitimacy of Wisconsin? Saturday night is yet another in a long string of disappointing Wisconsin meltdowns under pressure. I still think this is the best Wisconsin team in recent memory, but this club has developed a pension for the letdown. That said, let's take nothing away from the great Hail Mary that won Sparty the game. Great ending.
• Should we have seen an Oklahoma loss coming? Probably. Did I? Not this week. You get the feeling that the Sooners may have gotten caught looking ahead to games against Kansas State and Texas A&M in the coming weeks. As the season has gone on, wins against Texas, Florida State, and Missouri have looked less impressive, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sooners take at least one more under the chin before the season is over, especially with as well as Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and A&M are playing.
• The Big East, whoof. Syracuse took down West Virginia, Louisville took down Rutgers, and I continue to wonder why the Big East has a BCS bid and why these other conferences are so eager to merge with their mediocrity.
• Stanford, Clemson, and Boise continued to roll, as they should have. The Cardinal gets a bit of a challenge with USC next week, but Oregon is probably their best bet to fall. Speaking of the Ducks..
• Watch out for Oregon as a sleeper to return to the National Championship game. Chip Kelly's squad currently ranks 7th in the BCS, so they would need some help, but its not unfathomable. Boise State will get jumped by any teams playing legitimate competition, and Oklahoma State and Clemson still have work to do. Beat Stanford, and the road to New Orleans for the Ducks doesn't look so tough. LSU-Oregon rematch? Bama-LSU rematch? The BCS may have a different type of controversy on its hand this season.

That's all folks. This week's schedule brings us Florida-Georgia, Nebraska-Michigan State, Oklahoma-KState, and Baylor-Oklahoma State (upset alert? Old allegiances die hard). Should be a pretty good week of games, with marquee games spread out throughout the day. Enjoy!

Week 7

Auburn

• Remember that thing I said last week about Clint Moseley not being a better option? I might have to stand corrected there. We'll see. I'm not ready to tout Moseley as a huge improvement after 7 passes, but I sure was tired of watching the quarterback get sacked or throw a ball that an AU receiver had no chance of catching. Therefore, I will definitely support the change that Chizik and Malzahn made today in naming Moseley the LSU starter, relegating Trotter to holding up signs of George Bush and Chris Todd. I honestly think that the coaches believed that Trotter had much more going for him when they named him the starter, and maybe he did. As struggles mounted, Trotter seemed to lose confidence, and things unraveled quickly after that. I wouldn't expect to see Barrett back starting. In my opinion, its either Moseley or Frazier the rest of the way out.
• Chris Davis is a vital part of Auburn's success. Davis has developed into possibly Auburn's best cover corner and really helps seal off one side of the field. T'Sharvan Bell had probably his best game of the year on Saturday, and will need to replicate it if Auburn has any hope of shutting down Reuben Randle this week.
• Don't look now, but the defensive end position that seemed to have the most depth on the team at season's start is now almost empty. Dee Ford, Justin Delaine, and LaDarius Owens are all out for most or all of the season. Behind Corey Lemonier and Nosa Eguae, the Tigers are left with only Craig Sanders and Joel Bonomolo (who coaches seem to lack confidence in). Devaunte Sigler will shift over as needed to pick up some of the slack.
• Tough news for senior offensive lineman Jared Cooper, who will miss the rest of the season after surgery. Cooper waited a long time to get his shot, and was playing quite well as the pulling guard. Tough break for Jared and the Tigers.
• Steven Clark kicks the ball very high. We know this because neither of Florida's punt returners seemed to be able to track the ball from sky to bread basket. Clark created big turnovers for the Tigers (with a little help from Onterio McCalebb) and again received SEC Special Teamer of the Week honors for his efforts. Meanwhile, Cody Parkey had his struggles, but put one through when it mattered. 
• This defensive line will be flat out terrifying in two years. Auburn's four sophomores- Corey Lemonier, Nosa Eguae, Jeff Whitaker, and Kenneth Carter- are improving steadily, and Lemonier has taken his game to a completely new level. If Mike Pelton can continue to develop these guys, an LSU-type scary line isn't out of the question.
• Not to beat a decaying horse, but wow has this offense been ugly of late. 278 yards? Yuck. 7 complete passes? Hopefully Moseley can light a little spark. 
• Will Muschamp is funny. I know he's coaching on the other sideline now, but I just love watching that man pitch a fit.

SEC

• Georgia looked rather pathetic in the 2nd half against Vanderbilt and still had far and away the best week of any SEC East team. Marcus Lattimore's injury means that South Carolina is destined for a loss or 3 down the stretch, putting Georgia firmly in the driver's seat headed to Atlanta. Tennessee and Florida looked abysmal, while Kentucky looked the best they have all season. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they can't have a bye every week, so that illusion will wear off.
• LSU and Alabama continue to prove that they are not only the best two teams in the SEC by a long shot, but also likely the best two in the country by a pretty decent margin.
• Trent Richardson is heating up, and there's nothing Andrew Luck can do to stop him.

Around the Nation

• Flashback from last week: "Unbeaten teams who still have yet to win any impressive games: Michigan, Kansas State, Houston, Georgia Tech, and Illinois. Houston may run the table without beating a decent team." That didn't take long. Nice victory for Kansas State over Texas Tech. I'll start giving them credit in two weeks when we see what they can do against Oklahoma. My thoughts on Houston remain unchanged. 
• And to further brag, another flashback, "Don't expect Mike Stoops to make it through the season as the Arizona head coach. A loss to previously winless Oregon State certainly didn't help." Fast forward less than 4 hours from the posting of the blog, and Mike Stoops is no longer the coach of the Wildcats.
• Texas A&M trounced Baylor. I'm quite disappointed in the Bears. As many of you recall, I've had a Robert Griffin III man crush for quite some time, and he and Baylor have yet to fulfill my fetish.
• Oklahoma and Wisconsin continue to roll in impressive fashion. Clemson's winning ways continued as well, though the Tigers had a much tougher go of it. Maryland gave them all they could handle, but this Clemson team has something that feels a little special. Or maybe that's just Sammy Watkins. Kid can straight up run play ball in space. 
• Louisiana-Lafayette is already bowl eligible, with their only loss coming to Oklahoma State. I don't know what you do with that, but I figured it was worth noting.
• Very impressive win for Oregon on Saturday who, without the services of LaMichael James and a half of Darron Thomas, handled a pretty good Arizona State team. Thomas and James should return to the next game of significance for Oregon. Fortunately for the Ducks, that game doesn't come for at least three weeks, when they head to play the Huskies of Washington.

That's all for this week. What once looked like a pretty intriguing schedule of games turned out to be quite a few blowouts, and upsets of teams that I predicted weren't very good. Next week doesn't look too much better. Outside of Auburn-LSU, there's no reason to turn on your TV until 7:15 Eastern. The daytime schedule offers nothing of interest, but the night should tell us how good Stanford and Wisconsin are, as they take on Washington and Michigan State respectively. Enjoy folks.

Week 6: The One Where Reality Hurts

Auburn

• Well, that was more like what I expected when October started. Wow was it ugly. 
• Don't blame the defense. For the third week in a row, the defense put on a very solid effort. Even without Stephen Garcia, the Tigers still played strong. Tyler Wilson had one phenomenal quarter (2nd, 13-13 passing), but Auburn did as well as can be anticipated against such a good offense for the rest of the game.
• Eltoro Freeman played out of his mind! Best game that The Bull has played so far in his Auburn career. Linebacker play has been a weakness this season, but with RaRa White, Freeman, and Jonathan Evans coming on, things might be looking up. Daren Bates still isn't tackling well, and Jake Holland still needs to get better, but it's progress.
• Tough to win when you have 11 penalties for 105 yards and three turnovers.
• Saturday was DeAngelo Benton's shot to prove that he belongs on the field. With Emory Blake and Trovon Reed out with injuries, Benton proved just the opposite. In addition to a special teams gaff that should have cost Auburn another turnover, Benton dropped a critical third down pass and had another pass go through his hands, turning into an interception credited to Barrett Trotter. Trotter wasn't good, but that one was on Benton.
• On the quarterback debate: 1)We now know why Auburn went after Russell Wilson this offseason. In addition to Wilson being phenomenal for Wisconsin, Auburn was rightfully concerned about its options. 2) Swapping to Clint Moseley at this point will not do Auburn any good. Trotter beat out Moseley for a reason. 3) Kiehl Frazier is the future, but it was evident Saturday why he isn't the present. Frazier needs to be slowly eased into the quarterback position, and unfortunately for the Tigers, that means the interceptions and growing pains that we saw this weekend.
• Auburn really missed guard Jared Cooper after he left with an injury in the first half. Cooper has been one of the more consistent linemen, and an asset in the pulling guard plays that Mike Dyer has broken big in several games. With Cooper out, the line's consistency was again fractured, a theme throughout the season. 
• For all the pub and hype T'Sharvan Bell has gotten as being Auburn's defensive leader, both in terms of skill and emotion, he has gotten burned a good bit this season. Auburn will be really good in the secondary next season, but the growing pains are a bit difficult to watch at times.
• Stephen Clark shanked his first punt of the season against the Hogs and still managed to average 40 yards per punt. That's pretty amazing. 

SEC

• This says about all you need to know about LSU right now. Impressive performance for the Tigers.
•  South Carolina finally realized that they can't win games with Stephen Garcia at quarterback. The result? Connor Shaw throws 4 touchdowns and the Cocks win 54-3.
• If you thought the Auburn quarterback situation was bad, be glad you aren't a Kentucky fan. Kentucky passers combined to go 4/26 with 4 interceptions. Ouch. Oh, and the Wildcats failed to eclipse 100 total yards for the game.
• Georgia stayed hot (although every time I turned to glance at their game on TV they were getting a penalty). The Bulldogs won their 4th straight, knocking off Tennessee 20-12. A victory against Florida in two weeks could solidify Mark Richt's job for another year.
• Bama continues to maul opponents, and Mississippi State might as well have gotten a week off. Surely UAB can't retain Neil Calloway for another year with Conference USA so wide open for any team to rise to prominence.

Around the Nation

• Texas, meet reality. We all knew you weren't an elite team, and Oklahoma didn't deliver the message kindly. 55-17? Wow Mack Brown. 
• Clemson OC Chad Morris says he expects Tajh Boyd to play this week, after injuring his hip on Saturday. Call me skeptical. If nothing else, Boyd's mobility will be limited. Other than that, Clemson continues to roll.
• Florida State continues to implode. I expected good things. I suppose Wake Forest (4-1, 3-0 ACC) could actually be good. We'll see. For now, though, the Seminoles are a disappointment.
• Don't expect Mike Stoops to make it through the season as the Arizona head coach. A loss to previously winless Oregon State certainly didn't help.
• Arizona State has been pretty impressive so far this season. The Sun Devils took care of Utah pretty handily on Saturday. A matchup with Oregon in Eugene this weekend will give us a better idea of what Dennis Erickson's crew is made of.
• Unbeaten teams who still have yet to win any impressive games: Michigan, Kansas State, Houston, Georgia Tech, and Illinois. Houston may run the table without beating a decent team.

Comment if you please.

Week 5

Auburn

• Well, that wasn't pretty, but it also wasn't a game I expected the Tigers to win, so I'll take a Top 25, SEC road win any day. 
• Stephen Garcia is by far my favorite Auburn player. Man just knows how to get the Auburn defense going and make big plays.
• In all seriousness, the defense really did look much better, but don't get carried away. There was really only one task for the game- stop Marcus Lattimore. If you can do that, the Gamecocks don't have much to fall back on, because Garcia is not a playmaker, and Alshon Jeffery can't make plays until the ball is in his general vicinity. Give credit to the formerly much-maligned Ted Roof for seeing and attacking this weakness. Roof schemed to stop the SEC's leading rusher, and put pressure on the nation's worst 4 year starter. Perfect game plan, pretty solid execution. The tackling looked much better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
• Speaking of room for improvement, that offense. Woof! Barrett Trotter had far and away his poorest performance yet, the offensive line didn't help, and if not for those rock-solid, stumpy legs of Mike Dyer and the undying will to win of the man they call Lutz, the great defensive effort would have been for naught. 
• Dyer didn't have his best game (for some reason the off-tackle, pulling guard run that has produced most of his TD's was not to be found), but he helped Auburn dominate the time of possession for the first time this season and beat Marcus Lattimore at his own game. Those little legs just don't stop going, and that was huge for Auburn this week. Interesting that we saw that much Dyer and almost no Tre Mason. Shows how big the confidence gap of the coaches is. 
• Lutz's strip to cause the fumble after the interception may be the biggest play thus far in the season for Auburn. No, I haven't already forgotten the Utah State onside kick or late game heroics against Mississippi State, but this game was a huge for the Tigers as far as confidence goes, especially starting a streak of four games against top 25 opponents. Huge, heady, gritty play from Lutz at a critical point in the game. I know Dyer was great, but Lutz gets the player of the game for that play along with the go ahead touchdown.
• The discussion of the 1 second at the end of the game is absolutely moot. There is no way that South Carolina could have gotten the kicking team on the field, snapped the ball, and still had any shot of making the field goal, all in one second. Don't even get me started on trying to spike it first.
• Give huge props to the special teams again. The SEC did. Steven Clark was SEC Special Teamer of the Week after pinning the Cocks inside their fifteen yard line 5 times, with great hang time and perfect placement. With the exception of the missed PAT, Cody Parkey was again very solid, putting kickoff after kickoff in the endzone. Remember a couple years ago when people were calling for Jay Boulware's head. How quickly things change.

 SEC

• Wow, Alabama. I expected the Tide to take care of Florida, and I didn't expect it to be very close, but wow. Bama looked phenomenal in all aspects of the game. AJ McCarron wasn't great, but he didn't need to be, and he will never need to be. With Trent Richardson and possibly the best defense in the country, this team looks to be bound for New Orleans....
• Unless LSU has something to say about it. The Bayou Bengals had another impressive performance against Kentucky, but then again, who hasn't? A November 5th matchup in Tuscaloosa could very well determine the National Champion.
• Florida may be in trouble. If John Brantley misses significant time, the Gators could potentially lose three in a row. With LSU, Auburn, and Georgia in the next three weeks, things look a bit bleak for Will Muschamp and Co. 
• Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs season took a dramatic turn for the optimistic this weekend. Murray and the gang took care of Mississippi State and then watched both South Carolina and Florida fall, placing Georgia firmly in the driver's seat in the SEC East. As I said last week, Mark Richt may yet save his job.
• The Arkansas offense is quite good. The defense is not. Petrino's Hogs welcomed Texas A&M to the conference rudely with an impressive comeback win. Tyler Wilson passed for many football fields and Jarius Wright was 8 yards short of South Carolina's entire offensive output, and he only gets to touch the ball when Wilson says so.
• Tennessee and Ole Miss won games against Buffalo and Fresno State, as they should have. I suppose nothing is certain with Houston Nutt and the Bears errr Rebels these days.

Other, worse conferences

• Ok Wisconsin, I'm slowly coming around. Saturday's destruction of their new conference mate  Huskers was enough to get my attention. As I said last week, this is the best Badger team in recent memory, and they may actually deserve the praise they are getting this year. Looking at the schedule, Russell Wilson and Montee Ball shouldn't have too much trouble running through the rest of the Big 10(?) schedule, though others may have to fall for the Badgers to end up in the National Championship game.
• How bout a pretty great 3 weeks for the Fighting Dabos? Clemson knocked off a ranked opponent in impressive fashion for the third week in a row. This week, Virginia Tech was the victim. Not much more to say here. If the Tigers don't win the ACC, I'm not sure anyone will be surprised based on their track record. To say they are the conferences best team, however, would be an understatement.
• Remember what I said last week about not getting sold too quickly on South Florida? I am a genius. The bulls trounced by a mediocre Pitt team.
• Baylor fell to Kansas State, something I definitely didn't expect. Robert Griffin's interception late may have cost the Bears the game. Don't expect it to happen again. I swear, this time, Baylor really is good. I don't care if I said that every year since Griffin was a freshman. This time I really mean it.
• Big Red River Shootout coming up this weekend. I'm still not buying in on Texas, but I would like to see them at least give the Sooners a challenge.
• Conference USA football is not high quality.

Week 4

Hey there sports fans! Week 4 was a great one for football! Let's take a look, shall we.

Auburn

• Last week's loss to Clemson doesn't look so bad as Dabo and company knocked off Florida State in impressive fashion (excluding Tajh Boyd's ugly INT).
• That being said, this week's win is absolutely nothing to get excited about. I wouldn't have put much stock into a blowout win, but the struggles we saw this week were real.
• Florida Atlantic does not yet have 500 yards on offense for the season. Auburn gave them over 300. Do the math- that's not a good percentage.
• The offense couldn't do anything well, except kick field goals. (Aside- Cody Parkey has been phenomenal to go along with Steven Clark's solid punting work). Barrett Trotter looks as though he is getting worse as the season goes on, and the offensive line isn't helping him out. Gus Malzahn has got to find a way to get the ball in his playmakers hands (read Dyer, McCalebb, Reed,  Blake, Stallworth) in space. In order to do so, the offensive line and perimeter blocking are going to have to improve. The run game opens up the passing game, but when you can't seal running lanes or hold back a pass rush, there's trouble a-brewin.
• Corey Lemonier was much improved this week, but the defensive line still isn't getting much push in the pass rush. Ted Roof is going to have to get creative to get some pressure on the quarterback.
• Tackling is still an issue, and it has little to nothing to do with the youth.
• If Auburn wins one game out of the next four, I will be thrilled. This stretch is brutal, featuring four top 20 teams. If the Tigers lose 2 or 3 pretty handily, don't be surprised to see much more Kiehl Frazier and much less Barrett Trotter. Same might go for the young offensive linemen (Westerman, Robinson, Slade).

SEC

• Houston Nutt's seat is hotter than Lucifer's bedroom. If he has a job in the SEC next year, I will be mind blown.
• Mark Richt has a chance to save his job with the Bulldogs' upcoming stretch. Wins over Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vandy, and Florida in the next month would likely buy him at least one more year. 
• LSU is legit. When Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepherd were suspended, I didn't dream the Bayou Tigers would be anywhere near this good. After a blowout win against West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday, I'm a believer. The offense still doesn't really scare me, but it is sufficient to complement the phenomenal Tiger defense.
• Alabama's defense is amazing. I still have no idea what the story is with their offense, but like LSU, it might not matter. The Tide dismantled Arkansas with touchdowns on a fake field goal, punt return, and interception, and Trent Richardson did his normal thing. The Tide take on Florida this week in the Swamp before a fairly easy stretch leading into LSU.
• It was nice while it lasted for Vandy. South Carolina ended the dream with a 21-3 stifling of the Dores. Vandy had more penalty yards (79) than offensive yards (77). Stephen Garcia threw his usual 4 picks and South Carolina still won. That won't happen when they play legit teams. Luckily for Spurrier and the Cocks, Bama and LSU are both absent from the schedule this season, so Arkansas and Florida are as close at they'll get.
• Really Mississippi State? OT to beat La Tech? Maybe the talk of getting over the proverbial hump was a bit premature.

National

• As mentioned above, another impressive victory for Clemson. Dabo's got the boys doing things, and an ACC Championship berth may be in the Tigers' future.
• Georgia Tech might have something to say about that.
• Temple is doing some things. Maryland is not. Forcing Ralph Friedgen out is looking like a bit of a mistake.
• Boston College finally won a game. Unfortunately for the Eagles, it was against UMass and may be one of the few they get all season.
• Robert Griffin III is playing out of his mind. His Baylor Bears tore up Rice, and Griffin currently has more touchdown passes than incompletions on the season.
• After a phenomenal comeback against Texas A&M, Oklahoma State is poised to make their matchup against the Sooners in December one that could have huge national implications. The Cowboys have all the pieces necessary to make a pretty clean run through the Big __.
• Wisconsin looks legit, but many of you have thought that every year for the last 6 or so. Each year, I have cautioned you. This season, I will refrain from bashing, as I believe this is the best Badger team in a long time. A title contender, however, they are not.
• South Florida is undefeated again, but whenever I get my hopes up for the bulls, they always seem to blow it. I'll reserve judgment until after the Pitt, UConn, and Cincinnati games in the next 3 weeks.

Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.

Week 3

My apologies for the delay this week folks. Its been quite the doozy. We'll get right to the info. Not a super-interesting week, but we'll see what we can glean.

Auburn

• Wow, that was ugly. Probably the second worst performance of the Chizik era behind the ugly blowout in LSU's version of Death Valley a couple years ago.
• The defense was atrocious, and no one is making excuses. Everyone knows it was terrible, and therefore it will be a focus of practice this week. Tackling is a nice way to start. Auburn continues to get little to no push from the defensive line, very poor play from the linebackers, and poor scheming in the secondary. I'm not going to harp on this, because if you watched the game or knew anyone who did, you have likely heard tale of the absolutely revolting performance. 
• The Tigers will get better, but it may take a while. Auburn will have to get back to basics and essentially start from scratch. 
• On the offensive side of the ball, the Tigers struggled to find consistency. Barrett Trotter had probably his worst game thus far, but it wasn't all his fault. Dropped passes, poor protection, and missed assignments plagued the Tigers. The only bright side...
• Mike Dyer was phenomenal. He hit holes, showed great speed, and reminded us all of the phenomenal ability he has to keep his legs churning after initial contact. Expect his role to be greatly expanded in the coming weeks.
• I can't say enough about the improvement punter Steven Clark has made. Clark was great again, pinning Clemson inside the 20 consistently and giving Auburn a frequent chance to swing the field position battle. Most importantly for Clark, he has yet to shank one. 
• Clemson is much better than I anticipated. Tajh Boyd was great and the defense was sufficient.
• Sammy Watkins and Dwayne Allen are phenomenal playmakers. Allen may be the most dynamic tight end in the country, and Watkins is only a freshman. Dabo Swinney has done a great job recruiting since taking over at Clemson, and it is starting to pay serious dividends for the Tigers. They will only get better in the coming weeks and even the coming years.
• I really loved Urban Meyer in the booth. He brought a ton to the table, and half the time he called the offensive play before the snap. Auburn could have used him on the sideline.

SEC

• LSU's defense is probably the nation's best, and it might not be close. The Bayou Tiger D was stout against Chris Relf and company on Thursday night, and continue to carry the team as they search for an offensive identity. If they find it, this may be the best team in the country. I'm not ready to go there yet, however.
• How 'bout James Franklin and the 'Dores! Vandy dominated Ole Miss to improve to 3-0. We'll see how legit they are when they take on South Carolina this week in a battle of SEC unbeatens.
• Will Muschamp has done a pretty decent coach. What a turnaround for the Gators from last year's disappointing squad. Jeff Brantley looks much more comfortable, Chris Rainey is touching the ball as much as possible, and the defense is improving. 
• Tennessee would be a really good team with a running game. Without it, they won't be a serious contender, no matter how good Tyler Bray and Da'Rick Rodgers are. Losing Justin Hunter for the season definitely doesn't help.
• Kentucky is terrible.
• South Carolina continues to manage to squeak by with narrow, unimpressive victories. I'm not near as sold on the Gamecocks as many in the national media seem to be. If they win the East this year, I will be quite surprised, and I imagine it would be quickly followed by another dismantling in the SEC Championship game.
• We might finally find out how good Arkansas and Alabama are when the face each other this week. Thus far, we really have no idea.
• Georgia won by many, many points in a game that means absolutely nothing.

Nation

• Oklahoma definitely solidified its spot atop the rankings by knocking off what I consider to be a very good Florida State team. Jimbo Fisher has the Noles getting close to a return to glory after several rough years in Tallahassee. If Oklahoma can handle Oke State and a sneaky good Baylor team, the Sooners should have a pretty good chance to be in the National Championship game. 
• Paul Rhoads has Iowa State doing nice things. They'll get a couple tough tests against Texas and Baylor in the coming weeks. 
• I probably spoke too soon on Central Florida. Expect them to bounce back from a disappointing loss to FIU.
• Ohio State is definitely feeling the losses of Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressell. In a battle of teams with innumerable distractions, Miami looked much more prepared than the Buckeyes.
• 
  

Week 2 Run Through

Not a lot of marquee games in week 2, but that didn't stop it from being a good week of football and offering lots of information that we can glean. Let's dive in. As always the blog is divided into three sections: Auburn, SEC, and national news.

Auburn

• Wow, those boys never make it easy do they? But wow, what a resilient squad the Chiz and company have built. Last year, I thought it was the senior leadership or the raw talents of Cam Newton, Nick Fairley, and company, but this really may be something that can be taught or bred.
• Phenomenal play by Ryan Smith to end the game. As much trouble as Auburn had had keeping Chris Relf from falling forward the entire game, it was fitting that a triumph in that respect preserved the win.
• Speaking of Relf, he looked a little familiar. The running ability and size definitely brought back visions of Cam from last year, but for all the hype leading into the season, Dan Mullen sure didn't give him much opportunity to use his arm as a weapon. If Mississippi State hopes to get over the hump and beat an SEC West team other than Ole Miss, Relf's arm will have to be a threat. That being said... 
• This is a very good Mississippi State team. They made a ton of mistakes in key situations yesterday and still almost came away with an SEC road victory. They will beat a couple teams they shouldn't this season.
• Auburn's defense was much improved. They have a long way to go, however. Chris Davis, Eltoro Freeman, and Dee Ford played big time football for the Tigers yesterday and were a big part of the reason Auburn ultimately won the game. Jake Holland, Jeff Whitaker, and Ryan White were much improved, but overall the defense still needs to do a better job of communicating, and Ted Roof and company need to do a better job of making mid-game adjustments. Those were a key to Auburn's success last year, and will be quite necessary if the Tigers hope to be in the mix in the weeks to come.
• Barrett Trotter played quite well again yesterday. With the exception of one bad play (and it was a really bad, never played college football before looking play) on the no-look pick 6, Trotter made few mistakes, executed and managed the offense effectively, and came up big when the Tigers needed a big throw.
• The offensive line was much improved. It wasn't great, however. Mike Dyer had a few big runs, and the right side, especially was much improved. I didn't see Reese Dismukes and Jared Cooper standing around as if they didn't know that the game continued after the first block this week, so that is a step in the right direction. This line still has to be better though. Dyer had big holes occasionally, and Cooper and Sullen did a nice job on some of the pull plays, but the holes weren't consistent enough. Auburn needs a thriving run game in order to make the passing game more effective, and there is still room for progress in that area.

• The Auburn special teams are far and away the teams strongest unit. Steven Clark has made enormous strides from the big legged, shank punter we saw last season. In the first two games, he has been a key to Auburn's field position battle and shown why we've heard all along that he could be a threat with consistency. Cody Parkey knocked through a couple solid field goals, and Tre Mason was phenomenal again in the return game. I've yet to see Trovon Reed botch a punt return, and if I can say that all year, then I don't care if he returns a single one for more than 5 yards. Jay Boulware would probably disagree, but I'll take the small victories for now. 

 SEC

• I honestly have absolutely no idea how South Carolina beat Georgia. Steven Garcia played poorly again, Georgia finally found the passing game in the 2nd half after forgetting Aaron Murray had an arm in the first half, and Isaiah Crowell was solid in the run game. Georgia has to find a way to consistently hang on to the football, however. South Carolina scored on an interception, a fumble recovery, and a fake field goal. Give the Ole Ball Coach credit for using what he's got and riding Marcus Lattimore till he breaks down. South Carolina will not be a championship contender however, until they can figure out how to get the ball in Alshon Jeffery's hands without the requisite turnovers that seem to ensue.
• Tyler Bray and Tennessee looked AMAZING against Cincinnati. I honestly expected the Vols to struggle with the Bearcats and Zach Collaros, but Bray went 34/41 with 4 TD's and added one on the ground as Rocky Top trounced Cinci. Watch out for this young, feisty Tennessee team, especially with the struggles we've seen from Georgia and South Carolina in the first two weeks. The SEC East just got a little bit more interesting.
• Staying in state, nice win for Vanderbilt yesterday. It wasn't pretty for Larry Smith and the Dores, but a win over UConn is a solid start for James Franklin and company in building a program that can get bowl eligible on a consistent basis. Big game in that sense coming this week when Ole Miss comes to Nashville. Maybe someday Vandy won't be the eternal bottom dweller in the SEC.
• And that day may come sooner than you think. Wow has Kentucky looked terrible in the first two weeks. The Wildcats have struggled significantly to knock off Western Kentucky and Central Michigan. I guess we know now how big an impact Randall Cobb has had on this squad the last few years.
• Ho-hum solid victory for Alabama in Happy Valley. The Tide handled Penn State pretty easily, to the tone of a 27-11 win on the road. AJ McCarron was solid, if unspectacular, and Trent Richardson of course did his thing. The Bama defense is as advertised and I can't wait to see them in action against Arkansas and Florida in two and three weeks respectively.
• Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss, and LSU all got easy victories as they should have.

Around the Country

• Well, Notre Dame is 0-2. Who could have possibly seen this coming? Oh yea, just anyone who has watched a football game in the last 10 years. History doesn't always repeat itself, but we should at least learn from it. The Fighting Irish should never be ranked in a pre-season poll again. 
• Watch out for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have put up good numbers in the first two weeks, and Justin Blackmon is the best receiver in the country.
• The other OSU was less impressive. The Buckeyes almost lost to Toledo. Anyone who thought that all the off-season distractions and changes wouldn't catch up to The Ohio State University will likely be proven wrong in the upcoming weeks. It could be a tough season for the Bucks.
• The Gabbertless Mizzou Tigers fell to Arizona State. I'm honestly not sure what to make of the Tigers this season, but expectations based on the last few years are probably unfair. I'd imagine Missouri will be middle of the road in the Big Mess this season.
• East Carolina is probably the best 0-2 team in the country. The Pirates gave Virginia Tech all they could handle a week after giving South Carolina an early scare. ECU will likely be a serious contender in what is looking like a much improved C-USA. Houston and Central Florida have both looked impressive thus far, and both will likely be top 25 teams by season's end. Watch out for the Knights. You heard it here first.
• In other C-USA news, thrilling victory for Rice this week, blocking Purdue's game winning field goal in the final seconds to hold on.  The Owls' next game is a tough one at Baylor in two weeks.
• Texas may have a tough year.
• Nice win for Paul Rhodes and the Iowa State Cyclones, knocking off rival Iowa in triple overtime. Rhodes has the program going in the right direction, but it will take time.

Wow, that was a long blog for a weekend that looked bland at first glance.  Oklahoma-Florida State highlights next weeks action, in what may be the biggest non-conference game of the season. Stay tuned.

Week One Wrap-Up

From the guy that brought you 4th and Goal, Cover 2, and the Water Cooler, comes Drewbie Snacks Football. This will the new domain for all my college football ramblings. Thanks to AuburnTyler for the suggestion of a new outlet. Each week, the blog will be broken into 3 sections: Auburn, the SEC, and National. For those of you who know my blog style, it is generally in bullet format for brevity and emphasis. Enjoy.

Auburn

• This is a young team. Everyone who has heard me talk about expectations for this team knows this, and it was painfully evident yesterday. Gone are almost 30 players from last year's national champions, and there are very few impact juniors and seniors on this year's squad. 
• If you hadn't headed the warnings of pretty much every media outlet that your expectations should be tempered, the Utah State miracle win should be enough to do the job. Again, I emphasize- this is an incredibly inexperienced team in all facets of the game.
• Barrett Trotter will never be Cam Newton. To expect him to be is unfair. Trotter managed the game well, made several great passes, and a few really poor throws. When it came time to step up, however, Trotter flourished. One of the things that coaches and teammates pointed out when Trotter was named the starter just weeks ago was his proficiency in the two minute drill. It showed Saturday and saved an Auburn defense that was absolutely atrocious.
• I repeat, Auburn is young on D. That being said, the Tigers will need vast improvement from their youngsters if they hope to win more than 6 games this season. Veteran linebacker Daren Bates played with the technique of a true freshman and no one else was much better. The defensive line failed to get a push or to stand up against the run game of the Aggies. Auburn must hope that the Game 1 jitters don't carry over into next week's opener, or Mississippi State will take home an easy victory. 
• The Auburn receivers looked phenomenal. Coming into the year, this was a definite area of concern, especially depth-wise, but Travante Stallworth stepped up to answer the call, and seems ready to fill the role Kodi Burns played last season. Trovon Reed and Emory Blake will also be big-time play makers.
• Auburn will need to make huge strides on both the offensive and defensive lines in order to contend with the SEC elite. 

SEC

• LSU is going to be GOOD! An LSU team playing without its starting quarterback and best play maker beat a very good Oregon team quite handily and was even able to must a bit of offense. There's no guarantee on if or when Jordan Jefferson will be back, but add Russell Shepherd to that mix and you have the makings of a legitimate top 5 team and an SEC Champion contender. Impressive victory for the Bayou Tigers. Oregon's all black uniforms were intimidating, but not as great as.....
• Georgia's new uniforms. Sick new digs for the Bulldogs. And I love the "Georgia" on the backs of the jerseys instead of individual names. Georgia will need everyone to work as a unit to save Mark Richt's job, and this is a nice step in the right direction. Back to football- Aaron Murray and Isaiah Crowell looked great at times, but inconsistent. The defense was picked apart by Kellen Moore, an early Heisman frontrunner, and failed to keep the team in the game. Georgia will be a contender in the SEC East by virtue of its parity, but this team needs significant improvement if they want to be a part of the SEC's elite.
• Alabama might have quarterback issues. 48-7 is a solid victory over a poor Kent State team, but 4 interceptions is a big problem. AJ McCarron had his moments, but turnovers will kill you in the SEC. Keep a watchful eye when Bama heads to Penn State next week.
• Mississippi State looked good. They also played Memphis.
• Kentucky only beat Western Kentucky by 11 points, scoring only 14. Not an impressive start for the Wildcats.
• Stephen Garcia enjoys turning the ball over, but you all knew that already. South Carolina will live and die by Garcia in each game. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, the only thing they can count on with Garcia is inconsistency, and Spurrier and crew will never take it to the next level with him at the helm.
• Ole Miss is terrible again. Houston Nutt's seat is getting a bit warm in Oxford. 
• Vanderbilt and Tennessee won relatively uninteresting matchups.

Around the Nation

• Notre Dame still isn't very good. Interesting matchup coming with Michigan next week.
• Baylor will be a team to be reckoned with in the Big 12 err 11, err 10? 9? 0? Anyway, Robert Griffin is a stud, which those of you who followed the radio program will remember me telling you years ago. The Bears put up 50 on the vaunted TCU defense and took down the probably overrated Horned Frogs (sans Andy Dalton). This won't be Baylor's only upset this season.
• Oregon State lost to Sacramento State? Wow.
• Why couldn't we have this realignment talk during the offseason when everyone needed something to talk about? I don't want it cluttering up the actual season.
• Outside of the two marquee SEC games, not much in the way of riveting stuff this week. Stay tuned.