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.