Georgia Preview

The Georgia Bulldogs enter the South's oldest rivalry miles away from preseason expectations of contending for a SEC Eastern Division crown. In many aspects, this Georgia team reminds me very much of Auburn. They have a quarterback that at times has been unstoppable, and at times dreadful. They have a defense that has given up yards galore to every legitimate opponent played. Offensively, they were on fire at the beginning of the season outscoring Arkansas and South Carolina only to seemingly be "figured out" by defensive coordinators across the league. When their QB is on, they win...when he's not, they lose. Sound familiar?!

Why Auburn Wins:

1. Game means more to Auburn players than Georgia players. Auburn has way more players on its sideline from the state of Georgia than Georgia does players from Alabama. Guys that I played with at Auburn that were from Georgia foamed at the mouth all week long for this game. Takeo Spikes would say, "You play your heart out for me against Georgia, I'll play my heart out for you next week against Alabama!" (extreme censorship with that quote)! It is a game these guys take personally and pour their heart out on the football field for.

2. We have recaptured our swagger! Back to back games with tremendous offensive production gives this team the confidence to believe and expect to go into Sanford Stadium and win the football game. Three weeks ago, I don't think this team believed that would be possible.

3. The last time I was in Sanford Stadium was 10 years ago, a heavy underdog to a Top 15 Georgia team in Tommy Tuberville's first season at Auburn. Ronney Daniels and Ben Leard completely torched the Georgia defense for a 31-0 halftime lead. Why does that matter? Because I'll be in the stadium again for the first time since that game...stars aligning!

Why Georgia Wins:

1. They will be one of if not the best offenses we've seen to date. Georgia will test this Auburn secondary deep all night long in a fashion much like Arkansas did. It's no secret our secondary is depleted and Georgia will work to exploit this from the opening whistle. How does Auburn win this battle? By stopping the run. If you make a team one-dimensional they have no chance.

2. Richt on the hot seat. Nothing motivates a team more than talk of the possibility of losing your head coach. No player wants to endure a coaching change...look no farther than Alabama players sobbing to keep Mike Price (again, scratching my head)! When your leader is threatened a sense of urgency and a "us against the world" mentality forms that many times can solidfy and bond a team. If Georgia has any senior leadership, this team will come out swinging with a fury.

3. Common Opponents- Georgia beat Arkansas and should have beaten LSU were it not for the infamous phantom celebration penalty call against A.J. Green. Auburn was throttled on the road by both. Tennessee embarrassed Georgia by an unexpected aerial assault by UT's Johnathon Crompton (did I really just type that last sentence...Kiffin deserves a raise for his work with Crompton as of late)! Auburn really dominates UT on the road in perhaps it's most balanced game of the season. Still, a slight advantage goes to the bulldogs in the common opponent realm.

Who Will Win:

Whoever tackles better and commits less turnovers wins this game. Both teams will score points in bunches. This has all the makings of an offensive track meet, a back and forth ESPN instant classic. I feel like this rivalry means more to the Auburn players therefore giving an emotional edge to Auburn. Tackling is all about desire and want to. Auburn will have more of both Saturday night between the hedges.

AU-38
UGA-34

Furman Reax and other musings

Dude, save some of that for Amen Corner

63-31. All of our wishes come true: big first half lead, starters get a much needed break We saw lots of new faces. I thought it was a great day.

-Chris Todd/Neil Caudle, you guys were off the hook. I don't care who you're playing, those stats are ridiculous.

-Any doubt Antonio Coleman feels better? Just in time for Amen. Here's hoping he terrorizes the Ginger Ninja from UGA all night.

-Oh special teams. Just because we call you Frenchy, PPL, does not mean you have to perform like France's military in WWII.

-Speedwagon, please be 100% for this weekend.

Other musing:
*Do LSU fans say "We got Heauxsed"? Seriously, I watched the INT replay 50 times and I still can't tell. Also Les, that is why you don't call a punt block on 4th and 5 1/2.


*Brandon Spikes isn't man enough to play soccer in the Mountain West. Coincidentally, Urban Meyer felt that given the heinous nature of Elizabeth Lambert's dirty play, she should be suspended from the soccer banquet at the end of the season.

War Eagle! And bring on the Dogs of the Hairy variety.

Furman Review (63-31)

This picture illustrates why the Furman game was great. This guy was our leading rusher and played multiple positions in this game. He's listed as a WR who turned corner who played tailback...rushing for 77 yards, two TDs on 5 carries! Congrats Anthony Gulley for shining when given the opportunity.

This was exactly what Auburn needed. A near flawless execution exhibited by the starters in the first half, an opportunity to rest and give the younger guys an opportunity to get their feet wet, and an occasion to keep the momentum building as the final two regular season games are upon us. On to Athens and a chance to build upon our bowl-game resume.

D.Z's Furman Preview

Happy Homecoming! This week it's the Furman Paladins. Anyone else hav to look up what a Paladin was? In case you didn't, Paladins were knights that fought in the crusades or something. All this tells me is that Furman must have been founded by a history professor.

It is a pretty campus in the foothills of South Carolina and a really good school academically from what I hear. I already mentioned Furman is an arch rival to my wife's Alma, Wofford. She is so entrenched in the rivalry I asked her some really nasty things to say about Furman she said, "It is a really pretty campus and it's good academically. Thanks babe, you have gotta love those heated SoCon rivalries.

For the game this week, we need to score 30+ by halftime #1 to build confidence and #2 to get our starters some rest. I don't care if this a Ball State type 54-30 game as long as Bynes, Stevens and Co get a breather. We need the rest.

I have heard a few App St/Michigan reminders this week, but let's face facts, Furman is no App St. and Auburn is better than that Michigan team. Furman's .500 and has given up a ton of points this year.

We should handle them with ease, prep for UGA, and gets some rest.

Auburn 52Random historical figures-21

Furman Preview

Furman is the opponent on the schedule and will show up to Jordan-Hare Saturday, but Georgia is the team Auburn has prepared for all week. Much like Ball State was a tune-up for Tennessee, Furman is the prep course for the Bulldogs. Georgia scheduled similarly having Tennessee Tech roll into town as a confidence builder prior to playing the oldest rivalry in the South.

I don't know a thing about Furman other than the few people I know who have attended adore the place and the Paladins play in the same conference as Samford (I didn't even know Paladins were the mascot, I had to look it up). I'm not sure how the Furman coaching staff approaches a game like this? You would think their AD would schedule a game like this at the beginning or end of the year (get paid, heal up, and get ready for Elon or next year). To schedule an SEC power in the middle of the season with 2 crucial conference games remaining as you sit right in the middle of your conference standings at 3-3, as a coach, I'd be quite pissed. Nonetheless, Furman has to come into this game with many of the same goals as Auburn...no injuries, play as many bodies as possible, work on deficiencies to gain some confidence and gameday repetitions, and limit the mental mistakes.

The most interesting part of this game should be listening to Rod Bramblett and Stan White repeatedly say the name of Furman's tailback...Tersoo Uhaa! Beyond that, it should be a day to rest guys with nagging injuries, work on offensive tempo, improve on defensive fundamentals (i.e. tackling and timing a blitz), and emptying the bench for the guys who perform tirelessly week after week on the scout teams. I believe this team is mature enough to show up and compete against a vastly out-manned team (i.e. not pull a FSU against Jax State) running the record to 7 wins with Georgia looming large on the horizon.

AU-51
Furman-9

Ole Miss Reax: A Kick Save, and a Beauty...

Eltoro is Spanish for...."The Toro".

Walt McFadden took the kick save from the Ole Miss receiver and took it to the house.

Auburn made a kick save on their season by throttling Houston Nutt and his underachieving rebels. We led 31-7 at one point in this game, albeit a short point. Never in a million years would I have anticipated such a bounce back from the last three weeks. I, and many of my blogging cohorts, had left Auburn for dead. Two road stinkers sandwiching a home debacle had us all talking about the importance of the Furman game. I joked about the PapaJohns bowl last week. Well, it depends on my mood, but I like Outback better than Papa John's anyway.

Some random musings:

-Jevan Snead...Does anyone have to ask why he transferred from Texas? He threw two picks Saturday, and he's lucky he didn't throw five. He was rattled from the get-go, and we see him calling out his teammates on the sideline? Congrats Jevan, you are the Mississippi version of Freddy Kitchens. Enjoy the remainder of your career not in the NFL. I'd take Chris Todd and his dead arm over you anyday.

-Speaking of Todd...RESPECT to you my friend. Way to hang in there when all of the numbskulls who have no idea what we are talking about (talking me here). I still think there is less zip than early on, but he's making adjustments and getting it done.

-The Running of the Bull...Eltoro. Gotta love this guy coming back after his Tennessee meltdown, missing the Arky trip, etc. He has energized the defense. The weakside is not so weak anymore. And how about all of a sudden we can pressure and tackle? If we keep this energy up, we are a pretty OK defense. (If we don't, we are a pretty bad defense, but for today that doesn't matter)

-Love SuperMario getting some touches. We are so much better we he can get the ball in space and make plays. Also, the Speedwagon gets to convalesce for two weeks. Love to see Ontario get another week off vs. Furman. I am sure UGA can't wait to see a 100% Ontario hit that corner.

-Tate is having the year that will make him one of the best (and likely most unsung) in AU history. Props to you, Big Ben.

-Mr 5-19 guy in the back of my mind got a good bit quieter Saturday. And I agree with Jerry at Warblog, Gene has done more in 09 with less than Tubbs did in 08. The kids seem to love to play for him. We are recruiting well. Those wins against Tennessee and State look pretty good now. And he is just steady. He keeps such an even keel. And he's not insane like Houston Nutt.

-Did I mention Houston Nutt is insane. He is also bound to fail at Ole Miss once Coach Footbauw's talent is gone at Ole Miss.

-Zac Etheridge, Godspeed my friend. I hope you get back on the field one day. If not, I am just glad you will be ok.

All right, a layup is next. It is a rival game at my house. My wife was a Wofford soccer player and she hates her some Palladins. (Not really, but I am trying to manufacture some personal fire about Furman).

WAR Eagle everybody!

Ole Miss Review (33-20)

I owe this young man an apology...Chris Todd you proved me wrong! You came out against a tough and aggressive defense and looked as sharp as I've seen you look in quite some time. You were poised, took shots down field successfully (including a beautiful bomb to Terrell Zachery that only he could catch), and were genuinely and noticeably excited when you made a terrific play. You validated Coach Chizik's decision to stick with you as Auburn's "best chance to win." Thanks to you, I'm eating crow for calling you an injured shell of yourself. You proved me wrong, and I'm ecstatic you did. When you play like you did against Ole Miss we are capable of beating anyone! Congrats Chris Todd and keep it up!

What a remarkable turnaround! I've never seen a team look so inept one week look so amazing the next week against basically equally talented opponents. It wasn't a perfect performance, but it was a treat to see the offense come back to life, the defense play inspired, and the Auburn Tigers win a game the majority thought we'd lose (including myself). What I saw...

1. Seniors lead the way- Several Auburn seniors played their best games this season helping pave the way. Antonio Coleman played his best ball game getting pressure on the quarterback, Walter McFadden was incredible, Tommy Trott got involved, Kodi Burns contributed in big ways, Ben Tate continued being the beast that he is, and Clinton Durst flipped field position on a few crucial occasions.

2. Finally the breaks go the way of Auburn- We seemingly had more balls and calls bounce and go our way this game than any game I recall perhaps in the past 5 years. The biggest was the review and overturning of the Ole Miss interception deep in Auburn territory. I have no idea what the replay official saw, but if he was looking at the same replay we were watching, I don't see how that was enough to overturn the call. The McFadden INT and return for a touchdown...unbelievable! The blocked extra point bouncing to a corner with nothing but green grass ahead of him! And others. We were due for every good thing that occurred.

3. Tackling much improved- The defense played inspired football. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the effort was phenomenal and the scheme was improved. Much more blitzing and pressure on the quarterback which forced Snead to leave the pocket and disrupt timing. We hit him more times than any quarterback I recall this year. McCluster was a thorn in our side and had some huge gainers, but we limited those huge gainers to a few, instead of every time he touched the ball and by the end of the game he was feeling the effects of being pounded for four quarters.

4. Eltoro Freeman- Blitzes with a purpose! He also does a fantastic job of getting around blocks and to the ball carrier. His play was noticeably fast and aggressive.

5. Zachery and Adams re-emerge- Adams got the score, but Zachery twice flipped field position and set up scores with remarkable body control and strength to come up with critical catches.

6. Malzahn gets Todd comfortable quickly- Todd's first two throws were safe play action passes to running backs (Fannin and Smith) that picked up consecutive first downs. Todd began 2 for 2 and never looked back.

7. The injury to Etheridge looked bad- Kudos to Ole Miss RB Rodney Scott for recognizing the severity of the situation and lying motionless while the medical staff prepared the cart for Zac. The play ended Etheridge's season and his leadership in a young secondary will be missed.

8. Increased role for Fannin fantastic- Mario is a playmaker plain and simple. The more times he touches the ball the better. He did a superb job of being speed to Tate's power.

9. Kickoffs inconsistent- The opening kickoff went 4 yards deep into the end zone. Every kick thereafter was less and less deep. The final kick that was returned for a touchdown was fielded at the 18.

10. Chizik's sideline demeanor would make me love playing for him- Terry Bowden didn't even watch the defense when I played. Tommy Tuberville gave us the brief clap of approval when we made something big happen. Gene Chizik meets the players at the hash marks throwing atomic fists, yelling approval and praise in ways a head coach rarely does. I love it and would have greatly appreciated the head coaches recognition so openly displayed when I was a player.

All in all, this win does wonders for Auburn's bowl projection, confidence, and fan base. With two weeks to prepare for Georgia (same for Georgia...they play Tennessee Tech), here's to the Tigers riding this wave of success into Athens and beating the Dawgs!!