South Carolina Preview

Seeing Auburn on the field inside Williams Brice Stadium is always emotional for me. My first and only trip to South Carolina was in 1997, a true freshman, starting at free safety. Early that Friday morning the day before the game, I received word Brian Tribble...a treasured family friend, the announcer of all my high school games, my minister of music, co-worker of my mother, spiritual role model, the man who was to marry Dana and me...was murdered within our very own church office building. I grieved in my dorm room within Sewell hall all morning. I drove with my best friend to tell my future bride the horrific news in the courtyard of the Quad Dorms. The three of us cried for hours.

The last thing on my mind was the South Carolina Gamecocks. I boarded a Delta jet and said a word to no one the entire trip. When we arrived at our hotel I asked and received my own room, skipped the team movie, skipped team dinner. I couldn't get the mental picture of Brian being shot repeatedly in the head inside an office I grew up in, a place my mother worked every day, out of my head. I wept at the thought of Brian's wife, left to raise four young kids, one a newborn, by herself. I didn't study game film, our game plan, their personnel. I cried. All night.

That morning I woke up pissed. I was mad, confused, and lonely. Felt so helpless and far away from home. We boarded the buses and headed to the stadium for an early morning start. I'll never forget that Tiger Walk as long as I live. As I walked through the crowd, I kept my head down, my headset on, and tried to hide the tears in my eyes. As I approached the end of the crowd I looked up to see my parents, the last remaining fans of Tiger Walk. I could tell they had been crying and their tears were contagious. I threw myself into their arms and fell apart.

Coach Oliver didn't bench me. He never even questioned me if I was ready. He only came up to me during warmups and said he loved me, and he was sorry. I played a decent game. Nothing special. South Carolina wasn't great offensively so my job was pretty easy. I do remember though being on the field to start the fourth quarter. The band began playing. The stadium was loud. The Auburn fans were up and shaking their pom-poms. And I visualized Brian watching me from above. I cried the entire drive.

It was the biggest loss of my young life. And the trip to South Carolina will forever be tied to it. To this day I think of Brian on a regular basis. His initials were written on my wristbands beginning the next week to honor his memory and to inspire me to play my heart out. A die-hard Bama fan, he came to see me play two weeks prior in Auburn against Daunte Culpepper and Central Florida. He truly fell in love with his Auburn experience!

On to this game. It has the makings of challenging the scoreboards ability to not explode from over-use. Which typically means it'll be a defensive struggle! Not in this case. I think it becomes a race to 40. First team to 40 wins.

To be successful we have to establish the running game with Mike Dyer. He needs to steal the spotlight from Marcus Lattimore. In order to do that we have to soften the defense with passing efficiency and some semblance of success in QB rushing yards. It can't become a game where we play from behind and in predictable situations or else their defensive line will have their way with us.

Defensively we must tackle. We must take chances. We must swarm to the football and tackle as a unit. Make Lattimore earn every yard he gets. He's a great talent and will have some success as will their receivers. Weather the storms and play the next play. Create turnovers.

We have the ability to win this game. We need to win this game. And we will.

USC-38
AU-40

Dr. Z's Carolina Preview, Brah

"Pass the Funions, man..."

Has there ever been a more lovable cartoonish character in modern college football? Steven Garcia is South Carolina's Randall "Pink" Floyd. I bet he never signed any pledge.

I have taken a strange liking to Garcia. He's just livin, man. L-I-V-I-N. Livin the college star's dream. I bet Rob was practically just like Garcia when he played. Let's look at a pic of Rob back then...




OK, so not exactly the same thing, but Rob played defense, and according to Rob, defensive guys don't get to do things like have multiple chicks in their hotel rooms prior to bowl games, unless their last name is Spikes or Dansby.*

Our best hope for the weekend is a theory I like to call "Steven being Steven". If Garcia is his normal self in this game, we have a good shot at pulling of a victory. He gift wrapped the 2010 game with two fumbles (Conner Shaw, Steve's Hitler youth-looking backup helped with two INTs).

Our big problem in the game will be stopping or at least limiting Marcus Lattimore. We must put 8-9 in the box and stry to shut down the run game and make ol Greazy beat us. He may hit on a big play or two, but he'll likely turn the ball over.

I think we will score points on SC's defense. The haven't looked all that spectacular this year considering all of the talent the have over there.

I haven't liked like our chances in this game since the pre-season. Taking a young team on the road to a play a Gamecock squad that will most certainly be out for revenge after the SEC championship game will be a tall test.

As always, we need to jump out early and dampen the crowd. That was worked to perfection a couple of weeks ago at Clemson, but we just could not maintain. This weekend, we'll have to do that.

I think we'll stop Lattimore somewhat, but I have little faith in our defense right now to get off the field and prevent drives.

I see a similar result in this trip to Carolina....

Auburn 24
Cocks 33

*I have no knowledge of Takeo Spikles or Karlos Dansby having multiple girls girls in their room prior to bowl games. So if you read this blog guys, please don't come to Trussville and beat me up.

*Photo h/t to EDSBS's LSU Freek.

FAU Reax: Are Things as Bad as They Seem?

Is anyone's job on the line?


Well that didn't give anyone a whole lot of confidence did it? That was as listless a performance as I've seen in the Chizik era, and if you can find an Auburn fan that tells you that they are looking forward to October, you are being lied to.

I honestly am scratching my head about what exactly has happened to our offense. The Tigers were rolling right along until the second quarter against Clemson. The wheels came off the Guz bus for some strange reason, and they weren't exactly back on for FAU.

Defensively, we still have light years to go before we even come close to our mediocre unit we rolled out in 2010.

I expected better. Even with the youth, even witht the new faces, I expected better. I think we all did.

I don't want to make too big a deal about this game Saturday, but it's critical from the pyschological standpoint. If we go out there and get embarrassed, then the fragile psyche of this young Auburn team could blow apart. If we can come up with a win, or even a close loss agaisnt an East favorite, then we can feel a little better. But I will say it again, Saturday is critical.

Florida Atlantic Review (AU 30 FAU 14)

Well, it was another ugly game. This team did little to make me believe they're ready for big boy football and the unbelievably difficult gauntlet they're about to endure. Why was the effort against FAU so lackluster? Partly by design, partly by poor mental preparation against an inferior squad, partly by allowing a miserable football to hang around and grow confidence and make them believe they're suppose to compete, but mainly because of poor execution on the part of our Auburn Tigers.

Partly by design-

Auburn held out 4 starters, including our best defensive player to date in corner Chris Davis, always dependable and clutch TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen, guard John Sullen, and OLB Jonathan Evans. Holding these guys out was critically necessary to allow peak performance against South Carolina, but the reality is this team is not good enough to hold out starters...no matter how bad the opponent may be!

I also felt like we were overly vanilla offensively on purpose. What has been our bread and butter all season...the crossbuck sweep with Mike Dyer over right tackle. No one's stopped it yet. How many times did you see it Saturday? Never. We know that play works...I guess Coach Malzahn wants to develop a second successful running play. I think our coaches use these games to work on perceived weaknesses and try to strengthen them with true game experience. I think that was the game plan with Utah State too, but nearly backfired when Utah State was better than what our coaches expected! As much as we all wanted to see Auburn hang 80 points on the scoreboard (and don't get me wrong, Coach Malzahn wanted to score a ton of points and rack up gaudy numbers) the offense never found it's spark because of bad QB play by Trotter and the inability to control the line of scrimmage with traditional running plays.
I'm not sure how big the loss of Sullen was along the offensive front, but truthfully, against FAU, we should be able to walk out a unit composed of all true freshman and move the football consistently. Offensive line play has been a disappointment.

Poor mental preparation-

This one shouldn't be an excuse, but as a former player I know how hard it is to get up to play an opponent like FAU. Think about your excitement level walking into Jordan-Hare or even turning your TV on to watch AU vs LSU, Alabama, UGA, Florida compared to La Tech, Utah State, or Florida Atlantic. Now magnify that infinitely for the players and you're starting to scratch the surface of the difference in intensity and mental focus. I agree with those that believe this team has no business taking any opponent lightly...but until you've experienced the high of competing at the highest level, you can never fully understand the difficulty in competing against the lower tier. It takes an immensely disciplined, supremely coached, senior-laden football team to play every game like it's your last. We're not there yet. Not even close.

Allowing FAU to hang around-

You begin play with an INT. I didn't see the throw so I can't comment as to the decision, the play call, the execution. But talk about a shot of confidence to start a football game! "Here, we know you've struggled terribly offensively and we've been the worst defense in all of college football to date...why don't we just give you the ball at the thirty! Let us make life easy for you!" Some things you just can't do. Turn the ball over in the red zone, shoot yourself in the foot with drive killing penalties, allow unblocked rushers a free run at your QB. This is offensive football 101. Somewhere in this curriculum, I'm sure, not throwing an INT to open a contest is taught and recited quite often.

I still feel like in order for this offense to be at it's best, Barrett Trotter (or whoever lines up at QB) has to run the football with success. He must have some success to at least threaten the defense with the QB run. If not, all the action taking place in the backfield is completely meaningless. It's designed to hold backside defensive ends and linebackers for the split second it takes Mike Dyer to run off tackle or Onterio McCalebb to break containment. Until defenses believe it, our running game specifically, but our entire offensive identity is handicapped and diminished by the lack of the QB run threat.

Poor execution-

Lots of bad throws, struggling offensive line attempting unsuccessfully to control a Sun Belt line of scrimmage, allowing the FAU offense room to breath with third down conversions...over 100 yards on the ground...and to win the time of possession battle. These were the things that stood out to me.

But, on a positive note...we're 3-1. We see there's no shame in losing to Clemson. We see some young guys stepping up making crucial plays...see Jermaine Whitehead. Emory Blake continues to impress. The defense played better (I guess). We have to decide are we going to stand toe to toe and fight (for 4 quarters, for yourself, for each other, for respect, for Auburn) or are we going to play timid and scared and in awe of our surroundings? We're about to find out!

Florida Atlantic Preview

There's no need to write an extensive preview for this game. If FAU manages to keep this one close, Rivals, Scout, and ESPN recruiting services should be shut down by executive order, immediately after our defensive coaching staff is dismissed!

I still don't feel like all's lost or the sky's falling. As sickening as it's been to see our defense shredded on a weekly basis, it's unfortunately become the norm and I've grown to expect it. That being said, in my mind, each game is a race to 35. If we get to 35 points we have a shot. This week I don't foresee 35 being an issue. Going forward...if we don't score at least 35...you can almost bet the farm we fall short!

I'm interested to see the defense tackle, play fast, improve timing on blitzes, blitz like your life depended on it, create a turnover, and make a team punt once or twice!

Offensively, I'd like to see us get Mike Dyer 25-30 carries/game, convert at least 50% of third down attempts, see our offensive line get more aggressive, Onterio McCalebb break a big play, rushing yards from the QB position, and complete some intermediate level throws...meaning not bubble/swing routes or the deep ball (seems like it's all or nothing with our passing game).

Florida Atlantic-13
AU-52

Dr. Z's Florida Atlantic Preview

Old man yells at cloud.












So the Howard Schnellenberger farewell tour makes it way through Auburn Saturday. No word yet on if he will coach the game from a rocker on the sideline. At least Schnelly has the good sense to retire before age 80 (looking at you Joe Pa).

Howard is best known for the rejuvenation of "The U" at Miami, winning the national title in 1983*. But he does not get much credit for being the brains behind Bama's 3 national titles in the 60's. He was the Bear's Guz Malzahn back then, though no one at the Capstone would care to admit that.

After Miami, he took over a Louisville program and made it respectable, beating fellow Bear Bryant sound-a-like Gene Stallings in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl 31-7. Many would argue that Bama should have hired Schnelly in the 80's while floundering under Perkins and Curry. Count me as one who is glad they didn't.

He only managed one train wreck year at Oklahoma, then bailed for some strange reason, only to show up at Florida Atlantic a few years later.

I like Schnellenberger. He is probably one of the better Bryant disciples in the coaching business. Similar in many ways to Brother Oliver, he's under appreciated an often scorned by the Bama nation.

He has no shot this year at being competitive for one main reason. The Owl offense averages 97 yards a game. So this week really is the irresistible force (Auburn D) meeting an immovable object (Owl O). I don't really think it's supposed to work out that way, but we'll just go with it.

Auburn hopefully gets well this week against a much lesser opponent. Hopefully we'll remember how to tackle, and get some much needed confidence on defense.

Auburn-49
Owls-10

*If it would have been Bama the U jumped in the polls to #1, do you think they'd be claiming 14 National titles now?

Dr. Z's Clemson Review-Stink, Stank, Stunk

Coach Chizik likes to talk about "imposters" during a game, where he describes the ebbs and flows of momentum.

After re-watching the game, I can say without question Auburn played a pretty good role as imposters Saturday. Because the first quarter, we were just that.

I honestly could envision a huge blowout after the 90 yard drive to put AU up 21-7. Dyer was unstoppable. Trotter was getting pretty good protection and making accurate throws. The defense was forcing 3 and outs.

Then I am not usre what the heck happened. The defense reverted back to its (normal I guess) 2011 self. We could not tackle, DB's were out of place. No linebacker play (other than Darren Bates).

Offensively we had no continuity. It was a trainwreck, the Hindenberg, Hurricane Katrina, the Carter administration. Take your pick.

What transpired was 600+ yards of Clemson offense, half of which was after missed tackles.

I give Clemson credit, they battled back when they could have folded. The were the mentally tough team Saturday. Auburn was just plain mental.

Looking down the schedule, a defense that plays this way winds us up with 3 more wins...maybe. But I really don't see that being the case.

We all new that we'd lose a few games this year. The schedule is a murderer's row. We all should expect better, and I think in the coming weeks better is what we'll see. To get better, some leaders have to emerge. Whether it be Eltoro Freeman or Darren Bates or Nosa Egua, someone has to take charge on the defensive side of the ball. I don't mean a rah-rah guy. I mean a guy who steps up and makes a big play. That sort of thing is contagious. See last year with Nick Fairley v. LSU or Josh Bynes v. Arkansas

I think we have that guy on offense, but he needs more touches. I think we can all agree, 16 carries was not enough for Mike Dyer. He should ( and I suspect will) be getting 25-30 a game. Tre Mason looked a little doe-eyed in his first road game. That will improve in two weeks, but he should be there to spell Dyer right now, and that is about it in my humble opinion.

It's a long season, and there is no reason to fret. This Saturday, we get to take our frustrations out on a former Bammer in Schnelly. If you're still feeling low, this video should help. Nothing cheers me up like a dancing toddler.