Friday, November 30, 2012
The Coaching Search
From what I read this morning from Phillip Marshall, I see that at least Auburn is going after or getting the attention of the top possibilities in the country. Kevin Sumlin of A & M is intriguing. Wouldn't it be something to get him? Kirby Smart is equally intriguing. Even though he has no head coaching experience, I would be happy to get him. I have mixed feelings about Fisher and Petrino. For me Malzahn would kind of a let down. Charlie Strong I have no strong feelings about (no pun intended). Out of this mix, who will we end up with?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The Auburn Family: A Divided Group and no one Divides them More Than Bobby Petrino
Professor Wayne Flynt thinks that Bo and Pat, who he says believe in the Auburn Creed (and love it), would never recommend hiring Bobby Petrino. I can only hope that he is right. As Professor Flynt suggests, we are Auburn and we are better than him. STAY OUT OF AUBURN, BOBBY!
BY Charles J. Dean
al.com
29 November 2012
AUBURN, Alabama - Jack Warren sat on a stool at historic Toomer's Drugs eating his toasted sandwich and talking Auburn football with a stranger when the question came: Who would you like to see as Auburn's next coach? How about Bobby Petrino?
Warren stopped chewing. He swallowed. He wiped his mouth. He then looked directly at the stranger. "No sir. Not that man. Not at Auburn," said Warren, who is an area manager of an air conditioning and heating company and who has lived a half-hour from Auburn in Columbus, Ga. for 56 years.
Asked why not Petrino given that he has won at every coaching stop in his career with the exception of the NFL, Warren didn't pull any punches.
"He's not a moral man, I don't care how many football games he has won," said Warren.
Asked why that mattered to him, Warren again was direct.
"A man's character matters, especially a man or a woman who is in charge of helping students grow from becoming teenagers to young men and women," said Warren. "I know he wins. But, I also know he can't be trusted in how he conducts his public life and his private life. What would Auburn be saying to those young men if he got hired. It would be saying anything goes as long as you win. I don't think that's what Auburn is about. I hope it's not."
Down College Street a block or so from Toomer's Corner, C.L. Smith was pumping gas into his truck on his way to a construction site on campus where he works as a carpenter. Asked the same question as Warren, Smith answered just as quickly and just as self-assuredly as Warren.
"Hell yes I'd hire Bobby Petrino in a heartbeat," said Smith, 37. "I know he's had his issues and I'm not saying I like him as a person but as a football coach he knows how to win and he knows how to win in the SEC and that matters. ...Look, Auburn is a mess. They didn't win one game in conference, not one. This thing has to be built back up and you need a guy who has done that and who has won and Petrino is the best coach available. .... Look, when I go to church, I want to hear from a preacher who will help me find my way to the Lord. But, when I go to the game, I want a coach who knows how to put a team together to win the game that day. I'm not looking for a saint as football coach."
One coach, two starkly different views. And, they are views one hears echoing all across not just the AU campus but deep within the so-called Auburn family.
It's a family that right now is divided not so much over the firing of Gene Chizik as they are over the depth of the problems Chizik leaves behind and over what path to choose to fix what has gone wrong in a program that just two years ago sat at the top of the college football world. Today, Auburn football finds itself the butt of jokes after a three win, nine loss season and, more importantly, the focal point of an NCAA investigation looking apparently at the recruitment of some players.
In interviews over the last few days with current and past trustees, with current and former administrators in athletics and throughout the university and with key supporters from the corporate community and politics, what emerges is a picture of serious men and women who care about the university but who see different answers to what Auburn President Jay Gogue must do to fix problems. They see different answers because they see the state of the school's athletic program very differently. Some see a program, especially the football program, in deep trouble. Others see a football program in need of, as one school trustee said, a new set of wheels but the wagon is essentially sound."
Another key supporter of the program laughed at the analogy.
"The wheels are off all right but if you look at the wagon, it's sunk in quicksand," the supporter said.
This supporter said he had hoped Gogue would have fired AD Jay Jacobs and then hired a new AD who would have been allowed to hire a new coach. The supporter said, "So many of our programs right now... all of them really are not functioning at a very high level."
That particular supporter said he believes that the next football coach should be Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. Why? To repeat the history of 30-plus years ago when AU hired Pat Dye, who had been at one point a key coach on Paul "Bear" Bryant's Alabama teams of the 1960s.
"We need to hire the guy's (Nick Saban) guy and that's Smart. Whether Auburn people want to admit it or not, Saban isn't going anywhere and Auburn has to find a way to deal with him and who better than his right hand guy," the supporter said.
Of Petrino, the supporter said he opposed his hiring citing Petrino's baggage and the fact the he's never beaten Saban and in fact seems to freeze up when he faces him, the supporter said.
Another key supporter who has given AU many dollars over the years said he hopes Petrino is the man Gogue hires. The supporter called Petrino the realistic choice, a coach who could walk through the door and turn the program around. The supporter said there is talent on the team.
"This isn't a matter of having to build it up from the ground. Petrino might not be the man Gene was, but I think he's probably twice the coach he was and what we need now more than anything is know how in that job and Petrino has it," the supporter said.
NBA hall of famer Charles Barkley, Auburn's most famous round ball hero ever, fueled the debate over the school's next football coach when recently during the telecast of an NBA game on TNT Barkley said he'd like to see Petrino get the job at AU.
Another coach that has been mentioned is Florida State's Jimbo Fisher. An insider close to the situation shook his head at the name and those who bring it up. This key supporter, a former trustee, said it is "hubris" to believe that right now Fisher would leave the FSU job for the Auburn job, although the supporter said Fisher would be a good fit at AU.
But, this supporter questioned how good the job at Auburn is right now vs. the FSU job given the NCAA investigation and the fact that the SEC West division is tougher than the whole ACC in which FSU plays.
"No, I just think Fisher's agent is trying to get him a raise, not a new job," the supporter said.
One former trustee still close to the situation agreed that the AU family is divided over what is the right answer. But the former trustee, who said he hopes Petrino gets the job, said it will matter little this time around what boosters or trustees or so-called insiders think regarding the depth of the problems or who should be the next coach. The former trustee said Gogue will be the man making the final decision this time.
And, that's a good thing said Wayne Flynt, professor emeritus at AU and a noted historian who has written with distinction about the state and about Auburn.
Flynt agreed that Gogue is the decider and it marks the first time in decades that the school's president is the one making the hiring decision.
"The undeniable fact of life at Auburn for years is that when it has come time to change coaches, to fire and hire, those decisions have been made in secret and by a select group of trustees and boosters," Flynt said. "That practice has led to an almost myopic view among some that Auburn is a football team with a university."
Almost a decade ago, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed Auburn on probation finding that AU trustees had too often stepped over the line to micromanage school programs, especially the football program. The probation embarrassed the school, lead to the resignation of the then president and a shakeup in the athletic department.
And, nine years later, more than half of the school's trustees are relatively new. All of it has resulted in giving Gogue the kind of free hand to make decisions on coaches that past presidents did not have, said Flynt.
Gogue last week announced he had formed a search committee to find and interview coaching candidates. In addition to AD Jacobs, Gogue appointed Auburn football icons Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson, both winners of the Heisman Trophy and both Auburn men through and through.
Gogue turned down a request for an interview. He knows there is much debate going on in the AU family about the decision he will make and when he might make it. He did release this statement about the on-going debate and situation.
"Auburn is a special place with an active group of alumni who care about this school and its football program. I view the Auburn family as a source of strength and that's why we have such a powerful and dedicated search committee tasked with recommending to me our next head coach. I expect them to take their work seriously and move with all deliberate speed. When this thoughtful and through process is concluded, I look forward to receiving their recommendation."
Flynt said the move appointing the committee is Gogue at his best.
"I think it was an adroit move by Dr. Gogue," said Flynt. "What that committee does is take this search out of the hands of Jay (Jacobs) alone and puts it into the hands of two men who I doubt anyone at Auburn would question their integrity. And, it pushes away the influence of the boosters and trustees past and present who still want to have their hands in this process. It's a brilliant move."
Former AU President Ed Richardson said the committee provides Gogue with two assets he needs at a critical time: Sullivan and Jackson.
"If those men give their blessings to whoever the coach turns out to be, it will be harder for those who might not be happy to say much about it," said Richardson. "There are no greater names in Auburn football history than Sullivan and Jackson. They played the game. They understand the game. They understand Auburn. They love Auburn."
If you doubt Sullivan and Jackson's standing in the AU family, you don't have to look far to find it around the place. Along College Street are plaques cemented into the sidewalk of past AU heroes. Just in front of the entrance to Toomer's Drugs you find Sullivan and Jackson's plaques noting the years they played for the Tigers and their Heisman Trophy awards.
Driving into Auburn you find another reminder at the state rest stop just off I-85 before the Auburn exit where you find a large black and white famed photo of Jackson, Sullivan and Pat Dye each in tuxedos posing with the Heisman Trophy Jackson won in 1985.
Flynt said he was greatly pleased to see Jackson and Sullivan selected for a lot of reasons but especially because he knows many are lobbying for Petrino to get the job.
"Bo and Pat understand what Auburn means and I mean they understand that Auburn is about more than just football," Flynt said. "It's about a way to behave, to conduct your life. I can't imagine Pat Sullivan or Bo Jackson giving their approval to a man like Petrino who quit on his NFL team, who attempted to stab Tommy Tuberville in the back and who violated his marriage vows and then lied to his university about what he had done. Is that who we really want at Auburn?
Richardson said there is a division in the Auburn family over who the next coach should be, with a faction pushing hard for Petrino. He hopes they fail. And, he believes they will.
"Hiring a Bob Petrino would send a message that Auburn is desperate," said Richardson. "It would send the message that the only thing that matters is winning. I don't think that committee or Jay Gogue will allow that to happen."
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
About Petrino
What if it is Petrino? What if Pat Sullivan & Bo Jackson stand up and say, "Coach Petrino is our man. Auburn people need to unite and rally behind him." The thought occurs to me that maybe this is why these Auburn legends are on the committee. If they say support Petrino, what are we to do? And another thing. What if he can produce a great defense? Put Petrino together with a defense and it could be something special. What if?
Monday, November 26, 2012
Rise and Fall of Auburn Football
BY Phillip Marshall
25 November 2012
AUBURN - Auburn's national championship was still fresh when head coach Gene Chizik got an early-morning telephone call in March 2011. The news was bad.
One day beyond two months after the Tigers won the BCS championsip, four players had been arrested and charged with armed robbery. All were dismissed from the team the next day.
The first crack in the foundation of Auburn's football program had appeared. And like on a windshield hit by a pebble, the crack would grow until the glass finally broke. Sunday, Chizik and his entire coaching and support staff were fired after his fourth season.
Twenty-two months and two weeks after hoisting the crystal football in Glendale, Ariz., Chizik watched his team be crushed 49-0 by Alabama last Saturday for its 10th consecutive SEC loss, eight of them by 17 points or more. Auburn and Kentucky shared last place in the league.
Thus ended a season of unhappiness and unrest, one which left players often shaking their heads in frustration and confusion. And it went deeper than what happened on the field.
Mandatory workouts became voluntary for some when assistant coaches got players out of punishment. Some players went to class. Some didn't. Discipline, those close to the team say, was unevenly applied if at all. Strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall's role in discipline was greatly reduced.
"They've cut Yox's legs off," said a former player who is close to the team. "Coach Yox is the main reason we won a lot of games in past years. We were scared to death of him. We wouldn't cross him. They're not scared of anybody now. They're coddled and they're soft."
But many of them weren't happy.
"Players want discipline," the former player said. "They crave it. They really do. But some of them will do whatever they can get away with."
When discipline was applied, players who did things the right way often felt they were being punished for those who didn't.
Perhaps most onerous to players was the hiring of paid security guards to watch them and make they sure they didn't break curfew. The guards had to go inside apartments to make sure players were there and then sat in their cars outside throughout the night. When players missed curfew, some were disciplined. Some weren't.
***
Such an historic crash seemed impossible in the spring of 2011 when Auburn players, coaches and fans were basking in the glow of the national championship. But signs of trouble were showing on the field, off the field and even in the coaches' offices.
What had been a championship program was a program in disarray.
In the summer of 2011, Chizik's book, "All In: What It Takes to Be The Best," was released. It was the story of Auburn's climb to the national championship, but it was mostly about Chizik. Other than a mention in passing of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's role in signing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, not an assistant coach was mentioned. The assistant coaches took notice.
"He really was bothered because he didn't feel like he got the credit he deserved for the championship," one who called him a friend said. "It was Gus and Cam and Nick (Fairley). Gene didn't like that. It was like he changed, like he was a different person."
After the 2010 season, Malzahn, with an offer to become Vanderbilt's head coach, signed a new contract with Auburn that paid him $1.3 million per year. He was the nation's highest paid assistant coach. He wondered to friends at the time if he'd made the right decision.
Three games into the 2011 season, the Tigers were 2-1 with a 42-38 victory over Utah State, a dramatic 41-34 victory over Mississippi State and a 38-24 loss at Clemson. They were averaging 393 yards per game. Chizik sat down to talk with Malzahn.
In that meeting, Chizik told Malzahn he wanted him to slow down his hurryup, no-huddle scheme to take some pressure off the defense. Malzahn protested, telling Chizik his scheme would not be effective that way. Chizik was adamant. After that day, in 15 SEC games through the 2012 season, Auburn scored more than one offensive touchdown just four times. It scored no offensive touchdowns five times.
It wasn't long after his meeting with Chizik that Malzahn told his agent to find him a job. He wanted out. At season's end, after narrowly missing out at North Carolina and Kansas, he took a $500,000 per year pay cut to become head coach at Arkansas State.
Meanwhile, Chizik was heavily involving himself in the defense. Most often, he sent director of
football relations Wayne Bolt to sit in on meetings and report to him. On more than one occasion, he told defensive coaches to make major changes at midweek when gameplans were already in place. He told defensive coordinator Ted Roof to radically simplify what he was doing.
The defense struggled to stop good teams and Roof resigned at the end of the season, moving to Central Florida and then to Penn State.
The fall of Auburn football was picking up speed.
***
In December 2008, Chizik was athletics director Jay Jacobs' choice to replace Tommy Tuberville. It was controversial, to say the least. Chizik, who had been Auburn's defensive coordinator from 2002-2004, had been 5-19 in two season at Iowa State. He arrived at Auburn on a 10-game losing streak.
But Chizik quickly won over Auburn players, adding perks to the locker room that made players want to hang around, and scheduling team-building functions. He restored confidence that had been lost.
Not much was expected of the Tigers in 2009, but they went 8-5 and beat Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. Other than a 31-10 loss at LSU when quarterback Chris Todd was having arm problems, they were competitive in every game. Eventual national champion Alabama had to have a touchdown drive in the final minutes to win 26-21. Auburn was throwing into the end zone as time expired. The future seemed bright, and it was.
In 2010, Newton, Fairley and more than two dozen seniors took Auburn where it had never been, to a 14-0 season and a BCS national championship. After that season, Chizik got a handsome a raise and a $10 million buyout. After all, he was 22-5 at Auburn and had won the national championship.
Some close to the program say there were issues then, too. It was easy to ignore them because the team was winning and everyone was happy.
But all was not well.
***
Shortly after Chizik arrived, he and executive associate athletics director Tim Jackson became a team. Chizik ceded substantial responsibility to Jackson. Did Chizik know what was going on? People close to him wonder.
In 2010, as the accusations against Newton's family surfaced, Jackson was with Newton almost everywhere. Newton didn't get into trouble, and winning overshadowed everything else. A year later, Jackson focused on running back Mike Dyer. Things weren't as good for the team on the field or off the field, and some players didn't like what they saw as special treatment.
As time went on, uneven discipline angered and frustrated players. One player was punished for missing a class he didn't miss. Another was punished because he'd missed a tutoring session while in another academic meeting. His advisor called and explained. It didn't matter. Another, more prominent, player missed classes regularly and was never disciplined at all.
Off-field problems mounted. Promising players were sent home for good. Others found their names in the newspaper when they were arrested.
The Tigers were 8-5 in 2011, better than most expected. But all five losses were blowouts. Dyer, who had broken Auburn's freshman rushing record in 2010 and been the offensive MVP in the BCS Championship Game, was suspended for the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Virginia and eventually left the team.
Over the course of the spring and summer of 2012, more players got in trouble. More left the team. Wide receiver DeAngelo Benton was implicated as one of the antagonists in a confrontation that allegedly led to the tragic shooting deaths of three people, including two former Auburn players. Benton was suspended for two games. His return angered some of his teammates.
As the 2012 season began, few people knew it but Auburn was a team divided.
Things didn't look so bad in a 26-19 loss to Clemson in the season-opener. But they looked really bad a week later in a turnover-filled 28-10 loss at Mississippi State.
Things seemed to be getting better after a 31-28 win over upstart Louisiana-Monroe in overtime and a hard-fought 12-10 loss to LSU. But the next week, the stage was set for the rest of the season. Arkansas, with interim coach John L. Smith in charge, had been outscored 110-10 by Alabama and Texas A&M. It had lost to Louisiana-Monroe and Rutgers. But the Razorback beat Auburn 24-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
One very close to Auburn players privately sounded a warning before the next game at Ole Miss.
"We're not going to beat Ole Miss," he said. "There are players on this team - and it's more than a few of them - who just don't care. They just want things to change."
As the 2012 Tigers staggered toward the finish line, setting records for ineptitude, some players talked openly about leaving.
"If something doesn't change," said one player's parent, "the exodus of players leaving this program will be a national story."
Down the stretch of the season, things got historically bad. In the final three SEC games - against Texas A&M and Georgia at home and Alabama on the road - Auburn gave up 16 touchdowns on 18 first-half possessions and was shut out twice.
Sunday morning, Chizik got the word from athletics director Jay Jacobs that his time was up. Jackson was told he'll be reassigned and won't be involved with the football program.
"Winning three games is unacceptable," Jacobs said Sunday afternoon. "We have high standards here at Auburn, and we are going to keep those high."
25 November 2012
AUBURN - Auburn's national championship was still fresh when head coach Gene Chizik got an early-morning telephone call in March 2011. The news was bad.
The first crack in the foundation of Auburn's football program had appeared. And like on a windshield hit by a pebble, the crack would grow until the glass finally broke. Sunday, Chizik and his entire coaching and support staff were fired after his fourth season.
Twenty-two months and two weeks after hoisting the crystal football in Glendale, Ariz., Chizik watched his team be crushed 49-0 by Alabama last Saturday for its 10th consecutive SEC loss, eight of them by 17 points or more. Auburn and Kentucky shared last place in the league.
Thus ended a season of unhappiness and unrest, one which left players often shaking their heads in frustration and confusion. And it went deeper than what happened on the field.
Mandatory workouts became voluntary for some when assistant coaches got players out of punishment. Some players went to class. Some didn't. Discipline, those close to the team say, was unevenly applied if at all. Strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall's role in discipline was greatly reduced.
"They've cut Yox's legs off," said a former player who is close to the team. "Coach Yox is the main reason we won a lot of games in past years. We were scared to death of him. We wouldn't cross him. They're not scared of anybody now. They're coddled and they're soft."
But many of them weren't happy.
"Players want discipline," the former player said. "They crave it. They really do. But some of them will do whatever they can get away with."
Perhaps most onerous to players was the hiring of paid security guards to watch them and make they sure they didn't break curfew. The guards had to go inside apartments to make sure players were there and then sat in their cars outside throughout the night. When players missed curfew, some were disciplined. Some weren't.
***
Such an historic crash seemed impossible in the spring of 2011 when Auburn players, coaches and fans were basking in the glow of the national championship. But signs of trouble were showing on the field, off the field and even in the coaches' offices.
What had been a championship program was a program in disarray.
In the summer of 2011, Chizik's book, "All In: What It Takes to Be The Best," was released. It was the story of Auburn's climb to the national championship, but it was mostly about Chizik. Other than a mention in passing of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's role in signing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, not an assistant coach was mentioned. The assistant coaches took notice.
"He really was bothered because he didn't feel like he got the credit he deserved for the championship," one who called him a friend said. "It was Gus and Cam and Nick (Fairley). Gene didn't like that. It was like he changed, like he was a different person."
After the 2010 season, Malzahn, with an offer to become Vanderbilt's head coach, signed a new contract with Auburn that paid him $1.3 million per year. He was the nation's highest paid assistant coach. He wondered to friends at the time if he'd made the right decision.
Three games into the 2011 season, the Tigers were 2-1 with a 42-38 victory over Utah State, a dramatic 41-34 victory over Mississippi State and a 38-24 loss at Clemson. They were averaging 393 yards per game. Chizik sat down to talk with Malzahn.
In that meeting, Chizik told Malzahn he wanted him to slow down his hurryup, no-huddle scheme to take some pressure off the defense. Malzahn protested, telling Chizik his scheme would not be effective that way. Chizik was adamant. After that day, in 15 SEC games through the 2012 season, Auburn scored more than one offensive touchdown just four times. It scored no offensive touchdowns five times.
It wasn't long after his meeting with Chizik that Malzahn told his agent to find him a job. He wanted out. At season's end, after narrowly missing out at North Carolina and Kansas, he took a $500,000 per year pay cut to become head coach at Arkansas State.
Meanwhile, Chizik was heavily involving himself in the defense. Most often, he sent director of
football relations Wayne Bolt to sit in on meetings and report to him. On more than one occasion, he told defensive coaches to make major changes at midweek when gameplans were already in place. He told defensive coordinator Ted Roof to radically simplify what he was doing.
The defense struggled to stop good teams and Roof resigned at the end of the season, moving to Central Florida and then to Penn State.
The fall of Auburn football was picking up speed.
***
In December 2008, Chizik was athletics director Jay Jacobs' choice to replace Tommy Tuberville. It was controversial, to say the least. Chizik, who had been Auburn's defensive coordinator from 2002-2004, had been 5-19 in two season at Iowa State. He arrived at Auburn on a 10-game losing streak.
But Chizik quickly won over Auburn players, adding perks to the locker room that made players want to hang around, and scheduling team-building functions. He restored confidence that had been lost.
In 2010, Newton, Fairley and more than two dozen seniors took Auburn where it had never been, to a 14-0 season and a BCS national championship. After that season, Chizik got a handsome a raise and a $10 million buyout. After all, he was 22-5 at Auburn and had won the national championship.
Some close to the program say there were issues then, too. It was easy to ignore them because the team was winning and everyone was happy.
But all was not well.
***
Shortly after Chizik arrived, he and executive associate athletics director Tim Jackson became a team. Chizik ceded substantial responsibility to Jackson. Did Chizik know what was going on? People close to him wonder.
In 2010, as the accusations against Newton's family surfaced, Jackson was with Newton almost everywhere. Newton didn't get into trouble, and winning overshadowed everything else. A year later, Jackson focused on running back Mike Dyer. Things weren't as good for the team on the field or off the field, and some players didn't like what they saw as special treatment.
As time went on, uneven discipline angered and frustrated players. One player was punished for missing a class he didn't miss. Another was punished because he'd missed a tutoring session while in another academic meeting. His advisor called and explained. It didn't matter. Another, more prominent, player missed classes regularly and was never disciplined at all.
Off-field problems mounted. Promising players were sent home for good. Others found their names in the newspaper when they were arrested.
The Tigers were 8-5 in 2011, better than most expected. But all five losses were blowouts. Dyer, who had broken Auburn's freshman rushing record in 2010 and been the offensive MVP in the BCS Championship Game, was suspended for the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Virginia and eventually left the team.
Over the course of the spring and summer of 2012, more players got in trouble. More left the team. Wide receiver DeAngelo Benton was implicated as one of the antagonists in a confrontation that allegedly led to the tragic shooting deaths of three people, including two former Auburn players. Benton was suspended for two games. His return angered some of his teammates.
As the 2012 season began, few people knew it but Auburn was a team divided.
Things didn't look so bad in a 26-19 loss to Clemson in the season-opener. But they looked really bad a week later in a turnover-filled 28-10 loss at Mississippi State.
Things seemed to be getting better after a 31-28 win over upstart Louisiana-Monroe in overtime and a hard-fought 12-10 loss to LSU. But the next week, the stage was set for the rest of the season. Arkansas, with interim coach John L. Smith in charge, had been outscored 110-10 by Alabama and Texas A&M. It had lost to Louisiana-Monroe and Rutgers. But the Razorback beat Auburn 24-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
One very close to Auburn players privately sounded a warning before the next game at Ole Miss.
"We're not going to beat Ole Miss," he said. "There are players on this team - and it's more than a few of them - who just don't care. They just want things to change."
As the 2012 Tigers staggered toward the finish line, setting records for ineptitude, some players talked openly about leaving.
"If something doesn't change," said one player's parent, "the exodus of players leaving this program will be a national story."
Down the stretch of the season, things got historically bad. In the final three SEC games - against Texas A&M and Georgia at home and Alabama on the road - Auburn gave up 16 touchdowns on 18 first-half possessions and was shut out twice.
Sunday morning, Chizik got the word from athletics director Jay Jacobs that his time was up. Jackson was told he'll be reassigned and won't be involved with the football program.
"Winning three games is unacceptable," Jacobs said Sunday afternoon. "We have high standards here at Auburn, and we are going to keep those high."
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Chizik is Fired
The word comes a little after 1. Still no idea who the next coach will be. No idea when the Auburn football coach will be announced. I see there is a search committee that includes Bo Jackson, Pat Sullivan, and Mac Crawford. The latter is a former Auburn football player. I don't remember him.
We Wait
On this Sunday after our humiliating loss to Alabama 49 to 0 completing a season without a single SEC victory, the first time since 1980 this has happened, and a 3 & 9 record, we wait hear what will happen with Gene Chizik. We can only wait and hope for the best, that he will be terminated and that the new coach will unite Auburn fans. I have no idea who that coach might be as of this morning.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The Alabama Game
The big game each year has a different a different scenario, but it's always the same in one respect: it's always the biggest game of the year. I't's different this year because Auburn is 3 & 8 and it is widely expected that Gene Chizik will be fired after this game. I expect this to be the case although it still wouldn't surprise me if he is retained. The Tigers are something like a 31 point underdog. This must be the biggest spread in the history of the series. I will say as I always do that this is not a series of upsets. The numbers don't lie. The team that is supposed to win this game almost always does. Auburn will have to play like it hasn't played all year to have a chance or to even keep the score respectable. This is not likely. As Pat Dye used to say, there are no miracles on the football field. I doubt there's much excitement at Bryant-Denny. Let's get it over with and see who our next coach will be. I hope it's a good announcement and not like last time when it was Chizik. The game is a 2:30 kick on CBS.
FIRST QUARTER
Alabama receives and drives 75 yards for the score helped enormously by two officiating fiascos. A flagrant holding is not called on a 22 yard completion. On a third down a horrible interfence call on allows the Tide to go in for the touchdown. It should have been a FG attempt but the horrible, horrible call leads to the touchdown. The ref from 20 yards away makes the call, not the ref at the scene.
Auburn 0 Alabama 7
The Tigers go three and out but we did have good protection on a third down incompletion.
A short punt and Alabama starts on their 39.
Will the refs continue to help Alabama?
Alabama drives again. We can't defend their short passes. We haven't defended short passes all year.
What else is new?
The score comes on a power run from the 2. They are bigger and stronger.
Quentin Riggins says VanGorder is putting our guys in the right positions but they are not executing the scheme. This game is starting just like every other game has started this year. The Tigers start slow and the other team starts fast. This is as we should expect.
Auburn 0 Alabama 14
AU starts on the 22. Maybe we can make a first down before the half.
Pass incompletion.
2 yard gain by McCalebb.
There's a 16 yard completion for the first down to Blake.
There is a 17 yard completion to Blake to the Alabama 46.
We move to 4th and 5 at the 41.
Stan White says go for it for we have nothing to lose cause we are already down by 2 scores but Chizik decides to punt with less than a minute to go in the quarter.
The ball rolls dead on the 12 with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The quarter ends with Alabama having 2nd and 10 on their 12.
SECOND QUARTER
Our pass defenae is too soft.
Once again we can't stop them as we can't tackle. We miss tackles right and left as we have all year.
The score comes on a TD pass from the AU 37 as their receiver beats Mincy by 3 steps.
Auburn 0 Alabama 21
The game is going just as expected.
Alabama is not a great team but they are clearly better than Auburn. As much as anything this is Auburn not executing. It's more Auburn not being good than Alabma being good.
12:38 to go in the half.
Louis is dropped at the 15.
Stan White comments again on how we should have gone for it on 4th and 5 from the Ala 41.
We make two first downs,.
We move to 3rd and 8.
Interception by Alabama.
Our receiver was wide open by it was a poor throw by Wallace behind the receiver.
This is a case of Auburn not executing rather than Alabama executing.
Quentin says again that the defense is not executing what VanGorder is dialing up.
Our linebackers are not hitting their gaps. We have the usual missed tackles and miss alignments.
The defense cannot carry out what VanGorder is trying to do.
His schemes are confusing for some of our players.
The TD pass comes on a 7-yd completion as our DBs are confused Stan White says.
Their receiver runs uncovered to the back of the end zone with no DB there.
Auburn 0 Alabama 28
We go three and out with a poor throw on 3rd down.
Alabama drives again.
Auburn 0 Alabama 35
We move the ball but Mason fumbes after a good run. The score comes on a play that typifies this season. The pass completion comes from the 30 as THREE Auburn defenders converge on the receiver at the 20 but the receiver runs thru all three of them.
Auburn 0 Alabama 42
The half mercifully ends.
THIRD QUARTER
The third quarter is the same as the first half except that Alabama only scores once. It helps that they fumble on our 7 late in the quarter. Our offense is a zero.
Auburn 0 Alabama 49
FOURTH QUARTER
Fortunately there is no scoring in the final quarter. The Tigers never come close to scoring. Tre Mason gets 4 yards in his final carry, the last play of the game, to go over 1000 yards for the season.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 0 Alabama 49
Act 1, this game is over. Act 2 comes hopefully when Chizik is fired tomorrow or Monday. Acxt 3 will come when we learn the name of the next Auburn football coach. Act 4 will come when we learn about assistant coaches and recruiting results.
FIRST QUARTER
Alabama receives and drives 75 yards for the score helped enormously by two officiating fiascos. A flagrant holding is not called on a 22 yard completion. On a third down a horrible interfence call on allows the Tide to go in for the touchdown. It should have been a FG attempt but the horrible, horrible call leads to the touchdown. The ref from 20 yards away makes the call, not the ref at the scene.
Auburn 0 Alabama 7
The Tigers go three and out but we did have good protection on a third down incompletion.
A short punt and Alabama starts on their 39.
Will the refs continue to help Alabama?
Alabama drives again. We can't defend their short passes. We haven't defended short passes all year.
What else is new?
The score comes on a power run from the 2. They are bigger and stronger.
Quentin Riggins says VanGorder is putting our guys in the right positions but they are not executing the scheme. This game is starting just like every other game has started this year. The Tigers start slow and the other team starts fast. This is as we should expect.
Auburn 0 Alabama 14
AU starts on the 22. Maybe we can make a first down before the half.
Pass incompletion.
2 yard gain by McCalebb.
There's a 16 yard completion for the first down to Blake.
There is a 17 yard completion to Blake to the Alabama 46.
We move to 4th and 5 at the 41.
Stan White says go for it for we have nothing to lose cause we are already down by 2 scores but Chizik decides to punt with less than a minute to go in the quarter.
The ball rolls dead on the 12 with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The quarter ends with Alabama having 2nd and 10 on their 12.
SECOND QUARTER
Our pass defenae is too soft.
Once again we can't stop them as we can't tackle. We miss tackles right and left as we have all year.
The score comes on a TD pass from the AU 37 as their receiver beats Mincy by 3 steps.
Auburn 0 Alabama 21
The game is going just as expected.
Alabama is not a great team but they are clearly better than Auburn. As much as anything this is Auburn not executing. It's more Auburn not being good than Alabma being good.
12:38 to go in the half.
Louis is dropped at the 15.
Stan White comments again on how we should have gone for it on 4th and 5 from the Ala 41.
We make two first downs,.
We move to 3rd and 8.
Interception by Alabama.
Our receiver was wide open by it was a poor throw by Wallace behind the receiver.
This is a case of Auburn not executing rather than Alabama executing.
Quentin says again that the defense is not executing what VanGorder is dialing up.
Our linebackers are not hitting their gaps. We have the usual missed tackles and miss alignments.
The defense cannot carry out what VanGorder is trying to do.
His schemes are confusing for some of our players.
The TD pass comes on a 7-yd completion as our DBs are confused Stan White says.
Their receiver runs uncovered to the back of the end zone with no DB there.
Auburn 0 Alabama 28
We go three and out with a poor throw on 3rd down.
Alabama drives again.
Auburn 0 Alabama 35
We move the ball but Mason fumbes after a good run. The score comes on a play that typifies this season. The pass completion comes from the 30 as THREE Auburn defenders converge on the receiver at the 20 but the receiver runs thru all three of them.
Auburn 0 Alabama 42
The half mercifully ends.
THIRD QUARTER
The third quarter is the same as the first half except that Alabama only scores once. It helps that they fumble on our 7 late in the quarter. Our offense is a zero.
Auburn 0 Alabama 49
FOURTH QUARTER
Fortunately there is no scoring in the final quarter. The Tigers never come close to scoring. Tre Mason gets 4 yards in his final carry, the last play of the game, to go over 1000 yards for the season.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 0 Alabama 49
Act 1, this game is over. Act 2 comes hopefully when Chizik is fired tomorrow or Monday. Acxt 3 will come when we learn the name of the next Auburn football coach. Act 4 will come when we learn about assistant coaches and recruiting results.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Before the Storm
At least this year there is no anxiety. We know who is going to win the game. Records don't lie. Betting lines don't lie. Historically Auburn does usually play their best in this game. I would expect the same this year even under these tying circumstances. The real drama will come next week. Surely there will be an announcement next week on Chizik's future. I hope he is dismissed, but it would not surprise me if it is otherwise.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
The Alabama A & M Game
I've never liked games like this because you usually win like you should but if you lose it doesn't get much worse. In this difficult season of seasons let us hope Auburn simply takes care of business.
FIRST QUARTER
The Tigers score impressively after receiving on a long drive with mainly hard running..
AUBURN 7 A&M 0
Second possession is a repeat.
AUBURN 14 AA&M 0
Third possession Mason runs 86 yards on the first play for the score. So far Auburn is taking care of business. Against an outmanned team you gotta hit 'em early and hopefully don't let up.
AUBURN 21 A&M 0
Now the Bulldogs mount a drive. What is happening out there?
The visitors advance to the AU 40.
The quarter ends.
SECOND QUARTER
The A&M drive ends and Auburn gets a good punt runback to the Bulldog 45 but a block in the back takes the ball back inside our 10. The one negative today is that we've had 5 penalities so far.
There is a 51-yd. pass completion to Benton with a good pass from Wallace.
Auburn is quickly threatening again.
From the 5 Prosch's second carry from the 3 pushes the pile into the end zone.
11:29 in the second.
AUBURN 28 A&M 0
The Bulldogs move into Auburn territory again.
On a 4th and 1 at the AU 36 their QB easily sneaks for the first down.
On a 4th and 16 from the 40 our defense holds with 5:13 to go.
From the 28 let's see if we can score again before the half.
First down running the ball to the 41.
Mason is running well.
There is a throw to the 5 to Coates just out of his reach.
Mason crosses midfield for a first down with 3:47 to go.
But Wallace loses 10 on a sack.
Two passes and we're down to the 27.
The second ruffing the passer penalty on the Bulldogs moves the ball to the 9.
TD pass to Coates in the back of the end zone zipped it right in there after the ruffing penalty on A&M.
"I see alot of upside with Jonathan Wallace," says Stan White. He is TOUGH. He is 7 of 12 in the half.
AUBURN 35 A&M 0
The half ends with only seconds left after Auburn's last score.
THIRD QUARTER
A&M receives and drives right down the field. I don't like the sound of this.
First down at the AU 15.
There's a run to the 10.
Incomplete pass.
But they are getting receivers open.
We give up an offsides penalty to keep them in 3rd down---3rd and short.
The Bulldogs punch it in. I don't like this one bit. Is our defense coasting? Whatever---it isn't good. We should shut this team out. There goes the shutout. Are we going to have a second half meltdown?
AUBURN 35 A&M 7
All of a sudden I have a bitter taste in my mouth.
If our offense stalls all of a sudden I might start to wonder.
AU starts at the 31.
Mason to the AU 45.
Pass to Blake to the A&M 39.
Pass to Blake to the 30.
Mason loses 3. It bothers me that A&M seems to get tackelers in our backfield.
4th and 4 and Wallace has to throw the ball away.
With 7:22 to go we turn the ball over on downs. They are getting pressure on Wallace. This is not good.
A&M starts on their 33.
4th and 2 at the 41 after a holding penalty and a successful screen pass.
Thank goodness A&M punts. They should have gone for it and they probably would have made it.
Auburn starts at their 23.
Will we score again in this football game?
There's been a shakeup in the offensive line today. Not sure how well it has worked out. Not sure what is due to injuries and what is due to simply shaking things up.
A couple of runs and we are out to the 42.
The Tigers move the ball down to the A&M 29 after a pass to McCalebb.
Wallace runs for one yard.
First down at the 16 after a 12-yd. run by McCalebb.
Incomplete pass in the end zone.
They are getting too much pressure on Wallace.
Early movement by Auburn.
Incomplete pass in the end zone.
Wallace is trying so hard to hit a receiver in the end zone.
Penalty on A&M half the distance to allow AU to convert a 3rd and 15,
The quarter ends with Auburn just outside the A&M 10 with a first down.
FOURTH QUARTER
McCalebb loses 5 but then runs it in from the 15 on the second play of the quarter.
AUBURN 42 A&M 7
The Bulldogs punt.
With Frazier in AU punts for the first time with 10:34 remaining.
A&M starts on their 35.
A&M goes 3 and out as it shoulds like we have substitutes in on defense.
There is a bad snap on 4th down and the kicker kicks the ball thru the end zone for a safety.
AUBURN 44 A&M 7
AU starts at their 40.
Blakely is in there now. Grant is getting some carries.
We end up punting around midfield.
That's a 12-yrd punt. Yikes!
A&M starts on their 39 with the clock winding down. It gets sloppy at the end with Frazierr in at QB.
Less than 3 minutes to go.
We get an interception from Trent Fisher, our FIRST defensive back interception of the year, and he runs it in from about 60 yards out.
AUBURN 51 A&M 7
The game ends with no further scoring.
FINAL SCORE
AUBURN 51 A&M 7
Well, I suppose this will be our last laugh of the year. I hope we will be respectable next week and then we shall see how the coaching decision comes out. I'm predicting that Chizik will be back based on the vibes we've gotten this week.
FIRST QUARTER
The Tigers score impressively after receiving on a long drive with mainly hard running..
AUBURN 7 A&M 0
Second possession is a repeat.
AUBURN 14 AA&M 0
Third possession Mason runs 86 yards on the first play for the score. So far Auburn is taking care of business. Against an outmanned team you gotta hit 'em early and hopefully don't let up.
AUBURN 21 A&M 0
Now the Bulldogs mount a drive. What is happening out there?
The visitors advance to the AU 40.
The quarter ends.
SECOND QUARTER
The A&M drive ends and Auburn gets a good punt runback to the Bulldog 45 but a block in the back takes the ball back inside our 10. The one negative today is that we've had 5 penalities so far.
There is a 51-yd. pass completion to Benton with a good pass from Wallace.
Auburn is quickly threatening again.
From the 5 Prosch's second carry from the 3 pushes the pile into the end zone.
11:29 in the second.
AUBURN 28 A&M 0
The Bulldogs move into Auburn territory again.
On a 4th and 1 at the AU 36 their QB easily sneaks for the first down.
On a 4th and 16 from the 40 our defense holds with 5:13 to go.
From the 28 let's see if we can score again before the half.
First down running the ball to the 41.
Mason is running well.
There is a throw to the 5 to Coates just out of his reach.
Mason crosses midfield for a first down with 3:47 to go.
But Wallace loses 10 on a sack.
Two passes and we're down to the 27.
The second ruffing the passer penalty on the Bulldogs moves the ball to the 9.
TD pass to Coates in the back of the end zone zipped it right in there after the ruffing penalty on A&M.
"I see alot of upside with Jonathan Wallace," says Stan White. He is TOUGH. He is 7 of 12 in the half.
AUBURN 35 A&M 0
The half ends with only seconds left after Auburn's last score.
THIRD QUARTER
A&M receives and drives right down the field. I don't like the sound of this.
First down at the AU 15.
There's a run to the 10.
Incomplete pass.
But they are getting receivers open.
We give up an offsides penalty to keep them in 3rd down---3rd and short.
The Bulldogs punch it in. I don't like this one bit. Is our defense coasting? Whatever---it isn't good. We should shut this team out. There goes the shutout. Are we going to have a second half meltdown?
AUBURN 35 A&M 7
All of a sudden I have a bitter taste in my mouth.
If our offense stalls all of a sudden I might start to wonder.
AU starts at the 31.
Mason to the AU 45.
Pass to Blake to the A&M 39.
Pass to Blake to the 30.
Mason loses 3. It bothers me that A&M seems to get tackelers in our backfield.
4th and 4 and Wallace has to throw the ball away.
With 7:22 to go we turn the ball over on downs. They are getting pressure on Wallace. This is not good.
A&M starts on their 33.
4th and 2 at the 41 after a holding penalty and a successful screen pass.
Thank goodness A&M punts. They should have gone for it and they probably would have made it.
Auburn starts at their 23.
Will we score again in this football game?
There's been a shakeup in the offensive line today. Not sure how well it has worked out. Not sure what is due to injuries and what is due to simply shaking things up.
A couple of runs and we are out to the 42.
The Tigers move the ball down to the A&M 29 after a pass to McCalebb.
Wallace runs for one yard.
First down at the 16 after a 12-yd. run by McCalebb.
Incomplete pass in the end zone.
They are getting too much pressure on Wallace.
Early movement by Auburn.
Incomplete pass in the end zone.
Wallace is trying so hard to hit a receiver in the end zone.
Penalty on A&M half the distance to allow AU to convert a 3rd and 15,
The quarter ends with Auburn just outside the A&M 10 with a first down.
FOURTH QUARTER
McCalebb loses 5 but then runs it in from the 15 on the second play of the quarter.
AUBURN 42 A&M 7
The Bulldogs punt.
With Frazier in AU punts for the first time with 10:34 remaining.
A&M starts on their 35.
A&M goes 3 and out as it shoulds like we have substitutes in on defense.
There is a bad snap on 4th down and the kicker kicks the ball thru the end zone for a safety.
AUBURN 44 A&M 7
AU starts at their 40.
Blakely is in there now. Grant is getting some carries.
We end up punting around midfield.
That's a 12-yrd punt. Yikes!
A&M starts on their 39 with the clock winding down. It gets sloppy at the end with Frazierr in at QB.
Less than 3 minutes to go.
We get an interception from Trent Fisher, our FIRST defensive back interception of the year, and he runs it in from about 60 yards out.
AUBURN 51 A&M 7
The game ends with no further scoring.
FINAL SCORE
AUBURN 51 A&M 7
Well, I suppose this will be our last laugh of the year. I hope we will be respectable next week and then we shall see how the coaching decision comes out. I'm predicting that Chizik will be back based on the vibes we've gotten this week.
Friday, November 16, 2012
The Coaching Situation
On the day before Auburn plays Alabama A & M the coaching situation is still up in the air as far as I know. The signs this week were not hopeful that a change will be made. We read on Philip Marshall that Gogue will take a recommendation from Jay Jacobs. This evidently means that Jacobs will not be fired. I assume that Jacobs will say let's keep Chizik. Dr. Gogue is not bound by Jacobs's recommendation, but why would he not do what Jacobs says? The feeling now is that Chizik will be retained. If so, we are in for a continuing down period in Auburn football. Sooner or later Chizik will be fired. If he is retained, we are just delaying the inevitable. It could be that the only thing that would change things would be losing to Alabma A & M. That would be the most embarassing thing in the history of Auburn football in my time.
Gogue speaks to the media after today's board meeting. I read what he says on Philip's blog but can draw no conclusions. He is sticking to his plan of not announcing anything until after the season. It seems to me that he should know now what he is going to do. At least he does say that the decision on Chizik's status is entirely up to him. If he doesn't make a change, a dark cloud will hang over Auburn football.
Gogue speaks to the media after today's board meeting. I read what he says on Philip's blog but can draw no conclusions. He is sticking to his plan of not announcing anything until after the season. It seems to me that he should know now what he is going to do. At least he does say that the decision on Chizik's status is entirely up to him. If he doesn't make a change, a dark cloud will hang over Auburn football.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Georgia Game
Here we go again in this oldest rivalry in Deep South. It seems like there is always something riding on this game. Unfortunately the riding is being by Georgia alone. If the Dogs win, they go to the SEC Championship. Auburn is already assured of a losing season with a 2 & 7 record as either Chizik fights for his job or else the decision has already been made to dismiss him and nothing public has been said by Dr. Gogue. It's a strange situation. Has there ever been another Auburn-Georgia game with this kind of scenario? Not that I can remember. It's a night game on ESN
FIRST QUARTER
The Tigers receive and go three and out.
Georgia drives quickly down the field for the touchdown. The Bulldogs look animated. That was easy.
Auburn 0 Georgia 7
At this point we see that A and M beats Alabama 29 to 24. The game is preserved on an interception when Alabama had 4th and goal from the 4.
The Tigers drive looking good mixing the run and pass but mostly the pass as Wallace looks great so far.
But there is a big loss on Bray. Should have been a horse collar but no call.
2nd and 20 from the Georgia 40. Another one of those negative plays. We've seen this all year.
We punt to the end zone.
The Bulldogs start another drive as Auburn plays simple base defense. Auburn needs to mix up its looks Stan White says.
Georgia makes it look easy as our defense is static.
They have an open receiver on every play. Our defense is not there.
Georgia is methodical. We have no movement on defense.
Georgia is eating Auburn up. We get behind early like we have all year.
Our defense lines up and doesn't move.
The score comes on a pass to a wide open receiver from the 5.
Auburn 0 Georgia 14
Well, this is going to be ugly.
With Alabama's loss this game has big BCS ramifications for Georgia.
The quarter ends with Auburn facing 3rd and 10 trailing by 2 touchdowns.
SECOND QUARTER
The Tigers have to punt as they get pressure on Wallace.
Georgia starts on their 35.
The Bulldogs offense is slick and we can't stop them.
A bad call bails Georgia out of a 3rd and 7.
There's a TD pass. What the heck.
Auburn 0 Georgia 21
We are making Georgia look good. At the same time, they are clearly the better team. This could be an historic blowout in this long series.
The Tigers move from their 25 to the Bulldog 44 but have to punt to the Bulldog 10 with 7:52 to go.
The Dogs drive for another easy TD. There is no need to keep up with the details.
Auburn 0 Georgia 28
Once again we can't do anything on offense.
This time we force Georgia to punt. The problem is that seconds remain and we have the ball on the 2.
Mercifully the half ends. What is there to say? Auburn is not competitive against their oldest rival.
THIRD QUARTER
We're no good on defense and we can't sustain anything on offense.
Jonathan Wallace is 8 of 10 for 133 yards. That's the only bright spot. But where is Tre Mason?
The Bulldogs drive 75 yards right down the field mostly running right up the middle.
We consistently have missed tackles at the line of scrimmage.
Their senior QB slices and dices our defense.
I don't know what ele to say.
We hold at the 3 but give up the field goal.
Auburn 0 Georgia 31
All we can do is try and keep it respectable, but I think it's a losing battle.
Once again we are 3 and out.
We continue to see potential from J. Wallace but he is getting no help.
Georgia starts at their 29 leading prohibitively.
Georgia marches efficiently for another TD.
Auburn 0 Georgia 38
Finally Auburn starts a smart drive, BUT Emory Blake catches a pass at the 10 and then in trying to get extra yardage he fumbles at the 6 and Georgia recovers at the 11. It's just amazing how this team continually, game after game, shoots itself in the foot. Just amazing.
Thankfully the third quarter ends.
FOURTH QUARTER
On the first play of the quarter Wallace overthrows and Georgia intercepts at midfield.
Georgia punts down to the Auburn one.
Auburn punts. Georgia punts as they have obviously substituted.
Auburn somehow has the ball on their 4 yard line.
The Tigers move the ball out to midfield but have to punt when Wallace is sacked.
The game finally ends w/o Georgia scoring again. Thank goodness.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 0 Georgia 38
FIRST QUARTER
The Tigers receive and go three and out.
Georgia drives quickly down the field for the touchdown. The Bulldogs look animated. That was easy.
Auburn 0 Georgia 7
At this point we see that A and M beats Alabama 29 to 24. The game is preserved on an interception when Alabama had 4th and goal from the 4.
The Tigers drive looking good mixing the run and pass but mostly the pass as Wallace looks great so far.
But there is a big loss on Bray. Should have been a horse collar but no call.
2nd and 20 from the Georgia 40. Another one of those negative plays. We've seen this all year.
We punt to the end zone.
The Bulldogs start another drive as Auburn plays simple base defense. Auburn needs to mix up its looks Stan White says.
Georgia makes it look easy as our defense is static.
They have an open receiver on every play. Our defense is not there.
Georgia is methodical. We have no movement on defense.
Georgia is eating Auburn up. We get behind early like we have all year.
Our defense lines up and doesn't move.
The score comes on a pass to a wide open receiver from the 5.
Auburn 0 Georgia 14
Well, this is going to be ugly.
With Alabama's loss this game has big BCS ramifications for Georgia.
The quarter ends with Auburn facing 3rd and 10 trailing by 2 touchdowns.
SECOND QUARTER
The Tigers have to punt as they get pressure on Wallace.
Georgia starts on their 35.
The Bulldogs offense is slick and we can't stop them.
A bad call bails Georgia out of a 3rd and 7.
There's a TD pass. What the heck.
Auburn 0 Georgia 21
We are making Georgia look good. At the same time, they are clearly the better team. This could be an historic blowout in this long series.
The Tigers move from their 25 to the Bulldog 44 but have to punt to the Bulldog 10 with 7:52 to go.
The Dogs drive for another easy TD. There is no need to keep up with the details.
Auburn 0 Georgia 28
Once again we can't do anything on offense.
This time we force Georgia to punt. The problem is that seconds remain and we have the ball on the 2.
Mercifully the half ends. What is there to say? Auburn is not competitive against their oldest rival.
THIRD QUARTER
We're no good on defense and we can't sustain anything on offense.
Jonathan Wallace is 8 of 10 for 133 yards. That's the only bright spot. But where is Tre Mason?
The Bulldogs drive 75 yards right down the field mostly running right up the middle.
We consistently have missed tackles at the line of scrimmage.
Their senior QB slices and dices our defense.
I don't know what ele to say.
We hold at the 3 but give up the field goal.
Auburn 0 Georgia 31
All we can do is try and keep it respectable, but I think it's a losing battle.
Once again we are 3 and out.
We continue to see potential from J. Wallace but he is getting no help.
Georgia starts at their 29 leading prohibitively.
Georgia marches efficiently for another TD.
Auburn 0 Georgia 38
Finally Auburn starts a smart drive, BUT Emory Blake catches a pass at the 10 and then in trying to get extra yardage he fumbles at the 6 and Georgia recovers at the 11. It's just amazing how this team continually, game after game, shoots itself in the foot. Just amazing.
Thankfully the third quarter ends.
FOURTH QUARTER
On the first play of the quarter Wallace overthrows and Georgia intercepts at midfield.
Georgia punts down to the Auburn one.
Auburn punts. Georgia punts as they have obviously substituted.
Auburn somehow has the ball on their 4 yard line.
The Tigers move the ball out to midfield but have to punt when Wallace is sacked.
The game finally ends w/o Georgia scoring again. Thank goodness.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 0 Georgia 38
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The New Mexico State Game
How strange this is. The game is on CSS but we don't get CSS. It's like the old days of listening on the radio. Maybe it's best I can't see the game! Everyone knows that Auburn will likely have a new football coach next though nothing has been said by administration. We continue to wait for developments. In the meantime Auburn at 1 & 7 plays an Aggie team with an identical record. It's a homecoming 11:30 kickoff. The only question today is whether Auburn comes to play or if they've packed it in for the season.
FIRST QUARTER
Even against a 23 point underdog team it's the same song, different verse for the Tigers.
After being minus 5 yards in our first 2 possession, the Tigers advance to the Aggie 44 before Wallace tries to hit a long pass to Coates but the pass is intercepted at the 2 yard line.
Earlier in the quarter the Aggies advance to the Tiger 29 but our defense holds on 4th and 1.
In the early going it feels like we are going to lose this game or at best win by a close margin. This is not historic Auburn football.
New Mexico State is a short passing team, the kind of offense that drives our defense crazy.
The first quarter ends with NMS facing a 4th and 10 on the AU 30 after moving the ball from their 2 yard line.
Auburn 0 New Mexico State 0
SECOND QUARTER
On the first play of the second quarter the Aggies miss a 47-yd. FG attempt.
The Tigers are 3 and out. Our offense once again cannot move the ball even against this team.
We are trying to throw the ball rather than line up and run the ball behind Prosch.
Our coaches must think we can't run the ball straight up.
Our offense will not commit to try and establish something. We seem to run a little bit of everything without establishing anything.
After our punt NMS is quickly to the Auburn 48.
Our defense holds and we fair catch the punt on the 11.
Our coaches are letting Wallace throw deep. Interesting though not much succss so far.
The Tigers move out to midfield.
Prosch runs for the first down on 3rd and 2. If only the rest of our team was as tough as Prosch!
There's a pass completion to Blake to the Aggie 32.
There's a nice run by McCalebb to the 22.
Mason runs to the 13.
Mason to the 11 for the first down.
Mason to the 5.
Mason for the touchdown.
Finally we show some smashmouth football with 4:56 to go in the first half.
Auburn 7 New Mexico State 0
After one first down the Aggies are punting with 3:23 to go.
Bray faircatches at the 10 when he should have had room to run. Big mistake.
We go 3 and out as we disappointingly can't convert a 3rd and 2 from the 18 from a heavy set.
There's still plenty of time for New Mexico State to score.
NMS starts at their 39 with 1:13 to go.
The first half ends on an Aggie punt.
I suppose this is what we could have expected. Our offense struggles like it has all year, manages one touchdrive drive, but there is no consistency as has been the case all year. We are saved so far by the same inconsistency on the part of the opponent's offense. This game is not in the bag by any means. In any event, there is no cause for optimism at the half of this game.
Auburn 7 New Mexico State 0
THIRD QUARTER
The Tigers get the ball first.
I don't understand why we don't line up and run Tre Mason and throw off play action.
At the half Chizik says we need some turnovers. We shouldn't need turnovers to beat this team.
Auburn hasn't had an interception in 8 weeks.
The Tigers march 80 yards for the touchdown. Along the way Mason runs for 32 yards and Blake makes a 15 yard catch. McCalebb also has a big run.
Prosch bulls his way in from the one for the score. It's good to see Prosch score one.
7 plays for 80 yards.
Auburn 14 New Mexico State 0
Okay, so the second half starts like a dream. What will happen now?
Will our defense continue to hold up? Will our offense continue from here or fold like it has the rest of the year so far? What will happen in the fourth quarter?
The kickoff is returned to the 23.
Bates picks up a fumble and runs it back 61 yards for the touchdown! Our annoucers praise the runback including a ferocious stiff-arm by Bates around the 15. Bates dives into the end zone and picks up an unsportsmanlike penalty enforced on the kickoff.
Auburn 21 New Nexico State 0
Parkey kicksoff out of bounds and because of the penalty the Aggies start at midfield.
We push them back to the 41. It sounds like the defense is aroused.
The punt rolls to the Auburn 4. Let's be careful, offense.
6:24 to go in the third quarter.
Our announcers say that Wallace has pocket presence. He is doing a good job so far.
There's a clutch 3rd down completion to Blake to the Auburn 36.
McCalebb runs to the Aggie 46.
MCalebb runs 38 yards untouched to the end zone! That was an easy TD run Stan White says.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 0
The Aggies are 3 and out and Bray almost returns the punt for the score.
Wallace gets pressure but continues to look downfield. He is obviously our best quarterback. He has the maturity far beyond that of a freshman. He is much better than our other two quarterbacks.
Parkey misses a 47-yd. FG attempt with 7 seconds left in the quarter.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 0
FOURTH QUARTER
Auburn outscores the Aggies 21 to 0 in thei third quarter. We do not need a 4th quarter meltdown.
The Aggies get a long 51 yard pass completion and they are inside the Auburn 5.
The visitors run it in from the 2. The fourth quarter is not off to a good start with 12:26 left. Come on, guys. Don't let this game get close.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 7
McCalebb runs the kickoff back to the Auburn 45.
Mason runs for 8.
Mason explodes to the NMS 7.
McCalebb runs it in from the 7.
That didn't take long! 3 plays. 55 yards.
Auburn 35 New Mexico State 7
Don't get sloppy, defense.
Okay. The Aggies go 3 and out.
Bray fields the ball and is dropped at the Auburn 23 with 10:27 to go.
Blakely joins the fun and runs hard. Three runs for the first down.
There's a long pass to the Aggie 44 to Ricardo Louis.
Blakely to the 39 for 4 yards.
There's a touchdown pass to Reed for 39 yards! Reed is open in the middle and Wallace does a great job of making the pass. It's about time we saw something big from Trovon Reed. All I hear all game is good things from our announcers about Jonathan Wallace. If nothing else this year, we have found our quarterback.
Auburn 42 New Mexico State 7
As the game winds down Auburn recovers a punt muff at the Aggie 18 but cannot advance the ball beyond the 15 going for it on 4th down as Frazier plays the last minutes with Corey Grant in the backfield. NMS drives into AU territory but the game ends on a sack by the defense.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 42 New Mexico State 7
I do not know what the rest of the season holds. I do not know the fate of Gene Chizik. I do not know if this game result has any significance. What I do know is that our quarterback is Jonathan Wallace.
FIRST QUARTER
Even against a 23 point underdog team it's the same song, different verse for the Tigers.
After being minus 5 yards in our first 2 possession, the Tigers advance to the Aggie 44 before Wallace tries to hit a long pass to Coates but the pass is intercepted at the 2 yard line.
Earlier in the quarter the Aggies advance to the Tiger 29 but our defense holds on 4th and 1.
In the early going it feels like we are going to lose this game or at best win by a close margin. This is not historic Auburn football.
New Mexico State is a short passing team, the kind of offense that drives our defense crazy.
The first quarter ends with NMS facing a 4th and 10 on the AU 30 after moving the ball from their 2 yard line.
Auburn 0 New Mexico State 0
SECOND QUARTER
On the first play of the second quarter the Aggies miss a 47-yd. FG attempt.
The Tigers are 3 and out. Our offense once again cannot move the ball even against this team.
We are trying to throw the ball rather than line up and run the ball behind Prosch.
Our coaches must think we can't run the ball straight up.
Our offense will not commit to try and establish something. We seem to run a little bit of everything without establishing anything.
After our punt NMS is quickly to the Auburn 48.
Our defense holds and we fair catch the punt on the 11.
Our coaches are letting Wallace throw deep. Interesting though not much succss so far.
The Tigers move out to midfield.
Prosch runs for the first down on 3rd and 2. If only the rest of our team was as tough as Prosch!
There's a pass completion to Blake to the Aggie 32.
There's a nice run by McCalebb to the 22.
Mason runs to the 13.
Mason to the 11 for the first down.
Mason to the 5.
Mason for the touchdown.
Finally we show some smashmouth football with 4:56 to go in the first half.
Auburn 7 New Mexico State 0
After one first down the Aggies are punting with 3:23 to go.
Bray faircatches at the 10 when he should have had room to run. Big mistake.
We go 3 and out as we disappointingly can't convert a 3rd and 2 from the 18 from a heavy set.
There's still plenty of time for New Mexico State to score.
NMS starts at their 39 with 1:13 to go.
The first half ends on an Aggie punt.
I suppose this is what we could have expected. Our offense struggles like it has all year, manages one touchdrive drive, but there is no consistency as has been the case all year. We are saved so far by the same inconsistency on the part of the opponent's offense. This game is not in the bag by any means. In any event, there is no cause for optimism at the half of this game.
Auburn 7 New Mexico State 0
THIRD QUARTER
The Tigers get the ball first.
I don't understand why we don't line up and run Tre Mason and throw off play action.
At the half Chizik says we need some turnovers. We shouldn't need turnovers to beat this team.
Auburn hasn't had an interception in 8 weeks.
The Tigers march 80 yards for the touchdown. Along the way Mason runs for 32 yards and Blake makes a 15 yard catch. McCalebb also has a big run.
Prosch bulls his way in from the one for the score. It's good to see Prosch score one.
7 plays for 80 yards.
Auburn 14 New Mexico State 0
Okay, so the second half starts like a dream. What will happen now?
Will our defense continue to hold up? Will our offense continue from here or fold like it has the rest of the year so far? What will happen in the fourth quarter?
The kickoff is returned to the 23.
Bates picks up a fumble and runs it back 61 yards for the touchdown! Our annoucers praise the runback including a ferocious stiff-arm by Bates around the 15. Bates dives into the end zone and picks up an unsportsmanlike penalty enforced on the kickoff.
Auburn 21 New Nexico State 0
Parkey kicksoff out of bounds and because of the penalty the Aggies start at midfield.
We push them back to the 41. It sounds like the defense is aroused.
The punt rolls to the Auburn 4. Let's be careful, offense.
6:24 to go in the third quarter.
Our announcers say that Wallace has pocket presence. He is doing a good job so far.
There's a clutch 3rd down completion to Blake to the Auburn 36.
McCalebb runs to the Aggie 46.
MCalebb runs 38 yards untouched to the end zone! That was an easy TD run Stan White says.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 0
The Aggies are 3 and out and Bray almost returns the punt for the score.
Wallace gets pressure but continues to look downfield. He is obviously our best quarterback. He has the maturity far beyond that of a freshman. He is much better than our other two quarterbacks.
Parkey misses a 47-yd. FG attempt with 7 seconds left in the quarter.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 0
FOURTH QUARTER
Auburn outscores the Aggies 21 to 0 in thei third quarter. We do not need a 4th quarter meltdown.
The Aggies get a long 51 yard pass completion and they are inside the Auburn 5.
The visitors run it in from the 2. The fourth quarter is not off to a good start with 12:26 left. Come on, guys. Don't let this game get close.
Auburn 28 New Mexico State 7
McCalebb runs the kickoff back to the Auburn 45.
Mason runs for 8.
Mason explodes to the NMS 7.
McCalebb runs it in from the 7.
That didn't take long! 3 plays. 55 yards.
Auburn 35 New Mexico State 7
Don't get sloppy, defense.
Okay. The Aggies go 3 and out.
Bray fields the ball and is dropped at the Auburn 23 with 10:27 to go.
Blakely joins the fun and runs hard. Three runs for the first down.
There's a long pass to the Aggie 44 to Ricardo Louis.
Blakely to the 39 for 4 yards.
There's a touchdown pass to Reed for 39 yards! Reed is open in the middle and Wallace does a great job of making the pass. It's about time we saw something big from Trovon Reed. All I hear all game is good things from our announcers about Jonathan Wallace. If nothing else this year, we have found our quarterback.
Auburn 42 New Mexico State 7
As the game winds down Auburn recovers a punt muff at the Aggie 18 but cannot advance the ball beyond the 15 going for it on 4th down as Frazier plays the last minutes with Corey Grant in the backfield. NMS drives into AU territory but the game ends on a sack by the defense.
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 42 New Mexico State 7
I do not know what the rest of the season holds. I do not know the fate of Gene Chizik. I do not know if this game result has any significance. What I do know is that our quarterback is Jonathan Wallace.
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