The Tigers open the 2013 season at home against the Cougars of Mike Leach. I think AU is maybe a 14-point favorite or so. No reason to think it won't be a high scoring game. WSU scores alot and gives up a lot. I see where they averaged only 29 yards a game rushing last year. That is amazing. How can you win like that? I see online before the game starts that Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter are unavailable due to injuries. We knew already that Dee Ford is out. We will be thin across the defensive front tonight. The Gus Malzahn Era begins.
FIRST QUARTER
WSU receives starting at their 25.
The Cougars move the ball out to midfield.
The Cougars move the ball to the AU 39.
The Cougars move the ball to the AU 27.
Pass after pass.
Five yard procedure penalty moves the ball back 5 yards.
There is a nice completion down inside the 5.
Incomplete pass into the end zone.
2nd and goal from the 4.
Their only running play is the draw and there it is for the muscle TD up the middle. Okay. WSU marches right down the field in their opening possession. That was way too easy.
Auburn 0 WSU 7
After one first down AU has to punt. Our offense does not look good on its first possession.
WSU gets the ball back on their own 33 already leading 7 to 0.
The Cougars move the ball again but we hold at the AU 44.
Holy Cow! The punt is downed inside our one yard line!
6:45 to go in the first quarter.
After one first down AU punts again.
The Cougars start at their 35.
There is BIG interception by Robinson Therezie!
AU is at the WSU 28.
First and goal at the 8 after a completion to Bray.
Great run by Tre Mason from the 8 from the touchdown.
THEN AU goes for 2 and Ryan White the holder runs it in!!! Amazing!
The play is reviewed but it stands.
It was a strange play the way Auburn lined but the snap went directly to a standing White with Parkay split out. Strange indeed.
Auburn 8 WSU 7
WS starts from their 25.
The Cougars go and out. We get pressure on their QB finally. Our DBs are in their face more.
AU will start on their 36.
1:25 left in the first quarter.
Ricardo Louis drops a pass and the Tigers go three and out. Should have been a first down.
WSU will start on their 12 with 6 seconds left in the quarter.
First play and Holsey intercepts!!! That's two picks in the first quarter.
Holsey leaps up and picks it off.
The quarter starts with the Tigers on the Cougar 45 starting a possession.
SECOND QUARTER
The possession ends when Cody Parkay misses a 50 yd. FG attempt.
Nick Marshall is showing an awesome arm but he is overthrowing receivers.
WSU on their 33.
Since the first Cougar possession our defense has stepped up.
If we lose this game based on what I've seen so far it's the inconsistency of our offense.
We could not take advantage of that last interception.
WSU will still score more points. Our offense will have to show up.
The Cougars drive like they did on their first drive picking us apart with short passes.
The TD pass comes from the 7. That pass was too easy. Their offense is bettering our defense. Here we go. This game will go to the wire.
Auburn 8 WSU 14
WOW! Tre Mason returns the kickoff 100 yards for the touchdown!!!
He runs right, turns it up the field and flat outruns 3 Cougars who seemed to have an angle on him.
Auburn 15 WSU 14
There is a long pass to a wide-open receiver and he runs a long way down to the AU 1.
WSU regains the lead quickly. It only takes them 5 plays. Boy oh boy. This is scary.
Auburn 15 WSU 21
The problem is that our offense is not consistent.
We can't win on kickoff returns.
Q says our defense is tired. Our offense has to move the ball. We have to run the ball and rest the defense. Our passing game is not in rhythm. We must run the ball and protect our defense.
Can we establish the run?
Well, this is not what we expected, but we'll take it.
On the first play from the AU 25 Corey Grant turns the left corner and speeds down the sidelines 75 yards for the touchdown. What blazing speed this kid has! He is faster than McCalebb.
Auburn 22 WSU 21
Is this wild or what?
Defensively we will not sack their QB but our lineman need to get their hands in the air which is the best chance to create more interception opportunities.
6:06 to go. This will be a LONG game.
Our defense didn't much rest. WSU at their 25.
A sack on the first play by freshman Montravious Adams.
The Cougars have picked on Mincy the whole game. Now he is down on the field.
We are thin at DB for sure.
The Tigers hold with 4th and 2 and the Cougar 45. Great play by Davis.
After one first down Cody Parkay kicks a 47-yd. field goal with 1:11 to go in the half.
Auburn 25 WSU 21
WSU is 3 and out and punts with 22 seconds left.
AU at their 32 with 14 seconds left.
The half ends with the Tigers up by 4.
THIRD QUARTER
As the third quarter begins it seems like it's one of those games where you think that the last team with the ball will have the chance to win. We get the ball to start the second half. It would be nice to do something with the ball first thing. Our offense has not been consistent. Our defense has had its moments. We've been saved so far by two interceptions, a kickoff return by Tre Mason, and a 75 yard TD run by Corey Grant. We have to match them score for score. Isn't this sort of what we expected?
AU gets the ball to start the half starting from our 25.
We go 3 and out. This is NOT what we needed. No surge in the line on 3rd and short. Chad Slade messed up.
Not good. Not good.
At least there is a good punt to the Cougar 13.
We did not need to go three and out on our first possession. Not good. Not good.
We needed to start the half with momentum. WSU picks up a first down but then has to punt. Mincy misses an easy interception.
A good punt return and AU starts on their 47.
Will our offense show up in this half? It has to if we are to win this football game.
There is a 35 -yd. completion to Coates to the 18.
We move to a first and goal at the 4.
But there's a holding call and we are back to the 15. Bad call.
After a first and goal at the 4 and a questionable holding call we have the kick the short FG.
Auburn 28 WSU 21
Parkay kicks out of bounds. WSU at their 35. Not good.
I would bet the house that WSU will score a touchdown right here.
I do notice that Montravious Adams is playing well.
The Cougars drive and we cannot stop them.
Our defense stiffens and WSU kicks the 43-yd. FG.
Auburn 28 WSU 24
We are still waiting for a consistent offensive drive. Come on, guys.
We drive to the WSU 38 but two misfires on wide-open receivers force a punt to the Cougar 10.
That was a tale of missed opportunities. Should have had a TD pass twice.
WSU drives as the quarter ends. This is scary. AU had an interception at the Cougar 31 but it was not reviewed. Our announcers are incredulous.
FOURTH QUARTER
The final quarter starts with Auburn clinging to a 4-point lead with the visitors driving. That interception that was not reviewed looms large. Oh, my. It was not reviewed because one official overruled another and called it an incomplete pass.
Our announcers say this is dicey. We've missed opportunties offensively.
Unbelievable that interception wasn't reviewed.
The drive ends at the Cougar 48.
Auburn begins at their 15 with a little more than 14 minutes left in this football game.
The Tigers drive running the football. Cameron Artis-Payne makes a great run on 3rd and short down to the WSU 31.
He is clearly tackled out of bounds but there is no call. Unbelievable.
The drive stalls and Parkay kicks a 42-yd. FG.
This is not going to be easy. This game is far from over.
Auburn 31 WSU 24
So far Grant and Artis-Payne have looked better and out-gained Mason.
9:02 to go. It will be a lifetime.
The visitors drive to a first and goal at the 8 but the Tigers intercept with Therezie in the end zone. Is that huge or what???
But then Mason puts the ball on the ground after a run to midfield. Golly, gee. Our first turnover in the game comes a critical time to say the least. Our defense is right back on the field.
Here come WSU again as the clock winds down.
The play of the game so far comes to 4th and 5 at the 27 and the pass is overthrown. Auburn holds with a little more than 2 minutes to play.
Can our offense hold the ball the rest of the game?
The secondary is markedly improved. Our announcers praise Robinson Therezie.
Mason gains 8 on the first play and WSU calls timeout with 1:59 left. AU at the 35.
Mason runs for the first down.
Mason gains 4 and Mike Leach calls his last timeout with 1:20 left.
The Tigers run out the clock.
The Malzahn Era begins with a W. I think the game went about like we could have expected. I do think our defense has improved over last year. The offense wasn't as smooth as we might have expected, but that's okay. It is obvious that Nick Marshall has great atheltic ability. The offense will improve game by game.
Final Score
Auburn 31 Washington State 24
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
The Day Before
We come to the day before the start of another Auburn football season. I have truly followed Auburn football closely since 1967. It's so different now than in the "old days" before almost every game was TV and we listed on the radio. We can more now with our own eyes and draw our own conclusions.
There is no reason not to think that a lot of points will be scored tonight vs. a Mike Leach Washington State team. Both teams are coming off 3 & 9 seasons. I like to think that we can run the ball better than the Cougars and we are at Jordan-Hare but still if we win we will give up a lot of points.
As always we shall see.
There is no reason not to think that a lot of points will be scored tonight vs. a Mike Leach Washington State team. Both teams are coming off 3 & 9 seasons. I like to think that we can run the ball better than the Cougars and we are at Jordan-Hare but still if we win we will give up a lot of points.
As always we shall see.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
A Week from Today
A week from today Auburn's 2013 football season will start with a night game at Jordan-Hare against Mike Leach's Washington State. The Gus Malzahn era begins.
Excitement is high with a new coaching staff. Expectations seem to be modest. If only we can have a winning season---something like that. That's okay since Auburn seems to do best when least expected.
JC transfer Nick Marshall wins the QB job. We hear good things about the offensive line. The receiving position is supposed to be thin, the running back position strong led by thousand yard rusher Tre Mason. The defense is expected to give up points. We get good vibes from defensive line coach Rodney Garner. Dee Ford, our best DE, will miss at least the first game. Demetruce McNeal, our best safety, was dismissed from the team, yet we get good vibes regarding the secondary.
The line is something like 14. I'll take a win any way we an get it.
Excitement is high with a new coaching staff. Expectations seem to be modest. If only we can have a winning season---something like that. That's okay since Auburn seems to do best when least expected.
JC transfer Nick Marshall wins the QB job. We hear good things about the offensive line. The receiving position is supposed to be thin, the running back position strong led by thousand yard rusher Tre Mason. The defense is expected to give up points. We get good vibes from defensive line coach Rodney Garner. Dee Ford, our best DE, will miss at least the first game. Demetruce McNeal, our best safety, was dismissed from the team, yet we get good vibes regarding the secondary.
The line is something like 14. I'll take a win any way we an get it.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Tales from SEC BeachFest: Coaches - Steve Spurrier's Worst Putdown
BY Mark Inabinett
20 August 2013
GULF SHORES, Alabama - During SEC BeachFest over the weekend, the 22 former coaches and players had a lot to say about their former coaches and their coaching rivals. Here are some excerpts:
CHRIS DOERING ON STEVE SPURRIER
Chris Doering set the SEC record for career touchdown receptions while playing for coach Steve Spurrier at Florida from 1992 through 1995. Now Spurrier is coaching South Carolina:
"Some people referred to him as the Evil Genius. He wanted us to refer to him as the Head Ball Coach. ... The biggest insult you could ever have when you came off the field after making a mistake: 'That's all right. Not your fault. My fault for putting you in there.' Not a more demeaning feeling than to have him tell you that. He didn't have to yell or throw the visor. ... The job he's done at South Carolina: They had no history of success there, with all due respect to George Rogers. They have no facilities. They haven't been able to recruit every well. Now all of a sudden, they've turned the tide. They've gotten every player they wanted out of the state of South Carolina now. And he's done it a little differently than he did it at Florida. He did it without the big passing game. He's done it by playing defense and running the football, which I know drives him crazy. But I think that shows the discipline that he has and his desire to win that he'd give up what he loves doing the most to get those W's on Saturday."
BEN LEARD ON TERRY BOWDEN
Ben Leard played for Auburn from 1997 through 2000. He started his career on the Plains under coach Terry Bowden:
"From Sunday to Friday, he was quite quirky. He just didn't connect with you. He kind of stayed off on the sidelines and monitored from a distance. But ... coach Bowden was an in-game genius. He could do things and make plays and draw question marks around certain defensive strategies and things that really made Dameyune (Craig), who I backed up for two years, understand what they were trying to accomplish. Now Dameyune was a tremendous athlete who could make plays on his own, but coach Bowden just had a knack. He had a knack to be able to do things on Saturdays that not many football coaches could do, and he had a way to deliver that to the football team so they could accomplish whatever goal it was he had in mind."
BEN LEARD ON TOMMY TUBERVILLE
Ben Leard was the starting quarterback on coach Tommy Tuberville's first two teams at Auburn:
"Coach Tubs was a blue-collar guy. Coach Tubs would basically tell us, 'Guys, if you score 17 points a game, I expect to win,' because he was so defensive-minded. ... He felt like his defensive football team should be able to hold an opposing offense to 16 or less. And that's the way we operated. I got threatened to be benched at least a dozen times a game because I'd check from a run to a pass. Third-and-long, first-and-10 or whatever, he wanted to run the clock down, play ball-control offense, and not to mention we had a guy behind me that could run the football pretty well, too. So he felt like he was hedging his bets giving the ball to Rudi (Johnson) more so than me putting the ball up in the air threatening an interception."
BEN LEARD ON GUS MALZAHN
The former Auburn quarterback is full of confidence about the job that former Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will do now that he's the head coach on the Plains:
"He obviously had a tremendous amount of success in 2009 and 2010 and that was obviously expedited quite a bit by a kid who wore No. 2 in Cam Newton. But we'll take it any way we can get it. I am really, really excited not only about coach Malzahn coming back, but I'm excited about the staff he brought with him. ... They're tremendous recruiters, but the biggest thing is they're great football coaches. On top of that, they're going to coach those kids hard. Auburn will be a disciplined football team from the word 'go.' But the best thing about it is they'll coach them hard, but they'll love them, too. At the end of the day, these are kids that are 17, 18 years old that are away from their parents, away from their families, and as soon as they get on a college campus they don't know which end is up. They're going to treat them that way. I'm extremely, extremely excited and looking forward to this football season. I don't know if it's relative to the lack of success from 2012, but I'm really looking forward to what they have coming in the years to come in trying to compete with the other side of the state."
DAVID GREENE ON MARK RICHT
Quarterback David Greene became the SEC's career leader in passing yards while playing for coach Mark Richt's first four teams at Georgia:
"There's a misconception of coach Richt. Everybody just thinks he's just laid-back and never gets fired up. But it's really just the opposite, I'd say, during the week. Coach Richt has actually got plenty of fire in his belly, but he always made this comment that if he gets too worked up on game day, he doesn't think clearly. So he actually forces himself on game day to just stay calm no matter what's going on because he feels like, 'If I get too fired up, I'm not going to make clear decisions.'"
PHILLIP FULMER ON FRIENDLY RIVALS
Phillip Fulmer served as Tennessee's head coach for 16 seasons and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He said any hatchets from his coaching days are long buried and he enjoys coming to events such as SEC BeachFest and visiting with his former rivals:
"We probably were fierce competitors, but we were also very respectful of each other in most cases. Everybody in the SEC, and to some degree even in coaching period, is intertwined. Coach (Pat) Dye had the great Auburn run, but before that he was at Alabama. He recruited me when he was (as assistant coach) at Alabama and I was a high school kid. We were laughing last night about all that. I have unbelievable great respect for coach (Gene) Stallings and all that he's accomplished. R.C. (Slocum) and I just went into the Hall of Fame together. We've been friends for 20 years. Coach (Jerry) Stovall and the list goes on and on with people that you enjoy and respect. I kid them that I'm younger than most of them, and I have some fun with that occasionally."
MATT JONES ON BRET BIELEMA
Matt Jones played quarterback at Arkansas from 2001 through 2004. He said there are precedents indicating Razorbacks new coach Bret Bielema will do well after leaving Wisconsin for the SEC:
"You look at the Big Ten success. Nick Saban, right? Les Miles. And the way they go about that -- that kind of road plan. Run the ball, be physical, control the clock, control the tempo. Here's a stat: Last three years, coach Bielema's teams only had one double-digit loss. They had nine losses in the last three years, they were all but one single-digit losses. That tells you they're disciplined, they're smart, they're going to be able to stay in the game. We're excited at Arkansas. We definitely think we got one of the best coaches in the country."
R.C. SLOCUM ON RESPECT
R.C. Slocum has more victories than any coach in Texas A&M history. Now, he's in the College Football Hall of Fame. He said most coaches are not adversaries:
"I would say that there might be a few of those kinds of contentious relationships, but by and large, coaches respect each other. They compete hard against each other, but that's really what competition should be about. I tried to teach my players, I never taught hate. I thought the world has enough hate in it without coaches teaching kids how to hate. I talked in terms of respect - really doing your best and going out and giving your best effort to win the game and playing out of respect for your opponent. Those kids, a lot of times in Texas, the guys that would be on the other team were guys I knew their parents and I tried to recruit them and I had high school teammates of theirs, so there's no way I was going to have animosity toward them. No one knows how difficult coaching is better than coaches, so you look at your opponent a lot of times that he's going through the same challenges you are, so you develop a respect for them, especially the good guys, and most coaches I met during my career I would consider good guys."
20 August 2013
GULF SHORES, Alabama - During SEC BeachFest over the weekend, the 22 former coaches and players had a lot to say about their former coaches and their coaching rivals. Here are some excerpts:
CHRIS DOERING ON STEVE SPURRIER
Chris Doering set the SEC record for career touchdown receptions while playing for coach Steve Spurrier at Florida from 1992 through 1995. Now Spurrier is coaching South Carolina:
"Some people referred to him as the Evil Genius. He wanted us to refer to him as the Head Ball Coach. ... The biggest insult you could ever have when you came off the field after making a mistake: 'That's all right. Not your fault. My fault for putting you in there.' Not a more demeaning feeling than to have him tell you that. He didn't have to yell or throw the visor. ... The job he's done at South Carolina: They had no history of success there, with all due respect to George Rogers. They have no facilities. They haven't been able to recruit every well. Now all of a sudden, they've turned the tide. They've gotten every player they wanted out of the state of South Carolina now. And he's done it a little differently than he did it at Florida. He did it without the big passing game. He's done it by playing defense and running the football, which I know drives him crazy. But I think that shows the discipline that he has and his desire to win that he'd give up what he loves doing the most to get those W's on Saturday."
BEN LEARD ON TERRY BOWDEN
Ben Leard played for Auburn from 1997 through 2000. He started his career on the Plains under coach Terry Bowden:
"From Sunday to Friday, he was quite quirky. He just didn't connect with you. He kind of stayed off on the sidelines and monitored from a distance. But ... coach Bowden was an in-game genius. He could do things and make plays and draw question marks around certain defensive strategies and things that really made Dameyune (Craig), who I backed up for two years, understand what they were trying to accomplish. Now Dameyune was a tremendous athlete who could make plays on his own, but coach Bowden just had a knack. He had a knack to be able to do things on Saturdays that not many football coaches could do, and he had a way to deliver that to the football team so they could accomplish whatever goal it was he had in mind."
BEN LEARD ON TOMMY TUBERVILLE
Ben Leard was the starting quarterback on coach Tommy Tuberville's first two teams at Auburn:
"Coach Tubs was a blue-collar guy. Coach Tubs would basically tell us, 'Guys, if you score 17 points a game, I expect to win,' because he was so defensive-minded. ... He felt like his defensive football team should be able to hold an opposing offense to 16 or less. And that's the way we operated. I got threatened to be benched at least a dozen times a game because I'd check from a run to a pass. Third-and-long, first-and-10 or whatever, he wanted to run the clock down, play ball-control offense, and not to mention we had a guy behind me that could run the football pretty well, too. So he felt like he was hedging his bets giving the ball to Rudi (Johnson) more so than me putting the ball up in the air threatening an interception."
BEN LEARD ON GUS MALZAHN
The former Auburn quarterback is full of confidence about the job that former Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will do now that he's the head coach on the Plains:
"He obviously had a tremendous amount of success in 2009 and 2010 and that was obviously expedited quite a bit by a kid who wore No. 2 in Cam Newton. But we'll take it any way we can get it. I am really, really excited not only about coach Malzahn coming back, but I'm excited about the staff he brought with him. ... They're tremendous recruiters, but the biggest thing is they're great football coaches. On top of that, they're going to coach those kids hard. Auburn will be a disciplined football team from the word 'go.' But the best thing about it is they'll coach them hard, but they'll love them, too. At the end of the day, these are kids that are 17, 18 years old that are away from their parents, away from their families, and as soon as they get on a college campus they don't know which end is up. They're going to treat them that way. I'm extremely, extremely excited and looking forward to this football season. I don't know if it's relative to the lack of success from 2012, but I'm really looking forward to what they have coming in the years to come in trying to compete with the other side of the state."
DAVID GREENE ON MARK RICHT
Quarterback David Greene became the SEC's career leader in passing yards while playing for coach Mark Richt's first four teams at Georgia:
"There's a misconception of coach Richt. Everybody just thinks he's just laid-back and never gets fired up. But it's really just the opposite, I'd say, during the week. Coach Richt has actually got plenty of fire in his belly, but he always made this comment that if he gets too worked up on game day, he doesn't think clearly. So he actually forces himself on game day to just stay calm no matter what's going on because he feels like, 'If I get too fired up, I'm not going to make clear decisions.'"
PHILLIP FULMER ON FRIENDLY RIVALS
Phillip Fulmer served as Tennessee's head coach for 16 seasons and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He said any hatchets from his coaching days are long buried and he enjoys coming to events such as SEC BeachFest and visiting with his former rivals:
"We probably were fierce competitors, but we were also very respectful of each other in most cases. Everybody in the SEC, and to some degree even in coaching period, is intertwined. Coach (Pat) Dye had the great Auburn run, but before that he was at Alabama. He recruited me when he was (as assistant coach) at Alabama and I was a high school kid. We were laughing last night about all that. I have unbelievable great respect for coach (Gene) Stallings and all that he's accomplished. R.C. (Slocum) and I just went into the Hall of Fame together. We've been friends for 20 years. Coach (Jerry) Stovall and the list goes on and on with people that you enjoy and respect. I kid them that I'm younger than most of them, and I have some fun with that occasionally."
MATT JONES ON BRET BIELEMA
Matt Jones played quarterback at Arkansas from 2001 through 2004. He said there are precedents indicating Razorbacks new coach Bret Bielema will do well after leaving Wisconsin for the SEC:
"You look at the Big Ten success. Nick Saban, right? Les Miles. And the way they go about that -- that kind of road plan. Run the ball, be physical, control the clock, control the tempo. Here's a stat: Last three years, coach Bielema's teams only had one double-digit loss. They had nine losses in the last three years, they were all but one single-digit losses. That tells you they're disciplined, they're smart, they're going to be able to stay in the game. We're excited at Arkansas. We definitely think we got one of the best coaches in the country."
R.C. SLOCUM ON RESPECT
R.C. Slocum has more victories than any coach in Texas A&M history. Now, he's in the College Football Hall of Fame. He said most coaches are not adversaries:
"I would say that there might be a few of those kinds of contentious relationships, but by and large, coaches respect each other. They compete hard against each other, but that's really what competition should be about. I tried to teach my players, I never taught hate. I thought the world has enough hate in it without coaches teaching kids how to hate. I talked in terms of respect - really doing your best and going out and giving your best effort to win the game and playing out of respect for your opponent. Those kids, a lot of times in Texas, the guys that would be on the other team were guys I knew their parents and I tried to recruit them and I had high school teammates of theirs, so there's no way I was going to have animosity toward them. No one knows how difficult coaching is better than coaches, so you look at your opponent a lot of times that he's going through the same challenges you are, so you develop a respect for them, especially the good guys, and most coaches I met during my career I would consider good guys."
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