12/06/02 - Finally getting around to doing the review. Auburn finally put all the pieces together in this great Iron Bowl Win. Jason Campbell really took control of the game and directed the offense to all the points they would nee din the first half. Our defense played spectatularly! Kudos to everyone. The Tigers should perform well in their bowl game and have a good season in 2003 and should be the favorite to win the west. Robert Johnson shined inhis 2 TD catches and how about Tre Smith perofrming as a former 4th stringer at tailback! Cooper Wallace filled in at Fullback quite well.
Auburn's bowl future depends on the SEC Championship. If Georgia wins, they will play Penn State in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day and will verify my prediction on 8/29/02 (see below) of an 8-4 season and an bowl bid! - Just the wrong bowl (Capital One instead) If Arkansas wins there will be a shuffle that sends Auburn to Nashville to play Minnesota in the Music City Bowl onthe 30th of December.
11/25/02 - WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17-7
Update will come Wednesday.
11/22/02 - IRON BOWL 2002 PREVIEW
The only thing playing in Auburn's favor for this one is history. Auburn had never lost or been scored on when playing Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This is a very misleading statistic. The record is 3-0 and two of those games were in the McKinley/Roosevelt adminstration. The only modern win/shutout was in a horrific sleet storm.
I have to admit that top to bottom, Alabam has a better team at ths time. Given Auburn's injuries to it's ofensive arsenal, the defense will be under even more pressure to cause turnovers and play well. I hope for a closer game than last year. I hope to see Auburn play with the effort they have shown since the 4th quarter of the Florida game. Auburn needs to take advantage of turnovers, Alabama penalties, lucky bounces and a better kicking game to win. I think that I have to give the nod to Alabama in this one, leaving Auburn 7-5 and enroute to bowl in either Shreveport (Independence) or Nashville (Music City) depending on what happens to LSU and Arkansas in their last two games.
Prediction: (regretably) Alabama 21 Auburn 10
11/22/02 - (L) Auburn 21 Georgia 24
Auburn played a pretty good game against a higher-ranked and more better team. Despite a 14-2 halftime lead, I blame the three first quarter turnovers (and therefore less points scored) for putting Auburn in position to lose at the end. The injury to Brandon Johnson seemed to lead to a total offensive collapse. Later, we learned that Brown and Campbell had hurt ankles and therefore that was also part of the problem. I am proud of the team for playing hard. I also think that Duvall was somewhat injured when he had three straight poor punts. The defense played well, but Georgia kept getting a short firld and in the end it was a great play that won the game.
11/11/02 - (W) Auburn 52 Louisiana-Monroe 14
The ULM Indians were a very shallow speed bump on the road to "Amen Corner." I listened to the first half on the radio while reorganizing my tool shed and I kept hearing Jim Fyffe's Touchdown Auburn! This was a successful game in many ways. It helped fine tune the passing game, there were no major injuries and all phases of the game went well. The Tigers are now 7-3 and have matched their win total from last year. They have two tough games against teams who, on paper, are probably better. Auburn can win or lose either game. Against Georgia, we will be in national CBS TV. I hope we can play a solid game, control the line of scrimmage and make few mistakes - turnovers and penalties. if this holds true, Auburn will be at least close in the 4th quarter and in a position to win. Being realistic, I think we will be hard-presed to beat a Georgia team who only needs this win to make their first trip to the SEC Championship. Prediction: Georgia 27 Auburn 24
11/04/02 - (W) Auburn 31 Ole Miss 24
Now that we escaped with a narrow win...I can say it was a fun and exciting game. I never felt like this was a game the Tigers had complete control of. I thought the defense played very well, considering who the opposing quarterback was. Eli Manning is not 0-2 against Auburn and will only have one more chance before he joins older brother Peyton in the NFL. The three interceptions basically won the game - especially the last one where a Manning run might have led to a tying touchdown. We completely stopped the run and we mostly stopped the pass also.
On the offensive side of the ball, Campbell again played mistake free football. He did have one near-interception that was an ill-advised pass, however. He had two long passing plays negated by dropped balls. Our receiver corps is good, but still young. One thing that the Tigers need to work on - a lot - is penalties. We keep having those pesky delay of game, false starts, illegal procedure, encroachment penalties that can be drive killers. The star- again - was Ronnie Brown. In 3 games he is already over 500 yards! His two long runs provided the margin of victory and compensated for the two dropped passes.
This was my Away Game Road Trip of the year. It was my third to Oxford and my wife's second. It was my longest stay in Oxford - I got to see the beautiful downtown square for the first time. We ate at a neat restaurant there called the Ajax Diner. I highly recommend it! The meatloaf was awesome! Of course, we walked all around the grove and it was as impressive as always. Oxford joins Nashville, Starkville and Columbia as our favorite road destinations.
Next week, the Tigers scrimmage against lightly-regarded Louisiana-Monroe. The Tigers will focus on the fundamentals, eliminating penalties and not getting anyone injured. Prediction: Auburn 56 La-Monroe 3
10/28/02 - (W) Auburn 31 Louisiana State 7
What a good time for me to be wrong. Auburn did actually play LSU like the 4th quarter of the Florida game. I was pleased to see Campbell start at QB. He had a greatgame - not big numbers, but he wa sin control. Brown and Tre Smith both impressed me at TB. There were a few good catches like the one by Aromashadu. What was really great was the opportunistic, tenations, turnover causing defense! What a good group with Thomas and Dansby and co. This team played with fire in the belly and that is what we need. Kudos!
10/23/02 - It would be great to think that Auburn was going to turn things around and play an entire game like the fourth quarter against LSU, but let's compare Florida in consecutive weeks against LSU and Auburn. LSU is a BCS team and they might be worthy. I expect them to face Georgia in the SEC Championship this year. LSU does have a weakness at QB, but they do have a lot of talent throughout their roster. Campbell will have a full game to prove if he is worthy to replace Cobb. I hope the receivers can respond. I think that Ronnie Brown will be fine. The defense needs to play better against the run than they did against Arkansas - how could they play worse? Auburn should give them a good game but will even their record at 4-4 and drop their third straight conference game. Prediction: LSU 23 Auburn 17
10/21/02 - (L) Auburn 17 Arkansas 38 & (L) Auburn 23 Florida 30 (OT)
Was out of town last week so I did not do a prediction for the Florida game. Here is a commentary on our back-to-back SEC losses.
First of all, Auburn loked absolutely terrible in the Arkansas game. The run defense was as bad as I've ever seen. Our schemes seemed to be all wrong. Campbell came in and added a spark but was unable to score. The team seems to respond with more enthusiasm when he's in the backfield. Cadillac was held below 100 yards and was not much of a factor. So for the second year in a row my second favorite SEC team defeated my favorite by a large margin. I plan to see the Tigers seek revenge in the Ozarks in 2003 as we tie the game into a mini-vacation.
The Florida game was a disappointment but this time I blame the coaching even more. This was a beatable Florida team and I refuse to pin the blame on Duval - although he is in an obvious slump in his field goal kicking. You NEVER go for a fake punt on your own 8 yard line. Tuberville may be on the way to riverboat gambling away a job. I also am amazed that the coaches continue to depend on Cobb who may look better on paper and may have a better grasp on the offense. But, on the field, since the Syracuse game it is obvious that Cambell has the intangibles and is the one who should be leading this team. Campbell had more completions and yards in the 4th quarter than Cobb had in the first three and he led the team to 16 and almost 19 points. it also seems like the defense played better when they were able to catch their breath between drives. Of course, the biggest story was losing Cadillac for the season. I look forward to his full recovery and return in 2003. Meanwhile Ronnie Brown looks pretty good. In fact, the exclusive and overuse of Cadillac had been disturbing. I think that having multible backs in the game is good to keep the opposing defense guessing. Cadillac is the best back we have, but I would almost rather have several capable interchangable backs like Alabama has this year than one superstar.
10/11/02 - This will be my first game to see in person. Since it's a JP Game, I will have to leave tonight and get part of the way down. It's quite early to get to a JP game from Huntsville the same day. I expect this to be a good game. I think Cobb will have a decent game but rely on Cadillac to carry the load. I hope the wide receivers play as well as they did with Campbell 2 weeks ago. The defense continues to mature and I hope Thomas and Dansby can corral speedy Jones from Arkansas. I expect a hard-fought win in this one: Auburn 27 Arkansas 20.
9/30/02 - (W) Auburn 37 Syracuse 34 (3 OT)
What started out as a disaster turned out to be a game for the ages. Auburn took three overtime periods to finally dispose of pesky Syracuse for the Tiger's first win in history over the Orangemen leaving the all-time series tied (appropriately) at 1-1-1. I was still a student when Wyn Lyle kicked the tying field goal in the 1988 Sugar Bowl to make it 16-16, leaving Syracuse shut out from National Championship consideration and causing this one to be called the "Tie-Dye" game. Auburn played terrible in the first half and made just about every mistake imaginable. I don't know if the problem is preparation or coaching, but the Tigers have only one "fluff" team on their schedule remaining and they cannot afford to do that again. Cobb looked bad in the first quarter. He could not hit anybody and his passes sailed high and wide. It was ust not his night. Campbell came in and did a better job but things really got better when he gave the keys to the Cadillac and let him drive 40 times for 202 yards. The defense played well enough to keep the Tigers close and in the second half, Auburn played better and Syracuse played poorly. However when Nunes came into the game, he looked like Joe Montana. That 7 minute drive that tied the game was as good as you'll ever see - he could do no wrong. Our defense had no answer for him. The overtime was looking eerily like the Arkansas/Ole Miss game of last year, but mercifully it only took 3 instead of 7. Also, this could not be a better time to have a bye week ahead of us. In the first overtime, it looked like we were going to have an easy win after the defense did its job and we drove quickly to the 5 yard line. Then Pera jumped and caused a penalty. Then Duval surprisingly missed a 27-yd field goal. Actually it's not surprising when you consider he is only 1 for 5 in the 20-29 distance. He seems to have trouble at the sharp angle field goals - however this one was simply blocked. Look for Duval to be a punter and kickoff specialist inthe NFL. His recent FG history is average at best. Both teams exchanged TDs in OT#2 but the defense again held Syracuse out of the end zone and forced a FG. Then Cadillac heroically and singlehandedly took matters into his own hands and scored the winning TD at a few breaths before midnight.
Overall the Tigers played with a lot of heard and they are a good team but not a great one. They will win more games but lose some also. I wish we had 2 or 3 above average tailbacks like Alabama rather than having to depend on a Cadillac that could at any time end up back in the shop.
9/23/02 (#2) - Auburn gets a needed and well-deserved 9 day week before having to play Syracuse. This one is simple. Auburn seems to win the non-conference opponents at home and loses them on the road. In addition, this year's Syracuse team is not as good as they were last year. The Tigers have the confidence to play well and win this one.
Prediction: Auburn 27 Syracuse 14
9/23/02 (#1)- (W) Auburn 42 Mississippi State 14
This game was a pleasant surprise. The things that Auburn had to do to win - they did. And the thing I did not expect - a good passing game - materialized. This was the best Cobb performance of the year and the WRs began to show some good things. Our red zone offense was much better - 5 for 5. I still like our defense. They really only allowed two long drives and some very good passes lept those drives alive. The Bulldogs of 2002 have little bite and less than last year it seems.
9/19/02 (4:30PM) - In two hours, Auburn takes the field in Starkville to play the MSU Bulldogs. This is a game we should win, but given our brutal schedule, this being a road trip and our recent failure to win at Scott Field, this will probably be a close game. I don't know much about MSU's players yet. The only game I saw had the backup QB. This may be the weakest team in the west but the division is pretty close top to bottom. Auburn needs to do the same things I have already mentioned for other games. The defense will be called upon to make some big plays. Duval will need to nail his kicks and they need to get the ball in Cadillac's hands. I don't expect our passing game to excel, but it needs to be good enough to keep 9 men out of the box.
Prediction: Auburn 20 MSU 17
9/19/02 (4:00PM) - (W) Auburn 31 Vanderbilt 6
First of all a quick review for last week's game. I did not see the game in full until Tuesday, I heard some of it on the radio - on the Vanderbilt network of all things since I was with my wife in Nashville doing the Edgefield home Tour. The main event for Auburn was Cadillac on offense and Dansby on defense. The two of them continue to dominate. I don't think the team has totally geled as a unit, yet and that may be a problem for some of the later games. Cobb is a capable QB but not a star. The wide receivers have not played poorly and in fact have been okay at times, but they are not world beaters yet. Vanderbilt seemed to be able to do a few things between the 20s but they did not have the punch in the end zone. For that matter, Auburn's red zoen offense needs some improvement.
9/14/02 (AM) - Auburn hosts Vanderbilt in a few hours so I wanted to get my prediction on-line. This game offers Auburn another step-up the ladder as they find out how good, bad or mediocre they are. Vanderbilt is not very good this year - ignore their success against the Citadel. They are a one horse team and the horse is Sticker the wide receiver. Auburn's secondary will probably be focused on him. Our lebackers will ocntain their backfield. On offense, I expect a basic game plan with Cadillac getting a lot of touches and Cobb will try to test his young receivers to make them better. I hope he also gets Johnson and Johnson the ball (FB and TE). In this series, Auburn has not lost since 1955 and never at home. Home games are typically not close. The last three road games with Vandy have been the nailbiters. Prediction: Auburn 27 Vanderbilt 10
9/09/02 - (W) Auburn 56, Western Carolina 0
I did nto get a preview posted, but there was not much to be said that cannot be said now. This was a nice game to fit after a long road trip and a short week. Auburn used this almost like a scrimmage, playing lits of different players to give them experience. WCU offerred little threat at any time. About the only negative outcome was Damon Duval who continued his senior swoon by going 0-2 in field goals - he is 1 out of 4 on the season.
9/03/02 - (L) Auburn 17, Southern California 24
This game went about like I expected. The defense showed some real bite at times and played well considering it was their first game. There's still room to improve certainly. Dansby and Thomas seemed to be everywhere on the field. Cadillac had a good first half but his cramps in the second half and also some defensive adjustments shut him down. The WRs did not impress and neither did Cobb with his fumble, interceprion and near interceptions, but Cobb's numbers were 'on paper' decent. The Tigers look about like they did last year which is not bad but it's not good either
8/29/02 - Before my game prediction, a few words about the season upcoming. As I said on WUMP AM-730 yesterday morning on the Matt Perrault show, I believe that 2002 and 2003 will determine the fate of Coach Tuberville. Auburn will probably do no worse than 6-6 and no better than 9-5. Anything less than seven wins puts his job in jeaopardy this year and makes next year a win or out season. A trip to Atlanta and/or a bowl game win might buy him some more time. I expect somewhere in the middle and if that occurs, look for a win next year against Alabama at home to be a must win for Tuberville to keep his job. I actually wish coaches were not so scutinized. I would hate for my job to be on the line every year like that, but I don't get the salary the head coaches do either. But I want to call them like I see them.
As for the team, I believe our kicking game, defense and Cadillac might be enough to get us 7 wins, regardless of who quarterbacks or how many freshman receivers we play. Even if Duval gets hurt or becomes a head case, Yost is very capable. We might need a last minute FG to win a game or two, just like last year. We also need a good punter to help us in field position, so our defense can make some good stops and create short fields for the offense. Our defense is Tuberville's most talented group. The Linebacker corps, led by Brown, Dansby and Thomas is a great group as are the Defensive Backs led by Robinson and Walker. Torbor and NcNeill anchor a solid Defensive line. I do worry about depth since a lot of the backups are freshman, redshirts and sophomores.
The offense is somewhat of a question mark. Cadillac must stay healty as was shown by his injury in the Alabama game, but Brown, Butler, Moore and Owens are a capable group of getting some yards. I like Johnson at Fullback. He sounds like recent FB Heath Evans with an attitude. The more he is used, the more successful veryone will be. The same goes for Diamond at TE. When you see Diamond and Johnson heavily involved in the game plan, you will see success becasue they add enough bonus weapons to keep defenses form keying on Cadillac and they als take some of the pressure from a yery young WR corps led by true freshman Obomanu from Selma. The Line is not as experienced as last year's but is solod and includes Crittenden, French, Goula and Nowland.
The quarterback race was just recently settled and Cobb edged out Campbell by a very small margin. Tuberville must think that he is running out of time to build for the future and he needs to win this year. Cobb probably has a better grasp on the new offense. Look for Campbell to play some like Dameyune Craig did the year before he took over from Patrick Nix. Cobb will be successful if he focuses on trying to be a team leader and a rallying point and minimized mistakes like interceptions, delays of game and false starts. He does not have to be a superstar. He just needs to get the ball in the hands of his weapons with precision and keep the team together. One last note. Look for Tuberville to welcome Brandon Cox back to the team at some point or else look for the recruting of Williamson HS senior quarterback Jamarcus Russell to really heat up to fill in the gap for Campbell's departure after 2004.
My season predictions:
Season record: 8-4; second in West
Bowl game: Outback
Individual Game predictions:
at USC: Slight Underdog
West Carolina: Sacrificial Lamb
Vanderbilt: Strong favorite
at Mississippi State: Slight Favorite
Syracuse: Slight Favorite
Arkansas: Even Money
at Florida: Solid Underdog
LSU: Slight Underdog
at Ole Miss: Even Money
Louisiana-Monroe: Sacrificial Lamb
Georgia: Slight Underdog
at Alabama: Even Money
Game 1: Auburn @ USC at Los Angeles; ABC-TV 7:00 pm CDT
Most people are picking the Trojans to win this one and I tend to agree but I think that the main reasons are the distance of travel and the uncertainty at quarterback. This will be a low-scoring game as early in the season, the defenses tend to rule. I think that like last years's loss in Syracuse, this team is not ready to win a road game this far away gainst a solid team. I a close one: USC 17 AU 16
8/07/02 - I can't believe I went 7 months without posting. After a hard fought recruting class, the fruit of the coaches labor is becoming apparent this week. A fill slate of 25 scholarship athletes reported to camp ready to play. The upperclassmen report today and the main focus will be on the quarterback controversy - Cobb vs. Campbell. I also hope that a couple of wide receivers will rise above the pack and play well. That is our team's key weakness.
1/15/02 - Daniel Cobb has been granted a sixth year of eligibility based on his previous medical condition in 1997 and 1998. He will presumedly compete again for the starting QB job with Jason Campbell
1/13/02 - Paul Rhoads, currently the Defensive Coordinator for the University of Pittsburgh, was offerd the same position with the Auburn Tigers but he has tuerned it down - presumedly for various reasons. The search continues for wuo will replace John Lovett.
1/11/02 - (I will not always report on recruiting, but this was a significant one) Auburn has a verbal commitment form Brandon Cox, Mr. Football in Alabama in 2001 and quarterback for Hewitt-Trussville, where he ran up some impressive offensive numbers. He will presumedly be redshirted in 2002. His favorite receiver for H-T also signed with the Tigers. Ironically, H-T is the alma mater for former Alabama star Jay Barker.
1/09/02 - Bob Petrino, currently the Offensive Coorinator for the Jacksonville Jaquars has been named to the same position on Auburn's staff. He has an excellent record developing quarterbacks - a need that Auburn definitely has.
1/02/02 - Noel Mazzone and John Lovett, Auburn's Offensive and Defensive Coordinators resigned - probably under pressure. With the dismal finish to the 2001 season, Tuberville knew that changes would be expected.