10/23/03 - Sorry for being away so long. I've bene busy. I attended the UT and Arkansas games and both were excellent and down to the wire. Auburn has improved since the first two losses and Carnell has been awesome. I think that this LSU game will be a tremendous test and will probably win the west for us (not to overlook Ole Miss, though). It is in Death Valley at night and this so-called hard place to win is sort of a mirage. Auburn has gone in there and won plenty of times and they might this time. I think this game could go either way, but I am going to predict a squeaker that comes down to the last play: AU 24 LSU 23.

9/15/03 - Well, it is so nice to be wrong and for the Tigers to win big despite all tyhe indicators that IF they won it would be close. I have to say, though, that for the first quarter and a half, things looked like the same ol' problems. There was a 90 yard punt nullified by a penalty and two missed field goals on one drive. However, eventually, the Tigers began to believe in themselves, relax and realize that this Vanderbilt team was pretty inept - same old Vandy. Scoring 45 points in just 63% of the game shows just how dominating the Tigers can be when they play to their potential. I was impressed with the same players who were underachieving against USC and Ga Tech. Our running game and even our passing game excelled and our defense played quite well. This is the team that we were supposed to see form day one. I hope this was not just a mirage. Auburn catches an bye-week to prepare for a very tough schedule ahead. Arkansas may be tougher than expected, unless their perofrmance against Texas was an anomaly. I think that we will cakewalk through the two Mississippi schools after seeing how they performed thus far. In two weeks we play a 1-AA team, Western Kentucky, who might be tougher than Vanderbilt, but I foresee another win to even our record - Auburn 35, WKU 10

9/08/03 - With the holiday I failed to post a blog after last week's game. It's just as well becasue much of what I would have said can be said again this week. It is a grave understatement to say that Tigernation is dissapointed in our tumulous start to the 2003 season. In my prediction, I feared that this season might mirror 1984 and end with a mediocre record despite pre-season hype. Indeed, like 1984, we have started 0-2 - this our first 0-2 start since 1984. Like 2003, our first 1984 loss was to a top 5 team - the Univ. of Miami. Indeed our second loss waa also - the Univ. of Texas. I dare say that our team did not look nearly as bad and impotent as it has in the first two games of this season. Instead, our team is in danger of repeating the recent path of a couple of SEC foes: the 2000 Crimson Tide and the 2001 MSU Bulldogs. Both of these teams were heralded at the start of the season - the Tide was#3 in the nation and the MSU had a senior quarterback, Madkin and a seasoned defense. Both finished 3-8.
Now, I am not predicting 3-8 but without the ship's rudder straightened out, it is a possibility. Georgia Tech started a freshman QB and are considered a middle-of-the-pack ACC team - a conference which until Miami and Va Tech join, is certainly inferior to the SEC. Auburn is playing at a level expected by such 'powerhouses' as Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Speaking of Vandy, that is Auburn's next opponent. Sure win, right? We haven't lost to Vanderbilt since the 1955 Gator Bowl. This game is in Nashville and the stadium will be half-filled with Auburn fans, soounds fine, right? Let me review the last three times the Tigers visited Nashville. In 1991, Auburn escaped with a 24-22 win when Vandy missed a long FG that would have won it. In 1993, the eventual 11-0 Tigers had one of their toughest wins, 14-10. In 2001, a see-saw game saw the Tigers pull it out in the 4th quarter, 28-21.
The past two 2003 Auburn games have been painful. We have a lot of talent, but there is no scheme, no direction, no plan. Defenses have been merciless to our suddenly 'offensive' Offensive Line. Campbell has been sacked 13 times and chased or knocked down several others. Our heralded backs have been stuffed near the line of scrimage much too often. Our Wide Receivers have dropped passes and given Campbell few choices - although Taylor showed some promise with 8 catches against Tech. Even our defense has been less than perfect. They played pretty well against USC, but the secondary was exposed as the weak link against Georgia Tech and their backs had just as much success as ours. Although Campbell's statistics look better that Reggie Ball's, Ball showed much more spark and he seemed to have more control and ability to make plays when they were needed.
What now? Auburn may right the ship and win the next two games and may give Tennessee, Arkansas and Miss State a good fight. However there must be some better coaching and preparation. If the Tigers lose to perennial doormat, Vandy, all heck could break loose and the team might just pack it in. I hope that Tuberville will take control of the reigns and see if his Offensive game plan with Nall and Ensminger is working or if something different needs to happen. Auburn needs to be very careful with Vandy. They held Eli Manning to 24 points and against 1-AA Chattanooga, they scored 51. You might think that's nothing, but there have been years that Vandy couldn't score 51 points even without a defense on the field. They at least seem to have some execution working for them. They've scored 72 points to our 3 this season and allowed 30 to our 40. I cannot emphasize that this is a dangerous game. Vandy has been given a reason to be confident that they can play on the same field with us and that is half of what a team like Vandy needs to win - they have to believe they can win.
All this said, I have to be optimistic and predict a partial recovery and a narrow win in Nashville: Auburn 16 Vandy 14. If you don't go to the game, catch them on your local Jefferson Pilot station or satellite provider at 11:30 CDT/12:30 EDT.

8/25/03 - The first game is Saturday and there is a high level of excitement surrounding the action. Too bad that after this game and the 2005 game with Georgia Tech we will see these types of high-profile games with non-conference opponents disappear off the schedule. I had been looking forward to playing Clemson and Virginia Tech for years, but they are both off our future schedule. From now on, it seems that each year the season ticket book will be padded not only by a $250 Tigers Unlimited bribe/donation, but also 3 tickets to games against directional Louisiana schools, lower-tier I-A teams and mercenary I-AA schools looking for a payout.

At current prices, for two tickets, you are paying basically $810 for 4 good conference games (and some of these are 1 or 2 lower-tier SEC teams on any given year.) I got season tickets this year - because of the good prospects, good schedule (we play Tennessee) and because my wife's never been to an Iron Bowl. I've only been to 2 - 1984 and 1995.

I am all for good athletic facilities and equipment and I know the state of Alabama has dire fiancial problems. However I'd rather make do with less and keep one less home game every other year.

I will go ahead and make my season predictions, which has become an annual occurance. This year is very hard to predict becasue there are a lot of decent teams in the SEC and especially in the Western Division. If a few breaks go one way or the other it is easy to see Auburn, LSU or Arkansas going to the championship game and Ole Miss is a dark horse.

Auburn typically and historically overachieves when picked low and underachieves when picked high. This year seems a lot like 1984 when the team went from #1 in the polls to finish in the Liberty Bowl following a loss to an inferior Alabama team that season. There is also the chance that Tuberville gets a "big head" and makes one too many gambles and costs us a game. Also Campbell can be great but I don't want to have to depend on his arm, should defenses figure out how to stop our excellent run offense.

All that said, here is my game-by-game analysis by category:

Sacrifical lamb: Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe (3 of 3)
Probably a Win: Ga Tech, Miss State, Ole Miss, Alabama (3 of 4)
Even Money: USC, Tennessee, Arkansas (1.5 of 3)
Probably a Loss: LSU, Georgia (0.5 of 2)

It will be hard to beat both LSU and Georgia on the road. Maybe one will fall into the 'W' column. We should win at least one of the even money games - 2 if we lose to LSU and Georgia. Of the rest, if things go our way we could sweep, but a unfortunate loss somewhere is a possibility.

The team itself has a lot of talent. Our offense will be run first and pass second, but both need to occur for us to win. We have a pretty good O-Line - they will be key to setting up the run. Our quarterbacking situation is goos as long as Campbell stays healthy. Our running game could be the best in the nation and our receivers are improving with age. Defensively our Linebackers are one of the best in the country and our D-Line is also very good. Our secondary will have to prevent the big play. Our kicking game is young and untested and should only improve with experience. We may not win any games specifically on a kick but I hope we don't lose one becasue of them - like Florida last year.

Therefore my official regular-season prediction is 8 wins and 4 losses (margin of error one win/loss either side) - 5 and 3 in the SEC and a trip to the Outback Bowl in Tampa. If we were to beat LSU then add an extra win and a trip to the SEC Championship Game to rematch against Georgia or Tennessee.

5/15/03 -
In Memorium - Jim Fyffe (1945-2003)

2/04/03 - Tomorrow is Signing Day and Auburn stands to have a good class - at least on paper. Also, recently, Tommy Tuberville signed a contract extension and raise worth $1.5 million annually for 5 years.

1/21/03 - Added a Link above to the current Recruiting List

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