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By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com
How crazy has this football season been? Auburn is currently tied with South Carolina for the longest winning streak in the SEC. The Tigers carry a whopping four game winning streak into Saturday night’s contest with LSU.
Here’s an interesting stat that Kenny Smith from al.com shared with me Thursday. Current Auburn players have a combined minus-14 career rushing yards against LSU. Current LSU players have a combined 3 rushing yards against Auburn. Do you think Saturday will be a defensive battle?
One of our most loyal readers, Acid Reign made an interesting observation this week. Did Tommy Tuberville move too quickly in pulling Kodi Burns’ redshirt? Few argued when Tuberville inserted Burns during the Mississippi State game.
But four weeks later, he’s getting little attention. Since the game with MSU, Burns has attempted only one pass and run the ball a miniscule seven times. Of course, at the time no one expected Brandon Cox to rebound this quickly; and Auburn was sinking fast.
It’s hard to second guess Tuberville on this call. But in hindsight, I’m sure the coaches wish they had this kid for four more years. If you are keeping score, Cox has completed 57 of 85 passes since being benched. Not bad at all.
For the first time since the Kansas State game, the Tigers will have some depth on defense when it lines up against LSU. Defensive end Quentin Groves, linebacker Merrill Johnson and safety Aairon Savage are all expected to play this weekend.
In fact, the only questionable starter for the game is offensive tackle Ryan Pugh. He will travel with the team, but it’s very doubtful he will play.
LSU also got some good news this week on the injury front. Much heralded wide receiver Early Doucet is expected to play against Auburn. He’s missed the last four games with a groin injury.
The Purple Tigers also expect to get senior offensive guard Will Arnold back. He’s been sidelined with a knee injury for the past month.
If you live in the Columbus, Georgia area, the team will be flying out of the Columbus airport at 4 p.m. ET on Friday. If you have time, go out and give them a good Auburn send off.
Here are a few quick hitters on the LSU series that will make you sound smarter than everyone else when talking Auburn football...
The home team has won the last seven games...
Auburn has won five straight games against top 10 opponents...
Auburn is 4-1-1 against the number five team when the Tigers are ranked...
LSU has won 24 straight home night games...
Auburn has not been scored on in the first half of the past three games...
Auburn has scored on its opening possession in each of the past three games...
LSU leads the SEC with 19 takeaways. Auburn's 16 turnovers are the most in the SEC...
Defensive back Jonathan Wilhite is the only Auburn player from the state of Louisiana. He grew up in Monroe, LA...
If the last week of the season is rivalry week, this weekend could be called junior rivalry week. There are several good secondary rivalries taking place. Here’s a quick list of games on television that should interest you. All times are Central...
Tennessee at Alabama – 11:30 a.m. – Lincoln Financial Sports
Florida at Kentucky – 2:30 p.m. – CBS
USC at Notre Dame – 2:30 p.m. – NBC
Miami at Florida State – 2:30 p.m. – ABC
Michigan at Illinois – 7:00 p.m. – ABC
Virginia at Maryland – 7:00 p.m. – ESPN 2
Auburn at LSU – 8:00 p.m. – ESPN
Remember, we’ll have the open thread up on Saturday morning. As you are watching games throughout the day and evening stop by and share your thoughts. Once the Auburn-LSU game kicks off, stop in and tell us what you think.
For those of you traveling to Baton Rouge, have a safe trip. If you smell corn dogs, there’s a reason – just don’t mention it. War Eagle!