Where The Tigers Are Eight Weeks In

My son went to sleep shortly after LSU took a 14-0 lead on Auburn.  My wife went to bed shortly after that.  She knew the answer but she asked anyway, "You want to go to bed?"  There was no way that I was going to bed, this is Auburn that is playing… and they are playing LSU.  I knew that I would pay for it on Sunday, but I stayed up.  Even before halftime I was second guessing that decision.  That was a snippete of my night on Saturday, but in reality there was no way I was going to bed.  I am not one of those fans that tune out when times are hard.  Hell, I endured last season and that one was tough. 

Everyone is complaining about this season, but it has gone according to most predictions.  Almost everyone thought that Auburn would be a 6-6 or at best a 7-5 team.  We as fans just got a little excited when Gus and the offense racked up such huge numbers.  Barring an even bigger meltdown Auburn will get to 6-6 for sure.  Every other game on the schedule this season is a toss up.  I am throwing Bama in that as well.  They are winning, but it has been a struggle for the last two weeks.  They are having as much trouble getting in the end zone as Auburn is. 

What did I take away from the LSU game other than some extra sleep deprivation?

Chris Todd is hurt or seriously fatigued.  I am as sure of that, as I am sure I am over six feet tall (I am).  As I have stated since the Arkansas Game, it is not possible for him to fall so far in the passing department with out being injured.  I have not seen one throw that has had the Todd 2.0 velocity on it in the last three games.  I am not calling for his demotion… but something has to give.  I think that the coaches know something is up and are trying to work around it.  The problem is that the other team knows it and is making him throw it deep (which he cannot).  Even Bob Davie (who is in my opinion one of the worst announcers in the history of ESPN) commented on how defenses are playing vanilla defenses to neutralize the confusion and making Todd beat them deep. 

Ben Tate gets a HUGE War Eagle from me.  I am sure that he does not know that TET exists, but if for some reason it gets brought to his attention.  I want him to know that he gets a standing ovation from me.  For him to fight for every yard like he has all season is to be commended.  He is the one shinning spot over the last month.

If Kodi Burns is not going to catch passes then why have him at WR?  I understand Gus wants him on the field in case the wildcat is implemented in the "hurry up" but DAMN.  He is wasting a spot if he is not even going to be looked at in the passing game.  I think he has played at least 70% of the plays and made one catch and been thrown to only three times this season.  It seems to me that DeAngelo Benton, Emory Blake, or Tim Hawthorne would be a better option to have in the game. 

For what it is worth, Neil Caudle did not look to bad.  I know it was in mop up duty against the scrubs of LSU, but he looked decent.  I am just sayin’.

Defensively, Eltoro Freeman came alive.  12 tackles was impressive.  I think a couple of those were for a loss.  He also pressured Jordan Jefferson a good bit.  Good!  Keep it up; it is obvious that the Tiger defense needs him.  Nieko Thorpe is having a bad year.  He is getting burnt like toast entirely too much for him to have as much experience as he has.

I read this on someplace AL.com and it made me laugh, but is a pretty good point.  Why don’t the Tigers kick on side kicks every time?  It cannot be worse.  If Auburn recovers the kick the offense in back on the field, if not the other team gets the ball at the same place it would on a deep kick (due to the lack of coverage).  I know that is not plausible, but interesting to think about.  I guess the other issue would be Auburn would have to score to be able to kick off, other than the opening kick of the game or half.

It seems that this season Auburn has already gotten the reputation for getting penalized early and often.  I know that most of the penalties that were called on Auburn were in fact infractions.  But a couple that were called in the opening two drives Saturday night were phantom ones.  Even Bob Davie (again… awful) noticed that.  Either way… it is a good thing that my High School Coach is not at Auburn.  The players getting penalized would be puking their collective guts out on the practice field after the game.  Most penalties are mental.  There is no excuse for them.

Lastly, I did not like the look on the faces of the coaches and players that were so prominently shown on ESPN.  I sure hope that I was not looking at the same sort of faces that I saw after the WVU game last season. 

Maybe Coach Chizik can rally the troops… circle the wagons, and Auburn can put up a good showing against the Rebs. 

War Damn Eagle