Whither Melvin Ray? The guy was a stand-out in the first two games and made some big plays, and now has hardly been heard from or seen at all. He's a great story, and seemed like he would be a big addition to the WR corps after the first few games. I can only guess that he's been beaten out for playing time, or else we would have heard something else. I have not seen any "insider" reports anywhere that he's in the doghouse with Gus Malzahn, so I don't know.
Auburn Loves the D. Shamelessly stealing a horrible pun our own Peggy Rossmanith used on Twitter a few weeks back when she said she speaks for everyone that Auburn fans want the D. Well, we have the D. And we love the D. I can't even begin to express how happy I've been the past few weeks knowing that our offense doesn't have to win games on its own. And now that the offense seems to be clicking, it's even better to think of what those two can do combined.
You want to see an almost perfect half of football? Go back and watch the first half from this weekend. Go see what a HUNH offense can do to someone when they're also facing a shut-down defense. Sure HUNH will mean the defense spends more time on the field which will affect their stats, etc, etc, but when that defense is very good, too... Oh man. Auburn's defense shut down LSU completely (I'm still trying to wrap my head around 0-13 on 3rd down) and then the offense put the game away. There aren't many teams in the country built to come back from that type of deficit.
[INSERT GENERIC SUPER AWESOME FG KICKER HERE] Daniel Carlson has picked up pretty much where Cody Parkey, Wes Byrum, John Vaughn, and so many others left off before him. It sure is nice having a kicker who can boom it through the endzone and is reliable on field goals, as well. I do love that Auburn puts a priority on kicking.
Saturday Night's Crowd Atmosphere. I complained a bit about the crowd during the Louisiana Tech game. They were quiet and just never got into it. OK, I know the quality of opponent matters, but a rocking Jordan-Hare is just so much more fun than a subdued one during a blow-out of an easy opponent. It's one of those feelings that is easily felt. Saturday night was electric. The crowd was rocking from the word go and the team responded. It sure was a fun place to be.
CJ Uzomah's Gesture Sure, I've posted it in a fanshot and even put the gif in a recap. But it's still awesome and we can all enjoy it some more.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="2" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding-bottom:55%; padding-top:45%; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style="position:relative;"><div style=" -webkit-animation:dkaXkpbBxI 1s ease-out infinite; animation:dkaXkpbBxI 1s ease-out infinite; background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-44px; width:44px;"></div><span style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:12px; font-style:normal; font-weight:bold; position:relative; top:15px;">Loading</span></div></div><p style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px; word-wrap:break-word;"> Nothing but respect. I miss you bro. I know you're up there critiquing my moves and smiling down. #Forever43</p><p style=" line-height:32px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; padding:0; text-align:center;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/tyvAwSxzVe/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:none;" target="_top"> View on Instagram</a></p></div><style>@-webkit-keyframes"dkaXkpbBxI"{ 0%{opacity:0.5;} 50%{opacity:1;} 100%{opacity:0.5;} } @keyframes"dkaXkpbBxI"{ 0%{opacity:0.5;} 50%{opacity:1;} 100%{opacity:0.5;} }</style></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
One Mississippi, TWO Mississippi!? Who would have thought that two of the most dangerous games on our schedule would be the trips to Mississippi to play the Rebel Black Bears and the Bulldogs? Saturday's match-up will have the eyes of the college football world on it as a Top 5 or 10 (depending on rankings used) game.
I know I should feel very nervous about this one, but for some reason I just don't right now. I wish I could explain why. Maybe it's MSU's pass defense and Auburn's strength of stopping running QBs (and the run in general) so far this year. MSU always plays us close, especially in Starkville, but those games are typically early enough that Auburn hasn't hit any rhythm or stride yet. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.
Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to watch it. I'll be in Statesboro, GA for Georgia Southern's homecoming game and will hopefully be interviewing some former Eagle greats before their game against Idaho and that will take up a good bit of time around when Auburn will be playing. Had I known how this game would play out, maybe I would have rethought that schedule!
Enjoy the Ride. I think I've said that in some form in waaaaay too many posts already this year, but it's all I really can say. Right now Auburn is flying high from Saturday night after two weekends of fret and worry about just how good the team really is. We're facing one of the toughest schedules imaginable over the next few weeks. Odds are we won't come out of it unscathed.
However, if Auburn plays the way they did on Saturday night, then there's no reason they CAN'T come out of it undefeated. It's going to take a lot of work. Hard work. And we believe in hard work.
We believe in Auburn. And love it.
War Eagle, Always.