That’s right Auburn fans, it’s National Signing Day.  A day when all college football fans get to brag about what place

they came in for untested talent.  Will this be Auburn’s best class ever?  Only time will tell.  Check back often as our resident poster and now official updater Chopper will be bringing you the latest signees.

Official Signees (faxes received)  **Page will be modified often, check back!!**

1. Brenham (Tex.) Blinn C.C. QB Cameron Newton – enrolled
2. Visalia (Ca.) College of the Sequoias OL Roszell Gayden – enrolled
3. Coffeyville (Kan.) C.C. TE Brandon Mosley – enrolled
4. Ariton (Ala.) High DE Craig Sanders – enrolled
5. Buford (Ga.) High LB Jessel Curry – enrolled
6. Jupiter (Fla.) High PK Cody Parkey
7. Atlanta (Ga.) Washington WR Antonio Goodwin
8. Kansas City (Mo.) Park Hill P Steven Clark
9. Springville (Ala.) High WR Jeremy Richardson
10. Greenville (Ala.) High DT Kenneth Carter

11. St. Matthews (S.C.) Calhoun County OL Eric Mack

12. Decatur (Ga.) SW Dekalb CB Jonathan Mincy
13. Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes OL Ed Christian

14. Roanoke (Ala.) Handley FB Ladarius Phillips
15. Cordova (Ala.) ATH Ryan Smith

16. College Park (Ga.) Banneker S Demetruce McNeal
17. College Park (Ga.) Banneker ATH Shaun Kitchens
18. Olive Branch (Miss.) High OL Shon Coleman

19. Warner Robins (Ga.) High DT Jeffrey Whitaker
20. Troy (Ala.) Charles Henderson LB Jawara White

21. Little Rock (Ark.) Christian RB Michael Dyer

22. Little Rock (Ark.) Christian TE Dakota Mosley

23. Birmingham (Ala.) Woodlawn ATH Chris Davis

24. Linden (Ala.) High DE Justin Delaine

25. Bessemer (Ala.) Jess Lanier LB LaDarius Owens

26. Pelham (Ala.) High LB Jake Holland

27. Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln ATH Ryan White
28. Moody (Ala.) High OL Chad Slade

29. Hialeah (Fla.) defensive end Corey Lemonier

30. Thomaston (Ga.) Upson Lee C Tunde Fariyike

31. Thibodaux (La.) High ATH Trovon Reed

32. Fullerton (Ca.) C.C. DE Joel Bonomolo

This completes Auburn’s 2010 Class as of 1:20 pm.  This includes all commitments.  If there are any further surprises, I will add them.  Until then, welcome to our newest Tigers, and War Damn Eagle!

Discuss it in our forum here

by: jadennis

I was shocked when Chizik was hired.  It was the kind of thing that would ruin my day out of nowhere.  I would be going along through a day, doing fine, then remember we just hired Chizik, and I would get chest pains.

That lasted a few days.  Then I used my brain, and not my heart, because honestly, my heart had no business feeling at this point…it didn’t have anything to really go on.  I realized how many great hires had turned poopty over the years.  I remembered how many “who the hell is that” hires had turned golden.

Many have said how good of a hire Charlie Strong is for Louisville.  Many even wanted him to get a shot at Auburn.  Isn’t he Ron Zook?  I mean, Zook did a good job at Florida as an assistant coach.  Zook only looks like a failure of a head coach hire NOW that we know better.  We deem Strong a good head coach hire….thing is, as of NOW, we don’t know any better.

When Mike Bellotti named Chip Kelly offensive coordinator, and soon named him the head-coach-in-waiting….people thought, “who the hell is this guy?”.  He’d been at New Hampshire for the previous 13 years. Was he never good enough to get a better job than New Hampshire for 13 years?  And now he was worthy of being head coach in the Pac 10?  He must be in over his head right?  First year….10-3, #11 final AP ranking.

Anyway, I came to the conclusion that since I didn’t feel like I had enough information to just assume with any degree of certainty that Chizikhad a 90% or better chance of guaranteed failure, then I would take my ultimate decision about him step by step.  As he did and didn’t do certain things, I would begin shaping my opinion of his performance as the head coach of Auburn’s football program.

First off, I would not judge his ability based on Iowa State, as it was as different as Texas A&M and Alabama was for Gene Stallings (7 years at each school….27 wins at A&M, 70 wins at Alabama).   Secondly, I would not judge his ability based on what “coach speak” he shared with the media and how he looked in front of the camera….after all, it’s the media, and maybe he’s not an award winning orator (which is not what we hired him to be), or maybe he doesn’t like being candid with the media until they’ve earned his trust.  Who knows?  Who cares.

So to me, we are still just in the midst of the writing of the Chizik era at Auburn.  It hasn’t been concluded yet.  I assume this will be at least a 6 chapter book….two chapters per year, one is recruiting, one is on-field results. Chapter 1 was pretty good, as he added most of the top recruits that we had in our 2009 class (8 of the top 13).  Chapter 2 was encouraging, as we improved in a lot of areas over last year.  After all, it was the first year for all of these players and coaches to work together.  Chapter 3 is shaping up to be excellent, we can all see that on any recruiting service we choose to endorse.

However, it’s only chapter 3.  We can easily assume that we are no more than half way through, at best (assuming he’s here through the 2011 season).  The rest of the book on him is unwritten, and I will treat my opinion on him as such.  Does the book look pretty good so far?  I would say that it has gotten better by the chapter, and at this point, is an encouraging read.  Will it continue to get better?  I’ll just keep reading, and with every new page of information, I will continue to shape my opinion accordingly.  The final three chapters could be dreadful.  Or, it could turn out to be a 20 chapter novel that ends up being the best volume in the 25 volume set that is the Auburn Coaching library.

What kind of book reviewer, regardless of how much they dislike the cover design, stops and writes his entire review after only reading the first three chapters?

By now you already know that Auburn accepted a bid to play in Tampa on New Year’s Day in the 2010 Outback Bowl.  Auburn will be going bowling again after missing last season’s festivities with its 5-7 record. Starting the season 5-0had most Auburn fans flying high.  However, they were quickly brought back to earth finishing the season 2-5 and  leading most fans to believe that there were definitely positives and negatives for Coach Gene Chizik’s first season. The combination of fan support and a strong showing in the Alabama game helped to convince Outback Bowl officials that Auburn was the 7-5 team they wanted.

Auburn’s opponent will be the 8-4 Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats come into the game riding a 3 game winning streak including wins over some pretty impressive opponents (Iowa and Wisconsin). In case you don’t know who or what Northwestern is, I present to you my cheat sheet to the Outback Bowl:

Northwestern University
2009 Overall Record: 8-4
Nickname: Wildcats
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Founded: 1851
Conference: Big Ten (Record 5-3, Tied 3rd Place)
Colors: Purple and White
Students: Approx: 18,208
Mascot: Willie the Wildcat

Athletics:

Coach: Pat Fitzgerald

Notable Players:
Mike Kafka, QB, Senior
Corey Wootten, DL, Senior
Sherrick McManis, CB, Senior

Rankings:

Total Offense: 57 (avg: 386 y/pg)
Scoring Offense: 76 (25.17 p/pg)
Total Defense: 43 (avg: 344 ya/pg)
Scoring Defense: 48 (23.3 pa/pg)

Schedule:

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time
09/05/09	vs. Towson	Evanston, Ill.	W, 47-14
09/12/09	vs. Eastern Michigan	Evanston, Ill.	W, 27-24
09/19/09	at Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	L, 37-34
09/26/09	vs. Minnesota *	Evanston, Ill.	L, 35-24
10/03/09	at Purdue *	West Lafayette, Ind.	W, 27-21
10/10/09	vs. Miami (Ohio)	Evanston, Ill.	W, 16-6
10/17/09	at Michigan State *	East Lansing, Mich.	L, 24-14
10/24/09	vs. Indiana — Homecoming *	Evanston, Ill.	W, 29-28
10/31/09	vs. Penn State *	Evanston, Ill.	L, 34-13
11/07/09	at Iowa *	Iowa City, Iowa	W, 17-10
11/14/09	at Illinois *	Champaign, Ill.	W, 21-16
11/21/09	vs. Wisconsin *	Evanston, Ill.	W, 33-31

Northwestern’s football team has a history of futility; its all-time record is 468-614-44 (0.435) giving it the all-time record for Division I-A losses.^{[133][134][135]} Other dubious distinctions include being on the losing end of the greatest comeback in Division I-A history^[136] and holding the record for the longest losing streak in Division I-A, losing 34 consecutive games between 1979 and 1982.^[137][138] In 2004, Northwestern broke a 33-year losing streak (46 years at home) by defeating No. 7-ranked Ohio State 33-27.^[139] Although the team was invited to the 1996 Rose Bowl, 1997 Citrus Bowl, 2000 Alamo Bowl, 2003 Motor City Bowl, 2005 Sun Bowl, and 2008 Alamo Bowl, the last bowl game Northwestern won was the 1949 Rose Bowl.^[140] Following the sudden death of football coach Randy Walker in 2006,^[141]31-year old and former All-American Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald assumed the position becoming the youngest Division I FBS coach at the time.**

**Courtesy of Wikipedia

Outback Bowl Information
Date: January 1, 2010
Location: Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL
Time: 11 a.m. kickoff (ET)
Stadium Capacity: 65,657
Title Sponsor: Outback Steakhouse
Network: ESPN
Teams: Big Ten 3rd pick vs. SEC 3rd pick
Payout: $3.3 million (minimum) per team

Buy Auburn Outback Bowl Tickets: Here

Outback Bowl Events: Outback Bowl Official Website

By: Mr. Sensible

Florida 24, Alabama 20

Three Keys for Florida Victory

1) Florida’s Defense
It is safe to say, Alabama hasn’t faced a tougher test than the one waiting this Saturday. Florida’s league leading defense is built in pressure, aggressiveness, and taking the ball away from the opponent. It is as hard to move the ball consistently against Florida as it is to score points – only nine times this season has the other team crossed the goalline against the Gators. Moreover, Florida is good as stuffing the run – only giving up 2.6 yards per attempt – which puts the onus on Alabama’s passing game even more. The Gators defensive backfield has produced 20 INTs this year and in a game against big, physical wide receivers of LSU (comparable to Alabama’s squad), Florida held them to 11 catches for 96 yards. That’s darn impressive. The loss of Carlos Dunlap on the defensive line due to suspension is noteworthy and he will be sorely missed. However, Florida possesses strength in scheme and quality depth which helps to cover for that loss and gives them a distinct advantage in this game.

2) Florida’s Coaching Staff
It is not a matter of Florida’s staff being better than Alabama’s as much as it is Florida’s staff has experience in these games and beyond and it all starts with the head coach, Urban Meyer.  It’s hard to describe Meyer without using the word “winner” in the report. Five double-digit win season, four conference titles,  two undefeated regular seasons, two BCS Championships, a number one overall NFL draft pick, a Heisman trophy quarterback, and 95 total wins over his nine year head coaching career. At Florida, he’s 56-9 overall and this may not even be the best team he’s fielded for the Gators. The supporting staff is excellent (don’t be surprised to see some of them plucked from the sidelines by season’s end) and they get maximum effort from highly-touted players. That’s not a small feat. It’s rare for Alabama’s Nick Saban to be equaled by the opposing sideline. Florida’s Meyer may just be better.

3) Tim Tebow
Without going into too much hyperbole, Tebow is the x-factor, been there done it all, leader every team covets at the signal caller position. Even when it doesn’t seem possible for him to do something else, he finds ways to do it. Tebow’s won 34 times as a starter and lost only five times (four of those coming in his first year as starter). He’s thrown 84 TDs against 15 interceptions and rushed for a league record 56 TDs. Besides the insane stats, the leadership skills are undeniable and, maybe, unbeatable in big games like this one. Last year going into the fourth quarter, Florida was against the ropes and then Tebow made plays – with his arm no less – to bring them back to two fourth quarter scores against roughly the same Alabama team he’ll face Saturday. It’s hard to go against this guy with the big prizes are on the line.

Raise your hand if you think Alabama can knock Tebow out of the game. It took a blindside shot under the chin to do it before and it’s the only time we’ve seen this guy take a lick and not get up from it. I don’t think Alabama can be one dimensional on offense the way they were against Auburn and win this game; Florida’s too good at pass rush and pass defense for that. Alabama proved they can beat Auburn without a running game. Can they beat Florida without it? I don’t think so because opposing teams hoping to win against the Gators need balance. When it comes down to it, the best defense against Florida’s offense is to control the clock and keep the ball out of Tim Tebow’s hands. Finally, Florida’s offense isn’t as explosive – the scoring average is down 8 points and they haven’t been in the endzone as much – but they have actually gained more yards than last year’s squad. Additionally, the defense gives up 3 points less and 33 yards less per game this year. I’d say Florida is as good as 2008, just getting it done differently.

Final Thoughts
This is appointment football television for college fans. It’ll be an epic battle at every position and will come down to the wire. In the end, I believe Florida’s defense can limit Alabama’s endzone opportunities forcing field goals and the Gators offense can get to the endzone often enough to win the SEC Championship.

By: THS

You never accept losing.  You never proclaim moral victories.  You never make excuses.  You always take responsibility for your performance.

Auburn…

- But we’re going to break the rules.  I just can’t get upset with this team right now.  I did that enough after the LSU game.  Our guys have busted their butts all year.  It’s been a hell of a fight to turn the program back around.  I wish I could go on another diatribe about Chizik’s future, but this rollercoaster of a season has silenced any opinions.  Think about what we HAVE accomplished:

1.  Recruiting a top ten class (possible top five) and stockpiling talent from other states.
2.  Going to a bowl game.  7 wins and two close calls against Kentucky and Georgia.
3.  Last year, there was no feeling of optimism going into the Bama game.  It was like you could feel “36-0″ in the air.  This year, I have no doubt we will at least be competitive.
4.  All critics have been silenced.  Most predictions that were against Auburn have been debunked.  Chizik is not really a “5-19″ coach.
5.  Trooper and Luper’s “juvenile” ideas in recruiting are working.  It’s only going to get better with next year’s class.

- You really think we lost the Georgia game due to poor coaching?  What could they have done differently?  We simply don’t have the playmakers.  Fannin is a nobody.  Blame Rivals overrating him in high school; blame Tuberville’s staff for not developing him early in his career; or blame him for not focusing on improving his skills.  He just isn’t clutch.  He was never going to make that big catch, and you’re a fool if you thought he was.  That was an NFL/game changer catch, and Mario “This Year, I Break Out” Fannin was surely not going to make it.

- I actually was impressed with the adjustments Malzahn made.  We pitched the ball around a good bit.  The only criticism I had was not throwing the ball in the 5-10 yard frame.  We either went deep or dunked it to the flats.  That might not be Malzahn’s playcalling.  That might be Chris Todd.  God love him, but Chris Todd isn’t a championship caliber quarterback.  He’s doing more than he was predicted to.  At least remember that.

- The defense sucks.  It has continued to suck.  It will continue to suck.  You want proof it’s the players?  Go rewatch the tape.  We BLITZED tonight.  A lot.  I kept screaming about it every time we did it.  Did it ever work?  No.  It didn’t.  We were slow.  We didn’t time it.  We couldn’t shed blocks.  Is that Roof’s fault?  Yeah.  Some.  But it’s a lot easier to play defense when you have experienced playmakers that consistently get it done.  For example, Josh Bynes blew the hell out of that reverse they tried to run.  It’s too bad Josh Bynes also missed some easy tackles, missed a crucial interception, and missed his assignments throughout the entire game.

- My disposition changed about this coaching staff.  After the LSU game, I was very skeptical of their ability to take our team to the next level.  What happened last week gave me hope for the future.  So hope for the future I will.

- We play with heart, and when Gene Chizik speaks of “family,” I believe him.  I believe he has a knack for bringing his guys closer together.  I think this will pay off when it comes to keeping coaches around.  It’s already shown on the recruiting trail.

- About recruiting – have you noticed that guys are committing to us not because we’re a flash in the pan?  It’s not the trendy thing to do, and we haven’t done much to shock and awe the country.  They experience Auburn last summer, and that experience has led them to committing in November.  Michael Dyer and Trovon Reed are only the beginning.

- Blowing out Ole Miss showed me Chizik’s ability to keep his team focused and compete with a good football team.  I was hesitant to accept the WVU and Tennessee victories as legit high quality wins, but Ole Miss had a good defense.  Their offense had just started clicking against Arkansas.  We were able to win and look good doing it.

Notre Dame…

- I told you it’s time for a new coach.  Pitt is a good team.  And you lost.  Add another name to the list of teams with winning records that Charlie Weiss can’t defeat.

Georgia…

- I still think Mark Richt is on a downward spiral.  Georgia (much like Notre Dame) has recruited lights out over the past few years.  There’s no need to have a rebuilding year like this every few seasons.  The players aren’t being developed properly.

Alabama…

- Alright.  That was impressive.  I honestly thought the upset was going to happen.  I know it’s Miss St, and they are more talent depleted than we are.  However, Bama was coming off of a huge SEC West-clinching win against LSU, and Miss St has played tough in big time games.  31-3 and it wasn’t even that close.

LSU…

- Another example of why Les Miles won’t be around much longer.  You never give up.  I’m sorry you lost to the undefeated Bama team last weekend, but you blow out La Tech.  You convince your seniors/juniors that they need to perform well for the NFL draft.  You convince your young guys they need to impress voters so they can participate in the best bowl games available.  You convince your coaching staff that they need to gameplan and motivate so they can bring in better recruiting classes.

Texas…

- The undisputed, unanimous #1 team in the country.  40-0 at halftime against Baylor?  35-3 (if I remember correctly) at halftime against Oklahoma St?  This team is a force.  It’ll be tough for anyone to catch them.

Final thought…

- Please please PLEASE don’t get your hopes up.  We most likely won’t beat Bama.  However, I’m looking to see our team make a statement.  This has been a special year.  We were the misfits.  Supposedly, not one of our players could start for any other team.  That’s what Bama fans have told us.  That’s what Finebaum has preached.  That’s what the B’ham media has reported.  We’re a down in the dumps football team that didn’t have a chance from the start.  We’re a locomotive rushing straight for the landfill led by a “5-19″ loser of a coach.  They’ve been wrong since the start.  I think we come out a fight our asses off against Bama.  We won’t win.  They’ll probably pull away in the 4th quarter, but we’ll be competitive.

By: Kevin Strickland

Mark Richt knows what’s wrong with the Georgia Bulldogs.

He knows why the ‘Dogs are 5-4 and in jeopardy of missing a bowl trip for the first time in eight years.

Richt has figured out why his team has fallen off the SEC East radar.

It’s not the schizophrenic offense that was able to torch Arkansas for 52 points but could only scrounge up 19 against Tennessee and 10 at Oklahoma State.

It’s not the erratic defense that allowed 37 to South Carolina, 41 to Arkansas, 41 to Florida and 45 to Tennessee.

Nope. It’s choreography and costuming that are the problem for his Bulldog team.

It all goes back to 2007. Desperately needing a spark to help break up a Florida stranglehold on Georgia’s series against the Gators (Florida had won 15 of the last 17), the staid Richt instructed his players to get an excessive celebration penalty after their first score.

The entire team rushed the field, danced like nobody was watching, earned the flag and went on to a 42-30 win.

Two weeks later, Richt and his Georgia team danced again, this time on the sidelines. As the stadium speakers blared Crank Dat (Superman) by Souja Boy, the team shook its collective Bulldog butt enroute to a 45-20 thrashing of Auburn. Even CBS announcer Verne Lundquist got into the act, captured on camera doing his version of the dance in the booth, a freakishly grotesque rendition that most resembled the Caddyshack gopher being hit with a taser.

Not only did the Bulldogs boogie, but they turned out in black jerseys for the first time ever, contributing to a blackout theme that saw most Bulldog fans also wearing black instead of the traditional red.

The fashion statement translated to the field as the Bulldogs surged toward the top of the 2007 rankings.

Georgia finished 11-2, exorcised the Florida demons and made a legitimate case for inclusion in the national championship discussion.

The problem for the Bulldogs was that Tennessee, one of two teams to knock off the Bulldogs that season, earned the SEC East title and berth in the championship game.

Still, Richt learned from the experience. He learned that one of the most critical components to game preparation was choreography and fashion.

“I think I’ve learned that it’s about 50-50,” Richt said in 2008 of the importance of energy and scheme. “You better do a good job fundamentally and scheme-wise, but you need to try to find a way to add energy.”

Richt’s method of adding energy? New clothes. He gave up playcalling duties in 2006 in order to focus more on gauging his team’s emotional level.

“I think it’s mart of Mark growing as a coach,” UGA athletic director Damon Evans said of Richt’s new concentration on intangibles. “I think Mark has grown every single year as a coach and gotten better and better. We all learn new things.”

Richt called on the black jerseys for a Sugar Bowl game against Hawaii, and the Bulldogs annihilated the Warriors.

Forget the shoes, it’s got to be the shirts.

When the Bulldogs faced Alabama in 2008, Richt returned the well and trotted out the black jerseys again.

One Alabama coach famously riffed that they were dressed in black for a funeral. Their own.

And so it was. Alabama buried the Bulldogs and mauled the black jersey mystique.

Later in the season, Florida exacted 49-10 revenge for the dancing of 2007.

Mystified, Richt tried to figure out what went wrong.  Why hadn’t the black jersey strategy worked? He had to be able to figure out how to successfully accessorize in 2009 or half of his coaching strategy would be for naught.

The black jersey failure so puzzled Richt so he consulted with famous fashion designer Vera Wang.

“Jerseys are so 2008, darling,” Wang said. “Hats are where it’s at in 2009!”

Perfect, Richt thought to himself as he sat down at the drawing board and crafted the next fashion statement for his team.

For Florida this season, the Bulldogs donned black helmets for the first time ever. Richt joyfully anticipated a cathartic win over the hated Gators.

A 41-17 thrashing later, Richt was despondent.

The Bulldog fanbase, which two years earlier had considered electing him emperor of the universe, had begun to lose faith. Rumors that Richt was on the hotseat and could be out of a job should his team fall to rival Auburn began to gather steam.

The Georgia coach wasn’t really concerned with his future, as he’d already started to build a Hollywood resume and could fall back on his acting career, but he didn’t want to leave his football hobby on a sour note.

Richt’s thespian efforts showed true range. He’d played everything from a  football coach to a football coach in a variety of projects.

He starred as Mark Richt in Damn Good Dog, a look at the life and times of Georgia mascot UGA in 2004.

He appeared in an episode of the short-lived television series Head Coach where he gave a compelling performance as Mark Richt.

Richt played a football coach which may or may not have been himself in the independent film Facing the Giants.

That led to a role in the Sandra Bullock vehicle The Blind Side where he was convincing as Georgia football coach Mark Richt.

Hollywood speculation had Richt as a hot commodity. He was up for the role of assistant coach Mark Richt in The Bobby Bowden Story. Industry experts said he was tailor made for the role.

He also auditioned for the part of assistant coach Mark Richt in the upcoming made-for-ESPN film Over My Dead Body: Bowden, Paterno and the Pursuit of Winningest Coach of All Time. His agent said he was dynamite and felt sure Richt would get a second read for the part.

Beyond that, Richt is reportedly under consideration for the lead role in the rumored CBS series CSI: Atlanta. According to speculation, all he would be required to do for the part was take his sunglasses off while making a clever quip. Chuck Amato is also rumored to be considered for the part, but Richt’s Georgia ties might give him the advantage there.

Richt’s status as a budding movie star led him to alternative methods to fix the ills that plagued his Georgia team. He called up Blind Side castmate Bullock to ask for advice.  She referred him to her pal and Georgia resident Ben Affleck who sent him to former flame Jennifer Lopez who made a call to Paula Abdul.

“Oh, honey,” Abdul gushed. “You are one good looking man. I give you a big YES on your tan alone.  It’s crazy! But if you want to really do something with this team you’ve got to get yourself back to what got you here. Return to your roots.

“Close your eyes, sugar britches,” Abdul purred. “Think back to 2007 when your Bulldogs were crowning with the glory, sweets. It wasn’t the jerseys, was it, baby love? Oh, those jerseys were a part of it, but what got you through Florida, my bronzed vision of southern goodliness?”

“I…I…I can’t remember,” Richt replied morosely.

Abdul began to hum, softly at first. At a whisper she started adding words.

“Soulja boy, off in dis oh,” she cooed softly.

“Yes, yes,” Richt sighed his head beginning to bob.

“Watch me crank it, watch me…” Abdul picked up the pace.

“WATCH ME ROLL!” Richt shouted.

In unison, Abdul and Richt finished the verse, she in California, he in Athens, both locking, popping and stepping.

“Watch me crank that SOULJA BOY, Watch me crank dat oh!”

“That’s it, that’s it,” Richt shouted joyously. It’s the DANCING we’ve been missing. Jerseys aren’t enough.

“Oh, Paula, how can I ever thank you enough.”

“Honey, in case you hadn’t noticed? I’m not exactly on the A-list these days. I’ll be in Athens on Tuesday. I’m bringing Debbie Allen with me. We gonna choreograph your Dawgs like some Laker Girls, baby!”

Richt wasn’t done. Dancing might be the ticket, but he couldn’t trust the outcome of a game against Auburn that might be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back to rest on busted moves alone.

He banked on his Hollywood wattage again and dialed up George Lucas. After 20 minutes of explaining who he was to the reclusive director he was rebuffed on his first request, but the Star Wars creator did grant the second item on Richt’s wish list. Undaunted, Richt kept dialing.

When his dealings were done, Richt sat back with a satisfied sigh.

When his Georgia Bulldogs take the field on Saturday they won’t be wearing black helmets. Nor will they don the traditional red helmets. No sir, this week, the Bulldogs will wear white helmets for the first time.

Not just any white. White Star Wars Stormtrooper helmets with the Georgia G affixed to the side.

Richt had hoped to wear the iconic black Darth Vader helmet for the game, but Lucas  denied his plea. So he did the next best thing. He called Mel Brooks.

When he takes his place on the sidelines, Richt will wear his traditional shades and headset. But instead of perfectly gelled hair, Richt will don the headgear worn by Dark Helmet in the Brooks classic Space Balls.

“It’s not Vader,” Richt told a few close associates, “but that black brim is sure to terrify the opposition.”

When Abdul and Allen arrived, Bulldog practices were closed. Unconfirmed rumor is the team will unveil an updated version of Michael Jackson’s timeless Thriller dance set to the thumping beat of the Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow.

No word yet on whether Lundquist will appear as a featured performer.

Bulldog dance practice is expected to last through Friday afternoon.

At some point Saturday morning Richt will turn his attention to the gameplan. He figures that should be plenty of time.

His Bulldogs came to Auburn in 2006 with what he termed then as an “awful” game plan and spanked the Tigers out of the Top Ten 37-15.

“I was probably about as low as I have been all season,” Richt said in the aftermath of the 06 win. “I thought that was the worst thing I had ever seen. I was looking at how I could get (quarterback) Matthew Stafford some confidence and I thought this game plan was awful.”

For Auburn coach Gene Chizik, fashion choices and choreography aren’t on the agenda.

“Uniforms?” Chizik asked incredulously when the topic was broached at his weekly press conference. “What do I know about fashion? I don’t think about things like that. My wife lays my clothes out for me or else I might show up wearing one blue sock and one orange one. We’ll wear what we always wear.”

For the record, Chizik has a point. He stirred up message board speculation and a ton of Louisiana wailing earlier this season when he casually mentioned his Tigers would wear their road whites at LSU, apparently unaware that the Bayou Bengals elect to wear white jerseys at home.

“Besides, I do know some about the history here,” Chizik continued.  ”Doug Barfield dragged up orange jerseys a couple of times. Maybe even against Georgia.

“What’s Barfield doing these days? Selling cars? Making tacos? Anybody know? And that Bowden guy, he put orange backgrounds on the numbers when he was coach. What happened to him? Whacked. That’s right. It wasn’t his record or his recruiting, it was those orange number shadows that got him.

“Mess with the uniforms and you get whacked around here. Auburn fans are like baseball purists. They want things to stay the same. I know enough not to mess with that.”

Later asked if Auburn planned a special dance routine like in Michael Jackson’s Bad or Beat It videos in order to intimidate the Bulldogs, he sighed with exasperation.

“Look, fellas, I’m not some George Astaire here. We’re not going to put on Batman underwear, we’re not doing the Watusi or the funky chicken. We’re going to Athens to play a football game. We’ll do our best to block, tackle and execute our game plan against a great, great football team.”

Around the room, notebooks snapped shut. “Boring,” one reporter sniffed to his compadre. “Come on, let’s go ask Nick Saban about some referees or the attack on Pearl Harbor. That ought to be good for a laugh.”

When it comes to fashion, the only color choice Chizik really needs to be concerned with is yellow.  His Tigers are among the most penalized teams in college football.

Auburn has given opponents 24 first downs via penalty, second most in the country. More than 10% of the first downs surrendered by the Auburn defense have come by way of the yellow hanky.

That’s not news to Georgia. The Bulldogs are even more heavily penalized than the Tigers and are, in fact, the most penalized team in the SEC.

It’s a battle to watch for certain, because penalties have played a significant part in two of Auburn’s three losses.

The Bulldogs are currently riding a three-game wining streak over the Tigers. Georgia hasn’t won four in a row in this, the oldest rivalry in the Deep South, since 1948 (part of an eight-game run that ended in 1953).

Both teams have questions that seem to have no answers. Both have displayed astonishing deficiencies on defense particularly. Both have exhibited offensive meltdowns.

Turnovers will be critical.

Auburn’s wins over West Virginia and Ole Miss (the primary difference between the disaster of 2008 and the encouragement of 2009) were both fueled by turnovers.  If the defense doesn’t force changes of possession in those games both could have ended differently. Turnovers contributed heavily to shocking point totals registered against the Tigers by dinky Ball State and tiny Furman.

Turnovers by Auburn also helped bury the Tigers against Arkansas.

Despite the two-game disparity in the record, the Tigers and Bulldogs are really fairly evenly matched.

Both have offenses that can catch fire and set off an explosion of points. Both teams have defenses that have been abused at times by the opposition.

Auburn’s defense, a squad which surrendered 30 to Ball State, 30 to West Virginia, 44 to Arkansas, 30 to Furman and 24 to Mississippi State, will have problems containing the Georgia offense.

When in doubt, it’s always prudent to look to the team with the better defense but given the performances by both Auburn and Georgia in 2009, that’s a difficult call.

That leaves the intangibles.

On Saturday Richt might just be battling for his job. The Tigers are merely jostling for exceeded expectations and a better bowl berth.

In another time and place Richt’s Bulldogs shot down Auburn in Auburn. That 2003 beating spurred a clandestine plane trip intended to depose then Tiger head coach Tommy Tuberville. The coup backfired, Tuberville survived and a year later embarked on the best season in the history of Auburn football.

Six years later, an Auburn win in Athens could spur similar stirrings in the Bulldog administration and put Richt’s long Athens tenure at risk.

Forget the stats, forget the trends, forget the dancing, the jerseys and the storm trooper helmets.

This is a game the Bulldogs need to win. It’s a game the Tigers want to win. In a showdown of unpredictable and mercurial teams need trumps want.

That’s why the Bulldogs will win a close one.

by Kevin Strickland

When ESPN signed a blockbuster $2 billion, 15 year deal in August of 2008 with the Southeastern Conference for the rights to televise sporting events including football and basketball many wondered what impact the agreement might have on the future of sports.

Some, echoing the sentiment expressed by former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, expressed concern at the amount of influence the network now commands and raised the question of where the line between broadcasting games and having a vested interest in their outcome begins to blur (http://www.tigersx.com/ks/espn-influence-is-also-its-curse/).

As the 2009 SEC season unfolds, many are wondering if the specter of tampering with the possible outcome of games might already have reared its ugly head.

In recent weeks a series of egregiously bad officiating calls have gone against opponents of both SEC front runners Alabama and Florida.

It’s undeniable that the calls in question changed the dynamic of the games if not their actual outcomes and each contributed heavily to keeping both the Tide and Gators undefeated through ten games.

When the Gators were in danger against a resilient Arkansas team, the Razorbacks were mystifyingly flagged for a personal foul/ The sham penalty extended a Florida drive allowing the Gators to tie the game with just over seven minutes remaining.

When Mississippi State challenged the Gators, the officiating crew and then the replay booth allowed a Florida touchdown on an interception when the naked eye and numerous slow-motion replays proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the ball was fumbled before crossing the goal.

On Saturday, with Alabama up six and driving in the fourth quarter, LSU intercepted a Greg McElroy pass. Everybody in the stadium saw it. Everybody watching on television saw a clear pick with both feet placed squarely in bounds. There was even a large divot where the first foot had been planted.

The only people in the stadium who didn’t see the interception? Two confused officials and a blind replay booth. The officials ruled the pass incomplete but not before they looked into each other’s eyes as if puzzling over what to do. Adding insult to injury, the the replay official confirmed the errant call.

Alabama went on to kick a field goal and increase their lead to nine. The difference between a six point spread and nine point advantage is canyonesque in a game where points are at a premium.

Could LSU have driven the field and scored to take the lead? Alabama fans snort at the idea and insist their defense wouldn’t have allowed such an affront, but stranger things have happened against better teams. Would the Tigers have seized the shift in momentum and broken the back of Alabama’s undefeated season? As a result of the blatantly erroneous call, we’ll never know.

Later, officials failed to react to an obvious foul on a screen pass to Julio Jones that helped spring the Alabama receiver for a long touchdown that sealed the win.

Shoddy officiating or a pattern of protecting the league’s sacred cows?

“Speculation,” LSU head coach Les Miles grimly offered in the aftermath of the loss to Alabama, “is rampant.”

Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin and Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino have all come under fire for questioning the competence, if not the integrity, of the SEC officiating crews.

The crew that worked the Arkansas-Florida game was suspended for their blatant incompetence.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has made it clear that he won’t tolerate criticism of officiating by firing warnings and leveling fines on coaches who do — even when those coaches are correct in their assessments.

When coaches are prevented from questioning obvious wrongs and are fined for speaking out, does that promote transparency or make it appear that the SEC does, in fact, have something to hide?

What does the SEC and by proxy ESPN have to gain by offering protection to Alabama and Florida? Isn’t the adage that an upset can happen on any given Saturday part of the pageantry and allure of college football?

The answers? Money, and lots of it. And not so much any more.

ESPN has a multi-billion dollar tie-in with the SEC. It is in the best interests of the network for the SEC to be represented in the BCS title game. The parent company of ESPN — ABC — owns the broadcast rights to January’s title game. It is also in the best interests of that network for an SEC team to hold one position.

When Florida was in trouble against Arkansas, can’t you imagine the suits at ABC sweating? What if the Gators had lost? And then beat Alabama in the championship game? Would the BCS computers spit out a Texas vs. TCU or Boise or Cincinnati title matchup? That would spell ratings disaster.

No, the SEC needs to make sure it holds up its end of the bargain and sends either the Gators or the Tide to the major stage.

Forget pageantry and the innocence of the college football experience. Cinderella’s a great story, but it’s not good for the bottom line if the kitchen help shows up at the ball and steals the spotlight away from the pre-ordained princesses.

Texas is, at this point, a virtual lock. The Longhorns would have to stumble and stumble badly down the stretch. Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M should pose no significant threat to Texas’ march to the title game and the Big 12 North opponent in the Big 12 Title Game is likely to offer little competition.

With half the bracket hopefully filled, ESPN and ABC needs a Florida or Alabama on the other side of the slate to help boost ad revenues, amp up viewership and pad ticket sales. The networks can’t afford to roll the dice on a BCS computer spitting out a Boise State or TCU at number one or two. Think of the lost revenue.

But what if Texas does trip over a blade of grass down the stretch? If the Tide and Gators are potentially off the board, the networks could envision a disaster of comet-smashing-into-the-Yucatan impact.

It’s a worst nightmare scenario, the kind of thing that causes network executives to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, to consider the possibilities if media darlings Florida, Alabama, Texas, USC and in any other season LSU and Oklahoma were to all fade.

USC imploded. ESPN and ABC couldn’t help the Trojans despite spending $2.4 million on hair gel for Kirk Herbstriet and getting Pete Carroll to grace their commercials.

Oklahoma flopped. Not even the networks could magically repair Sam Bradford’s shoulder, but not for lack of trying.

By the time LSU got to Alabama, the Bayou Bengals had a loss under their belts. Not wise to risk a one-loss team making the SEC title game and knocking off an unbeaten Florida.

The networks can’t do anything about Texas, the Longhorns have to make their own way. But what if they don’t?

Should Texas fail and if the SEC Champion is toting a loss, the possibility of a BCS title game between Boise State and TCU or Cincinnati exists.

That would be the mother of network nightmares. If the BCS burped out a Boise-Cincinnati BCS title game, it could also spell the beginning of the end for the BCS itself. The major conferences would balk and balk vociferously at a system that could create a title game that lacking in old-school star power.

To what lengths would the SEC and its partners ESPN and ABC go to prevent just such an epochal event?

Is it too much to believe the network might subtly exert its $2 billion muscle and quietly encourage the SEC to protect its investments?

Is such a suggestion coming from a company that staked 15 years of its future on the league really so far-fetched?

Whether there’s any veracity to the suspicions and speculation that now runs rampant, the video evidence appears to show a conclusive pattern to the botched calls. Perception is reality and the appearance of impropriety clearly exists.

Not even a replay from the booth can overturn that call.

By: Kevin Strickland

The Auburn Tigers bombed the Furman Paladins 63-31 in front of a Saturday afternoon Homecoming crowd.

The win was expected as was the relative ease with which it was achieved.

When you’re facing an opponent at a clear disadvantage in terms of talent, there are three things that must be achieved:

1) Avoid injury

2) Allow backups and rarely used players to gain experience; and

3) Learn something about your team

By that measure, Auburn’s win over the Paladins was a success.

The Tigers escaped without major injury.

Second string quarterback Neil Caudle played extensively. Anthony Gulley showed his wheels, breaking loose for a long touchdown run. Heralded freshman receiver DeAngelo Benton made his first significant impact of the season, catching six passes for 88 yards. Receivers Tim Hawtorne, Emory Blake and Derek Winter all made contributions.

The Tigers scored on six of seven first half possessions, each drive covering 50-plus yards, as they stacked up a 42-3 lead.

At the end of the day, Auburn got exactly what it needed out of a win over a clearly outmatched opponent.

The question is, what did the Tigers learn?

First and foremost, Auburn learned that it cannot turn the ball over. Furman scored 28 second half points, 14 of those set up by fumbles deep in Auburn territory.

A muffed punt return gave Furman the ball at the Tiger six early in the third quarter, highlighting nagging special teams breakdowns that have plagued the team all season long.

Furman converted that gift and then got another on the next series when the Tigers put the ball on the ground after a botched handoff exchange. The Paladins took over at the Auburn 37 and jammed the ball down the Tigers’ throat.

The 42-3 halftime lead morphed to a less comfortable 42-17 difference before the returning fans had finished their halftime hotdogs.

The Tigers learned that Caudle can handle the position in a pinch. The oft-injured junior managed the position well in the first extended playing time of his career.

Caudle led three touchdown drives, all of which covered 60-plus yards. He was 10-12 passing for 115 yards. On the second touchdown drive, Caudle overcame a first and 25 after back to back penalties.

Auburn learned that its special teams is still special in the bad way. Dropping a punt at the Auburn six is the kind of thing that will doom a team in SEC play. Auburn has no Furmans left on the rest of the schedule.

Auburn learned that its defense still has significant issues.

Justify it in any way you wish: bad field position, players playing out of position, second and third string players in the game, defense was tired, depth we’ve heard them all. Fact remains that Furman does not score 31 points on a quality defense.

The Paladins managed just 12 against Elon. Auburn’s second or third string defense can’t compete with Elon? Samford, Pat Sullivan’s tiny Samford team, held Furman to 24.

There’s no excuse for a team of Furman’s caliber to put up 31 points on an SEC team.

Even more disturbing was the way the Paladins kicked Auburn in the grill on the first series of the game.

After hitting an underneath pass for 14 yards on the first play, the Paladins chewed up 66 yards in 12 plays, converting a fourth and two at one point. It was distressing to watch what is essentially a hyped up junior varsity team abuse the Auburn defense.

After the first drive, the Tiger stopping unit settled in and cut the Paladins off at the knees. Furman managed a total of eight yards the rest of the first half. Still, the opening drive backpedal is reason for pause.

Another reason for a minor sense of disquiet was the quarterback play. While Todd and Caudle combined to complete 27 of 30 passes for a total of 273 yards, neither bothered to work through progressions. Both Todd and Caudle locked on to a receiver at the snap and waited for him to break free before delivering the ball.

At least once Todd forced a ball into triple coverage across the middle while ignoring a wideout who had left his man cold and was standing alone with no defender within 15 yards. The catch was made in traffic, but the play could have gone the distance with better field vision.

The singular focus was effective against a team that couldn’t stick with Auburn’s receivers one on one, but it won’t have the same impact as the Tigers finish the SEC slate.

There is no more time for learning. Auburn closes out the season with traditional foes Georgia and Alabama and then a likely bowl game.

Furman was the last chance to work out the few remaining kinks before the season grinds into the home stretch.

There were lessons to be had in Saturday’s lazy, sloppy, routine win. What Auburn does with the answers will be the difference between exceeding expectations and merely meeting them.

By: Kevin Strickland

The Furman Paladins couldn’t have chosen a better time to slip onto the Auburn Tigers’ football schedule.

Sandwiched between an emotional and cathartic win over Ole Miss and next week’s grudge match against traditional rival Georgia the Paladins lurk in easily overlooked ambush.

Furman sneaks in for Auburn’s Homecoming at 4-4 with wins over Presbyterian, Chattanooga, Western Carolina and Samford under their belts. Losses to Missouri, Appalachian State, Elon and The Citadel even out the slate.

The Paladins score a healthy 27.6 points and 151 yards rushing per game and could pose a threat to…

Oh, who are we kidding?

There is no real need to preview this game.

Auburn, on Homecoming, will turn the Paladins into an assortment of tin cans. Missouri bombed Furman 52-12 and that’s about how Saturday afternoon will turn out.

Oh, but couldn’t Furman catch Auburn napping, you ask? Sure. The starters probably will be napping on the sidelines in the third quarter as Tiger Heisman Trophy Winner Bo Jackson once famously did.

The only kind of nap the Tigers could take that would be enough to change the outcome of this game is a magical one like the evil queen put on Sleeping Beauty. Do you know any evil queens? Furman doesn’t either.

With little substantive to consider in regard to the outcome of the game, attention turned to the trivial.

What is a Paladin, for instance? Is a distant relative of the most attractive vice presidential nominee in American history? Sadly, no. There are no Palins in the Paladin family tree.

The Paladin were Knights of King Charlemagne’s Court. They fought in the Crusades and were featured in fairy tales from that era. So far as can be ascertained, none of them wore glasses, wore their hair in a strategically messy “up-do” or ever made any references to “hockey moms.”

Did you know that Charlemagne, King of the Franks and rival to the Byzantine Empire from 768 until his death in 814, could not write and likely could not read despite his efforts to promote learning, the arts and culture in his kindgom? He slept with wax tablets under his pillow in his later years, perhaps hoping the words written there would seep through in his sleep.

Did you know the Paladins have about as much chance of besting Auburn on Saturday afternoon as Charlemagne did learning to read by sleeping on books?

Another question. Where is Furman. An unscientific poll of the first ten golfers encountered on a course in the middle of Mississippi yielded the following guesses: Iraq, Tennessee, Wyoming, Scotland, Canada and Kentucky. Wrong on all counts.

Furman University is located in Edgefield South Carolina where it’s been since 1826.

Steve Spurrier was surprised to learn this.

Earlier in the season, the Tigers roasted another cupcake, the Ball State Cardinals. At least the Cardinals had some outstanding alumni to profile. There was Papa John, David Letterman and Janet from Three’s Company to name a few.

Furman? Not so much.

You’ve got Ben Browder, who’s apparently an actor on Farscape. Has anybody ever seen that show?

What about Thomas Goldsmith, a physicist who helped pioneer color television? Thanks for that of course, but who invented HD? That’s the question.

There’s Sanskrit scholar Maurice Bloomfield. Yawn.

Of course current South Carolina governor Mark Sanford is a former Paladin, but how many “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” jokes can you make before it gets old?

Did you know Argentina is home to nearly 40 million people? None of them had ever heard of Furman either.

Beth Daniel, Betsy King and Dottie Pepper are all Furman alumni. So the Paladins can turn out some quality athletes. But unless you’re familiar with the LPGA, they might as well be Daniel Boone, Betsy Ross and Dr. Pepper.

In researching Furman history there was one figure who stood out, however.

Former Saturday Night Live star Victoria Jackson is a Furman alum, attending the school on a gymnastics scholarship.

She didn’t stay a Paladin. After one year, Jackson transferred to Auburn.

She went on to meet Johnny Crawford, best known as the son of The Rifleman, whom she followed to California. There she embarked on an acting career.

She got her big break reciting poetry on the Johnny Carson show — while standing on her head. Twenty Carson appearances later, she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live where she spent six seasons and was famous for impersonations of Cindy Brady and Sally Struthers.

Jackson had a moderately successful film career, most notably starring alongside Lea Thompson in the 1988 film Casual Sex?

She’s done numerous guest shots on television series including Hollywood Squares, The X Files, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Perry Mason and Diagnosis Murder.

She’s since become a conservative voice, speaking out against Democratic candidates in general and president Barack Obama, in particular, during the 2008 election. Her outspoken nature and celebrity status led to interviews on conservative talk shows like Hannity and Colmes and The O’Reilly Factor.

The question that begs an answer, however, is how Jackson will cheer on Saturday?

Attempts to contact Jackson this week were unsuccessful so we’re left to guess to which side she’ll fall.

Will she cheer for Furman because it was her first choice? Will she root for Auburn because it was her last?

Will she shout “War Eagle” or “Hail the White and Purple”?

And will she do it while standing on her head?

By: Kevin Strickland

The Auburn Tigers reached into their Halloween bag on Saturday afternoon and served up a heaping helping of tricks to the Ole Miss Rebels, knocking out the once and no time in the future number four team in the country 33-20.

Halloween was a fitting time for the Tigers to rise from the grave where they’d been planted after three straight abysmal performances and return to their previous slashing gory, err, glory.

The Ole Miss Rebels made the haunting day trek to Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium with the same youthful recklessness that spurs on teens in any typical slasher film to revisit the scene of previous carnage.

Why not go have a fun-filled romp at Camp Crystal Lake? Go ahead and pull on the mask and go door-to-door in Haddonfield on Halloween. Trip on over to Jordan-Hare. You don’t really believe the stories, do you?

If there ever was a boogeyman, he’s long gone now. Nothing but mist and legend.

The kids from Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU saw to that, didn’t they?  They cut off his head, put chains around him, drowned him in the lake, and destroyed the monster.

They reduced the potent Tiger offensive machine to a box of clunking gears, stripped of its ability to churn out yardage.

Those meddling kids from Fayetteville, Baton Rouge and Lexington ripped the mask off the Auburn defense and exposed it to the harsh light of day, melting away whatever frights it might have held.

There is no grim mauler lurking in the shadows. Go ahead and ring the doorbell. Spread out the blanket at Camp Crystal Lake. Head on over to Jordan-Hare. There’s nothing to fear. There are no demons. Everything’s fine.

Right?

Like Jason Voorhees (or Freddie Krueger, or Michael Myers) just when you thought the Tigers were dead and buried, done in by some grisly past mayhem, they rose again, clawing up from the dirt, emerging from the lake, chains dripping, to unleash their particular brand of horror again.

Starring in the role of the trashy and provocative teen were the Rebels. As anyone who’s ever watched a scary movie knows, its the girl who’s fast and loose with her gifts who first gets the axe from the angry mauler.

When the Tigers emerged from the hole in which they’d been prematurely buried by most media (and many fans) they were angry and looking for blood. ESPN talking head Kirk Herbstreit, one of the few in the national media who had hailed the hiring of head coach Gene Chizik, went so far as to declare the Auburn program a “sinking ship” during his network’s College Gameday.

Roused from their slumber, the Tigers sought revenge for past wrongs.  Like the too-friendly teen who buys it early, the Rebels were fodder for that vengeance.

Everything that had gone wrong for Auburn in the three losses that nearly drove a stake through the heart of the season, went right on Saturday.

The penalties that had spooked Auburn drives and given new life to the opposition were largely exorcised against the Rebels.

After turning the ball over seven times in the previous three games, Auburn only surrendered one fumble on Saturday, that a frighteningly bad fourth-quarter Todd decision in the course of a 21-yard loss on third and twelve. Todd’s gaffe gave the Rebels the ball and a jolt of energy at the Tiger 24-yard line.

The Todd drop came after Auburn had watched Ole Miss scratch back from a 31-7 hole and close to 33-20.

In any of the last three weeks, a costly mental error late in the game would have spelled doom for the Tigers.

Auburn’s much maligned defense suffered down the stretch in each of the three losses, and a spirit-crushing turnover seemed poised to open the floodgates again.

Not this time.

A rushing play lost two yards. A sideline pass lost five more. Rebel quarterback Jevan Snead escaped on an 18-yard run to the Tiger 12, but what was that yellow thing lying on the ground?  Penalty. Not on Auburn.

Holding on Ole Miss backed the Rebels up to the Auburn 39.  Snead dropped back to pass on third down and was plowed under by Antonio Coleman for a six yard loss.

Out of field goal range, Ole Miss punted. And the Rebels were done.

The best numbers to come out of Saturday’s defensive effort?  7-0-0.  That’s how many points Ole Miss scored in the first, second and fourth quarters respectively.

For the first time this season, Auburn rush was able to get pressure on an opposing quarterback and the results were obvious.

Dexter McCluster ripped off one long run, but you can’t expect any defense to contain a back of his caliber for the entire game. He was going to get that.

Part of the defensive resurgence is due to the disruptive efforts of linebacker Eltoro Freeman. The transfer is still out of position occasionally and his mental lapses lead to big plays for the opposition, but he more than offset those negatives Saturday with his ball hawking presence.

Auburn’s special teams still lacks spark. A failure to corral the Ole Miss kick returner after the Tigers built a 31-7 lead in the third allowed the Rebels to keep breathing a little longer than they might have otherwise.

In terms of improvement in all the things that had plagued the Tigers over the past three weeks, you couldn’t really ask for much more.

The Auburn defense played its best game of the season, pressured Snead, forced turnovers, and added a score of its own.

Todd seemed more relaxed and, with the exception of the one fourth quarter meltdown, was in control of his game.  He missed receivers early, but settled in and was significantly more efficient and poised as the game progressed.

The Tigers served tricks to the Rebels and treats to the fans who turned out early for the Navy Daymare.

Trick or treat is the theme for this Auburn team through nine games.  When the Tigers are on, it’s a real treat to watch them perform.

The Tigers aren’t deep enough, experienced enough or polished enough to survive their own mistakes, however. When things don’t go as planned, the snowball effect comes into play. One mistake leads to another and another and the next thing you know you’re looking at a growing deficit on the scoreboard. When the negative roll starts, all the Tigers have in their bag is the trick of Charlie Brown’s proverbial Halloween rock.
Auburn can’t afford penalties. It can’t afford turnovers. It can’t stop itself.

The resurrected Tiger monster is again on the prowl. It dispatched the teen scream Rebels with relative ease.

Next week it will mow through a couple of bit players, leaving Furman body parts scattered through the scenery as it tromps toward the final showdown.

After that come the climactic scenes between the main protagonists, the chilling showdowns that cause fans to pack the theaters, err, stadium in droves.

The Tigers close out the regular season with traditional rivals Georgia and Alabama, sort of a Freddie vs. Jason vs. Michael extravaganza.

After Saturday’s mauling of Ole Miss, it’s practically impossible to predict how this film will end.

This much is certain. Despite some critical pans, director Gene Chizik has earned the right to helm the sequel for which there will be even greater anticipation.