Auburn University: The Official "War Damn Eagle!!!" Thread

Mainly, I suppose I'm starting this thread because I like to hear myself talk. Because I don't know how many other Auburn fans there are out there - but you know what? This site needs an Auburn thread like Yogi Bear needs Boo-Boo or like I need Cap'n Crunch cereal in the morning, which is to say: A LOT!!! And while there is probably much to be said about Auburn's swimming and diving and gymnastics squads, y'know what, I'm more of a football / basketball guy myself. Sometimes hockey and baseball, although... not much hockey at AU.

Anyhoo, if anyone wants to post on Auburn sports, this be the place.

War Eagle to you, and I'll start listening to myself talk here real soon, because there are gonna be things that need to be said.

 

And long time since I've spoken to you guys on these college boards. I've missed it!

But, when I'm not working/writing/coachingLittleLeague/atchurch/hangingwithmykids/etcetcetc, I'll be contributing a lot more here. We'll see. I know everyone else here on these boards has a life, too -- I think I'm just a horrible time-organizer.

But again -- I've missed you guys and look forward to... well, you know... something this year a lot like the AU/UF game last year. Yipes!

 

A-Day Game This Weekend

Like Christmas, the annual A-Day game seems to come earlier and earlier each year. Right now, the big question on offense swirls around who will be starting as QB next year. And... we won't know until Fall. Here are a few links that all pretty much say the same thing:

B-ham News: http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/12065193086610.xml&coll=2

Press Register (Mobile): http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/sports/1206522915295650.xml&coll=3

Huntsville Times: http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1206522951295730.xml&coll=1

And the fishwrap writer's blogs say the same thing as well.

It's funny how things change in a year. Last year, Neil Caudle - who started as second string early in the year and got hurt, and is also the best passer of the bunch - was my hope as AU's QB of the future. And Tony Franklin heaps the praise on Caudle, but just as a back-up to Burns or Todd. The starting job will come down to one of those two. Not sure I have a horse in the race yet, but I suppose it will be the guy I think will be the biggest threat passing the ball. They both know the offense, and both have the ability to run. Maybe the A-Day game will help, but it's probably even a Fall-call for me. Franklin's offense is just so new here on the Plains.

And Todd has kind of come out of nowhere but is at AU completely because of Franklin. Franklin had watched him at Elizabethtown, KY, and then Todd bounced around from Texas Tech to a Kansas junior college, and now here he is at AU with a chance to start as a junior. Surprise, surprise to Finrunner (sorry about referring to myself in the third person - or maybe just kind of sorry). He's still sort of a mystery to me, but it's unfolding.

I hope the QB situation gets solved early in the Fall practice rather than later, though. Competition's a great thing, but I don't want Auburn to be running out two QBs every game. For us, that would seriously bite, imo.

Much other stuff going on (all things football, Jeff Lebo, his job at AU, and my thoughts on the basketball program, AU baseball, etc.), but why write it all in one post? Plus, finswin56 and Motion are probably the only guys who stop by - so there's not a lot of care factor round these parts. But, it is therapeutic... so write I shall.

 

Thanks, Brandon! Enjoyed the article.

Yep, that article about sums up where we're at right now. It all comes down to the new coordinators and how the team adjusts and then the QB position. And yeah, let's pray that Blackmon stays out of trouble and plays a whole season.

I expect improvement out of Burns as a passer, but it's just not natural for him. While his superb mobility does seem to make him the fit, in the SEC you're going to have to complete passes some of the time to win. The 10 for 26 (38.5% completion pct.) he put up last year won't cut it. Once teams figure that out, and that should be about Game 1, Auburn's in trouble unless he's made a dramatic improvement. And I don't know what to think about Todd. His passing numbers, despite a bum shoulder, this Spring have been pretty good. And Franklin is high on him. I think when all is said and done, it's probably going to be Kody Burns starting the first game.

I love the fact that we started eight hundred and seventeen freshmen on our offensive line last year. You'd think that'd bode well for our future. Our backs are capable although not superb, and Lester's been the only guy this Spring. Tate is coming back but will probably be limited for the A-Day game.

And though we've changed DCs, I don't anticipate near as much change with the defense than the offense. The offense is going to be something we've never seen before down on the Plains. The defense should just keep on. Love Sen'Derrick Marks and Antonio Coleman as our DEs. We should still be good pressuring other teams from our front four and seven. If Blackmon plays the whole year, and plays like he's capable, our LBing corps will be anchored, and our front seven's gonna be fine. And really, I'm not too worried about the DBs. We lost a couple of good players at CB, but we have guys to fill in.

Anyhow, great article - and anything AU you find - please post it here!

 

Yeah, and it's a wait-and-see thing for me. One thing AU has always been able to count on whenever things go south is going back to the running game. We've always been able to recruit stud backs, and now I'm not so sure how things will turn out with that. We just lost Enrique Davis to Ole Miss once he learned we were going to the spread. I think there'll be some growing pains unless we just take off in the offense. Call me a traditionalist, I guess.

"Interesting" is right.

 

Finebaum

Sigh.

Frankly, I should be above criticizing editorialists for doing what they get paid to do. But I'm not perfect.

Here's Paul Finebaum's (B-ham Press Register) article where he annually predicts Auburn's record from their A-Day game (could anything be more useless?): http://www.al.com/press-register/st.../sports/120678214141420.xml&coll=3&thispage=1

It's titled "AU Season Could End on a Bad Note".

Here in Alabama, you choose sides. You're either for Auburn or you're for the Tide. So a headline like this, with really no substantial reason for his picks, enthuses the Alabama faithful and incites the Auburn loyalists, and mostly, sells papers.

Of course Auburn's season could end on a bad note. Playing your rival every year does that. But how about sacking up, Finebaum? I realize you throw out your rash, unsubstantiated prediction...

...(and I mean, seriously, is there one single word or even an iota of substantiation or reason why he feels this might happen in his paragraph on the game? Absolutely not. Just a bunch of b.s. and a score.) to stir opinions, but how about some definition rather than vagueness on your prediction and in your headline? Could? Heck, anyone can do that. How about some of these?

Auburn could put up fifty against Arkansas due to Tuberville's vendetta with Petrino.
Kodi Burns might complete over 65% of his passes next year.
Quentin Groves perhaps will be in the Top 10 players chosen in the NFL Draft this year.
There's a good chance Auburn takes revenge on Mississippi State next year.

None of that means anything. Nothing.

How about just giving us your thoughts on A-Day? Who do you think will win the quarterback's job? Who might step up in the secondary? Are there any surprises over the Spring that you've seen? AU's WRs were pedestrian last year... is there anyone who might be better than average at wideout this year? AU has recruited very good TEs over the past few years - will Franklin's spread offense put these guys to use? Without Groves and Sims, can AU's defensive line reload, or are they rebuilding somewhat?

Anything along these lines might be appreciated. We really don't get all that much info from any of the big three papers around here, so answers to questions like that mean something to peopel that care. But no. Those might take a little thought and research, and they may not sell as many papers as just inciting a crowd with some random-arsed prediction.

Nice job, Finebaum. And speaking of jobs, how do I get one that's that cushy?

 

Post-Spring

Some links on AU Football now that Spring practices have ended:

Offensive Positions: http://blog.al.com/trackingtigers/2008/04/todd_van_emst_auburn_universit_5.html

Kodi Burns, QB: http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/120721053549930.xml&coll=2

Wednesday's Final Scrimmage (post A-Day): http://blog.al.com/auburnbeat/2008/04/spring_football_wraps_up_with.html

Tristan Davis (and more on final scrimmage): http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/press-register/index.ssf?/base/sports/1207214189259670.xml&coll=3
----------------------
So now there's just this looooooooooooooong summer, and then the boys'll be back at it around August. And speaking of boys and summer, here's an quickie article about AU baseball players on MLB rosters:

http://blog.al.com/auburnbeat/2008/03/six_auburn_players_on_mlb_open.html

Good to see that AU has 30 former players that have made MLB rosters.

 

Auburn Draft Prospects Coverage

Couple links fromthe Alabama fishrags on potential Auburn draftees:

This one's mainly on Pat Sims and Patrick Lee but also has some on Quentin Groves:
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1209028584123100.xml&coll=1

This one's primarily on Groves:
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/pr...sports/1209028512122100.xml&coll=3&thispage=2

Also from the blogs - this is mainly rehashed from the articles above but there are a couple different quotes here and there:

Tracking the Tigers - Phillip Marshall, The Huntsville Times
http://blog.al.com/trackingtigers/2008/04/lee_sims_will_hear_their_names.html#comments

The Gold Mine - Charles Goldberg, The Birmingham News
http://blog.al.com/goldmine/2008/04/auburn_players_lining_up_for_n.html

http://blog.al.com/goldmine/2008/04/auburns_groves_healthy_and_rea.html (this one is about Groves heart procedure)

Here's hoping that some of these guys or one of these guys gets a call from the Miami Dolphins!!!

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/pgStory?contentId=8473542&MSNHPHMA#sport=COLLEGE FOOTBALL&photo=8471548

Good to see # 13 of 22 on this list.

 

Auburn 34 La. Monroe 0

Things I Liked:

1) Liked the shut out, although our defense did give up some yards and first downs in spurts. La. Monroe missed two FGs . Still, hard to argue with 0 points, and I'm not gonna start. So props to our new DC, Paul Rhoads, stolen from no less a powerhouse than Dave Wannstedt's Pitt Panther regime. But Pitt's defense was not bad last year, and Wannstedt is better at knowing D than offense - obviously. Loved Muschamp, but hopefully Rhoads will keep the Chizik / Muschamp heritage going... except not run off to Texas after Muschamp gets his head coaching gig down the road and the Longhorns come calling. Antonio Coleman, stud, had the sack that caused the fumble returned for a TD. Jerraud Powers was all over the field making plays.

2) With the spread offense, I was afraid we'd be getting away from the running game to some degree. Instead, we get 300+ yards rushing. Frank Tate went for 115, Brad Lester scored yet another TD, Burns got a lot from the QB position (and he better as his passing needs work), and Eric Smith looked for real at over 7.0 ypc on 9 attempts. All that was to the good.

3) Defensive and special teams TDs. AU started out fast scoring a defensive TD in the first three minutes of the game. Our next TD was a Robert Dunn punt return for a TD. So as the AU/La-M score flashed across the screen for the nation, AU at least looked respectable because of these scores as our offense sputtered.

4) Winning. I always take wins.

Things I Didn't Like:

1) The two quarterback system. A wise man or two hundred twenty-seven thousand three hundred forty-two of them once said, "If you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterback." Looking at how both guys threw the ball, at this point, I just say take Burns, who gives you an advantage in the running game, and hope for the best. If we don't find a QB that can make some plays in the passing game, however, we're going to lose the big games. We just are. This situation has to be fixed. Is there a solution on the Auburn team is the better question? Hopefully, this is more a one guy can't get into rhythm than a capability question, but I have some doubts, and that scares me for AU.

2) Hand-in-hand with number one, but our passing offense didn't so much sputter as it did die a slow, painful death. Against. Louisiana. Monroe. This wasn't LSU or Alabama. This passing attack that didn't log 90 yards (and just 28 in the first three quarters )... what is it going to do when we face a team with a good pass defense? Or worse, a good run defense that forces us to make some plays passing? Ugggh! I do think most of this boils down to the quarterbacks not being capable of making the throws at this point, but there are some separation issues for the receivers. We did have a drop by Lester where we would have had a first down early in the game, which may have helped get us going. There were a few others, but even more, the QBs just didn't make the throws. Again, hopefully they're afraid to make those because they might lose their job, and not because they just can't or won't do it. Work-in-process, to be sure.

3) Losing Phillip Pierre-Louis for the season.

4) How easy Bama made beating Clemson look. When Nick Saban wins, I hurt. Think I might be hurting a lot over the next decade. Hopefully, just not the AU/Bama games.

 

Little delinquent here, but...

AUBURN 3

MISS ST. 2

Notwithstanding all the baseball jokes, anyone, anywhere on these boards got something that can beat that?






boyoboyoboyoboy... our offense is bad
at least we have LSU coming in. that should make things better.

 

Right on both counts, but that defense isn't going to save them come the meat of the schedule, which just so happens to start this weekend, if the offense doesn't put some points on the board.

Not to go ahead and start writing eulogies, but it would sure be a shame to waste this great defense in an even year when most of our toughest games are at home. Our offense has to find itself this weekend.

 

Great question. Ended up not hurting him, though, as we fumbled the ball right back to him. However, what if we had done that on our own 10 yard line? You never know.

Just a bad, bad coaching decision. It was 4th and 15???!!!

But! I'm glad he didn't!

 

Stiches!

What the heck are you doing bringing that mess into my nice thread???



Just kidding! War Eagle anyway!

 

Well, well, well...

...is there anything prettier than firing your offensive coordinator on a Wednesday a couple hours before practice and a couple days before your next game? Nice, Tommy, real nice. This should help recruiting, help us catch Alabama, Georgia, and Florida in recruiting - at least they're not heads and tails above us on that front.

Wait! Yes they are.

The whole spread offense at AU, and Tuberville, says he's planning to stick with that, just seems like its a poor fit. A couple years back, we went out and recruited, good, talented young lineman for our straight-ahead running attack. Thought we had a good signing with QB Neil Caudle. And we have a defense, that if we could put any points up at all, we'd still be undefeated.

Lo, all of that has fallen through. Now, we've got a system that doesn't fit our players, our offense is pretty adrift, and this season really has not merit. I can't get excited about it at all - and I'm taking my son to this weekend's game. Great.

I was never a fan of bringing the spread offense to Auburn. For the record, despite my feelings about that, Tony Franklin should not have been fired mid-season. I understand Tuberville was feeling pressure, but that seems like reactive self-preservation and not leadership. After the season, admit the mistake, move on. Bad timing. Things at AU ain't rosy.

I think Tuberville is in as much trouble as he's ever been - including the Jet Gate year.

 

Yeah, I'd like to try to beat UF with one of our whopping 3-2 scores.

 

Positives and Negatives

My positives and negatives at mid-year:

Positives: Josh Bynes (maybe Sen'Derrick Marks)

Negatives: Everything else



We're bad. Very, very bad. Hard to get fired up right now.