Friday, October 08, 2004
AU Preview: Louisiana Tech
Auburn looks to keep rolling this week with the Homecoming game against Louisiana Tech. First, ESPN's insights:
When LA Tech has the ball:
LA Tech is not without offensive weapons. RB Ryan Moats is 5th in the NCAA in rushing, but he faces a speedy Auburn LB corps that can run him down and prevent many big runs from occuring. QB Mike Kubik makes his 2nd career start this Saturday, the first being a huge upset win over #17 Fresno State, but LA Tech lacks the ability at WR to beat Auburn's DBs in man-to-man coverage. Therefore, Auburn's D will be able to bring 8-9 men to the line of scrimmage to stop the run.
When Auburn has the ball
Auburn averages 198 yards per game on the ground, in spite of playing some tough SEC defenses. LA Tech is 80th in the nation (out of 116) in rush defense. You do the math. LA Tech does not have the size on the DL to match up against Auburn's OL. LA Tech won't be able to stack the line of scrimmage to stop the run, however, because of Jason Campbell's emergence as a QB who can make other teams pay for playing against the run. Look for some deep passes to Taylor, Aromashodu, and Mix to keep LA Tech's D honest, and to open things up for Williams and Brown. It could be a long night for LA Tech's D if any of those long passes go for completions.
Bottom Line
Both teams are coming off of huge wins for their respective programs. LA Tech has hung tough through an incredibly hard schedule, and still has one of the best RBs anywhere in the nation, but their inability to throw the ball downfield has kept them from winning many games. Even if Auburn suffers an early letdown after the big game against Tennessee, the ability of Williams and Brown to overpower LA Tech's defensive front should give Auburn an easy victory.
ESPN's Prediction: Auburn 37, LA Tech 13
Jason's Notes Not much to add here. We have a solid defensive front, good DBs, a great running game, a good passing game, and decent special teams. They have a great running game, and nothing else. I mean, NOTHING else. Can't find any analysis on LA Tech's special teams, but I get the feeling that we will see quite a few kicks by them during this game. I'd consider a win by any less than 21 to be a letdown from the TN game. 28 would be ideal. National Championship teams stay mentally tough against all opponents. Time to see if Auburn can keep up the pace.
When LA Tech has the ball:
LA Tech is not without offensive weapons. RB Ryan Moats is 5th in the NCAA in rushing, but he faces a speedy Auburn LB corps that can run him down and prevent many big runs from occuring. QB Mike Kubik makes his 2nd career start this Saturday, the first being a huge upset win over #17 Fresno State, but LA Tech lacks the ability at WR to beat Auburn's DBs in man-to-man coverage. Therefore, Auburn's D will be able to bring 8-9 men to the line of scrimmage to stop the run.
When Auburn has the ball
Auburn averages 198 yards per game on the ground, in spite of playing some tough SEC defenses. LA Tech is 80th in the nation (out of 116) in rush defense. You do the math. LA Tech does not have the size on the DL to match up against Auburn's OL. LA Tech won't be able to stack the line of scrimmage to stop the run, however, because of Jason Campbell's emergence as a QB who can make other teams pay for playing against the run. Look for some deep passes to Taylor, Aromashodu, and Mix to keep LA Tech's D honest, and to open things up for Williams and Brown. It could be a long night for LA Tech's D if any of those long passes go for completions.
Bottom Line
Both teams are coming off of huge wins for their respective programs. LA Tech has hung tough through an incredibly hard schedule, and still has one of the best RBs anywhere in the nation, but their inability to throw the ball downfield has kept them from winning many games. Even if Auburn suffers an early letdown after the big game against Tennessee, the ability of Williams and Brown to overpower LA Tech's defensive front should give Auburn an easy victory.
ESPN's Prediction: Auburn 37, LA Tech 13
Jason's Notes Not much to add here. We have a solid defensive front, good DBs, a great running game, a good passing game, and decent special teams. They have a great running game, and nothing else. I mean, NOTHING else. Can't find any analysis on LA Tech's special teams, but I get the feeling that we will see quite a few kicks by them during this game. I'd consider a win by any less than 21 to be a letdown from the TN game. 28 would be ideal. National Championship teams stay mentally tough against all opponents. Time to see if Auburn can keep up the pace.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Kirk Herbstreit Bows Down To Auburn Faithful
Thought I'd preface my Auburn-LA Tech preview with some quotes from today's ESPN.com chat with Kirt Herbstreit.
First, his opening statement in the chat: "Before we get started, I already bowed down to the Auburn faithful last Saturday night after their pounding of Tennessee in Knoxville.. congratulations to the Tigers! You have a great football team."
Secondly, in response to a question about what happened to Tennessee's QBs: "What happened was Auburn is just a heck of a lot better football team. The experience and poise of Jason Campbell, the exceptional running tandem of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown. And a defense that I think might be better than they were a year ago wich Karlos Dansby and company. Tennessee got beat in the trenches on both sides of the ball and didn't have the skill to match up with Auburn."
Thirdly, Kirk's personal rankings: " My top five is USC, OU, Georgia, Miami and Auburn."
Sure, we'd love all of the national media people to say things like this about Auburn all of the time, but I find it enjoyable to find an analyst who picks against us, is proven wrong, and doesn't make excuses for the other team. He just acknowledges that Auburn is a really, really good team this year. It's not like all of us expected the kind of performance that we saw on Saturday (except Bubba, of course, who expects 11-0 every year).
First, his opening statement in the chat: "Before we get started, I already bowed down to the Auburn faithful last Saturday night after their pounding of Tennessee in Knoxville.. congratulations to the Tigers! You have a great football team."
Secondly, in response to a question about what happened to Tennessee's QBs: "What happened was Auburn is just a heck of a lot better football team. The experience and poise of Jason Campbell, the exceptional running tandem of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown. And a defense that I think might be better than they were a year ago wich Karlos Dansby and company. Tennessee got beat in the trenches on both sides of the ball and didn't have the skill to match up with Auburn."
Thirdly, Kirk's personal rankings: " My top five is USC, OU, Georgia, Miami and Auburn."
Sure, we'd love all of the national media people to say things like this about Auburn all of the time, but I find it enjoyable to find an analyst who picks against us, is proven wrong, and doesn't make excuses for the other team. He just acknowledges that Auburn is a really, really good team this year. It's not like all of us expected the kind of performance that we saw on Saturday (except Bubba, of course, who expects 11-0 every year).
Monday, October 04, 2004
Don't Tell The Team This, But...
Thanks to all the bajesus that was beaten out of UT, Auburn football has secured a #6 ranking in all 3 polls. I like Tuberville's approach to it: no speculation, no scenarios... just one game at a time.
I'd also like to make up for my lack of contributions to this weeks "blog the plains". (I was watching the game w/ the Auburn Club.)
A few points: (in comments)
I'd also like to make up for my lack of contributions to this weeks "blog the plains". (I was watching the game w/ the Auburn Club.)
A few points: (in comments)
