Saturday, October 06, 2007

Second quarter fun

After a Vandy punt—I really can’t even do play-by-play of VU’s possessions anymore, they’re too ugly and boring—Auburn takes over on its own 7.

King Dunlap is in with the first-team offense at left tackle, an interesting move. Tommy Tuberville praised Dunlap’s effort this week in practice and said he’d probably get some playing time. Here he is, alongside (from left to right) Tyronne Green, Jason Bosley, Chaz Ramsey and Lee Ziemba.

It was a short possession, no fault of King’s. On third down, Cox had his first incompletion of the day, a low pass that just barely eluded Gabe McKenzie. Cox is now 7 for 8 passing for 64 yards…not bad at all.

A short punt and a decent return give Vandy possession at the AU 35. Zach Clayton (an Opelika native, in case you didn’t know!) makes the tackle. Right now, the defensive line is Clayton, sophomore Jake Ricks, Michael Goggans and true freshman Antoine Carter. Interesting. The linebackers aren’t much more grizzled: True freshman Josh Bynes (like classmate Ryan Williams, making his 2007 debut today), true freshman Bo Harris and Chris Evans. Very interesting.

The decision to take the redshirts off Bynes and Williams (who so far has only played on punt returns) is an interesting one. Obviously, Auburn needs help at linebacker, and apparently Eddie Gran wanted to make some changes on the punt team (enter Williams and Blake Field). It’s a good thing, I’m guessing.

That was an amazingly dumb penalty from Robert Dunn, running over Vandy’s punt return on the sideline while chasing the punt. It was honestly a weird play…he hit him from behind on the sideline as the ball landed waaaay out of bounds. That’s a terrible, terrible penalty, and one that is entirely Dunn’s fault. It’s a shame for Dunn, who’s a good guy and a solid player, but he has a lot of plays like that, the kinds of plays that leave coaches shaking their heads.

Auburn’s offense—with Ryan Pugh back at left tackle, by the way—takes over first-and-10 at its own 8 after the penalty and a very, very long-seeming TV timeout. Weird.

A nice catch by Montez Billings gets Auburn to the 20. I like the newly aggressive play-calling by Al Borges. Obviously, when your quarterback is playing the way Cox has lately, it’s easy to be aggressive. When your QB plays like Cox did through most of September, it’s hard to be as aggressive as you’d like to be.

Speaking of aggressive, Ben Tate is running hard…a gain of 7 after a 5-yard penalty gave AU first-and-15. Though Lester is good, I’ve said all week it’ll be hard to take too many carries away from Tate if he keeps running as hard as he is now.

A chop block penalty pushes the offense all the way down to the 11…Cox underthrows Billings on second-and-long, then comes up with a great play on third down: He ran to his left, away from pressure, then flicked his wrist for a 24-yard pass to an open Billings down the left sideline. A great, great play for a first down. Very impressive.

Another nice play by Tate. He’s looking quicker today than he’s ever looked, and showing some nice moves, too.

WOW. Robert Dunn definitely made up for his dumb play of a couple minutes ago with the second- and third-effort play of the year. He broke at least three tackles, including an incredible moment in which he broke free of a scrum and gained another couple of yards. It goes into the book as a gain of 33, but it was a LOT better than that. Nice work by Dunn.

A few plays later, on third-and-1 from the Vandy 16, Brad Lester embarrasses the VU defense with a run right up the middle, shaking off an arm tackle at the 5 and diving into the end zone for a touchdown. You think he’s excited to be back on the field?

It’s now 28-0, Auburn, after a 92-yard, 11-play drive. AU has 320 yards of offense…Vandy has 47. And it’s even more lopsided than it sounds, folks. Wow.

More first-quarter excitement

Vanderbilt’s offense really isn’t much of a match for Auburn’s defense. Chris Nickson is an athletic guy, but Auburn’s defense isn’t really giving him much room to get the ball to his receivers, and the pass rush is doing a good job of

Ben Tate had an amazing run on Auburn’s next possession, a 44-yarder to get Auburn down to the Vandy 26. He had two moves that really were PlayStation moves…you know those two little trigger buttons on top of the controller, the ones that make running backs juke sideways in NCAA Football. Yeah, I thought you did. Anyway, Tate had two jukes that were straight from those buttons. It was really a nice run, though Tate appeared to run out of steam a bit at the end.

You think Tate might be a little inspired by the return of Brad Lester? Hmmm…

A great touchdown pass by Cox on third-and-goal, a 2-yard strike to Rod Smith in the back of the end zone. Cox kept the play alive with a bootleg to his left, drawing the defense forward, then found Smith with an absolute strike. And it’s 14-0, Auburn…I’m guessing the early-kickoff jinx is officially buried, at least until the next time Auburn plays a game before 1 p.m.

And Byrum absolutely booms a kickoff. That thing sailed over the back of the end zone. I’m officially impressed.

Staked to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, Auburn’s defense has shaken off the jitters (or whatever it was) of the first drive. At the moment, Nickson is 2-for-8 passing for 13 yards. That’s not very good.

Auburn continues to move the ball without much difficulty on offense. A nice run by Mario Fannin gains 21 on third-and-2, giving AU first-and-10 from the 22. Fannin runs it in on the next play for a 21-0 lead. Auburn hurries to kick the PAT and dodges a replay review of a possible fumble on that score, though I think he’d crossed the plane of the goal line before the ball came loose.

This is a much more lopsided beating than I thought we’d see, and it’s a long way from over. Auburn has 205 yards of offense with 14:24 left in the second quarter. That’s a pretty darned good pace.

Here we go

Hard to believe it’s been a week since the Florida game…time flies when Auburn wins, I guess.

As I type this, seated as always in beloved Seat 82 in the David Housel Press Box, Auburn is getting ready to kick off against Vanderbilt. It’s early here—well, it’s 11:30, but in the twisted mind of a sportswriter, that’s early. Will the curse of early kickoffs strike Auburn yet again?

It’s certainly struck a portion of the AU fanbase: Lots of empty seats visible from where I sit, though in fairness this crowd is pretty darned loud despite that. There’s also a humongous empty space in the north end zone, right next to the Vandy fan section…I’m guessing the Commodores were supposed to bring their band, then didn’t. Doesn’t look great in person, and I’m sure it looks awful on TV.

Wes Byrum’s kickoff is a little short, but Vandy’s D.J. Moore only gets it to the 25. Auburn’s defense is without probably its two most talented players, Quentin Groves and Tray Blackmon, and it showed on the first play from scrimmage. VU tailback Cassen Jackson-Garrison ran for 16 yards on first down. It looked like a mis-fit by one of Auburn’s linebackers. That needs to be fixed…linebacker has been a weak point for this defense ever since Blackmon and Merrill Johnson got hurt. Chris Evans can’t do it all by himself.

On first-and-10 from the AU 47, it looked like a busted coverage…a well-designed play ran Pat Lee off the corner, and Chris Nickson found a tailback (possibly Jackson-Garrison, whose name I’m already tired of writing) wide-open on a flare route.

A tough break of third-and-3, as Antonio Coleman is called for a facemask as he pressured Nickson into an incomplete pass. That gives the Commodores another set of downs, and it probably gives Will Muschamp heartburn, if not nightmares.

Auburn’s getting pretty good pressure on Nickson all of a sudden—Michael Goggans forced a bad throw on second down after Nickson forced a deep ball on first down. That might be the earliest Goggans has been in a game all season; he’s not having the redshirt freshman season he was expected to have, that’s for sure.

After a penalty, Vandy punts the ball through the end zone.

One interesting note: Blake Field was on the punt return team, and did a fine job of blocking his man downfield until the punt bounced in the end zone. Blake’s a pretty good athlete…I like that he’s getting a chance to get on the field and show his stuff. I’ll be watching him all game.

After a nice run by Ben Tate for a first down, Brandon Cox throws incomplete on the next play. But Vandy commits an absolutely brainless personal foul, giving Auburn 15 yards. And another facemask penalty on the next play, a short loss by Ben Tate, gives AU another 5.

And here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: Brad Lester is in the I-formation at tailback. He gets a short pitch from Cox and runs 8 yards for a first down, getting a nice ovation from the crowd. I like that play: It’s a version of the half-option pitch Auburn ran so many times in 2004. I’ve been waiting a long time for its return.

In comes Burns, who shows the incredibly versatility of the “Kodi Burns package” by running around left end for 4 yards.

A great catch-and-run by Rod Smith gets Auburn to the 25…two plays later, a chop-block penalty knocks the Tigers back to the 30. It’s second-and-17 from the 30, but no problems for the suddenly rejuvenated Brandon Cox. Still looking like the quarterback who beat Florida (and not the dude who lost to Mississippi State), Cox finds Tommy Trott (who!?!) for a 17-yard gain. Not bad.

I don’t want to overdo, but Cox really looks good: A nice bubble screen to Fannin—who’s been split wide a lot already this game—gets AU to first-and-goal from the 4. And Tate punches it in. Byrum’s extra point makes it 7-0, Auburn. A very nice opening drive: Exactly what Auburn needs to keep from getting bogged down in another brutal, mistake-filled early game. Another drive like that, and I think you can stick a fork in the ‘Dores.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Halftime

Safe to say that’s not what anyone expected from the first half here in Gainesville: Brandon Cox kneeling to run out the second-quarter clock and take a 14-0 lead into the locker room. I’m amazed.

Where was this poised, confident, productive offense against South Florida and Mississippi State? It’s not just the turnovers…after all, those were just five plays in each of those games. Auburn almost never looked as confident in those two games as it’s looked here tonight. Whatever the difference is, it’s impressive, and AU’s coaches and players deserve plenty of credit.

Of course, it’s worth asking: What’s the matter with Florida? It’s not just the defense…the offense is supposed to be better than this. Admittedly, Auburn’s defense is very, very good, as I’ve been saying for months now. But Florida’s offense is supposed to be very, very good too. It certainly wasn’t in the first half.

Both coaching staffs have the next 20 minutes or so to make adjustments…whoever adjusts best will walk out of here with a win. It’ll be an interesting second half, no doubt about it.

Second quarter festivities continue

Things keep going right for the Tigers…After Sen’Derrick Marks blocked a UF field goal attempt, Auburn drove right down the field…the Tigers got fourth-and-2 on the UF 5 and called a timeout to think things over.

I’m honestly amazed at how easy it’s been for Auburn to move the ball through the air. I knew Florida had defensive problems, but I honestly can’t believe they’re this serious.

Obviously, Brandon Cox and the receivers deserve credit too. Rod Smith is on fire again, but honestly, haven’t we all come to expect that from the man formerly known as “Driq?“ Montez Billings has been especially impressive: He’s a guy who has struggled to get open in his career, but he’s been wide open several times in this game and is making the most of those opportunities. Gabe McKenzie is another guy who is having a superb game, continuing an outstanding season.

And out of the timeout, Auburn calls an inside run to Ben Tate, who juuuust barely gets the first-down yardage. And the few thousand Auburn fans here in The Swamp just made a lot of noise. The tens of thousands of UF fans? Not so much.

First and goal, Auburn goes three-wide, single-back. Cox sets up under center, hands the ball to Tate, and just like that, it’s a touchdown. That’s Auburn 14, Florida 0.

Ahem.

Auburn 14. Florida 0.

I honestly can’t believe what I’m seeing.

After the lengthy review, I’m stunned that TD didn’t get overturned. The replays on TV looked pretty conclusive: Tate’s knee was down a full yard short of the end zone, before he surged forward and got the ball over the goal line on second effort. Of course, the way Auburn was moving the ball, it probably didn’t matter, but still: Replay is there to get the calls right, and that didn’t happen on this play.