Saturday, September 29, 2007

Strong start

After an ugly start, Auburn did practically everything right on its first possession tonight against Florida. The Tigers looked set for a three-and-out, but a terribly bone-headed running into the kicker penalty on a punt gave AU on first down on its own 28. From there, the Tigers put everything together, culminating in a 14-play, 86-yard drive for a touchdown.

Brandon Cox and Kodi Burns both played on the drive, with Cox completing all five of his passes for 72 yards and Burns capping the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. It’s exactly the way the two-quarterback system worked in Al Borges’ wildest dreams.

Auburn’s defense has forced punts on both of Florida’s first two possessions. Suddenly, the noisy crowd at The Swamp doesn’t seem so fired-up any more. It’s still early, but there’s no way this could be going better for AU than it is right now. Can the Tigers keep it up?

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Now THAT was a circus

P.T. Barnum himself would have smiled at that. New Mexico State definitely outsmarted itself there, trying to execute a complicated triple handoff trick play on a kickoff return after AU’s latest touchdown. Instead it’s a fumble, a turnover, and first-and-goal, Auburn, at the NMSU 9. This is increasingly getting ugly.

Again, where is Kodi Burns? I’m honestly very surprised Cox is playing this much, though obviously you can’t argue with the results.

You can’t stop Patrick Tatum

You can only hope to contain him.

Tatum had a nice 9-yard gain on a fake punt in the third quarter, keeping an Auburn drive alive. The possession eventually ended in a Tatum punt anyway, but the freshman pinned NMSU on its own 11 with a booming punt. Ryan Shoemaker will get the job back when he’s healthy, but it’s clear Auburn made a very, very good decision in snagging Tatum away from Jacksonville State, where he originally planned to walk on.

Auburn’s defense looks as if it’s adjusted to NMSU’s offense…the Aggies are still getting first downs, but they’re not getting the big plays they’d previously gotten. The long, 80-plus-yard scoring drives appear to be a thing of the past.

And Jonathan Wilhite makes his second very nice interception of the night, a leaping, one-handed pick down the left sideline. Good for Wilhite, a senior who’s had to tone down his natural playmaking instincts, which hurt him at times last year.

Defense, defense, defense

Auburn’s defense is stepping up big today. Sen’Derrick Marks made a nice interception on the 10-yard line and returned it to the 2, giving Auburn a great chance to score and make it a two-possession game.

Cox took advantage, diving in from the 1 for a touchdown.

(By the way, the student section chanted “Brandon, Brandon” before the TD, then the whole stadium erupted into cheers when he scored.)

Back to the pick. Quentin Groves made it happen. He and Marks both dropped into coverage on each side of AU’s defensive line. Seeing Tonny Glynn running a short drag route, Groves bumped him off his route. Holbrook released his pass a moment later, and Marks stepped right in front of the throw. A great play, and if Marks had gotten one more block from his linemates, he would have scored.

Third quarter

A nice interception by Jonathan Wilhite ends what looked like a dangerous NMSU drive. Auburn takes over, and Brandon Cox is once again under center. I’m honestly a little surprised Cox has played so much today. I wonder when we’ll see Kodi Burns again?

Auburn is moving the ball pretty well with Cox in the game, though so far most of that yardage comes in the run game. Ben Tate is running hard, if not particularly quickly.

A great play by Cox there, completing a pass to Ben Tate as he was about to be sacked. A good block by Rod Smith gets Tate down to the 19-yard line.

And the Auburn student section is chanting “Let’s Go, Brandon.“ It’s the circle of life, I guess: Boos, cheers, chants…it’s all the same.

More cheers now, as Cox completes an 18-yard touchdown pass to Smith to give AU a 28-20 lead.