Saturday, October 27, 2007

Much ado about nothing

And Cox jogs onto the field for Auburn’s first snap of the third quarter. So much for all that excitement. I wonder if the scare will force Auburn’s coaches to be even more conservative in an effort to protect Cox?

We’ll see.

Moments after I typed that, Cox found Rod Smith open down the sideline for a nice gain on the catch-and-run. Two plays aren’t enough to judge, but it seems as if Al Borges is opening things up a bit to start the third quarter.

Cox underthrows Tommy Trott, who makes a credible effort for the ball but can’t come up with it. What has happened to Auburn’s much-discussed, much-vaunted tight ends?

On third-and-5 from the Ole Miss 25, Cox tried to fire a pass to a covered Cole Bennett, who couldn’t quite make the play. Kutch’s 42-yard field goal wasn’t pretty: A knuckleball that missed wide left. Auburn has to hope Wes Byrum’s quad injury—which wasn’t a topic of discussion during the week—isn’t too serious. Kutch isn’t a long-term solution at place-kicker, which is an extremely important position because of the way Auburn plays.