Saturday, October 06, 2007

What’s this? A third-quarter blog entry? Madness!

And yet, here it is. Auburn got the ball to start the second half and is once again moving without much problem.

A nice run by Ben Tate gave AU a first down near midfield…Vandy’s defense has had about enough. It’s now first-and-10, Auburn, at its own 49. After an Auburn timeout, Tate is swarmed in the backfield for a loss of 3. A short pass to Cole Bennett gives Auburn third-and-10 at the 49. And Vandy sacks Cox on third down with a five-man rush.

Shoemaker absolutely booms a punt—50 yards—and a flag for block in the back pushes Vandy back to its own 4. That’s not exactly what Bobby Johnson wanted to see, I’m guessing.

Speaking of things Johnson didn’t want to see, Vandy backup Mackenzi Adams is in at quarterback. Two nice runs give VU a first down at the 19. Apparently Adams is a handoff specialist: Another run…that’s three straight for Vandy, and counting, as it’s second-and-7. On second down, Adams faked a handoff and gained about 7 on a quarterback keeper, good for a first down. In case you were wondering, Auburn still has the total-yardage edge, 351-90. Wow.

Patrick Lee is a lucky, lucky man: He got an interception on a tipped ball—the thing jumped right into his hands. It looked as if he was set to return it for a touchdown, but Adams brought him down around the 10.

Two Brad Lester runs later, Lester is in the end zone. Auburn is up 35-0 after Byrum’s kick. That’s career touchdown No. 18 for Brad. Not bad for a guy with three career starts.

Vandy wide receiver Sean Walker got absolutely drilled on a nice second-down catch. He took at least three big hits from Auburn defenders and didn’t go down. That sets up a third-and-inches for Vanderbilt, which then gets a backbreaking false start penalty to make it third-and-six. Ouch. The crowd is surprisingly loud here…I guess, in the words of the evil coach from The Mighty Ducks, “It’s not worth winning if you can’t win big!“

(Yeah, a Mighty Ducks reference. I know you’re impressed.)

Vandy actually managed to convert the third down, then commits another terrible false start on first-and-10. Auburn’s defense has played great, but VU’s lousiness has helped.

Lots of young guys in on defense for Auburn…Bynes, Mike Blanc and Goggans have all been in on this possession.

And a BIG hit on fourth down absolutely devastates Adams…Zac Etheridge blitzed, chased him down and then wrapped him up, and Carter finished him with a huge hit. Ouch.

Interestingly, Cox comes in at quarterback again, with 4:53 left in the third quarter and Auburn up 35-0. I expected Burns to come in to get some real-time experience, but I guess there’s no real reason to sit Cox yet.

Back with more excitement in a moment!