The old adage in football reads "when you have two quarterbacks, you have none." Well, I like Andy Shores' adage better. "We have two quarterbacks. Half are not good." (Notice the "are" instead of "is" there.)
I'm not disappointed in Auburn's effort Saturday night. Heck, any time we can get 300 yards on the ground without lining up under center once is pretty impressive. All of the old-fashioned Auburn fans (your's truly, included) were afraid of losing our identity with the new-fangled spread, and I don't think that's going to happen. Tony Franklin and Tommy Tuberville stated all summer that we would not stop running the ball, and we can all point to the stat-line that they weren't just jerking our chains.
That being said, our passing game must (and I believe it will) improve in a dramatic fashion. Where does that start? Is it in the play-calling (which I didn't really think was all that bad) or is it in the players (which I think didn't do all that much to help themselves out)? You can't trade 'em, as Steve Spurrier likes to say, so we gotta find a way to fix 'em. You could tell that Chris Todd hasn't faced a live defense in quite some time, and you could also tell that Kodi Burns is a much more dynamic playmaker should things fall apart. Our offensive line, aside from the silly penalties that probably will occur thanks to fatigue, played a great game, only allowing one "coverage" sack.
I still have a great feeling about this season, mainly thanks to the fact that our defense is - AU's doubters may not believe - better than last season or 2006 under Will Muschamp. Standing on the field for almost 31 minutes, they missed a total of eight tackles (collectively) and only had three loafs (per the coaching staff). Antonio Coleman is a beast, and he is going to let the rest of the nation understand that fact when we find the spotlight with three-straight nationally-televised games (Miss. State, LSU, Tennessee) to close out September. Oh yea, Neiko Thorpe is a bad@$$, also.
Folks like to say that you make your biggest improvement from game one to game two, and our offense will definitely put that adage to the test this week as the high-powered Southern Miss offensive attack comes to town. Until then, rest easy Auburn fans knowing that 21 points (however you get them) will be enough to win at least 10 games this season. Get up to 27 points, and that number could reach a few games higher (like 14, maybe?).
War Eagle.
-6-
Things to come later this week: Tailgate review, SEC Forecast - Week 2, Tailgate Plan - Southern Miss.
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