The View from Section 109: The Southern Miss Game

In January, I was amongst the Auburn fans that were a bit worried about the departure of Will Muschamp. Coupled with Tony Franklin, Auburn had possibly the nation’s strongest coaching staff (and definitely one of the most dynamic pair of coordinators). Muschamp is not a coach you easily replace, and I was certain he’d be head coach for my alma mater someday.

Eight months later, almost to the day, I’m singing a different tune after watching the defense pitch shutout ball through the first six quarters (and nearly seven if not for an untimely interception set up Southern Miss within striking distance of the endzone). Paul Rhoads has made most AU fans, including this observer, think “Will Muschamp who?”

Through the first 42 minutes of the game, the Golden Eagles’ offense had barely surpassed the century mark in total yards as the Tigers’ hard hat defense looked well on its way to two-straight shutouts to open the season. Much like the 2004 matchup with Mississippi State, two scores set up by Auburn turnovers and miscues prevented the zero on the visitors’ side of the scoreboard, but the domination reached far beyond the 13 points and 301 yards USM racked up in the game.

“We let them stay in the game with our mistakes,” Tommy Tuberville explained in the post-game presser. If not for the four turnovers, a 34-0 or 38-0 final is highly likely. All that being said, I feel much better knowing that the turnovers were from the running backs fumbling rather than inexcusable interceptions thrown by the quarterbacks. Ben Tate, Brad Lester and Eric Smith will not make those same mistakes over and over.

Speaking of the quarterback play, Chris Todd looked like he did in the final two drives of the opener and marched the offense down the field and into the red zone on the first two series with relative ease. For the most part, he had us in the right play and the right formation, and he made something happen on his underhanded shovel pass to Tate before his knee collapsed on the ground. In my opinion, he did enough to earn the start this weekend at State.

Those who know me best realize that it takes a lot for me to question our coaches, but I’m not sure what was going through their minds by letting Kodi Burns play (outside of the red zone) when the game was in hand. Burns did not look healthy on his last series, and he set up the first USM score because of this. Do I think he got a fair shake in the quarterback race, as far as what we have seen on the field? Not really, but I’m going to trust the coaches on this. They see and know a lot more than myself.

All in all, I’m pleased with this victory. I feel as though it will look a lot better for Auburn in November than it does on Sept. 8. This Southern Miss squad is going to win a lot of games, and Larry Fedora has done a great job utilizing the talent he inherited from Jeff Bower. They did nothing to hurt themselves on Saturday, and that may be enough to take down a Southeastern Conference team down the road (maybe Ole Miss in Memphis?).

If I had to pick out a “play of the game,” I’d agree with Andy Shores with Montez Billings’ catch during the monsoon that arrived with the start of the fourth quarter. Todd couldn’t have put the ball in a smaller window, and the concentration displayed by Billings was impressive, even from the upper deck.

Next up, it’s time for a little revenge. Later on this week, I’ll award the tailgater of the week in the plan/review as well as offer my score predictions for the tilt in Starkville with the remainder of the conference slate.

As always, thanks for reading. War Eagle.

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