Friday, November 12, 2010

Folks, it's not 2006

I hate to rain on our little parade of hope, and I'll happily eat my words Saturday if needed. But anyone looking for a repeat of the 2006 upset on the plains is begging to be disappointed.

This year's Auburn team does not have Brandon Cox at quarterback. This game does not kickoff at 11:30 central, an hour or so before Auburn's players actually wake up.

We don't have Charles Johnson, Ray Gant, Jeff Owens and Quentin Moses along the line of scrimmage. I think we're making upgrades, but I'm not convinced we've even got a Tra Battle at safety, so three interceptions in the first half ... unlikely.

Yeah, I think Auburn, outside of Cam Newton, is over-rated. Yeah, I think Cam Newton's father probably tried to trade his son's services for money. No, I don't think Auburn's defense can stop A.J. Green.

But quarterback play is so important in college football. And I haven't seen anything from our defense that makes me think we can stop a competent offensive attack, much less hold back the obvious Heisman front runner.

So I think this game ends up like a lot of Auburn games this year. High scoring for both sides. And then Auburn gets a stop or two in the fourth quarter, and suddenly you look around and Cam Newton's whipped you 62-40.
"Yeah, I think if Cam plays, the way our defense tackles, they're going to beat us like we're the ones who stole something."

- Gary Battles
Update: All that said, let it be known that "we're going to get crushed," is far from a unanimous opinion on the l.i. editorial board.
Dan: You see this latest comment from Auburn, about whether Cam Newton's going to play tomorrow? They say no comment. He can't be sleeping well at night. I think we're gong to get them tomorrow.

Me: Uh, yeah. I just put a post up, basically saying that anybody who says that is an idiot. And I wouldn't read to much into a no comment. Still, I know we've got this history of screwing each other, of ruining one another's great seasons, and it'd be nice to keep that going.

Dan: It would be nice to tie up the series.

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