Post Tagged with: "2009"

Who will Victoria Cheer for?

By: Kevin Strickland

The Furman Paladins couldn’t have chosen a better time to slip onto the Auburn Tigers’ football schedule.

Sandwiched between an emotional and cathartic win over Ole Miss and next week’s grudge match against traditional rival Georgia the Paladins lurk in easily overlooked ambush.

Furman sneaks in for Auburn’s Homecoming at 4-4 with wins over Presbyterian, Chattanooga, Western Carolina and Samford under their belts. Losses to Missouri, Appalachian State, Elon and The Citadel even out the slate.

The Paladins score a healthy 27.6 points and 151 yards rushing per game and could pose a threat to…

Think the paladins will wear this to midfield at the coin toss to intimidate?

Think the paladins will wear this to midfield at the coin toss to intimidate?

Oh, who are we kidding?

There is no real need to preview this game.

Auburn, on Homecoming, will turn the Paladins into an assortment of tin cans. Missouri bombed Furman 52-12 and that’s about how Saturday afternoon will turn out.

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LSU 31, Auburn 10: There are no silver linings

Lets put Neil in, he can't be any worse. Right?...Right?!?

Lets put Neil in, he can't be any worse. Right?...Right?!?

By: Kevin Strickland

In the aftermath of another abysmal, soul-wrecking performance, the now 5-3 Auburn Tigers are searching for silver linings in some very dark clouds.

Lets get this out of the way. There is almost nothing positive to take from the 31-10 thrashing delivered by LSU Saturday night. Search if you will, but there are no silver linings. There are no bronze linings. There are no linings of any color, only clouds. Menacing clouds.

If there’s any solace at all to be wrung from the shockingly bad display, it would be that career backup quarterback Neil Caudle came off the bench when the outcome was decided, played with enthusiasm and reckless abandon and made plays that neither starter Chris Todd or designated “wildcat” Kodi Burns have shown any recent capability of making.

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Why the Tigers will gut the Hogs

Good Morning Football, Auburn vs. the Piggies

Good Morning Football: Auburn vs. the Piggies

By: Kevin Strickland

Will tomorrow’s early morning start be a wake-up call for the resurgent Auburn Tigers or will the Arkansas Razorbacks hit the snooze button on another SEC season?

All signs point to a high noon (well high elevenish at least) wild SEC West shootout. When the dust clears in the streets of Fayetteville tomorrow afternoon, one gunslinger will put a sixth notch on his pistol while the other crumples to a fatal 0-3 league sprawl.

Auburn will dodge the Mallet bullets, and utilize the Gatling gun, Gus Malzahn-directed offensive arsenal of Chris Todd, Ben Tate, Onterrio McCalebb, Darvin Adams, Mario Fannin, Tommy Trott and Terrell Zachary to shoot down the hopes of the ‘Hogs.

If you listen really closely right now you can hear the squealing. “What about Arkansas’ offense,” it goes. “We don’t just have Mallett, Joe Adams, Greg Childs, Jarius Wright and Michael Smith. We can score too!”

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Tate turns Berry’s Heisman hopes into roadkill

Big Ben rolls over Berry on his way to 128 rushing yards.

Big Ben rolls over Berry on his way to 128 rushing yards.

By: Kevin Strickland

Eric Berry for Heisman? Sorry, but no.

Auburn running back Ben Tate derailed that fleeting notion when he lowered his shoulder in the third quarter of the Tigers’ 26-22 Saturday win over the Vols and flung the Tennessee safety through the air like a rag doll.

Heisman Trophy candidates do not fly backward through the air for five full yards and hit the ground so hard they dig a trench with their butt. That’s what happened when Tate rammed Berry. The Tennessee safety looked like Superman running in reverse. If Superman started his flight flat on his back with a confused look on his face.

It should be noted that Tate kept his feet and picked up eight more yards after turning Berry into a flopping chew toy.

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