Posts Tagged ‘ESPN’
So a TD equals 6 right?
There won’t be any need for extra explanation of the scoring system used at this year’s A-Day game.
The Tigers will break up into two separate teams and play football like the founders envisioned, with the only points coming from touchdowns, extra points, field goals and safeties.
“We’re trying to make it as competitive as we can,” wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said. “It’s not just going to be 1s on 1s or 1s on 2s.
We’re going to mix it up.”
Taylor said the only aspect that needs to be ironed out is special teams, where players will likely have to flip back and forth.
Last year, Auburn used an elaborate point system that pitted the offense versus the defense. Special teams, particularly field goal kicks, was largely an afterthought at the end of the scrimmage.
Chizik is warning you ESPN.
There promise to be a few more cameras than normal for Saturday’s A-Day game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but Gene Chizik said he won’t let ESPN affect his plan for the fan-friendly scrimmage.
Chizik said Monday he has yet to determine a format for the game, as far as whether he wants the first-team offense and defense to ever be on the field at the same time, and he’s yet to settle on a scoring system.
Regardless, the 1 p.m. kick, which will air live on ESPNU (Charter Cable Channel 302 in Lee County), will be more affected by the health of
Auburn’s personnel than it will by all the other stuff.
“We’re going to just run our offense, run our defense,” Chizik said. “The fact that we’ll have a lot of recruits there and will be on TV, that won’t necessarily change what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Auburn’s A-Day game is going global.
The Worldwide Leader, ESPN, will be picking up a live feed of Auburn’s A-Day game and will broadcast it to the masses on ESPNU.
The game is set for Saturday, April 17, with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
This announcement comes one day after ESPN declared it would televise National Champion Alabama’s spring game. The games are set for the same day, with Alabama’s kicking off one hour later.
Perhaps this will force Gene Chizik to go by a normal scoring system. Last year’s, which rewarded points to the offense and defense for just about everything, probably wouldn’t be TV-friendly.
War Damn Dyer...Welcome to the Family Michael!!
That’s right Auburn fans, it’s National Signing Day. A day when all college football fans get to brag about what place
they came in for untested talent. Will this be Auburn’s best class ever? Only time will tell. Check back often as our resident poster and now official updater Chopper will be bringing you the latest signees.
Official Signees (faxes received) **Page will be modified often, check back!!**
1. Brenham (Tex.) Blinn C.C. QB Cameron Newton – enrolled
2. Visalia (Ca.) College of the Sequoias OL Roszell Gayden – enrolled
3. Coffeyville (Kan.) C.C. TE Brandon Mosley – enrolled
4. Ariton (Ala.) High DE Craig Sanders – enrolled
5. Buford (Ga.) High LB Jessel Curry – enrolled
6. Jupiter (Fla.) High PK Cody Parkey
7. Atlanta (Ga.) Washington WR Antonio Goodwin
8. Kansas City (Mo.) Park Hill P Steven Clark
9. Springville (Ala.) High WR Jeremy Richardson
10. Greenville (Ala.) High DT Kenneth Carter
Auburn vs. Northwestern in the 2010 Outback Bowl
By now you already know that Auburn accepted a bid to play in Tampa on New Year’s Day in the 2010 Outback Bowl. Auburn will be going bowling again after missing last season’s festivities with its 5-7 record. Starting the season 5-0had most Auburn fans flying high. However, they were quickly brought back to earth finishing the season 2-5 and leading most fans to believe that there were definitely positives and negatives for Coach Gene Chizik’s first season. The combination of fan support and a strong showing in the Alabama game helped to convince Outback Bowl officials that Auburn was the 7-5 team they wanted.
Auburn’s opponent will be the 8-4 Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats come into the game riding a 3 game winning streak including wins over some pretty impressive opponents (Iowa and Wisconsin). In case you don’t know who or what Northwestern is, I present to you my cheat sheet to the Outback Bowl:
Are the powers that be controlling more than the telecast?
by Kevin Strickland
When ESPN signed a blockbuster $2 billion, 15 year deal in August of 2008 with the Southeastern Conference for the rights to televise sporting events including football and basketball many wondered what impact the agreement might have on the future of sports.
Some, echoing the sentiment expressed by former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, expressed concern at the amount of influence the network now commands and raised the question of where the line between broadcasting games and having a vested interest in their outcome begins to blur (http://www.tigersx.com/ks/espn-influence-is-also-its-curse/).
As the 2009 SEC season unfolds, many are wondering if the specter of tampering with the possible outcome of games might already have reared its ugly head.
In recent weeks a series of egregiously bad officiating calls have gone against opponents of both SEC front runners Alabama and Florida.
Auburn and it's fans riding high at 5-0
By: Kevin Strickland
The Auburn Tigers knocked off the Tennessee Volunteers 26-22 on Saturday night in Knoxville, surviving a 16-point Volunteer fourth quarter. While the Tigers answered a number of nagging questions in Rocky Top, others persist.
First the good news.
Auburn is 5-0. With a game against Furman still to come, the Tigers are all but assured a bowl game, which at the beginning of the season was considered a reasonable goal for 2009. Given the current state of the SEC, expectations for an upper tier bowl are now not unreasonable.
Tiger head coach Gene Chizik notched his first road win as a head coach in one of the most hostile environments in the league and in the process extended Auburn’s winning streak over its longtime rival.
By: Kevin Strickland
Saturday’s showdown between first-year coaches Lane Kiffin of Tennessee and Gene Chizik of Auburn offers a variety of interesting subplots. As both replaced coaching legends whose stars had dimmed, and as each are tasked with re-establishing the proud traditions of their respective programs, this head-to-head matchup is inevitably a major benchmark in measuring the progress of each.
Come Sunday morning, Tiger fans will have more reason to boast while Volunteer supporters will be left scratching their heads and wondering when they’ll be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The meeting between the Tigers and Volunteers is a study in contrasts. In everything from the demeanor of their head coaches to their respective strengths and weaknesses, the two teams are polar opposites.
Chizik is low key. He gives little to the media beyond standard coaching cliches and pat phrases. His press conferences are virtually interchangeable. He’s cautious, reserved and evokes a business only aura.
Chizik and Auburn Get no Respect.
By: Kevin Strickland
Auburn head football coach Gene Chizik schlumped into his weekly press conference, flopped wearily into his chair, adjusted the microphone, and issued a resigned sigh.
He reached up, tugged at the knot of his tie and eyes bulging declared:
“No respect, I tell ya. We get no respect at all.
“When the polls came out on Sunday, I sent an email to one of the voters. Told him I was climbing up to the top of Samford Tower and was going to jump. They sent Brother Chette to talk to me. He says ‘Ready…Set…’
“No respect.
“I ran into Coach Dye when we went out to eat the other night. I asked him what he thought about the execution of our special teams. He says it sounds like a good idea to him.
Still no love for the 4-0 Auburn Tigers
By: Kevin Strickland
The Auburn Tigers out-punched the Ball State Cardinals 54-30 Saturday night to move to 4-0 on the season. If history is any indicator, the hot start bodes well for Tiger fortunes.
Only 27 teams in Auburn history have started a season 4-0. Eight of those occurred after 1974.
Of the eight teams in the last 35 years that started 4-0, only two failed to win at least ten games. The 1994 Tigers reeled off nine before a closing with a tie and a loss. Auburn started 2000 with five consecutive wins before fading to 4-4 down the stretch.
Two of the eight finished the season without a loss.
Only one of the eight lost more than two games.
Three of the eight won the SEC West (one other would have but was on probation).
