Posts Tagged ‘Gene Chizik’

By: Kevin Strickland

A week after being punched in the face and abused like a nerd at a biker convention by the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Auburn Tigers have the opportunity to show the college football world how this team and its new coaching staff respond to adversity when the Kentucky Wildcats come calling Saturday night.

Will Auburn of 2009 self destruct and allow the misama of the Arkansas loss to pollute the remainder of the season? A loss to Vanderbilt in 2008 set in motion a chain of events that led to infighting, turmoil, mid-season firings and the first non-bowl season for the Tigers in a decade.

Or will the Tigers rebound, recover some of the offensive swagger that marked the first four games of the season and begin to find some defensive identity?

By: Kevin Strickland

About 1:30 Saturday afternoon, Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs slipped into the relative privacy of a stall in the restroom of the pressbox at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and punched numbers into his cell phone. When the call connected, Jacobs barked orders in an urgent whisper:

“Tell the sculptor to hold off on that statue of me and Gene Chizik. What? I don’t care if he’s 90% done with it, tell him to put a hold on it, we’re not putting it out in front of the stadium just yet. And cancel the order for the Chiz-nickels, too. “

For the past two and a half hours Jacobs watched as the Arkansas Razorbacks served a healthy dose of 44-23 humility to the Auburn football program.

Folks some of you may have noticed on the front page that we have a X store.

Well it is now officially OPEN!

To access it you can go here

http://www.tigersx.com/x-shop/

or through the main page click the store tab at the top.

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.

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.

By: Kevin Strickland

Auburn 41 – West Virginia 30.

This is Auburn football.

It’s not the Auburn football your grandfather remembers. It’s not the Auburn football your father remembers. In fact, it’s not even the Auburn football you remember unless you were born prior to Sept. 5, 2009.

Auburn fell behind 14-0 and trailed 21-10 to the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday night before rallying behind an opportunistic defense and a determined offense to fell WVU.

Auburn 41, West Virginia 30.

This is a different kind of Tiger football team.

No disrespect to former coach Tommy Tuberville, whose teams won their share of thrilling, emotional, nationally relevant games, but digging out of a hole when the opponent had momentum wasn’t one of their strong points.

Arkansas 27, Auburn 10

Georgia 35, Auburn 17

By: Kevin Strickland

Auburn head football coach Gene Chizik stepped to the podium in the press room underneath Jordan-Hare Stadium moments after his Tigers survived the West Virginia Mountaineers 41-30 on Saturday night.

“First of all,” Chizik said, “I wish I had 87,000 game balls.”

As Chizik uttered his wish, West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown wandered through the door looking for the Mountaineer locker room. He was intercepted by Auburn security guards, marking the fifth time Brown was intercepted on the night.

It’s a joke, people.

Seriously, Chizik’s comment was intended as tribute to the tens of thousands of Auburn fans who suffered through a four-inch deluge that soaked Jordan-Hare stadium; who endured an hour-long delay that set kickoff back to nearly 8 p.m.; who maintained a full-throated roar even when the Tigers fell behind early; and who chanted “It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger” as the clock crept close to midnight.

By: Kevin Strickland

Today’s West Virginia at Auburn college football preview is brought to you by the number three and the letter ‘C’.

Three was Auburn’s unlucky number in last season’s 34-17 meltdown at Morgantown where the Tigers took a 17-0 lead and then surrendered 34 unanswered points. Four times in the second half of that game, the Auburn offense went three and out, leaving its defense tired.

Three of West Virginia’s four second half scores came after the Tiger offense folded after three plays.

Since the last time the Mountaineers saw Auburn up close, the Tigers have added a handful of C’s that will make a critical difference in Saturday night’s showdown in Auburn.

C is for Confidence.

A year ago West Virginia caught Auburn at an opportune moment. The Tony Franklin offensive experiment imploded the week before and the beleagured offensive coordinator had been fired after six games.

By: Kevin Strickland

It seems like its been a long, long time since Auburn football was fun.

New offensive coordinator Gus Malzhan is well on the road to changing that dynamic. In his first two games with the Tigers, Malzhan has helped shred the team’s offensive record books, sent the scoreboard pinwheeling and put the Tigers at as solid a 2-0 as could have possibly been hoped for.

To say that Malzhan’s offense has so far exceeded expectations is like saying Kate Beckinsale is sort of pretty.

The evolution of that offense and the potential it brings to a Tiger team that has watched numerous seasons bog down with offensive ineffiency, adds a whole new dimension to fun at Jordan Hare Stadium.

How fun was Saturday night’s 49-24 demolition of Mississippi State?

It was mascot Aubie dancing with the band fun.

By: Kevin Strickland

A year ago Auburn and Mississippi State waged one of the ugliest football games in the history of the college sport.

Auburn prevailed 3-2 on the strength of a 35-yard Wes Byrum field goal in the second quarter.

It was Chris Todd’s first full game as the starter after sharing duties with Kodi Burns, and Todd was serviceable, hitting 15 of 26 passes for 154 yards.

Ben Tate topped the century mark, rushing for 102 yards.

But the Tigers couldn’t score. While Byrum hit the second quarter field goal, he also missed an 18-yard attempt and flubbed a 38-yarder.

Auburn was a miserable three of 16 on third down conversions. Only two drives consisted of eight plays; nine covered five or fewer.

The Tigers’ last two offensive possessions ended in fumbles.