Will "The Hat" leave Chizik blue? One reporter thinks so.
By: Kevin Strickland
How the Auburn Tigers fare in Baton Rouge on Saturday night will depend on which Tiger offensive personality decides to show up.
Will the coldly confident executioners who gunned down West Virginia with relentless precision swagger in or will the frigid and insecure victims who failed to perform against Kentucky and Arkansas stumble out of the gate?
Unfortunately for Auburn fans, the most likely personality to appear is the latter. The defensive issues that plagued Auburn in two losses are unlikely to be significantly improved in a single week of practice.
Auburn’s crisis of identity on offense highlights the fragility of its early success. If the Tigers couldn’t regain the magic at home, coming off a frustrating loss against a weakened opponent it is too much to ask for it to recapture its strut at night in Baton Rouge?
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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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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.
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It could get ugly...
By: Kevin Strickland
Due to the potential for excessive violence and simulated sacrificial slaughter, network censors mandated a 6 p.m. kickoff for Saturday’s showdown between Auburn and Ball State. Despite the late start, the game will likely carry a parental warning. Cover your eyes, kids. What the Tigers do to the Cardinals won’t be for the squeamish.
Predicting the outcome of an upcoming game normally takes a bit of research, particularly early in the season. For that reason, predictions normally come on Thursday, giving a few days to digest the events of the week that just transpired.
No such research is required this week.
The Auburn Tigers (3-0) will annihilate the Ball State Cardinals (0-3).
Little known fact: Joyce DeWitt, who played Janet on the 70s sitcom Three’s
Company is a Ball State alumnus. Even if she and TV co-star Suzanne Sommers (in their prime) were prancing the sidelines Cardinal cheerleader outfits it wouldn’t help Ball State avoid a Saturday thrashing.
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