For those who haven't been following along, The Quad, a blog on the New York Times Web site, has been counting down the Division I (umm, FBS) teams from No. 120 to No. 1. Today's selection at No. 46? You guessed it. Auburn.Seems like about the right ranking. That has the Tigers ahead of Arkansas (49), Kentucky (61) Vanderbilt (65) and Mississippi State (89) in the SEC, which seems to be more credit than they are getting from many preseason prognosticators.
Some of the highlights ...
- Interesting opening quote from last year's post: "I anticipate only a small amount of growing pains this fall, with more issues stemming from an inexperienced quarterback group than a new offensive philosophy. Remember, Auburn had its best offensive performance of the season in its bowl game, and that came with little time for Franklin to acclimate the roster to the spread. Over all, when combining a growing offense with its typically strong defense, I see Auburn going 10-2 this fall, though defending champ Louisiana State – which, admittedly, also has major questions at quarterback – is my pick to win the West." Well, that was almost right.
- They listed last year's ranking as well. No. 12. Just a painful reminder of how much last year's team underachieved. Their final ranking last year by the blog? 75th.
- Apparently there are plenty of skeptics still out there. "Perhaps the program grew tired, perhaps Tuberville deserved to be kicked to the curb because of his massive failure in selecting his assistants; that doesn’t mean I don’t have questions about whether Chizik and his staff can take the program back to the heights its experienced under his predecessor’s watch."
- Even though Auburn was 4-1 at one point, the blog refused to list a high point for the team. I'd agree. That 14-12 game against Tennessee was brutal. I don't think anybody came out of that thinking everything was A-OK.
- The low point was the Vanderbilt loss. I'd agree. It was then that you knew things were beyond repair with the offense and the coaching staff, things that were proven true only a few days later with Tony Franklin's firing.
- The blog lauds Chizik's coaching hires, and rightfully so, considering the young, aggressive group that he put together. "This group was accumulated with recruiting in mind, as that had become a constant source of irritation among the Auburn fan base since Nick Saban arrived at Alabama three years ago. All signs thus far point toward this staff excelling in this all-important area."
- Fun stat time (and I'm assuming the Quad Blog did diligent research for this tidbit): Auburn has won 51 consecutive games when it scores at least 30 points. Of course, that begs the question, how many time will the Tigers score at least 30 points in a game this season?
- The blog nails it with the biggest position battle being quarterback, although I'd say they underestimate Chris Todd's chances a bit. I'd put him right up there with Kodi Burns and Neil Caudle right now.
- Quad Blog prediction: Seven wins and a return to a bowl game. Seems like an accurate prediction, particularly with four non-conference home games on the schedule.
- Quad Blog dream season: 9-3. A lot of things would have to happen -- especially on offense -- for this to come true.
- Quad Blog nightmare season: 4-8. It might be hard to go through more of a nightmare than last season, considering everything that went down.
1 comment:
I've been thinking that Todd will be in the mix for the fall now that he has his arm strength back.That is an asset as I feel certain this staff will put the best on the field and be competitive; how competitive, well seven wins isn't out of the realm of possibilities nor are trade-off wins against teams Auburn can't beat on paper including LSU and Georgia versus teams that are more evenly matched such as Tennessee and Arkansas.
All in all I look for a strong spread that will be difficult to out-score and a defense that will fight to keep a lead instead of fading.There will be some pot holes and some exciting finishes but 8-4 team with a bowl foe like N.Dame or Colorado is not out of the question.
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