All the talk prior to Thursday night's Auburn-South Carolina game centered on whether the Tigers could earn "style points" in its contest with the Gamecocks. In other words, would Auburn beat South Carolina bad enough to impress the pollsters? This is what college football has come to now.
ESPN announced Friday that it will televise second-ranked Auburn's October 14th game with Florida. The Gators are currently ranked fifth nationally and take on Alabama Saturday afternoon in the Swamp.
Nearly 24 hours after Auburn hung on to beat South Carolina 24-17, the win is starting to look a lot better for the Tigers. What Auburn accomplished in Columbia shouldn't be underestimated. The Tigers went into a hostile environment and played against a team that had been practicing for them for more than three weeks.
All the talk this week has been on the homecoming of Auburn's Kenny Irons and his scheduled return to Williams-Brice Stadium to face South Carolina. However, it's brother David who will get the real test Thursday. David Irons will have the task of covering the best wide receiver in the SEC in Sidney Rice.
When Auburn meets South Carolina Thursday night in Columbia, it will mark the first visit by Tigers head coach Tommy Tuberville. Despite coaching 11 years in the SEC, Tuberville has never made the trip to face the Gamecocks. Earlier this week, Tuberville talked about the game with South Carolina and shared his thoughts on the second-ranked Tigers...
Auburn running back Kenny Iron's public divorce with South Carolina has again become front and center news this week. The Tigers take on South Carolina Thursday night, where Irons will return to Williams-Brice Stadium wearing orange and blue. Irons led the SEC in rushing last season after sitting out the 2004 campaign as required by the NCAA, while transferring to Auburn from Carolina.
One of my favorite weekly articles is done by the good people at the Auburn Athletic Department. Each week they provide an update on how former Auburn Alumni are doing in the NFL. Currently, the Tigers have 31 players under NFL contracts. Some of them you have probably forgotten about. How many of you remember kicker, Rob Bironas? The Goshen, Kentucky native lettered in 1998 and now kicks for the Tennessee Titans. Sunday, he connected on a 22 yard attempt.
How good is the Auburn offense? Can anyone catch besides Courtney Taylor? What's happened to the Tigers offensive line? These are all questions that are being asked this week as Auburn prepares for Saturday's showdown with South Carolina.
What's worse than a Lincoln Financial telecast? How about a CBS telecast that starts at 11:00 a.m. CST? CBS announced Monday that it's carrying Auburn's October 7th contest with Arkansas from Jordan-Hare Stadium. For those of you without tickets, that probably means you will be tortured again by the network's second string play-by-play man, Craig Bolerjack. That should drive the price of tickets up another $20.
The first Harris Interactive Poll was released Sunday and to almost no ones surprise, Auburn comes in at third nationally behind Ohio State and Southern Cal. The Trojans lead the Tigers by 22 votes in the weekly poll. The Harris Interactive Poll is one of the components in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings that determine who plays for the national championship. Also included as part of the BCS formula is the Coaches poll (Auburn is currently ranked third) and the average of six computer rankings.
It's that time of year, it's ole ball coach week. That right, grab your visor, put a smirk on your face and get ready to play the South Carolina Gamecocks. Love him or hate him, playing Steve Spurrier is always an experience. And this year should be no different. Auburn travels to Columbia, South Carolina on Thursday to take on the 3-1 Gamecocks. Kickoff is set for 6:30 CST and will be televised by ESPN. Announcing the game will be Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews (Yes!).
Thank God it was only Buffalo. Auburn suffered through its biggest hangover in recent memory Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 84,000 people - I think they meant to say yawns. The late arriving crowd was in sync with the Tigers late arriving team. Auburn was clearly a group that was tired, beat up and not ready to play so soon after last week's thrilling win over LSU. Still, yesteday's 38-7 win over Buffalo served its purpose.
So Saturday's Auburn-Buffalo game doesn't have you decking out the SUV in Auburn magnets, painting a sign for the game or searching the internet for the latest stories on the Buffalo offense? Thank goodness. That means your normal. However, Auburn's match-up with Buffalo does serve a purpose.
Where have you gone ESPN? Things have not been going well at the World Wide Leader lately. At least not when it comes to college football. From a change in scheduling philosophy to a change in announcers, ESPN has really fumbled this year.
The hot talk in college football this week has been about the future of Miami coach Larry Coker. After losing two of his first three games, it looks like it's going to take a miracle for him to return next season. Losing to your in-state rival and then being humiliated by a basketball school (Louisville) is a sure way to get shown the door.
ESPN is reporting during its Thursday night football telecast that Auburn running back Kenny Irons will not play Saturday against Buffalo. It has been speculated on FSITS all week that Irons may sit for Saturday's contest. He is suffering from a sprained toe and ankle as a result of last Saturday's win over LSU.
Who said scheduling Buffalo was a bad idea? It looks pretty good right now... Auburn is one banged up team. Make sure you bring a copy of the depth chart Saturday to Jordan-Hare Stadium. Some clean uniforms will be getting dirty...
When will the whining stop? Since Auburn's win Saturday over LSU, all we've heard from the LSU fans is whining. The pass interference call on Tiger defensive back Zach Gilbert was close, very close. Did it warrant being reversed? I've watched it at least 20 times and I have to say the call was right. Eric Brock did tip the ball, making it uncatchable.
In a feature story set to run this week on AOL Sports, I was asked by the editors to write an article on why Auburn has the best fourth quarter defense in the country. Coming off Saturday's win that was easy. In the feature, they'll be comparing Auburn's unit with others around the country. I'd love to hear your thoughts about our defense...
While Auburn's defense is the toast of college football this week, it's offense is quietly trying to find answers. In case you didn't notice, Saturday's 7-3 win over sixth-ranked LSU was the Tigers lowest offensive output since Al Borges became offensive coordinator in 2004.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville held his weekly press conference Tuesday and much of the talk centered around the health of his team. Much has been written this week about the condition of the Tigers following a physical 7-3 win over sixth-ranked LSU Saturday.
While Auburn fans know little about its next opponent, they should be more familiar with its coach. When Buffalo rolls into Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday, there will be a familiar face on the sidelines. The Bulls are lead by former Heisman finalist and Nebraska All-American quarterback Turner Gill.
Second-ranked Auburn should finally be coming down off the high of Saturday's win over LSU. OK, maybe not quite yet. With MAC doormat Buffalo scheduled to arrive at Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday, maybe it's fine to give the boys in orange and blue an extra day.
On Monday, LSU football coach Les Miles asked the SEC to review tape of Saturday's game at Auburn . In question was a controversial pass interference call in the fourth quarter that was minutes later waived off by game officials.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville called punter Kody Bliss' performance the best he's seen in his 30 years of coaching. And who could disagree? It's not a stretch to say that Bliss was the difference in the game. In a contest of field position, he was the most important player on the field.
Too much hype? No way. Saturday was old school. You could see Shug Jordan smiling from the clouds. Saturday was A.P.I. football. This was the game that your grandfather played. Throw out Steve Spurrier, the Fun-N-Gun and the Pro-Set offense. Saturday was the kind of football that the SEC was built on. First downs were like touchdowns. And only real men were allowed on the field.
As expected, Auburn moves up to number two in this week's Associated Press poll. Following Saturday's 7-3 win over LSU and combined with Notre Dame's loss at home against Michigan, the Tigers jumped a spot in the latest poll. Ohio State remains number one after defeating Cincinnati 37-7.
Saturday's win against LSU has come at a price for Auburn. Tight end Cole Bennett is expected to miss at least six weeks after suffering a broken right ankle in Saturday's game. He will undergo surgery Monday morning. That leaves red-shirt freshmen Tommy Trott and Gabe McKenzie to pick up the slack at tight end.
Like the wildfires burning out West, former USC tailback Reggie Bush's troubles continue to spread. Yahoo Sports has uncovered more improper payments to the former Heisman Trophy winner. During an eight month investigation, the site found that the Bush family received more than $100,000 in payments from sports agents.
The lead up to this week's top 10 showdown between Auburn and LSU has the familiarity of an Iron Bowl. There's no question that Saturday's game is the marquee match-up in the nation. The hype has been enormous. After all, it's the only match-up of top 10 ten team's on the schedule.
It was bound to happen. Last year some kids in South Bend, Indiana auctioned off their mom on Ebay along with an extra ticket to the Notre Dame-USC game. Now things have gone from bad to worse.
Earlier this week, we talked about how big the LSU game had become and whether it was really Auburn's biggest rival. That question is still up for debate. What's not up for debate is the amount of fun I've had here this week.
When Auburn people think of LSU, they automatically think of Courtney Taylor and the "Catch." It's in the history books of great Tiger plays, right up there with Punt Bama Punt, Bo Over The Top and Reverse To Victory. Taylor's catch in the end zone in 2004 to beat LSU may be the biggest catch in Auburn history.
Shhh! Don't look now but the hottest field goal kicker in the country resides on the Plains of Auburn and his name is John Vaughn. It's not often that one gets to confront his worst fears. Vaughn will get that chance on Saturday when LSU comes to town.
LSU's battle cry this week is... We get no respect. Huh? OK, Rodney Dangerfield, whatever works for you. Apparently the LSU coaches are crying to their players that Auburn gets all the national attention. Poor pitiful me. Give me a break LSU. This is SEC football. We all get attention. Is that what it takes to motivate your football team?
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville addressed the media on Tuesday and talked about Saturday's Top 10 showdown with SEC Western Division rival LSU. The Tigers head into the contest 3 1/2 point favorites. The past two games have been decided by a total of four points. Here are some of Tuberville's comments on Saturday's match-up, courtesy of the Auburn Athletic Department...
It's only Monday and this weekend's showdown with LSU already feels enormous. I can only imagine what things will be like on Friday. I'm glad I graduated years ago. I probably wouldn't be in class much this week...
An old Mafia saying goes, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." With that in mind, I want to share with you some valuable links to keep tabs on the LSU Tigers this week. Saturday's showdown is only a few days away and you'll need all the information you can find, and not just from the Auburn sites.
In what has become an Auburn tradition, it's time to tell the story of how LSU fans became corn dogs. For years, fans around the SEC have commented on the aroma of our friends in Bayou country. They smell different from any other school in the conference. It's a unique stench that well, can only be described as the smell of a corn dog.
It's finally LSU week. This is the week that Auburn and LSU fans have been looking forward to all summer. It's hard to believe that the two schools only started playing each other annually in 1992. Prior to the start of SEC division play, the two Tigers rarely saw each other on the field (unfortunately, 1988 was one of those years).
For those of you who live on the Plains, it's time to install that alarm system, put on the extra locks and watch your children closer, the Cajuns are heading your way. You'll know them when you see them. Tell me this is not your typical LSU fan or alum: He's about 40 years-old, hasn't shaved in at least three days, is usually drunk by 10:00 a.m. and is wearing a white LSU football jersey. He has the smell of a corn dog.
Auburn's game Saturday at Mississippi State made you feel good all over. Bradon Cox overcame a somewhat slow start against Washington State last week to post a solid performance over the Bulldogs. Throwing for 249 yards, it was his third best outing as a Tiger. John Vaughn got into the right mindset for LSU by connecting on a 55 yard field goal. And Courtney Taylor looked like he did in 2004, having the best day of his career statistically.
A lot of people never knew that Erk Russell was an Auburn man. A good Auburn man. He was the school's last four-sport letterman. All of you have heard by now of his death in Statesboro, Georgia, on Friday. College football can be a strange thing. It's still hard to understand sometimes how two of Auburn's most storied players, Vince Dooley and Russell, became to mean so much to Georgia athletics. The same can be said of Pat Dye - just in reverse.
Like many of you I was surprised during the summer when the preseason publications came out and Auburn running back Kenny Irons wasn't a consensus All-American. All he did last season was lead the SEC in almost every statistical category. He did this despite not taking over the starting job until the Arkansas game.
Karibi Dede. Don't you just love to say that name? That is without question, the coolest name in all of college football. I'd love to be Auburn radio play-by-play man Rod Bramblett just for a night so I could say that name over and over again.
One of the highlights of Auburn's win over Washington State was the play of Tristan Davis. His kick-off returns of 30 and 37 yards made you realize that his 162 yard rushing performance against Kentucky last year was no fluke. This guy can flat out motor.
