Auburn Football on Side of the Road with Flat Tire

The dismissal of stud wide receiver D'haquille Williams from the Auburn football program caps a dreadful start to a 2015 season that began with such promise. Williams continued to break team rules--and these are SEC rules--and clearly had to go. And despite Williams's talent, the Tigers will be better without the headaches he provides. Teams can rally easier without a selfish player. But can they rally? The key would be to bury their national title aspirations, because those are over, and to focus on what they can accomplish. Get back to playing Auburn ball, which is tough in the trenches and, now under head coach Gus Malzahn, dynamic on offense. That has been missing this year with the team's QB problems but the talent is there for a quick rebuild. And quick it will have to be as they have a daunting schedule remaining. But screw that. Make the remaining opponents fear playing Auburn once again.

The 2010 Party is Finally Over

Although I have problems with Auburn winning the national title, based on my belief that Cam Newton should have been ineligible and that I am getting tired of the SEC, the better team did win. And while Dyer's not-totally-down run was huge, they were driving and would have positioned themselves for a longer FG that Bynum would have nailed. Oregon's defense did yeoman's effort to keep Ducks in the game but they easily could have lost by two TDs. Then again, if they call Cliff Harris's near INT in 2nd Q an INT (Auburn scored TD after retaining ball)and Lavasier Tuinei does not get tripped up heading toward end zone in 4th Q (Ducks ended up with 0 points on that drive), Oregon wins. It was that close.

What's next for these programs? Auburn takes a step back in terms of star power as both Newton and Nick Fairly depart, but they are recruiting well and will be strong for years to come barring any possible sanctions (nothing brewing but NCAA did say investigation was not over). As much as I want to say that they will take a step back, Alabama lost a lot of studs early to the pros, Arkansas is losing Mallett, LSU may have to deal with a coaching change, etc. Oregon needs to figure out a way to play their BCS game in mid December. The Ducks have lost four games total in the past two years but three have come when their opponents--all powerhouses--have had multiple weeks to prepare for their offense. All three of those schools, Boise State, Ohio State and Auburn, get good play from their D-lines and have athletic linebackers. But Chip Kelly will tinker and his QB will gain more experience. They are what they are and played hard. They will be the Pac 10 favorite next season.

View From Bennett Avenue

With the amount of space given to debates over the legitimacy of the BCS--and at Sports Illustrated and The New York Times that discussion trumps all--college football journalism has failed to present accurate coverage of the sport. And if there is a modicum of space left for game previews and write-ups, the subject matter always centers on the stars of the game. That is true in all sports of course, after all how many articles or televised pieces centered on Matt Ryan of the Falcons compared to those focused on Brett Favre?

And so we are left with a BCS Title Game featuring Cam Newton and Nick Fairly of Auburn squaring off against Oregon's LaMichael James and, well, I guess Jeff Maehl. Maybe Casey Matthews. To be honest Oregon does not get much attention behind a "boy do they play fast" critique. But TE David Paulson and C Jordan Holmes joined Maehl and James on the all Pac 10 first team offense while CB Talmadge Jackson joined Matthews on the first team defense. CB Cliff Harris also made the first team for his punt returning and second team for his defensive play, while QB Darron Thomas, OT Bo Thran, DT Brandon Bair, DE Kenny Rowe and special teamer Bryson Littlejohn all made second team. Does anyone east of the Rockies say boo about these players? But before we blame East Coast media bias, the great majority of Auburn starters are unknown to the general football fan despite playing in the big, bad SEC. OT Lee Ziemba (pictured) and C Ryan Pugh joined Newton on the first team All SEC, while G Byron Isom, DE Antoine Carter and LB Josh Byrnes all made second team. And this is not to slight the other starters and contributors who all helped make these two teams undefeated.

The problem is that the media and the fans grew fat on some combination of USC, Texas, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida making the BCS game every year. There are too many FBS teams, so the coverage went to the presumed best every year, which of course helped them stay on top. With a number of stars departing for the pro ranks in recent years and the media firm in its conviction that a lack of a playoff system is on par with some horrific atrocity plaguing third world countries, the amount of space for the Spencer Paysingers and Darvin Adams is nonexistent. Last year we had stories on the BCS being bad, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow. This year it's the BCS being bad, Urban Meyer and Cam Newton.

It was not always this way, of course, and I am not talking about the glory days when college football ruled the sports pages. Take the 1981 Clemson Tigers, who won the title without even being ranked in preseason. They were 6-5 the season before and played in western South Carolina for a little-known coach. But before they played Nebraska in the Orange Bowl at the end of that season, the regular college football fan knew who QB Homer Jordan was, and that his favorite target was WR Perry Tuttle. The Tigers won on defense and regular fans knew the names of stars such as Jeff Bryant, Jeff Davis and Terry Kinard from the stop unit. And fans of the sport certainly knew that big William Devane helped clog the middle for that defense and that Cliff Austin, Chuck McSwain and Jeff McCall led a balanced running attack. But again, these players and their games were fully covered by a media that did not have to worry about a BCS or potential playoff. They, more or less, focused on the play on the field. We have lost something very important.

What We Learned Saturday

Being a big fan of major upsets, I am very happy right now. Every week another over-rated big power falls by the wayside and every week the "experts" drum up support for the latest BCS conference flavor. Auburn is no. 1 in the latest BCS ranking? The Arkansas back-up QB came off the bench and tore that D to shreds. All of these teams have flaws and it will be interesting to see who survives the rest of the action. Michigan State and Missouri, for example, will be hard-pressed to win this weekend (at Iowa and at Nebraska respectively). And we still have to have at least one stunning upset, whereby a team with a mediocre record knocks off a top 5 squad. How about Mississippi beating Auburn Saturday? All of that should make it a little easier for Alabama to climb back into the mix and for at least one non BCS squad--and there are three ranked in the top 7--making the title game.

And to be honest, there has been so much discussion about these non BCS conference teams that it will almost be a let-down if the BCS title game does not pit one them versus a more traditional power. And the ratings between Alabama and Boise would be huge. We'll see. It is only October 25.

There were quite a number of big games this past weekend in regards to conference action and I will break down each conference as the week goes on. It has been an exciting year and the final stretch promises some big-time action.

SEC Report

Quarterback Cam Newton's excellent season is coming as no surprise to many college football experts who were well aware of Newton's singular talents and the ability of Auburn offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn to exploit them. Well, maybe no one expected him to be this good. Newton is the scary combination of an athlete with all the gifts who also works hard and studies the game. Basically he has it all, including the "it" factor that few athletes possess but that those who do can just will themselves or their team to victory. Newton has many more huge games to still perform in, including this Saturday against LSU, but all signs point to his continuing to be a dominant player for 2010 and beyond.

All of this has got to be killing Florida coach Urban Meyer, who recruited Newton to Gainesville for the 2007 season. Newton beat out fellow frosh John Brantley for the back-up job to Tim Tebow and was developing into the rare replacement for a legend who could keep up the high standards of his predecessor. All was fine and dandy until November of 2008 when the then redshirted Newton was arrested for stealing a laptop. Later it was revealed that Newton bought the already stolen computer and did not do the actual stealing. Still the damage was done despite all of the other crimes committed by fellow Gators. You see, none of those guys was trying to replace the sainted Tebow.

Meyer, of course, would have welcomed him back. He knew that the Gators offense that was built for Tebow was perfect for Newton and not for Brantley--as we are all seeing this year. But Tebow surprised many by deciding to return for his senior season last year which prompted Newton to leave Gainesville. To be as good as he is and sit around for a third year--all while being labeled a felon--would have been a waste for someone as good as Newton. And so he signed on with Blinn Junior college in January of 2009. After leading Blinn to the juco national title Newton signed on with Auburn on December 31, 2009. Happy New Years Tiger fans!

And so while the Florida offense struggles, the Auburn offense dazzles. Amazingly Newton both leads the SEC in rushing and is second in the nation in passing efficiency. He will be tested by the LSU defense this weekend that features a host of great athletes. And if Newton ever smashes into the equally massive DT Drake Nevis, the sound created will boom out to neighboring states.