BOOM!

Chizzed on.

33-20.

Ch-Ch-Changes

So it's been a couple of weeks since I've made a post. That annoying school thing has gotten in the way again. Apologies all around. A lot has changed since my last post. Well, not including the egg-on-my-face post. Things are about the same since the egg-on-my-face post.

I've learned my lesson about predictions though, and that lesson is "don't make predictions". I still think that, based on the facts that I saw, I made a good prediction. It was based on the idea that our offense was a force to be reckoned with. Even in the second half of the Arkansas game, the offense showed that it could be very explosive. Unfortunately, college football has a certain unique way of surprising you and defying expectations. That's probably why I love it so much.

Somewhere on the road from Knoxville to Fayetteville the Gus Bus blew a tire and by the time it limped into Auburn for the Kentucky game, the wheels fell off. What happened over the last few weeks? The most likely answer is also the most frustrating one. The personnel aren't yet in place to take this offense to a level where it can perform consistently against SEC caliber defenses. Chris Todd's arm is certainly not helping matters. And everyone knows that once the medium to deep passing threat is taken out of this offense, (or any offense really) the running game becomes mostly easy to defend. Seven or eight men in the box later, and we're left with virtually no offense.

The good news is, this is not 2008. And as I mentioned before, making predictions is no good. We know the offense is capable of being great. It may be that Gus is one adjustment away from getting the Bus back up and running. Ultimately, either way this season goes, we are making steps in the right direction. I hate to say it, but it is a process, aight?

The only thing we can do now is what everyone from Jay to SGA President Watkins said we should do: pull together and show support for this Auburn team. That means no boo birds. We need to step up and be the 12th man on Saturday, because let's face it, this team needs all the depth it can get.

War Damn Eagle! Let's beat the Rebels!

Woah! We're halfway there!

The alarm clock on my phone rang out. I groped around my bedside table and shut it off. I glanced at the woman next to me, trying to remember her name. Stumbling over beer bottles, eyes filled with the drowsiness of the long night before, I drug myself out of bed. The creak from the door echoed like a cannon in my ears, the light coming in from the window blinding me. I trudged into the sitting room of my hotel suite and threw myself onto the couch, knocking the pizza boxes out of may way. My roomates were still passed out in the floor, bottles of Jack still in hand, one with his pants around his ankles. Why? I couldn't tell you. I glanced at the clock. 10:55. Entirely too early. How could anyone get up this early on a Saturday? I grabbed the remote for the TV, which had been left on the night before. I flipped around and found ESPN. They were just finishing up their picks on Gameday.....

GAMEDAY! HOLY S#!T! Auburn has a football game in 5 minutes! We'd better get ready.

And that's how the Auburn football team started their day on Saturday, or at least I wouldn't be really surprised if someone were to tell me that. By the time they got good and awake, the score was 34-3, and the game was as good as over. As it was, the above story was more like my own Saturday morning. Except for the crazy night before. And the fancy hotel. And the girl. I live a sad life.

After the initial embarassment of the game faded away, I came to realize that I'm not all that upset. Sure the loss hurts, and so does the fashion in which it came. But then I took a step back. We are 5-1, most likely 6-1 going into the LSU game. Had anyone said 7 weeks ago that we would have one loss at this point, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I also never would have guessed that I'd be this confident going into the second half of the season. I am going to make a bold prediction right now. Auburn should be a 10-1 team going into the Bammer game.

You might say I'm drinking the kool-aid, and viewing the world through my orange and blue glasses. But hear me out. In my opinion, the only team that we should lose to is a team with a strong offense. Our offense had a truly HORRENDOUS day on Saturday, and still managed to put up 23 points. So even if the offense comes out flat, and plays that way for an entire half, if the other team can't put up a substantial total on the scoreboard, we've still got a great chance of winning.

Let's take a look at the biggest challenges remaining on the schedule. The next big threat is LSU. Frankly, the only thing that scares me about this team is the fact that we have to play in Death Valley at night. But we've seen that Auburn can respond well to the intense, hostile environments this league can throw at you. LSU's offense gives Tennessee's a run for it's money in ineptitude. The only reason they don't have a 3-3 record at this point is MSU's quarterback's lack of awareness of how to score a touchdown, and a rediculous celebration penalty that never should have been called. I feel Auburn's losing streak in Baton Rouge drawing to a close in a narrow victory.

Ole Miss just has not impressed on any front this year. Their defense is solid, but Jevan Snead may have been the most overrated quarterback in history at the beginning of the year. He crumbles under any kind of pressure. If we can get any semblance of pressure against him, this game will be over. Their defense can't keep Todd & Co. out of the endzone as often as they'll need to win.

The only other threat on the schedule is Georgia, whose defense is probably worse than ours, and their offense has been inconsistent at best.

Bama is a different story. There may not be another team as well rounded as them in the whole league. Florida included. If there's one team on the schedule that I think "should" beat our Tigers, it's them.* But I will reserve my prediction on that for another time.

The point I'm making is that, on paper, Auburn should win it's next 5 games. Then again, Auburn should have won on Saturday. On any one of those five games, Auburn could very well come out half awake again, and drop a loss somewhere we shouldn't. Only time will tell. But right now, I feel like it will tell us something we want to hear. Keep the faith Auburn people! We're only halfway there!

*It hurts me to say that. Really it does. But I can't in all honesty say they haven't impressed. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash out my own mouth with soap. And yes, I will be using Lifebuoy.