This year could be described as a nightmare. It is by far the worst football season for Auburn during the 16 years I have followed the team. The interesting part is that the signs of the fall were almost evident last season. Ardent fans thought we were an injury to Craig away form the abyss, because we really had little else to hang our hat on, except a decent defense and a strong kicking game.

The end of last season started with the promise of a quarterback-in-waiting in the person of Ben Leard. We were tole we had another Stan White at the helm. Demontray Carter promised a 2,000 yard rushing season. Robert Baker was poised to return as the key receiver. The Offensive Line was 12 deep. The defense returned almost everyone. The loss of Takeo Skikes to the Bengals was tough, but it looked like the youth could step up in his place.

Out of the above high-hopes, really the only thing that did happen was the defense playing excellent most of the year. One surprise was placekicker Robert Bironas sliding in nicely to the role held by Jaret Holmes for several years.

Another thing that could not have been predicted was the ferocious schedule the Tigers had to endure. Even going 3-8, the Tigers were consistently beaten by quality teams. Consider the following:

Virginia: Peach Bowl
LSU: 4-7, but lost several close ones
Tennessee: Fiesta Bowl, No. 1 in Country
Miss State: Won SEC West
Florida: Citrus or Orange Bowl
Arkansas: Citrus or Cotton Bowl, Started 8-0
Georgia: Citrus or Outback Bowl
Alabama: Music City Bowl

Three of last year's wins were against weaker Virginia, Alabama and Arkansas squads and another was to South Carolina who gave way on the schedule to Tennessee. The best coach in the world could not have gotten more than 6 wins this year.

Auburn proved that if you have no offense and a great defense, then you're going to be about as good as Vandy. (They had the similar situ last year, the comparison is almost scary.) Auburn had decided in mind to return to the running game, but not in spirit. The team had never been coached to run the ball and when the lack of offensive line depth arrived the troubled season was begun.

The QB situation was also unsettling. I don't think Leard was or is a bad quarterback. He had performed well in practice and showed promise. I do fault the 1997 coaches for not finding him a way into the game to give him some battle experience, however. When he faultered behind a 6th string Center, Gross seized the opportunity. I think Gross can become a good even great quarterback if coached well and given a chance. Teh Tigers will probably groom Gross to the "The Man" next year and beyond. A coworker of mine has a friend who was in a golf tourney in Central Alabama who was in a group with Pat Dye. In a casual moment, Pat quipped that he'd rather have Gabe Gross than ten Tyler Watts (Pelham HS/Univ of Alabama Freshman phenom who was redshirted).

In the runnning game, we certainly don't have anyone near a Bo Jackson or even a Stephen Davis, but I do like Michael Burks. He hits the libe harder than Demontray and seems to break tackles better. Demontray might be better suited to be a wide-out reciever or a specialty player. I am very high on Heath Evans. He was just starting to show promise when he got injured. I hope he can come back and make an impact at Fullback.

The Passing game includes a good set of Wide Receivers and Tight Ends. Losing Karsten Bailey is a minor blow, but I really like Clifton Robinson and Eric Lowe has shown some promise. Schweiger never seemed to get in a groove at TE but he has another year with Reid Tankersly close behind.

The defense was really good under Bill Oliver. The last couple of weeks, they faltered somewhat, possibly because their coach was having to spend half of his time with the offense (This was actually my wife's analysis so I'm giving her credit). Most of the year, they kept the Tigers at least close in some games that could have easily been blowouts, otherwise. When your offense is poor and can't run the ball, a good performance by the defense is not only more important, but also it is more of an accomplishment if they play well. The team had some good players: Carson, Dorsey, Pate to name a few, but the whole team played well together and seemed to give the other team's offenses trouble at times. I liked the way that the defense held the running game down on most of their oponents. If not for a few big plays that they let slip by, they kept scoring by the offense to a minimum.

To summarize, it was a bad year and we have to look to add at least 3 more victories in 1999 and hope for Shreveport.