Review - AU 21 ARK 24
This was an untelivised game and I did not have a chance to see the pay per-view. In addition I onlyheard about half the game omn the radio. What I heard and what I've read later indicates that the Tigers played with some intensity for a change. I am not sure that is was necessarily for Bowden or Oliver, but maybe it was to prove to themselves that the Tigers are not a total flop this year. They played, but barely lost, to an undefeated Hog team ranked just below the Top Ten. The real difference in the game was not not in the number of turnovers of miscues, but certainly the timing of those. Arkansas was able to take advantage of Auburn mistakes just enough to make the difference. It's nice to see the team playing well again.

Preview
This game may bring the Tigers back to earth and clinch a losing record. The Hogs can stay undefeated at 7-0 with a victory. However, Arkansas has never won at Auburn and they may have a let down coming off a bye week and maybe looking ahead to tougher competition. It is hard to imaging a team over looking Auburn, but the Razorbacks need to be careful. They have as solid of a core offensive attach as anyone in the SEC - Stoerner, Hill, Chukyuma, and Lucas. If all are healthy, they will test the good defense. Auburn's offense may be improving, but they face a good Hog defense that held Kentucky to 20 points (less than LSU or Georgia). I see problems ahead, but I think it will be a close game.
PREDICTION: Ark 27 AU 17

TV: PPV only

Oct. 24 (Louisiana Tech) at Auburn

Review - AU 32 LATECH 17
(Monday)Since I did not see this game or hear it on the radio, my analyis is really not available on this one. I can comment on the coaching situation and the administration of Auburn University. But first, let me say that the Tigers needed a win to get some confidence. When you lose it breeeds more losing if you lose focus on each game being a new opportunity. Auburn's defense did hold La Tech better than teams like Nebraska and the offense did seem to play better football. It is unlikely that Auburn will win the rest of their games, so the team needs to focus on building for the future with Gabe Gross and by geting their coaching situ finalized. Back to the Bowden situation, I am very disappointed in the Administration including Muse, Housel and Lowder. The three of them are to blame for this fiasco and I believe that it will hurt season ticket sales and fan support. Bowden has never been treated well IMHO and the first time he seemed to slip, they had a good excuse to pressure him out. They would have loved to fire him last year, but with a 10-3 record there was no way. They want an "Auburn Man" like Pat Sullivan, who I think is a good coach, but not necessarily any improvement. They are acting like the Tide across the state who want to hire somebody who knew "the Bear." Auburn must focus on hiring coaches who can do the best job and can connect with the players. I don't necessarily think Bowden's the best coach in the country. Recruiting has not been the best the last couple of years, however several good recrutees either went to play baseball or had other problems. The current team is injury riddled. I don't know that anyone could have done much better given the situation. There may need to be some assistant coaching changes or adjustments, but the top was doing well. (Thursday)After a few days to study the situation, I am in favor of hiring Bill Oliver as Head Coach (assuming that he wins 2 of the last 4 games) and try to get Pat Sullivan as the Asst. Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Olicer has set the stage for this by bringing Matt Wannabe (sp?) as a defensive assistant. inteerstingly, Jimbo Fisher is calling the plays (QB coach) and not Rodney Allison. Allison may be the odd man out shoud Sullivan come on board. I do hope that Auburn give some other coaches a chance like Bobby Wallace and Tommy Tuberville.

Preview
Normally, this might be considered like a good panacea for the Tigers - a non-conferernce foe in a lower league. However, the Bulldogs from Ruston are a good match for the Tigers this week. Don't forget that this team upset the Tide last year and that their QB (Tim Rattay)leads the nation in Total Offense - even over Tim Couch! The come into Auburn at 4-4 having played Texas A&M and Nebraska. Rattay's favorite target is Tony Edwards so Auburn's first task is to stop these guys. The offense then must find a way to score against a defense not nearly as tough as most we've played. They ought to be no better that the Ole Miss team we shut-out, however the mental game may keep this one close.
PREDICTION: AU 14 LaTech 13

TV: None

Oct. 17 (Univ. of Florida) at Gainesville

Review - AU 3 FLA 24
First of all the good things about this game. (1) Gabe Gross emerged as the starting QB, this will give us a 4 year starter who may emerge as a star some day. (2) Ron Bironas has quietly make every kick asked of him this season. Unfortunately there's only been 7 TDs and 6 FGs in 6 games. (3) Florida decided to make the second half a scrimmage to practice their running game therefore holding the margin of defeat to a minimum. Otherwise it was not a very pretty game - in fact it might be the most boring AU/FLA game in the last 20 years. The final statistics which Auburn compared well to Florida are really meaningless. This was a pathetic game and Auburn looked looked like they would lose from the first snap - which was a fumble. Burks and Carter split the rushing yards and Gross had a good pass completion percentage. The defense played well, but was really not up to Florida's air arsenal, especially when Rob Pate got hurt. Cencade Pennington was another casulty and unfortunately his knee injury might be serious. The weeks pass by and Tiger Football gets less interesting each week. Maybe we can beat our last two non-conference foes and maybe upset one of our SEC opponents, but it's becoming a long year on the Plains.

Preview
The preview for this one will be short., The things that Auburn need to do to win have ben stated in the preview for each game so far. Execution only occurred in the Ole Miss game. Auburn's only chance is if they play a perfect game and if Florida plays sloppy as they did against Alabama. I am sure that Spurrier would love to put an exclamation point on Auburn's pending 1-5 record. One note of interest, Florida will be starting Doug Johnson at QB due to Palmer's broken collar bone; Auburn may toss a coin to decide who their QB will be.
Prediction: FLA 31 AU 14

TV: CBS: 2:30AM CT

Oct. 10 (Mississippi State Univ.) at Starkville

Review - AU 21 MSU 38
A look at my game preview shows that everything Auburn needed to do to win did not happen. In addition, it is highly likely that Auburn will finish with both a losing record and no bowl for the first time in Terry Bowden's tenure. It's getting to the point where everyone expects Auburn to self-destruct in at least one quarter of the game. This time Auburn started each half in poor fashion, but how could they top their ineptness as seen in the early third quarter? I am not really even sure of who to blame for this one. Part of it, is the football not bouncing the right way, but most of it is a lack of execution from individual players. Some if it is play calling, but even that blame is hard to pinpoint because your call playing is greatly hampered when your team is young. It should be noted that Auburn is expecting freshmen and sophomores to carry an excessive amount of the burden this year, players who are not seasoned enough to handle this level of football for 60 minutes. They may show glimpses of brilliance, but these are overshadowed by a performance that included 2 blocked punts, 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles and almost all of these led to a MSU score. That's 11 turnovers in the last two meetings between these two schools and certainly 2 losses cannot be a surprise. The Bill Oliver Auburn defense gave another good performance in a losing effort. They are certainly the bright spot on the team. I give Jackie Sherrill and the Bulldogs a lot of credit and respect, things they really do not receive much from the media outside the Magnolia state. I definitely see a team on the rise over in Starkville. This squad will be physical on the line and they know how to prepare their team to win. MSU adjusted their scheme to blitz and pressure young G Gross and it worked. Their offense was not overly impressive but their special teams were well coached enough to discover a weakness in Auburn and block 2 punts. Their defense found the loose fumbles and stray passes that became interceptions. Auburn returns to drawing board this week and faces not a sacrificial lamb, but instead the Florida Gators in the swamp..oh my... Who do you start at QB?? Both have been proven to be capable of making good plays and very bad plays. With a bowl game almost out of reach, Terry will hopefully play both QBs this season enough to give them education and experience and hopefully one will break out the team leader for 1999. We may very well be seeing the bad fruits of Tery deciding last year to play D Craig almost exclusively instead of getting Leard some reps.

Preview
Last year was the first time in recent history that Auburn lost to Mississippi State and had a winning record. I don't want the Tigers to test that scenario again this year. Jackie Sherrill will have his team physically ready to play and Auburn better be as well. Last year it was turnovers that killed the Tigers. I'd like to see Auburn play a clean game against the Bulldogs and hopefully come back with a 'W'. Gabe Gross will probably start for the injured Leard and have a chance to win. Auburn needs to stop James Johnson and QB Wayne Madkin (from here in Huntsville, AL) to have a chance to win.
Prediction: AU 24 MSU 17

TV: JP: 11:30AM CT

Oct. 3 (Univ. of Tennessee) at Auburn

Review - AU 09 TENN 17
After watching the game in the stands, I wondered what I would write in my commentary. After a couple of days reviewing the game, I feel better all the time for some reason. Some good things happened on Saturday, we improved our running game against a good defense. We held Tennessee for most of the game - after letting them get a fast lead. Our defense continues to impress. It was amazing see the Tigers move the ball with 4 freshmen in the lineup at skill positions (QB, TB, FB) and at Center. Look out for these Tigers come 2000 and 2001 if we can only have a couple of good recruting classes. What is both exciting and sad is that this game, as was the LSU game, was actually winnable given a small increase in execution and a reduction in ill-timed turnovers. Tennessee, as is LSU, was and is the better team, but Auburn continues to show evidence that they can compete. Ben Leard played poorly and then left with an injury, only to be replaced with Gabe Gross who looked very capable in the leadership role. The interception on the first drive really took the wind out of Auburn's sails. They appeared to be establishing a running game, but then it was soon 14-0 the other way. It could have led to a blowout, but Auburn outscored Tennessee 9-3 the rest of the way and really out played them on both sides of the ball, except for Jamal Lewis. On defense, I keep hearing Charles Dorsey's name called after big plays. He seems to be assuming the leadership role that is needed for a cohesive and effective defense. Bironas is still a perfect kicker giving Auburn all its points. Back to the offense, no one receiver stood out in this one, but Michael Burks is really running the ball well. Amazingly Auburn had more running yards that passing. Newcomer Roman Nelsen is playing well in a replacement role. Besides the early interception, one disappointment was the inability to score 4 times form the 1 yard line. Our weakness up front showed there. Interestingly it seemed to spark the team the rest of the way.

Preview
Auburn had an extra week to prepare for this one. Tennessee tuned up on a lackluster 42-7 victory over Houston. Auburn's practice this week was interrupted by heavy rain out of the remnants of TS Georges. They had to practice in the Basketball arena (their indoor facility was damaged in an ice storm a few years back.) Auburn has to play a good, well-executed football game to even have a chance in this one. We all remember that last year AU rebounded from a 20-0 loss from Miss State to defeat nationally-ranked Georgia. Only a similar performance will lead them to victory. Auburn has some raw talent that needs to come together before this team will be good. I don't know if it will be soon enough to produce a bowl game this year, however. Specifically, Ben Leard needs some support from the rest of the cast. He cannot carry the team alone. The OL needs to make their blocking assignments and blow the defense at the line of scrimmage. The wide receivers need to block downfield and make the needed Aadjustments in tight coverage. The backs need to be aggressive in hitting the holes and not getting stopped for a loss and not falling down on the first hit. The defense is playing well against the run, which is Tennessee's strength. However they are last in the conference against the pass - Tee Martin can come of age as a passer, possibly. I hope Auburn does not comeout with the attitude that if they stop Jamal Lewis, they stop Tennessee. That will not work at all this time (see LSU game). One problem all year has been scoring in the secong half. Maybe some halftime adjustments need to be made and executed. The other teams we've played have each seemed to do this successfully. Overall, I hope the Tigers look competative and make this one interesting. I fear that we are looking at 1-3, though come Sunday.
Prediction: Tenn 27 AU 13

TV: CBS: 2:30PM CT