Review - AU 19 LSU 31
This was another exciting battle of the SEC Tigers. Auburn was not the better team on this particular Saturday, but they did show a lot of heart in their lack of "quit." Auburn set its goal before the game to stop Kevin Faulk and they did - allowing him only 88 yards. (Auburn would love for their TB to have 88 yards but for LSU that's a sub-par performance.) Auburn failed to stop Herb Tyler whom they probably took a little too lightly. In the pregame show on the radio, Bowden and others kept saying that Tyler was good but "not the best QB we'll face this year." He got revenge by passing for an 80% completion rate and scoring TDs by both passing and running them himself. Auburn really has to eliminate those pesky turnovers. It's hard to pin the responsibility on one person but Leard is probably the most at fault for the interceptions. Unfortunately his problem is not one of skill but opf experience. I believe he will be a good QB in due time, but I'd love to see him throw the ball away when there'e double coverage instead of forcing it in there. The running game is still poor, but Burks seems to be the best of the bunch right now. Still, he's barely averaging 2 yds per carry. I'd like to see Carter used as a flanker and try to catch some passes in the flat. He has speed but it takes such a small hit to get him to fall down. The defense once again put on a good performance. Dorsey blocked 2 extra points, Pate recovered a key fumble and Ware returned a blocked point for a 2 point score. They seemed to control LSU until time on the field wore them down. The offense has to control the ball better and give this defense a rest.

Game Tidbits and Analysis:

• My bright star on the Offense, Heath Evans, broke loose on a 54-yd TD reception and then later broke his ankle ending his season. Very unfortunate for Heath and the Tigers.
• Auburn's passing game improves each week in terms of yardage and completions, however the interceptions knock those stats out of importance
• Clifton Robinson is becoming the "GOTO guy for Leard - he's doing a great job
• Jack Schweiger got some more catches in this game - I am glad to see the TE getting some work
• Kevin Faulk had rushed for six consecutive 100 yd games before Auburn's defense held him just under that number
• Auburn has a 5 game winning streak on the road but is 4 out of 8 in home games, scoring only 0, 18, 0, and 19 points in the last 4 (3 losses)

TV: ESPN: 4:00PM CT

Sept. 12 (Univ. of Mississippi) at Oxford, MS

Review - AU 17 MS 0
It was a great day in Oxford. The sky was cloudy and drizzly, yet a comfortable 75 degrees. The tailgating in the grove was extensive and quite a sight to see. My wife and I got to see our first road Tiger Walk (second TW of any kind). Ourselves and a few thousand other Auburn fans crammed into the North End Zone bleachers to witness the game. What we saw was a tremendous improvement in the Tigers from Week One. A defense that played well against Virginia stepped up another notch to score a shutout against a talented and enthusiastic Rebel bunch. I could best describe the defense as a swarm that seemed to be right where the ball ras rushed or thrown. This type of defense can win games against good teams. The offense had a spurt of success in the first quarter that led to 14 points - both scores coming after Ole Miss turnovers. The rest of the way they played good ball control yielding no turnovers and getting one more FG and turning down the chance for another just before halftime by attempting to get a 4th down conversion. B Leard showed some maturity and poise that was lacking against Virginia - he learned form his mistakes well as all rookies have to do. He led the team by mixing a fairly potent passing and running game. This team is not ready for Top 10 and maybe not even a Top 25 status, but it is ready to be in most of their games if they play mistake free football. They are certainly not on a tailspin into the depths of medioctiry. Michael Burks gained 61 yards to lead the Tigers with a reasonable running game and a mix of 8 receivers split the receptions quite nicely. I was pleased to see balls thrown to the TE and FB positions - both with some success. The surprise star of the game had to be Heath Evans who had success rushing and receiving the ball. I was pleased to see B Leard play a multiple offense with bootlegs, misdirection and even the option. I was very pleased with the overall effort. Bironas and Zills had a good kicking game overall and special teams were fine except for a cheap shot by Rob Pate that led to a 15yd penalty and could have easily led to an ejection.

Game Tidbits and Analysis:

• Look for more of Heath Evans - more weapons in the backfield will improve the running game and the offense overall. He was the second leading overall yardage gainer.
• The Tigers improved to 15 First Downs and 66 total plays and held Mississippi to only 5 First Downs and 57 plays. (similar to AU's shutout last week!)
• Auburn's Offensive coaches showed guts by attempting 3 fourth-down conversions in the first half. B Leard showed poise in directing two to successes.
• Auburn now must face the current No. 7, 6, 25 and 2 teams in the AP Poll the next 4 games. Virginia has risen to No. 10
• When was the last time that Terry and Tommy Bowden won their games...and Bobby Bowden lost on the same day?

Preview
Auburn almost has to play better this coming Saturday at Oxford than they did against Virginia. Hopefully the extra 2 days will help the Tigers prepare for a hard fought game against the rebels. Every game in Oxford is tough and therefore I predict a close game. Logic would point to an Ole Miss upset, but I have to think the Bowden boys will recover and prevent a disaster. My "wish-list" for the offense is the same as for the VA game. The line must be able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. (I attended the Penn State defeat of Southern Miss at State College and witnessed that very thing and it is a pretty sight.) Ole Miss will fight hard and throw every weapon available at the Tigers. Romaro Miller is a good QB and he will have to be stopped. Ben Leard hopefully will gain some poise and maturity and play better. Michael Burks may get a chance to "show his stuff" and it would be a dream to discover our own Jamal Lewis like TN did last year. I will be at this game and will return with a first-hand report this coming Tuesday.

Prediction: Auburn 16 Ole Miss 14

TV: SportsSouth 2:30 CT

Sept. 3 (Univ. of Virginia) at Auburn

Review - AU 0 VA 19
Well the offense was down-right "offensive" in the Tiger's season opener. The defense did play pretty well, however. It is obvious that I was disappointed in the performance. I even had a stranger in the Atlanta airport 9/08 notice my Auburn t-shirt give me condolences for the poor showing against the Cavaliers. A look at my review shows that none of the things I said needed to happen on offense happened. The running game was poor - as bad as last year. The passing game was okay at times, but inconsistent. Leard played like a rookie - which he is and had turnovers via 2 fumbles and an INT. The only real offensive star was Clifton Robinson who had some great clutch catches and is now a starting WR. D Carter played poorly due to an injury and is in Bowden's "doghouse" for not making the effort needed to get ready to play. Look for true freshman Burks to lead the TB spot against Ole Miss. Notice that AU had only 8 first downs that shows a lack of ball control. The defense held together and kept the game from getting out of hand early. In fact, the Tigers really had a good chance to recover into the fourth quarter because the defense had played so well. The Cavaliers did grind up some good yardage on the ground (more than last year) and complete some key passes (less yardage than last year, though), but the endzone was guarded. Remember that Virginia's first TD was set-up by a turnover. Things do not get any easier for the Tigers, in fact they have three top 10 teams on the schedule coming up inthe next 5 games. And the other two teams are improved MS schools. Before you give up on the Tigers, however, remember that Auburn's best game last year occurred after the MSU debacle against Georgia.

Game Tidbits and Analysis:
Offense

• Only 8 rushes by one of the Tailbacks were greater than 1 yd
• Only 6 passes were greater than 10 yd accounting for most of the first downs
• No passes were caught by the Tight End but 3 were caught by the Fullback
• D Carter played mostly in the first half due to nagging ankle injury; Burks did about as well/poor in second half
• The longest run from scrimmage was Auburn's first play - 7 yds
• Two-thirds of Auburn's drives stalled without a first down
• Auburn only had 4 drives consisting of any first downs, the longest "drive" was 34 yds; two of these drives ended in a turnover
• Auburn's 8 first downs was lower than all last season (9 vs. TN); 53 plays was lower that all but the ARK game last year (51)
• Auburn's "similar" shutout to MSU (20-0)last year was primarily caused by turnovers; Auburn in that game had more yards rushing and passing, than against VA, and had 17 first downs
• The only kicking game was Bironas' kickoffs which went mostly in the end zone - one of the bright spots!

• The defense started strong and began to tire as the game progressed
• Every VA first down in first half was a result of a play greater than 10 yds; 5 passes and 1 run
• Only score allowed in first half was a from a broken coverage in the Secondary that led to a 61 yd pass
• VA had 14 of 20 first downs in the second half; 10 of these were split amongst two scoring drives (1 TD, 1 FG)which were the Cavalier's last two drives of the game in the last 20 minutes(shows the defense getting tired as already stated)
• Punting game was good, but one short punt set up the first FG

TV: ESPN 7:00 CT