News of the day, 9/10

Hey everyone. Auburn is off today, but that doesn't mean you won't be getting fresh information here. Tommy Tuberville will be in Montgomery speaking to the quarterback club this afternoon. I was there. Not much new to report, though I will do so down below.

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Tuberville reiterated his faith in Brandon Cox today. He said Cox's problems are a result of particularly bad things happening when he makes a bad decision. So the inference is that Cox isn't making more mistakes than before ... it's just that each one is more detrimental. It's an interesting approach.

Tuberville spoke on Sunday (and again today in front of TV cameras) of possibly taking the redshirt off some players. He's speaking specifically about LB Joshua Bynes and CB Ryan Williams. I pressed him on this issue after the cameras left, and he presented this more as an emergency measure. If Tray Blackmon (ankle) can't play against Mississippi State, that leaves Chris Evans as the only available MLB. Bynes is the No. 3 MLB. Auburn will practice Bynes more rigorously to prepare for that unlikely scenario. The hope is to preserve Bynes' redshirt. Same for Williams, who is playing behind Jae Wilhite (hamstring) at CB.

I made a point yesterday that several emailers didn't seem to understand. Losing to South Florida does not put Auburn in exclusive company. That's a top-25 team with some real players. That team will cause problems for Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia this season. I can't believe that I'm telling rabid Auburn fans to ease up because I generally enjoy misguided anger, but it's a little out of hand. I don't think Auburn is in free fall. They just need to play another quarterback. If Cox had zero turnovers during the first two games instead of FIVE, the team would be 2-0. Cox is the main problem right now. I'm not sure there are other major problems in progress right now. Well, I won't argue against people who say the play-calling isn't good.

Here is my AP football poll for this week. I added Georgia Tech and Arkansas this week. I dropped Auburn and Michigan. I really like the top six teams. There's a pretty wide chasm after that. Penn State and Florida are wild cards. I can't tell with them just yet.

Note that I bumped LSU ahead of Southern Cal. LSU has accomplished more to this point.
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Also note that I dropped Hawaii from 8 to 15. I had them too high. Struggles at La. Tech cast major doubt in Hawaii's legitimacy, and I dropped the Warriors accordingly.

The AP publishes my ballot and those of other voters each week. They haven't updated the list since last week. I'm sure they will soon.

1. LSU
2. Southern Cal
3. West Virginia
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. Louisville
7. UCLA
8. Cal
9. Oregon
10. Wisconsin
11. Penn State
12. Florida
13. South Florida
14. Missouri
15. Hawaii
16. Texas A&M
17. South Carolina
18. Virginia Tech
19. Ohio State
20. Georgia
21. Rutgers
22. Georgia Tech
23. TCU
24. Clemson
25. Arkansas