News of the day, 10/21

Hey everyone. That was a fun 6-hour drive back to Auburn. Nothing like that scintillating stretch of road from Ft. Deposit to Satsuma. Wonderful.

We (Josh Moon and I) had a pretty good time at LSU on Saturday. We arrived several hours before the game and bascially loitered around the area between Tiger Stadium and the Maravich Assembly Center. We were waiting to see angry confrontations between Auburn and LSU fans, which we then would chronicle in the Advertiser. Yet we saw nothing objectionable at all. There was a styrofoam cooler with "Auburn sucks" written on the side. I didn't think that was worth a story.

Pretty standard pre-game atmosphere. I saw two poodles with their hair sheared to read "Tigers," which was unexpected.

I also saw way more of Bobby Hebert, former (Northwestern State) and NFL quarterback, than I ever care to see again. He was sitting in the press box one level below me, demanding that LSU "hurt Brandon Cox" and having an absolute fit after the Dorsey chop block. You'd think Ziemba and Ramsey had cut blocked Hebert. The experience ruined my feelings for Hebert. I liked him when he played in the league.

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Tuberville, as you'd expect, was not happy with the phantom flag thrown during Jacob Hester's screen touchdown there in the fourth quarter. The call was correct. One official threw a flag because he though LSU had only six players on the line of scrimmage. Game footage shows that LSU's split end -- the seventh player -- was lined up approximately one yard off the line of scrimmage. Yet the official beside the split end did not have his arm out, which officials do when players are not aligned properly. A penalty wasn't warranted.

With that said, the officials did themselves (and the league) a disservice by not making the call before reviewing Hester's touchdown run. Illegal formation calls cannot be overturned. So what happened is that the replay-booth people confirmed that LSU had seven players on the line of scrimmage. Then the officials rescinded the flag. That's great from an enforcement perspective, but an obvious breach of protocol. Penalties need to be handled before the review process begins.

Tuberville said he spoke with OLs Lee Ziemba and Chaz Ramsey about the cut block applied to LSU DT Glenn Dorsey during the second half Saturday. Ramsey went low and Ziemba immediately hit Dorsey high, knocking the All-American into an awkward position that led to a knee injury. Dorsey didn't return. Tuberville concluded that there was no malice. He also said that Auburn doesn't teach illegal cut blocks and won't tolerate illegal cut blocks. Tuberville probably should have ended his rant with the malice stuff.

WR Rob Dunn, who did not travel to Baton Rouge because of a suspension, was at practice Sunday and remains with the team. Tuberville said he hasn't yet decided when Dunn will return to gameday duty. Dunn was suspended for a "practice problem," Tuberville said.