9.26.2009

Auburn def. Ball State, 54-30

Hey everyone. I'll make this a repository of post-game information.

  • Byron Isom has been suspended indefinitely ... hence his absence tonight.

  • Injury update: Onterio McCalebb suffered an ankle injury. His status remains unclear, though he said afterward that he's expecting to play next week at Tennessee. ``I don’t have any doubts I’ll be ready," he said.

  • Injury update: Kodi Burns took a helmet to the thigh (just above his left knee) and expects to play next week at Tennessee.

    TOTAL YARDS
  • AUB: 560 (254 rush)
  • BSU: 260 (146 rush)


    FIRST DOWNS
  • AUB: 21
  • BSU: 19

  • Gene Chizik on why he stuck with backups: ``We have to get guys reps and we have to get those guys playing time. We felt like with a four touchdown lead at that point. We have to make decisions on ... again it goes back to the depth of our football team. Our objective is to win the game, not to win the stats. Win the game and get out healthy so we can go into a tough month of October. We did what we had to do to get out of the game and try to keep everybody healthy."

  • Gus Malzahn: ``The first part of the game we tried to feel out what they were giving us. Once we figured it out our kids executed and made some big plays. It was real encouraging."

  • Craig Stevens on overall situation: ``Feeling good. We've got a lot of ... young guys got a lot of work out there today. I feel like that's going to help us in the long run -- to give them a little experience under their belt. We have to come out faster than we did tonight."

282 comments:

  1. asfasdfwefg2wefc23e

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  2. 9ewHAIUHAISUDFH!!!

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  3. Way to go missinit, taking out Michael!!!

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  4. Notre Dame is losing to Purdue

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  5. Michael, you should have went for quality rather than quantity.

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  6. jhag, you must be lying. Lou Holtz told me that Notre Dame would win the national title, and the good senator couldn't be wrong.

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  7. It has been a testy day for the ranked. Some should have gone down but didn't.

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  8. Evening Hotties from a soggy plains.

    Can the people who vote in the polls please admit they really don't have a clue? Present company excluded, of course, Jay G.

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  9. Did we do enough to make the top 25?

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  10. We may be close to the top 25 now because of other teams losing. I think a victory next week makes us a lock for the top 25.

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  11. AUbigcat I think we get like 26th

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  12. Tebow staying in the hospital overnight for precautionary reasons.

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  13. I did not see the UGA game, thank goodness, and I don't know how they won but just from years of experience can I say ...I hope we can be as lucky as the Dawgs!

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  14. Why did Purdue call a timeout?

    Are you kidding me?

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  15. Come on Purdue. 4th and goal.

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  16. 4th and goal for ND

    21-17 purdue leading

    29 seconds left

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  17. I was just about to type that Faker. That is crazy. Guess it's better than not being set up on defense and allowing the TD?

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  18. that timeout made no sense

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  19. The sad thing is we will get some votes this week based on the score and the other ranked teams being beaten. I just don't think that we are a ranked team yet. I think that we will have to play an almost flawless game next week and not suffer any more injuries in order to overcome and win the Tenn. road trip. I do know that we will have to have much better special team play.

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  20. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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  21. There's the luck of the Irish.

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  22. Yep, that backfired. Stupid TO Call.

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  23. i HATE notre dame

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  24. And that is why you are Purdue.

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  25. Notre Dame and Georgia should have to play each other...just saying!!

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  26. Wow, jhag tells no lies. ND 17, PUR 21 with 29 seconds left. Doctor Lou, I have lost faith in you. I will now believe in jhag.

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  27. Kristina, I know you've never considered this ... but maybe there isn't a RIGHT ANSWER when it comes to polls in September.

    Maybe it's not that voters don't have a clue. Maybe it's because there aren't any right answers? That voters learn more about the teams as they blossom or falter?

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  28. Oh crap!!! Notre Dame gets a festivus miracle dang it.

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  29. Anonymous10:24 PM

    I wonder why Isom was suspended?

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  30. To hell with Notre Dame, why was Isom suspended?

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  31. Time to do something productive. Like sleep.

    War Eagle!

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  32. Anonymous10:27 PM

    Houston may be the next to fall.

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  33. I think we will be ranked next week, not because we are really one of the top 25 teams in the country, but because a bunch of the teams ahead of us lost.

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  34. Suspended indefinitely. He's in some big trouble.

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  35. Anonymous10:28 PM

    also #24 washington losing to stanford in 4th

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  36. As much as it pains me to say this, I don't think we are there yet either.

    Ditto to everything you said, IV!!!


    If I am smiling this time next week you can put a big check by our name!

    I will remain the conservative that I am and stay cautiously optimistic.

    But remember I believe in Auburn and love it.

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  37. we have a top 25 offense.

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  38. Oh Crap, if Isom is suspened indefinitely, we got problems.

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  39. Thanks for the news Jay G.

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  40. Houston coming back.

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  41. And if it didn't make a difference in the end polls, then I wouldn't care what the polls said in September. But they do matter now, when there aren't any right answers, and end up hurting some teams' chances in the end.

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  42. We have a top 10 offense, if I am not mistaken.

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  43. Yep we'll miss Isom, but he shouldn't have let the team down. Coaches have to instill discipline.

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  44. Yea, I got no problem with an indefinite suspension. If Todd screws up this week, he should get the same thing. I just hate it for the team.

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  45. I'm betting Tebow has a headache 'bout now!

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  46. If Houston losses we get in

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  47. I think we are a pretty good team and should be ranked. even with the our issues on defense and special teams.

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  48. Can't believe I bought into the Washington thing. I had a feeling they were going to have a let down.

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  49. Anonymous10:33 PM

    Does Isom have to do certain things to get back on the team like E. Smith?

    Or did he miss a class?

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  50. I feel pretty good about our defense so far. I like the turnovers they are generating and the number of players we are playing. We will need to turn it up a notch next week, though.

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  51. Anonymous10:34 PM

    (22) UNC lost to GT

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  52. I think we have a much improved offense over what we have had the past couple of years. I would have to say that if we do have a top 10 offense, it is because of Todd being healthy and Gus being our OC. We still need another go to receiver besides Adams however if these teams continue to try and shut our running game down.

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  53. Anonymous10:35 PM

    #18 lost big

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  54. With our problems in all phases of special teams except field goals you have to look at the coach. Boulware isn't getting it done.

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  55. Zachery and Fannin have been pretty good receivers, but I would like to see a couple of more receivers step up. Stallworth might be one. Gulley could end up being another, although he is an h-back.

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  56. Anybody heard how bad Kodi's quad injury is????

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  57. astatguy, that is only partially true. Our depth also limits the players who can play on special teams.

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  58. Anonymous10:38 PM

    Positive note - Chris Low Helmet Sticker

    Auburn quarterback Chris Todd: The Tigers' senior quarterback has them scrambling on the Plains to find out what the school record is for touchdown passes in a season. He threw five more Saturday in Auburn's 54-30 win over Ball State and has 11 through four games. Todd only missed seven passes all night, and four of his touchdowns were 26 yards or longer. He's easily the SEC's comeback player of the year at this point.

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  59. Make Trooper our special teems coach and let Boulware just coach tight ends. I bet we would see some improvement then.

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  60. Y'all can have our ST coach..

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  61. teams not teems.

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  62. only if it is a package deal...ST coach and Arenas (sp)

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  63. The Oregon destruction of Cal has to be the biggest shocker of the day. Oregon looked like crap against Boise State.

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  64. I don't want any coach You have FSJ, not even Willis.

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  65. Especially not Willis. I can understand why he left, but now where he went to. That isn't acceptable to me.

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  66. If you feel good about giving up 30 to Ball State... there is a disconnect in there somewhere... There is nothing acceptable about giving up 30 to Ball State. It is embarrassing.

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  67. I almost feel that I have sipped too much Kool-Aid at this point. I hope that they have a good week of practice and are ready for what they have to face the next two weeks on the road. It may be alot different away from the JH crowds.

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  68. Houston is making some incredible throws.

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  69. Anonymous10:44 PM

    That was about the Houston grab not D.Miller's comment.

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  70. Had Ball State scored a total of 30 points in their first 3 games?

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  71. I figured, au1

    heck of a catch!

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  72. Anonymous10:45 PM

    IV - Just put the Kool Aid glass down. I am happy to be 4-0 but the test is next week.

    I will be there in person to see the test.

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  73. Actually, Steve, I have to disagree. We have a lot of starters playing on special teams - more than most teams. We should discover who can't catch punts on the practice field, not in a game. Carr looked almost as lost as Gulley and was waving the ball around when he ran. The problems are mental, not physical - and that means reps and situations. Maybe Chiz isn't giving Boulware time to work the ST's, but something is very wrong.

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  74. Can't believe the Isom deal. I mean, right in the middle of the season when we are rockin. Unbelievable.

    Our D has real issues.

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  75. IV,
    Ball State scored:
    10 v. North Texas
    16 v. New Hampshire
    17 v. Army
    30 v. Auburn

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  76. I am happy to be where we are also. Don't take me wrong. I just am not as confident about the next few games as I once was. I know alot of teams would like to be 4 and o and they may could have been if they had played our schedule.

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  77. Yeah - I love where we are. I think we'll be competitive in every game.

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  78. Our special teams were an issue last season too. I am not sure what the issue is, but I doubt Boulware is getting to play many starters on the punt return team. It shouldn't be practice time because I heard Chizik say that is what we are going to focus on. It is very much mental and new guys touching the ball to some degree.

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  79. Washing (24) lost to Stanford or atleast they are losing 34-17 late

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  80. Special teams must be allotted about 15 minutes of practice time a day.

    Come on Coach give 'em a few more minutes...PLEASE!!!

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  81. We were 3-0 last year heading into LSU and lost 21-26 on a last second flailing catch....
    Just because we're scoring points this year doesn't mean we should think everything is hunky-dory... We have no defense right now...none. It is very disturbing.

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  82. Fannin had issue on punt returns, but I don't believe he should be there anyway. Benton, Blake, Stallworth are all special teams guys. Heck, there is one walkon LB that has been playing on special teams, although the name escapes me at the moment. Humphries?

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  83. I just think that our special teams could use some Trooper enthusiasm and discipline.

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  84. Don't get me wrong. I am happy to be 4-0 and that we just won a game. I just see where nothing has been smooth and our defense seems to be getting worse rather than better after each game.

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  85. I'd like to see Wisner 82 receive punts (and get a scholly) - he's a smart player and has good hands. Plus he's got some experience in games and plays tough - two key touchdown springing blocks already.

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  86. Our defense didn't bother me so much this game. I feel pretty good that with the starters in, we are fine. astatguy is right to be concerned with the special teams though. That is what I think will cost us some games.

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  87. Our special teams are horrible cause there isn't much talent there. Also, bad techniques. No one breaks down to tackle.

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  88. Good point about Wisener. He has impressed in a lot of ways.

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  89. Updated injuries to McCalebb and Burns.

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  90. Demond Washinton returned punts for his JuCo... not sure why he isn't back there.

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  91. Pretty good news, Jay. I think we need both. Our offense could bog down inside the twenty without Kodi in the wildcat.

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  92. So Burns was a charlie-horse, essentially and they held him out as a precaution... good move.

    McCalebb seems to think his ankle sprain is minor. I certainly hope so.

    Can the entire defense be included in the injury report, with a bruised ego?

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  93. I think the fake punt was for Tennessee. They wanted them to see it.

    We did some things in this game that we would likely not do in a close game. I feel pretty good about it.

    Caudle throwing a pick on his first pass was disappointing, but Gulley dropping that fair catch really concerns me.

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  94. DMiller, our defensive numbers looked pretty good, especially before the backups came in.

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  95. wasn't Washington a stud punt returner in his previous life (HS or JC)?

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  96. sorry DMiller slow internet tonight

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  97. Okay gang, I am like jhag was last week, I'll take it. It beats the hell out of a defeat. With that said, this old man is headed to bed. Have a good night all.

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  98. Even with playing backups much of the second half, Ball State only got 260 yards of offense.

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  99. I wondered why Benton wasn't playing - now I know. Trooper is developing DA and TZ into go-to guys. DeAngelo needs to step it up or his belated career will be also be a disappointing one.

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  100. I heard troop basically say that if you drop the ball in practice, you aren't going to see the playing time, and I believe he was refering to Benton.

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  101. Yeah, Wes, Washington was a punt returner in a previous life. He's already had a shot and fumbled. Maybe we try him again.

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  102. I agree that the ST problem is due to lack of talent.

    Folks forget that Caddy was our punt returner in '04, and Ronnie was our gunner on punt coverage.

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  103. i think they've all fumbled. i guess we start at the top...

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  104. Outta here. Gotta go shag a few punts. Gonna try out next week. Yeah, baby!!!!

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  105. I keep wondering if PPL will show up returning punts.

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  106. 260 yards... yes, bravo...wheee!...
    ...and scored 30 points...

    It isn't the yards that beat you, it is points on the board. 30 points to a team like Ball State is not good, no matter how you try to spin it. And the majority of those points were given up by the 1's.


    Tennessee, as inept as they have been on O, would run us out of the stadium if we play them the same way we played Ball state.

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  107. DMiller, the points didn't mean much and most were against the backups. You can blame some of those on the offense and Caudle's pick.

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  108. well my battery is dying and my computer is tired too. till tomorrow...

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  109. Why no T Zachery on returns? He has great hands and experience from HS.

    I am really afraid that special team blunders are going to get Auburn beat in Knoxville next week.

    All the concern over OL injuries, and now a self-inflicted indefinite suspension. A very tough spot for Sullen to be put in.

    Don't know if it was discussed, but Tiger Walk was shortened or suspended due to the weather. I was there to watch, but they moved the banner toward the stadium, and the talk was the players were going to be let out much closer to the stadium. I walked back to West Samford and the buses came by there. It wasn't last weeks monsoon, but it rained pretty hard for a good half hour. Lightning as well.

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  110. We have played a lot of players on defense, mainly on the defensive line and secondary. That is to prevent injuries and develop some talent. You have to pay the price for that, and we did.

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  111. AUfan, I agree. If something doesn't change, special teams will cost us some games. Those turnovers are killers and that gave Ball State at least one of their scores.

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  112. Special teams consistently giving the other team good field position is a killer.

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  113. You're right steve... I give up..
    Our defense is awesome! They are the best in the country! As long as we keep the yardage numbers down it doesn't matter. Teams can score as much as they want as long as those yards don't pile up. Amazing performance tonight!

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  114. Jay posted Chizik quotes "Our objective is to win the game, not to win the stats. Win the game and get out healthy so we can go into a tough month of October. We did what we had to do to get out of the game and try to keep everybody healthy."

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  115. Keeping everybody healthy is the key. I believe we can beat anyone with our starters, but I keep waiting for a linebacker to go down and we are in trouble.

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  116. The offensive line has issues now too, with Isom out.

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  117. Have you ever noticed how, when someone is engaged in an argument and can't come up with an effective counter, they pretend to agree to things you aren't even arguing, as if they thought sarcasm was more effective than logic?

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  118. Hmmm, I try to think of them as discussions, but sometimes people take it too seriously.

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  119. For the record, SFC, I agree with your points. This wasn't a defensive performance of which to be proud, but it was to be expected.

    We won't play like this next week. And we won't give up 30 points to Tennessee. Book it.

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  120. Four Stat OT visits AUl decommits from FSU

    Lowndes four-star offensive tackle Ed Christian has been committed to Florida State since February. After an unofficial visit to Auburn Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 280-pounder out of Valdosta, Ga., said that he has reopened his recruitment. per rivals

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  121. Of course not Freep...UT couldn't score 30 points against air right now..

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  122. I know HABOTN-land is pretty asleep tonight, but lets cheer up. We are 4-0 and trending up with a bright future ahead of us. So much can be said for that considering a year ago.

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  123. INT for TTech; they lead by 5 with 7 min to go.

    Mike Patrick and Craig James are just plain bad.

    I've got to work all day/evening tomorrow so I better start getting sleepy.

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  124. That's sad that Houston's stadium seats only 32,000.

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  125. THT i was laughing at that earlier, and they are like look at the Houston faithful sold out stadium here!

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  126. Per Goldberg " Auburn has 2,105 yards of offense through four games."

    That's incredible!!!

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  127. UT will pose a different concern. They are they type of team I think can wear our defense down. If we do a good job of stopping the run and move the ball reasonably well on offense, we should win, but we certainly don't have the dominating type of defense we had early on last year. We just don't have the linebacker or experience on the defensive line for it. By the way, after watching Bates, I am convinced we have one of the best secondaries we have had any many years.

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  128. This season is already a success in my book. I would like to see us win at least 3 or 4 more games, but I am convinced the program is headed in the right direction.

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  129. will UT hang 300 rushing yds on us?

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  130. Kathy, I think we had only 3600 yards last year. We are noe 18 points away from topping the point total from 2008.

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  131. I was very disappointed witht the defense. 30 points is 30 points. I would not put us in the top 25 after giving up 30 points to Ball State.

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  132. Au shoul dnot be rated in the top 25. One reason is that the top teams that lost got beat by teams that are either undefeated or oneloss teams. Those teams will enter the rankings and Au will nit.

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  133. Those points were meaningless and didn't bother me a bit.

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  134. I would agree that the special teams could very well cost us the game against UT. You just don't keep giving the opponent good field position and expect to beat a quality team.

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  135. Fine, they bothered me and a few others.

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  136. Well I think that Auburn will know more about their offense after this weekend.

    You won't know much about whether your defense will truly be a liability until you play a more complete team than UT is.

    Luckily there aren't many complete teams in the SEC this year.

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  137. This Houston/Texas Tech game is excellent and coming down to the last few minutes.

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  138. Jonathan Crompton threw for two touchdowns as Tennessee turned to its unsteady passing game to beat Ohio 34-23 Saturday night.

    Ohio (2-2) kept Tennessee uncomfortable by taking advantage of mistakes and passing for 319 yards against a Vols defense that entered the game allowing an average 88.33 yards by air per game.

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  139. SO if LSU moves up does AU get any more credit for beating MSU as bad as they did? no.

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  140. Houston inside the 10 down by 5.

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  141. Touchdown Houston!!! They just tired that Texas Tech defense out.

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  142. "Tennessee will have a tough time regrouping before facing Auburn at home next week with several Vols leaving the game because of injury. Coach Lane Kiffin said starting middle linebacker Nick Reveiz was likely lost for the season after taking a hard hit on his right knee." per AP

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  143. Houston leads by 1 with about 47 seconds left. Tech has no timeouts remaining.

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  144. A screen pass??? Really?

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  145. Wow, you thought Durst's story was amazing? The Texas Tech kicker won the job in a contest. He came out of the stands and won the job. I wish I knew more about that story.

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  146. Texas Tech is going to have to go for the hail mary.

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  147. Marker down. Illegal format causes Texas Tech to get one more play with 2 seconds left.

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  148. You would think that they could recruit a kicker at TT. No one plays soccer in the entire state of Texas? Go South of the border.

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  149. Why is a ranked team rushing the field after beating an unranked team?

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  150. I don't know D. Miller but Houston's coach will be getting better offers in the near future.

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  151. D Miller I was just thinking that hahahahaaaa

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  152. Sumlin is a dang good coach!

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  153. No, Houston will be just like Louisville a few years ago. It will be built from the ground up to be a national power, and the coach will stay there through it all. Oh...wait...

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  154. Michael,
    So Kevin Sumlin will be the next coach of the ATL Falcons and quit mid-season?

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  155. Kiffin is next in line to get chizzed on

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  156. OK I just sped read comments and maybe I missed this, but on the first punt, I think the officials totally missed the call. The same thing happened in the Titans game last week, but the officials got it right. If a fair catch is called, the player has the right to catch the ball even if he muffs it, provided the ball doesn't hit the ground. What am I missing?

    SECTION 5. Fair Catch
    Dead Where Caught
    ARTICLE 1. a. When a Team B player makes a fair catch, the ball becomes dead
    where caught and belongs to Team B at that spot.
    b. When a valid fair catch signal is made, the unimpeded opportunity to catch
    a free or scrimmage kick is extended to a player who muffs the kick and still
    has an opportunity to complete the catch. This protection terminates when the
    kick touches the ground. If the player subsequently catches the kick, the ball is
    placed where it was first touched) (A.R. 6-5-1-I-IV).

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  157. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  158. The offense and special teams put the defense in pretty bad positions. If you only give up 260 yards, but give up 30 points, the full blame can't go on the D.

    That being said, if we give up 30 points next week in Knoxville, we'll be 4-1.

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  159. Cincy,

    The rule from the Titans game last week, is just an NFL rule, not a NCAA rule.

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  160. WERK,
    What I posted above came from thee NCAA rule book. Seems like it is very clear to me.

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  161. Oops my bad thought it was just NFL.

    Either way...we have a coach who's only game prep responsibility is special teams.

    These mistakes in fielding punts, kickoff returns and punt and kickoff return coverage shouldn't be happening.

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  162. I totally agree, there is no excuse for muffing the punt, but the officials should know the rules. It looked like Chizik was talking to the ref about it at the beginning of the 2nd half.

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  163. mornin' hotties. ugly game. very disappointed in Isom. i hope he gets it right with Chiz. gonna need him.

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  164. A quick look back at the play-by-play chart of the game.

    The subs gave up half the yards on two drives.

    The special teams and the Caudle pick put the defense in position to give up at least 20 points.

    The starting defense gave up one long drive for a touchdown -- the one early in the second half.

    We've got a ways to go on defense, but it's the special teams that need major work. And whether the staff admits it or not, the fake punt was ridiculous.

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  165. I went to bed right after the game, just read thru the posts since then and I can't believe how negative so many of the Hotties are right now. And some don't even think we should be ranked.

    I'd rank us ahead of every team with a loss except VaTech, and I'd rank us ahead of a lot of teams that are undefeated and ranked ahead of us now. I mean, if you go by what actually happened on the field, it shouldn't be any question that we are ahead of LSU and Ole Miss. But the polls are mostly politics and AU usually loses when it comes to politics. And when we beat TN and ARK, we will get no credit because everyone will say those teams are no good anyway.

    Relax, everyone. The game next week will be close for a half, then AU blows them out.

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  166. BTW I just have to say "some guy scored a touchdown" from JGT's game log thread, is just really funny. Sad to see we still have tackling and punt/kick issues. Glad Wes has his stuff together though.

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  167. Coosa I don't know that we are ahead of LSU or Ole Miss, but I would definitely say we are even with them. Ok maybe we're ahead of LSU. Depth though is a concern.

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  168. I'm not sure what the heartburn is about the polls. Does anything think we're some sort of team in contention for the BCS?

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  169. Mrtommy - I just mean that based on the performance on the field we are ahead of LSU. We have a direct comparison on a common opponent there. Ole Miss hasn't been nearly as impressive as AU so far. Looking at the teams that lost, I don't see how they can avoid grudgingly ranking as around 24.

    Jet - Yes.

    The big thing about being ranked is that you get so much more publicity. Try to find the results of the AU game on espn - you have to really look for it. Yet all the games of ranked teams are right there. Plus, the team deserves it.

    The only team on our schedule that is clearly better than us is bammer, and they deserve to be #1.

    I don't expect us to win every game, but the 10-2 scenario that I mentioned before the season is definitely in play. We had to win the first 4, we did.

    A good day to all.

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  170. Lupica on The Sports Reporters just made me smile

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  171. Anonymous9:00 AM

    Pollsters aren't going to move teams a lot in one week. They move the teams up or down methodically. Consider this: LSU was #7 and barely beat MSU, yet we easily beat MSU. LSU might normally move down a place or 2 except that several team above them lost. LSU also beat Washington. Wash beat USC. Wash just lost to unranked Stanford. THe pollsters moved Wash to #24 b/c of one good day and now will move them back out.

    This is more of an argument against early season polls than which team should be where right now.

    One other consideration for smart pollsters is the remaning schedule. A team like AU that still has a brutal sched remaining will most likely suffer losses. The pollster doesn't want to put us in there only to take us out. If we beat UT and Ark then we'll get some luv.

    Beat those guys and then beat LSU and UGA and we can whine if we don't move way up.

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  172. throw me into the pessimism pool.

    We can't tackle worth a darn. We can't cover KOs worth a darn. We can't catch a punt worth a darn. We are rank, we have no business being ranked.

    I see wins vs KY and FU. Which leaves us at 6-6. Any other wins will be gravy.

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  173. Anonymous9:11 AM

    The parity in CFB caused by scholly limits has made polls so ambiguous that playoffs are the only way to go.

    So since polls are now unavoidably ambigous due to parity...do we do away with polls? Then CFB could just be like the pros and everybody could follow leauge standings, while hoping to make the playoffs(second season).

    Extended pro-type playoffs cheapen the regular season and out of conference games won't matter. You will then see less top OOC matchups and the confrences will be pressured for all confrence teams to play each other.

    Eventually we would have a CFB eam get hot and we would have a 4 loss national champion like the pros and everyone would complain. BUT....we wouldn't be whining about the polls.

    What was the point of this? It's too early to whine about polls.

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  174. The question is, is the pessimism pool half full or half empty?

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  175. Anonymous9:22 AM

    THT...I'm extremely encouraged at the enthusiasm, game planning and coaching creativity.

    I'm not encouraged that our player execution is very sloppy and erratic. We make a great play one minute and then are either out of position or using poor fundamentals the next. The coaches know this and that is why they aren't buying our stock yet.

    Let's don't get too far down on ourselves because of this game. This type of game happens to most teams every season. Coaches don't use anything new from the playbook for these games. Coaches don't work hard to motivate the players for these games. Coaches can't heavily motivate each week or they risk burning out the motivation flame.

    This is the type of game where coaches look to see how much self-leadership, focus and motivation is on the team. This is also a chance to play the younguns. we seem to be lacking in those areas.

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  176. IMHO Auburn is much farther ahead of what I expected Auburn to be at this time this year.

    Remember, it's a process.

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  177. Anonymous9:30 AM

    I'm more worried about Byron Isom's suspension than anything else. That is one of the "injuroes" that we couldn't afford.

    Except for the Isom issue, these issues set up well for the coaches to push and demonstrate to the team just how hard they need to work.

    Coaches not buying the stock is a good thing. You shouldn't get a trophy for showing up.

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  178. BTW am I crazy or did I NOT hear an illegal procedure call on #73 last night?

    Put me in the half full pessimism pool. I really like the direction this team and staff are heading

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  179. Anonymous9:35 AM

    Aero...you are right...we are where we hoped to be.

    Because some old issues are reolved, it feels like we should be great. We have new issues and nevertheless are as good as we should have reasonably hoped.

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  180. Remeber too that when they were talking to Adam Herring, he said the only thing he knew about Ball State was Dave went there. Not sure what dya that was, a Tues. or Wed.

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  181. 1983 Iron Bowl on ESPN Classic at 6 EDT today.

    MrsTHT's all-time favorite game we've attended.

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  182. I don't think I can rank Auburn.

    It's between Auburn and Iowa at No. 25 ... and Iowa just kicked Penn State to the curb at Penn State.

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  183. If you need qany help with that JGT you can always poll us.

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  184. But we ar one of the 12 4-0 teams in FBS or whateveritis D1

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  185. I got Auburn in.

    I dropped Pittsburgh out of the poll completely.

    1. Florida
    2. Texas
    3. Alabama
    4. Oklahoma
    5. Boise State
    6. LSU
    7. Virginia Tech
    8. Ohio State
    9. TCU
    10. Cincinnati
    11. Penn State
    12. Southern Cal
    13. Oklahoma State
    14. BYU
    15. Miami Florida
    16. Mississippi
    17. Georgia
    18. Houston
    19. Kansas
    20. Georgia Tech
    21. Oregon
    22. Iowa
    23. California
    24. Auburn
    25. Michigan

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  186. I can't blame you for not ranking AU right now, JGT. Our ST is a liability and our D is giving up way to many points for anyone to feel comfortable about.

    The offense is putting up points, and looks good at times, but is still a little jekyl/hyde at times.

    However, as pointed out... If you go reactive in your voting, and put stock in W-L, then we are one of the few remaining 4-0 teams...

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