Blogging The Texas Game

Hey everyone. Texas is playing for the national championship tonight.

We'll be following along here.

Please join in.

Photo credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Adjust your schedules

Hey everyone. Auburn's game at Mississippi State has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 9. ESPN has picked up the broadcast rights.

Adjust your travel schedules accordingly.

Looking at: Quarterbacks

Hey everyone. I know we'll be talking plenty about Texas tonight, but there's no rule that says we can't talk about Auburn right now. Right?

We discussed quarterbacks during the Inaugural Video Campfire® on Tuesday, but many of you were not able to see it. I don't mean to throw salt in your wounds by mentioning that. Just want to make sure the people who did participate in the IVC® don't think I'm going senile by repeating many of the things we have discussed.

THE FINAL 2009 DEPTH CHART
1.) Chris Todd
2.) Neil Caudle
3.) Barrett Trotter
4.) Clint Moseley
5.) Tyrik Rollison*

*=suspended and not practicing.

THE FINAL 2009 ANALYSIS

• Chris Todd. Started all 13 games, went 198-for-358, 2,612 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs. Had a year that surpassed my expectations. He was careful without being tentative, seemed to grasp what Gus Malzahn was trying to accomplish. Arm strength didn't wane as expected. Still not fast. Locked in on Darvin Adams more than he should have, but Adams certainly was up to the challenge. Grade: A-.
  
  
• Neil Caudle. Played in four games, went 15-for-20, 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Played rarely. Made a nice 52-yard scoring run against Ball State. Questions linger about his ability to play mistake-free football, but Caudle really hasn't been given an opportunity to acquit himself. Maybe I'm still hanging on what Tony Franklin said. Grade: INC
  
  
• Barrett Trotter. Didn't play. Spent the season rehabilitating from a knee injury. Looked tentative with his repaired knee when I saw him in December, but has plenty of arm strength. He's supposed to be pretty fast. Has the knee injury affected him? Grade: INC.
  
  
• Clint Moseley. Didn't play. Spent the season with the scout team. Big kid, strong arm. Doesn't seem mobile to me, though I didn't see much of him during those December practices. Grade: INC.
  
  
• Tyrik Rollison: Didn't play. Spent the season in the No. 3 slot until drawing a season-ending suspension in early December. He's supposed to be The Quarterback of The Future, but that designation was put into doubt when Auburn signed Cam Newton last month. Rollison is an enigma right now. Grade: INC.

MY PROJECTED 2010 DEPTH CHART
1.) Cameron Newton
2.) Caudle
3.) Rollison
4.) Moseley
5.) Trotter

THE PRELIMINARY 2010 ANALYSIS 2009 ANALYSIS

• Newton. He's spent one full season at Florida and one (highly successful) season at a Texas junior college. He was an option quarterback in high school and was being groomed as Tim Tebow's successor at Florida. Newton is a runner first, though his passing wasn't exactly problematic in Texas. I haven't seen him play. So why do I have him No. 1? They signed him to play. He signed to play. He has two years left. That combination of facts makes me believe he'll have the best shot at a starting job this fall.
  
  
• Caudle. He is what he is. No offensive coordinator has considered Caudle a No. 1 during his five seasons at Auburn. College football has seen guys in this position thrive during that final year -- D.J. Shockley comes to mind -- but Caudle's path to that gig is cloudy. I don't foresee him beating his competitors this time around. Stranger things have happened ... but not many.
  
  
• Rollison. He needs to get his act together, instill confidence in his coaches and display the leadership Gene Chizik is expecting. Surely the signing of Newton gave Rollison a shock. He'd better improve quickly or he'll be left behind.
  
  
• Moseley. I know Malzahn really likes this kid. That's all I can give you. I'd expect him to leave within a year if his playing-time prospects don't improve significantly.
  
  
• Trotter. Not sure what to think of him. I believe he has talent. I know he's appears blocked on this depth chart. Trotter or Moseley, one of them, will have to leave if they have designs on actually playing college football.

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Troy chatter

Hey everyone. I am kicking it with one of my college buddies today, a powerful executive by the name of Jacques Brousseau, and will be watching the GMAC Bowl.

Most of the HOTTIES have at least a neutral feeling about the Troy Trojans, guided by former Auburn quarterback and assistant coach Larry Blakeney.

If you're watching, please roll into our comments section and make yourself heard.

That's what we do here at the HABOTN. We comment.

All we have are the embers

Hey everyone. Our 100-minute Video Campfire® has ended. I'd say it was a success.

We had approximately 500 unique viewers. We averaged 83 viewers at any given moment. I was aiming for 40 viewers total, so I'd say that qualifies as a success.

What we need to do now is make suggestions on how to improve it.

Here are some things we discussed in the Campfire. Add more in the comments section and I'll post 'em here.

*Stop the refresh on the main blog because it messes up the stream.
*Images/video/links can't be posted in the chat.
*(Some) questions gathered before the VC begins.
*"Tape" the segment for later playback (**I have this one solved already.**)

IN OTHER NEWS: Here's what the Outback Bowl had to say via Twitter -- ``ESPN announced that the Outback Bowl overtime thriller with the Wildcats and Tigers posted a 4.06 national television rating. This is a 32% increase from last year's game. Thanks for watching this instant classic!"

Inaugural Video Campfire®

Hey everyone. We're making our maiden voyage on UStream, which allows you all to see me as we converse about Les Topics of Le Day.

Please enjoy.

(You may or may not have to register to be able to chat with me.)

I will be checking the comments section ... to make sure you can hear me and all.

Video chat rooms at Ustream

Schedule update

Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday. I made a (rare) trip into Advertiser headquarters to handle some business. That generally results in me talking at length with people in there, I lose track of time, 2 o'clock turns into 5 o'clock and then I'm done.

You know what I mean?

We'll pick up the annual Auburn Season Review project this afternoon.

I'm thinking it should be a position-by-position look: How did players perform at each position, who will play those positions next season and which newcomers could become a factor?

I'll start with quarterback. See you around 2 p.m. CST.

A STEP FORWARD: In our thirst for pushing the envelope here at the HABOTN, we probably will have a HABOTN Technological Breakthrough® to share with you this afternoon. As such, we encourage you to be here around 2 if possible.

AS FOR THE PICTURE: That's Matt Kemp. He's one of my favorite baseball players (outfielder for the Dodgers) and now the boyfriend of Rihanna. I am very proud. Well done, young man.

MSU women def. Auburn, 73-58

Hey everyone. Hope your Sunday is going well.

I will be LIVE BLOGGING the women's game (Auburn vs. MSU) beginning around 2 p.m. This will be a Cover It Live-type situation.

Most of you are not into women's hoops and that's fine, too.

I'll be available to talk about a somewhat wide variety of topics, though I will be watching the women's game. Come soak it all in. This is a dress rehearsal for A New Era In HABOTN Game Coverage.

Love,
jgt
xoxoxoxox

Looking Back On a Classic

Hey everyone. I decided to tackle the drive home from Tampa immediately after completing my newspaper responsibilities last night. Sorry for the lack of post-game blogs.

I just had to get home. Being on the road that long drives me crazy.

So, about the game:

I thought about this on the drive home -- that was the best game I ever witnessed first-hand. I've always told people that the 1999 Super Regional baseball game between Auburn and FSU, the one where the late Brent Schoening used 130+ pitches to hold down a much better team, was the best athletic event of my lifetime.

I decided to reclassify that as "best individual performance" of my lifetime. You should have been there.

Yesterday's game was incredible. Four end-of-game celebrations, only one of them truly meaningful. Ben Tate losing his head and nearly losing the game. An illegal batting penalty on a guy who was in pass coverage 25 yards from the infraction. Crescendo after crescendo. And then a "modern-day fumblerooski" that was squashed at the 2.

Sounds like a movie.

Numbers that stood out -- and will stand out forever.

**Northwestern ran 115 plays.

**Josh Bynes, Craig Stevens, Neiko Thorpe and Daren Bates played all 115.

**Do you know how crazy that is? I'd assess 80 snaps as "crazy."

**Mike Kafka threw 78 passes.

**T'Sharvan Bell (known everywhere as Tee Bell) picks two passes.

**Walt McFadden takes one 100 yards.

**Northwestern, for all that offense, goes 6-for-23 on third down.

**Auburn penalized 12 times for 140 yards. Holy cow.

**Northwestern earned 33 first downs to Auburn's 18.

**Auburn finished with 425 yards on 72 plays. You're thinking: "Nice work."

**Northwestern finished with 625 yards on 115 pays. "Seriously?"

**Northwestern rushed 37 times for 93 yards. That's a 2.5 average. Nothing.

**Thorpe finished with 13 solo tackles.

**Auburn had 22 possessions. Northwestern had 18.

**Eighteen Outback Bowl records were broken Friday. Ten were tied.

ALSO OF NOTE: I enjoyed seeing everyone in the Official HABOTN Section®. That group included THT, LGG Byron, THT 2.0, Digger, IV, IV's sons, mrtommyd, AuFan365. I think Sean was due in the section, but I had to leave before he arrived. Thanks for the placards, THTs -- that was awesome.

ps: Is Cody Parkey struggling in the Under Armour game or what? Two missed PATs (one was affected by a bobbled snap), a short field goal and his kickoffs have been fielded at the 25 or so. Yummy!

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Auburn vs. Northwestern, 2nd half

Hi. It's time for the second half.

AUBURN -- 38
NORTHWESTERN -- 35
Final/Overtime

• Auburn first possession: INTERCEPTION. Kodi Burns was picked on an outstanding play from a NU defensive back.
  
  
• Northwesterm first possession: PUNT. Not much going on.
  
  
• Auburn second possession: PUNT. Not much going on.
  
  
• Northwestern second possession: INTERCEPTION. Neiko Thorpe got this one. That's four now.
  
  
• Auburn third possession: PUNT. Not much going on.
  
  
• Northwestern third possession: Brewer 36 pass from Kafka. Demos PAT kick good. Drive covered 80 yards in 7 plays.
  
  AUBURN 21, NORTHWESTERN 14
  
  
  
• Auburn fourth possession: PUNT. Three and out. Yuck.
  
  
• Northwestern fourth possession: TOUCHDOWN. Drake Dunnsmore 67 pass from Kafka. Demos PAT kick good. Drive covers 67 yards in 1 play. Dunnsmore broke tackles against Demond Washington and Walt McFadden. It was bad.
  
  AUBURN 21, NORTHWESTERN 21
  
  
  
• Auburn fifth possession: PUNT. Not much going on.
  
  
• Northwestern fifth possession: INTERCEPTION. T'Sharvan Bell did it again. That's five picks for Auburn.
  
  
• Auburn sixth possession: TOUCHDOWN. Ben Tate 5 run. Byrum PAT kick was good. Drive covers 60 yards in 7 plays. Darvin Adams caught five passes on that drive.
  
  AUBURN 28, NORTHWESTERN 21
  
  
• Northwestern sixth possession:
  
  **I have to go downstairs for interviews.** I can't update this.
  

Auburn vs. Northwestern

Hey everyone. We are watching Auburn's game against Northwestern in the Outback Bowl this afternoon. Please join in.

The game can be seen on ESPN.

Northwestern has won the toss.

• Northwestern first possession: INTERCEPTION. Walt McFadden got it.
  
  
• Auburn first possession: TOUCHDOWN. Kodi Burns 1 run. Wes Byrum PAT kick is good. Drive covers 31 yards in five plays. Ben Tate broke off a 24-yard run to get the Tigers to the 1.
  
  AUBURN 7, NORTHWESTERN 0
  
  
• Northwestern second possession:
  AUBURN TOUCHDOWN. Walt McFadden returns an interception yards for a touchdown.
  
  AUBURN 14, NORTHWESTERN 0
  
  
• Northwestern third possession: TOUCHDOWN. Andrew Brewer 39 pass from Mike Kafka. PAT kick was good. Drive covered 67 yards in 6 plays.
  
  AUBURN 14, NORTHWESTERN 7
  
  
• Auburn second possession: PUNT. Three and out. Live to punt.
  
  
• Northwestern fourth possession: MISSED FG.
  
  
• Auburn third possession: TURNOVER ON DOWNS. Auburn's fourth-down pass was ruled incomplete.
  
  
• Northwestern fifth possession: PUNT. Not much going on.
  
  
• Auburn fourth possession: TOUCHDOWN. Quindarius Carr 46 pass from Todd. Byrum PAT kick good. Drive covers 79 yards in 5 plays. The touchdown was a trick play -- a pump fake on an alleged screen let Carr slide into single coverage. He just beat dude.
  
  AUBURN 21, NORTHWESTERN 7
  
  
  
• Northwestern sixth possession: PUNT. Three and out.
  
  
• Auburn fifth possession: PUNT. Auburn crossed mid-field, but couldn't dig deeper.
  
  
• Northwestern seventh possession: PUNT. A bad punt, too. High snap. A 19-yard effort.
  
  
• Auburn sixth possession: INTERCEPTION. Kodi Burns tried to hit Mario Fannin for a big gain, but a Northwestern defender made a really nice play on a lofty pass.
  
  
• Northwestern eighth possession: INTERCEPTION. T'Sharvan Bell picks a pass in the end zone. That's a reversal of fortune because Tee Bell's mistake allowed Northwestern's first touchdown.
  

Your fellow HOTTIES in action

I just returned from a visit to the official HABOTN Section® of Raymond James Stadium.

THT and his proteges, LGG Byron and 2.0, created placards to promote our fine site here. Perhaps they'll get some face time on ESPN's broadcast.

Welcome to "Football In Paradise"

Hey everyone. So it's very wet now in Tampa. The rain is everywhere.

I don't have a future in meteorology.

Here are a few more things I saw on my journey through the mezzanine. As if I'd subject myself to rain!



And the compulsory shot of the pirate ship.



Thanks for being here today. We appreciate you.