IT'S A TRAP!

Admiral Ackbar has been warning us all year on the sign of The Diesel bar in Virginia Highlands. Considering the way this season has played out and the circumstances around the game, maybe the leader of the Rebel army should change his name to Nostradamus.

I said two weeks ago that I was more nervous about going to Oxford after a win over LSU than actually beating LSU. Having played three emotionally draining games in a row, defeating two highly ranked opponents at home, playing the ninth game in a row without a bye, and staring down a team who lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt at home, how does the team NOT take an emotional step back?

The real question is, does the team who lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt at home have enough fire power to take down the number one team in the nation even if they don't bring 100% effort?

I'll look at both sides.

Yes, they absolutely do. The only two road games Auburn has played this season were against Mississippi State and Kentucky. Both games were field goal wins. Both of those games were played following a blow out win over an over matched opponent so Auburn was fresh and focused headed into both match ups. Despite bringing everything we had we still weren't able to blow out inferior opponents.

That Mississippi State team has just broke into the top 25 but, what wins are they hanging their hat on? They got blown out by 22 at LSU, they beat a down-trodden A.J. Green-less UGA team in Starkville, went to Gainsville and beat Florida in a game eerily similar to Auburn's 2008 visit to Starkville that finished 3-2, then, returning home, the bulldogs snuck past UAB 29-24. Dan Mullen's squad has struggled with below average quarterback play all season and that is what saved Auburn in week two. MSU was driving at the end of the fourth quarter with a chance to win but Chris Relf was unable to exploit Auburn's weak secondary and Auburn eeked out the win.

How about those Wildcats? After beating up on weak opponents the first three weeks of the season Kentucky had their first test in week four against Florida (yeah, that same Florida team who only scored seven points against Mississippi State and has now lost three in a row) and they got drilled 48-14 in front of their home crowd. Then, Kentucky traveled to Oxford and fell to Ole Miss 42-35. The next week Kentucky returned home to take Auburn down to the wire with Auburn not kicking the game winning field goal until the clock struck 0:00. Kentucky now sits at 4-4 and 1-4 in the SEC.

Now looking at Ole Miss, sure they started out horribly but they have certainly turned things around. Since their 1-2 start they've defeated Fresno State by 17, they beat Kentucky by a touchdown then fell in two tough road games against Alabama and Arkansas but were competitive in both. A closer look at their game against Arkansas reveals they actually out gained the Hogs 512-464 in total yards. Jeramiah Masoli appears to be finding his stride in the Rebel offense contributing 425 total yards of offense against Arkansas (as a reference point the most total yards Cam Newton has had in a single game this season is 408 against Kentucky). Masoli has enough talent running and throwing to give Auburn's defense fits.

For the first time all season Auburn decided to lighten up at practice. Tuesdays are traditionally the designated "physical" practice. This week Coach Chizik decided to go in shells only (only shoulder pads and helmet) in an effort to allow the team to heal up from the knicks and bruises that eight straight games will give a team. Will this be noticeable on Saturday? Ole Miss defensive tackle Jerrell Powe is one of the SEC's best and a step back in physicality could lead to number 57 living in the Tiger backfield.

Extra Ole Miss energy, a dual threat quarterback capable of exploiting Auburn's weaknesses on defense and an Auburn team who is beat up, exhausted and ready for a break... that is the recipe for an upset.

Ok... that was painful.

Let's set the record straight. Ole Miss sucks. The only win they have to hang their hat on is a seven point home win against a Kentucky team who is 1-4 in the SEC. And upon further inspection, Kentucky out gained Ole Miss by 123 yards but lost the turnover battle 3-0. Against Alabama Masoli went 18/40 (45%) for 110 yards through the air. Alabama went up 23-3 in the third quarter and turned on cruise control. And that Arkansas game? The Razorbacks went up 21-0 and took a 21-3 lead into halftime before two lightning delays totaling nearly 90 minutes took the rhythm out of the game. Ole Miss got within 10 early in the fourth quarter but the game was never in doubt with Arkansas finishing with a 14 point victory.

Jeramiah Masoli, while a dangerous weapon, was bottled up for a half by a pitiful Arkansas defense and looked awful facing an Alabama defense which has had some struggles defending the pass this year. He's only completing 56.5% of his passes this year and has thrown six interceptions in seven games.

Ole Miss has struggled with injuries this year, particularly on the offensive line where they will start three freshmen along the interior of their line including one player who joined the team as a walk-on this summer. That player, Patrick Junen, is hobbled by an ankle injury but will try to go this Saturday while being matched up against... Nick Fairly. That should be fun.

Against Auburn's defensive line there is almost no chance that Ole Miss will be able to generate a traditional running game. Their defense is ranked eighth in the SEC in yards per game and dead last in points per game so the most powerful offense in the conference should have no trouble putting up points in bunches. The Rebels will have no choice but to turn to the pass early and often and let Masoli loose. This could certainly turn into their best offensive output of the season but more likely it will turn into a mix of explosive plays and devastating turnovers.

Auburn put up 31 points in the first half against Kentucky before going to sleep in the second half. I see no reason Auburn couldn't repeat that first half performance this week on the road, the only difference is Ole Miss doesn't have the offense to make the second half comeback and Auburn's offense won't go into a shell for an entire quarter again.

I haven't predicted a score all season so I won't start this week but I feel confident that Auburn will remain focused and do enough to roll over an over matched and over hyped Ole Miss team.

Game Review: LSU

Knee-Jerk Reaction
That was one of the most physically dominating performances I have ever seen against an SEC opponent, and for it to be LSU makes it even more impressive. The LSU defense was allowing 83 yards rushing per game and this offense racked up a staggering 440 yards rushing. Even if you take away Cam's 217 yards on the ground the rest of the rushing attack had nearly triple LSU's per game average. As for Cam... what can I say? What ever can be said has been said. He is amazing. I will go on record right now as saying he is the greatest running quarterback in college football history. I am going to take the next paragraph to give you some insight into exactly how dominating and rare a season Cam Newton is having.

Through eight games he already has the most rushing yards from the quarterback position in SEC history and with the addition of an SEC Championship game he will be well within reach of the NCAA single season rushing record by a quarterback (1,649), and possibly could eclipse Bo Jackson's 1,786 yards which would then be the greatest rushing season by any player in Auburn history regardless of position. He already has the Auburn record for most total touchdowns (27) in a single season with four, maybe five regular season games left. He is three touchdowns shy of tying Cadillac Williams and Bo Jackson's record of 17 rushing touchdowns in a season. With all of those amazing, long standing rushing records he is rewriting, you would think he isn't passing the ball at all. If Newton maintains his current pace and we make it to the SEC Championship game he would finish with the 10th most passing yards in Auburn history and would finish one touchdown pass shy of tying the school record set by Chris Todd last year (22). His current 2,441 yards of total offense already would rank 7th all-time in school history and if he maintains his current pace he would finish with 3,966 yards which would shatter Dameyune Craig's previous record of 3,277 yards. So, in summary, he is within striking distance of the single season records for rushing yards (at Running Back U!), rushing touchdowns (ditto), passing touchdowns, total touchdowns, and total offense. Uhh, wow.

Back to the game. As great as Cam has been the forgotten heroes of this undefeated team are the offensive linemen who completely dominated a LSU D-Line loaded with NFL talent. Coming into the game LSU DT Drake Nevis was neck and neck with Nick Fairly for Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC. He recorded two tackles. That's it. Speaking of Fairley, he was remarkable. I read over the weekend that one ESPN writer considered putting Fairley on his Heisman ballot. He's been that dominating. His 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss against LSU all but solidified his post season honors and put him firmly in the discussion for the Outland and Lombardi trophies. The last Auburn player to win those national awards was current D-Line coach Tracy Rocker.

Overall it was a great effort by the defense to keep pressure on the LSU quarterbacks all afternoon, keep the running game from breaking anything big and eliminate any big plays through the air (the one lapse there was the halfback pass for a 39 yard touchdown). Great game plan by Ted Roof and wonderfully executed by the team. Malzahn's game plan was fairly vanilla. He called a few deep passes to keep their safeties deep but otherwise kept the linebackers and ends on their heels with misdirection and zone reads giving this great offensive line all the advantage they needed to plow the way for all those rushing yards. Honestly the game wasn't as close as the score indicated. Auburn out gained LSU 526-243 and averaged 7.7 yards per play verse 3.6 for LSU.

Positives
Offensive Line - They get the top spot this week. Not only did Ziemba, Berry, Pugh and Isom rock out but, once again, Brandon Mosley held his own and continues to impress in his first year playing the position.

Cam Newton - Everything that needed to be said was said above.

Mike Dyer - Dyer quietly hit the 100 yard mark on just 15 carries. That alone would have been better than any rushing attack against LSU all year. He is hitting his stride at the right time and it is obvious he is developing into a special runner right before our eyes.

Onterio McCalebb - Squirrel did what he does best. Once he hits the corner not many players in the country are fast enough to catch him. What he does for this offense is so under valued by most fans. His 70 yard run was a perfect call by Malzahn because as soon as a defense stops respecting his outside run and tries to crash down inside on Dyer and Cam that is when McCalebb hits them for the home run.

Wide Receiver Blocking - Those kind of long runs don't happen without great blocking on the outside. On a night when we only threw for 86 yards a lot of credit needs to go to the guys on the outside who didn't get discouraged by the low number of passes and kept giving 100% in the other facets of their game.

Negatives
I got nothin'.

Looking Ahead: Ole Miss
As The Diesel (the bar in the Highlands, not Shaq) has been warning us all year, "It's A Trap!" After two huge home wins against nationally ranked opponents it would be easy for us to want to take a breather against a seemingly down Ole Miss squad. Now we have the #1 BCS ranking to defend and a streak of three straight road losses by the #1 team to break. Masoli had success through the air against Arkansas and also will prove dangerous on the ground as well. Their defense has talent but has struggled all year with a lack of focus and execution. The Rebel Black Bears are more than capable of pulling off the upset if we do not bring our 'A' game.

Cam Reaches Superstar Status

I'm your biggest fan
I'll follow you until you love me
Papa-paparazzi

Promise I'll be kind
But I won't stop
Until that boy is mine

Baby, you'll be famous
Chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi

So I guess this is when all my blog readers find out (if you didn't know already) I'm a secret Lady GaGa fan.

When the Arkansas game was over, long after the midfield hugs and hand shakes, after the rest of the team had already been celebrating by the student section for multiple cheers, fight songs and sing-a-longs, and after Cam Newton had wrapped up his post game interviews, everyone in the stadium (still at least 60,000 remained 20 minutes after the final whistle) noticed the now legendary number two trotting towards the students. Keep in mind this is after one of the most exhilarating football games, setting a record for points scored, Cam Newton was now clearly the best player in college football, and for many of the fans who were still left cheering they are now realizing they are witnessing a once in a generation type football player. The screams of jubilation as Newton approached rivaled any of the eight touchdowns Auburn scored that night.

For those who have been fortunate enough to attend a great win in Jordan-Hare you know how loud the students get when the team runs over to celebrate the win with them. Multiply that times 10.

As soon as any photographer on the field realized that Newton had completed his interviews (and those who had never left his side) he was completely swarmed. He skipped towards the south end zone with his smile you could have seen from the upper deck while waving his white towel in the air. When he entered the gate and crossed through the hedges there were light bulb flashes from every direction going off multiple times per second as if the media members were afraid to miss even a single movement from this now epic figure.

Standing 42 rows up in section 16, one section adjacent to the student section, I started humming GaGa's "Paparazzi" song.

Cameron Jerrell Newton, quarterback for these undefeated Auburn Tigers, is on top of the college football world.

On Sunday night's BCS Selection show on ESPN they brought on Newton to do an interview.

On Monday afternoon he was interviewed on the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio.

Monday night he made an appearance on TMZ when the director of "Friday Night Lights" was filmed highly intoxicated telling the cameras that Cam was his favorite, despite not being able to recall his name at the time, referring to him as "that Auburn quarterback, Cal something."

Word is that Newton will grace the cover of one of Sports Illustrated's up coming issues.

On Tuesday he officially took the lead in ESPN's Heisman poll.

Not only is he mentioned in the same sentence as Bo Jackson, many have dared to even say he may be better.

It is really hard to comprehend how he has gone from a junior college transfer with a checkered past and some serious questions about his ability to lead an offense to now being the biggest star in college football.

By the time LSU rolls into town on Saturday it will have been a full week since Newton's paparazzi moment. More eyes will be on him and this Auburn team than ever before. The biggest remaining test for him is to live up to the hype as the greatest player in college football and remain the humble leader that has gotten him this far.

Quick Observation

LSU's Schedule (sans McNeese State):

Opponent	Pass Yds.	Pass Rtg.	Rush Yds.
North Carolina	35th	26th	86th
Vanderbilt	101st	88th	60th
Mississippi St.	88th	NR	21st
West Virginia	57th	22nd	66th
Tennessee	71st	62nd	94th
Florida	84th	83rd	75th
Auburn	76th	2nd	6th

The only teams LSU has played to this point who are even ranked are Mississippi State (#24) and West Virginia (#20). Neither has a particuarly good offense (MSU is 55th, WVU is 64th) and the Bengal Tigers got both teams at home.

I am not going to say that LSU's defense isn't good. It is. But, perhaps it isn't as good as it has appeared thus far due to playing less than stellar competition.

The only category that Auburn doesn't stand head and shoulder's above the rest in is Passing Yards. But, when you see that the passing offense is ranked 2nd nationally in pass efficiency you can deduct that we simply haven't had to throw that often but when we do go to the air we do so with exceptional, nearly unmatched, efficiency.

The best rushing offense they've seen, the most efficient passing offense they've seen, on the road... not sayin', just sayin'.

Game Review: Arkansas

Knee-jerk Reaction
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE! I don't need to beat a dead horse by going on about the weaknesses of our defensive secondary. Once again, in the end this team and this defense found a way to get it done and get the "W" in one of the best games I have ever attended. We knew going in that Arkansas had the best offense we would see all year. We knew their biggest strength, their passing game, would dominate our biggest weakness, our secondary. We knew the Hawgs had 4th quarter struggles all season. I expected a shootout, maybe not a record breaking 65-43 affair but that's what we got and boy was it fun. If there was any doubt before the game, it is gone now, Cam Newton is the best player in college football. He is the clear leader of not just the offense but this entire team. Newton is quickly entering Tim Tebow status with his leadership qualities. The offensive line once again plowed the way for a 300 yard rushing effort (3rd in as many SEC games). This was easily the "closest" 22 point win ever as it had the feeling of a one point win. We all have heard about it by now - the refs were horrible - but they were horrible both ways. Mario Fannin did not cross the plane with the ball and the Broderick Green fumble in the fourth was debatable but the pass interference call in the end zone was as bad as they come and the 4th down spot Arkansas received was extremely generous. It seemed as if the refs knew they kept making bad calls and would make other bad calls to make up for it. In the end all we got was a lot of bad calls for both teams. I was really happy to see Dyer break that run in the 4th quarter to get a touchdown against his home state team. Apparently he was ailing from an ankle injury which kept him sidelined for most of the game but he sure looked fine as he broke through the middle of the line and away from the Arkansas defenders. A lot of credit needs to be given to Arkansas' Tyler Wilson. Before Ryan Mallet went out he was completing 66.7% of his passes (below his average) for a measly 6.4 yards per attempt. Wilson's passes (prior to his two interceptions) were on the money all night and were as good as any quarterback could have done. While he did have guys wide open on a few occasions, more frequently the completions were a product of perfect passes despite some decent coverage. In the four drives Mallet led, two of them ended with punts (they only had three punts in the entire game). It is entirely possible that our defensive game plan was designed to stop Mallet (and was doing a relatively good job) and Wilson's style and ability caught us off guard and it took until half way through the fourth quarter to make the appropriate adjustments.

Positives
Cam Newton - The nation's Heisman front runner has reached super star status. He is getting interviews on every college football related show, he is being talked about across the nation, and Auburn fans can't get enough. The only question at this point is how will he handle his new-found fame.

Offensive Line - I can't single out a single player without closer film evaluation but I don't recall hearing a single holding call or false start. That is miles from where we were as recent as week three this season. If I had to single out anyone it would be Brandon Mosley for seamlessly stepping into the starting line up and not once standing out as a weakness.

Josh Bynes - His two interceptions were not easy plays. We all know he can fill gaps in the run game but if he had a weakness before this season it would be how he performs in pass coverage. Clearly he has a spot in the NFL in a Tampa 2 defense because he fills that middle zone as well as anyone I have seen this year. His drops are deceptively quick and deep and his ball skills are phenomenal for a linebacker. Definitely having an All-SEC season.

Craig Sanders and Demetruce McNeal - I have never had so much fun watching kick off coverage. These two true freshman are in a competition on who can get the most tackles in kick off coverage and it seems to be one of the two every time. The Hawgs only crossed the 25 once (got to their 34) in 10 kick returns. They are fast, aggressive and hungry.

Wes Byrum - Without his two first half field goals we would have been tied going into the break and his third field goal on the opening drive of the half made it a two score game. His 43 yard field goal from the right hash gave us our first lead of the game and was not an easy kick. He ended the night with 17 points, an absolutely huge number for a kicker.

Negatives
Secondary - I could call out Neiko but I don't know enough about coverage assignments, safety help or other details that could change where the blame should lie. The only thing we know for sure is that 428 passing yards is WAY too many and the two interceptions on the night came from Bynes, a linebacker.

The Refs - It was mentioned above, but the Refs were just horrible against both teams, and this isn't the first week we have seen multiple blatantly bad calls. The officials seem lost. They throw flags went they shouldn't, swallow their whistles when they shouldn't, they are indecisive on fumble calls and the replay booth doesn't seem to be able to find indisputable evidence to overturn any call.

Looking Ahead: LSU
LSU will have the best defense we have seen to date and possibly the best we will see all year. Their defensive line could give us fits similar to what Clemson's did. That being said, our line was challenged to be more physical after that game and has responded by leading the way for over 300 yards rushing against South Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas. If there is any game in which our secondary could look good and perhaps build some confidence, it is this one. LSU's pass offense is among the worst in FBS and with our solid run defense and potent offense, they should be forced into some less than favorable passing situations. The last thing a bad passing team wants to do is get down early and be forced into 3rd and longs. I said last week that we match up much better against LSU than we did Arkansas and I stand by that. Our offense may struggle relative to what we have become accustom to but even a below average offensive output should be enough to out score LSU's offense behind what should be another amazing home crowd.

Nation's Top QB's Collide On The Plains

When Arkansas and Auburn meet up this Saturday the majority of the onlookers will be focused on quarterbacks Ryan Mallet and Cameron Newton.

Mallet's 349.6 passing yards per game trails only Hawaii's Bryant Moniz. He also leads the SEC with 13 touchdown passes. At 6'6" 240 pounds his size compares favorably to Newton's but his style of play is more reminiscent of Drew Bledsoe. He is a statue in the pocket and his ability to throw the ball to any part of the field on a frozen rope is what makes him one of the NFL's most coveted prospects.

Newton, as we all know by now, is simply a freak of an athlete. Despite being bigger than Mallet at 6'6" 250 pounds, he is elusive in the pocket, a threat running or throwing when he gets out of the pocket and when he decides to take it down and run his 4.5 speed and bulldozing style are the last things a defensive coordinator wants to try and defend.

Both quarterbacks, though, have their weaknesses. For Newton it seems as if his decision making ability isn't quite consistent enough. He knows what he should do but occasionally, without being pressured, he throws into coverage he has no business throwing into which has led to his five interceptions this season. In Mallet's case his interceptions occur when under pressure. After being hit a few times Mallet's footwork gets sloppy, he doesn't maintain proper technique and tends to unleash some errant throwswhich has led to six interceptions thus far this season.

Trying to game plan against these two players has to be one of the more disheartening experiences a defensive coordinator will have all season knowing full and well, despite their greatest efforts, they will appear to have failed at their job. Do you blitz? Do you drop seven into zone coverage or do you man up tight on the receivers?

When facing Mallet the obvious approach is to bring heavy pressure because that has seemed to be the only way to knock him off his rhythem. That being said, as the popular saying goes, "when you bring the blitz someone's band is going to play." Auburn's defensive philosophy thus far has been to focus on stopping the run and keep all the passing plays in front of us so as not to give up the big play. The best approach is likely a mix of the two.

No matter what we do they will get their yards. Alabama seemingly has fared the best of any of the Hawg's opponents holding them to a season low 20 points and forcing three Mallet interceptions but he still threw for 357 yards with a 65.8% completion percentage. Those will be the stats Auburn is going to hope for, and it may be more achievable than most think.

Auburn is ranked 19th in the nation (3rd in the SEC) in sacks and 14th in the nation (2nd in the SEC) in rush defense. With that combined with a roaucous home crowd Ted Roof's defense should make Arkansas one dimentional and some timely blitzes could lead to a turnover or two (the only game Mallet didn't throw a pick in was verse Georgia).

Ted Roof likely wont put this game on his highlight reel but as we've done all season long, I expect to be stout against the run, seemingly incompetent against the pass but do just enough to get the win.

Quick Observation

There are five SEC teams ranked in the top 12 of the AP poll, Auburn being the highest ranked at number seven. Three of the remaining four are Western division teams while the lone representative from the Eastern division is South Carolina. Three of the five have one loss, all of which came from another member of this quintet (Arkansas to Alabama, South Carolina to Auburn, Alabama to South Carolina). Every one of these teams still has a shot to play for it all as there are enough big games remaining on their schedules. Auburn still has three of the four teams left on their schedule not counting the potential SEC Championship game rematch with the Gamecocks.

The SEC's six team Western division has at least double the number of teams ranked in the top 12 than any other entire conference in the country. Teams from other conferences can talk about having tough games against top 25 opponents but none of them will have to beat four national championship contenders in their season, not even close.

It is also clear who belongs in the SEC's upper teir. Not much seperates the top five teams and in a round robin scenario any of the five could emerge on top without it being a surprise. The next highest ranked SEC team is Florida at number 22 and after getting crushed by Alabama and losing at home to LSU it is clear they are no longer in the SEC's top group.

Right now this is how I'd rank the SEC's teirs:

Teir 1 (National Title Contenders): Auburn, LSU, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas

Teir 2 (Not Ready for Primetime): Florida

Tier 3 (Dangerous But Not Complete): Mississippi State, Georgia, Kentucky

Teir 4 (Looking Ahead to 2011): Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee