Game Review: South Carolina

Knee-Jerk Reaction
What can I say? The cardiac cats, tenacious tigers, whatever you want to call them, they got the job done again. We still have a tendancy to shoot ourselves in the foot too often but we have shown a remarkable ability to overcome those mistakes and still emerge victorious. It is a bit cliche but to win in this league you need to be able to run the football and stop the run. Coming into the game something had to give when Auburn's league leading rushing attack (259.3 ypg) matched up against USC's league leading rush defense (59.7 ypg). An emphatic 334 yards later it was clear, South Carolina's defense gave and Cam Newton & Co. tooketh away. The offensive line took a lot of heat last week after being tossed around by Clemson's defensive front and answered the challenge to be more physical at the point of attack. On the other side of the ball the defensive line continued their impressive play. The coaches must have read my film study article because they made the tough decision and moved senior Michael Goggans to second string and promoted redshirt Freshman Nosa Eguae. The decision paid off, more on this later. There was also the Lattimore vs. Dyer storyline. In the first head to head match up of the top running backs in the 2010 recruiting class Mike Dyer emerged victorious, eclipsing the 100 yard mark for the first time in his young career on 23 carries. Lattimore, who by all accounts was prepared to sign with Auburn before an 11th hour change of heart to stay close to Mama and play for his home town Gamecocks, had the most difficult night of his career. Averaging 111 yards per game coming into the game, Lattimore was held to a season low 33 yards on 14 carries. We still haven't seen a complete game from this team (scary thought), but last night was the closest we've seen.

Poitives
Cam Newton - 176 yards rushing, 158 yards passing, five total touchdowns and NO turnovers. Also, what can't be seen in a stat line is his leadership ability that has continued to give this offense the ability and resiliency to come from behind two weeks in a row. As long as he is taking the snaps this team believes anything is possible. His superman leap from the 7 yard line on his first touchdown run was just showing off.

Demetruce McNeal - It is always great when a true freshman truely embraces his role on special teams in stead of taking that role for granted because he isn't getting the snaps he wants on defense. Craig Sanders has been getting the headlines thus far on special teams but what McNeal did on Saturday was remarkable. On six kickoffs McNeal was the first man down there and made the solo tackle four times. Four tackles on six plays... not bad.

Nosa Eguae - In his first collegiate start Eguae showed the athleticism and play-making ability that has been missing from our strong side defensive end position. Through the first three weeks Goggans had only made .5 tackles for a loss; against South Carolina Eguae amassed 1.5 tackles for a loss as a part of his five tackles on the night. An already strong defensive line just got stronger with this addition.

Philip Lutzenkirchen - The "Swede Killa" finally made an appearence and he came through with one of the biggest catches of the game. His leaping, spinning, touchdown catch in the fourth quarter gave Auburn the lead and showed off his amazing hands and ball skills which may be the best on the team. It is nice when a player who has put in the dirty work blocking for three straight weeks without a pass even being thrown his way does what he is asked without complaining and makes the plays when his number is called.

Negatives
Wes Byrum - After last week's performance I hate to put him here. His first field goal miss from 52 yards wasn't really his fault; that was a tough kick to make and in my opinion we should have gone for it on fourth down. But, his miss from 18 yards could have cost us the game. I am sure he will bounce back well but this was disapointing to see from one of Auburn's best.

Looking Ahead: Louisiana-Monroe
This break comes at just the right time. If Louisiana-Monroe wasn't so bad I would worry about a let-down game but I don't see that being an issue against one of the worst teams in the FBS. After those last three weeks being so grueling mentally and phisically we need to focus on our execution early and get our starters some much needed rest in the second half.