Hare of the Dawg

Many people find inspiration in quotes attributed to the great scientists, politicians, and entrepreneurs from different eras of world history. Not me. I turn to the head football coach in Athens, GA when I am looking for words of wisdom.

Show me a better, recorded use of the English language. SHOW ME!! Can't do it. Pretty rare to hear professional journalists struggle to contain their laughter in the aftermath of a quote. Anyways, this gem of a quote was delivered after Georgia's 21-14 road win at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2019. I was able to attend that game with our friends AO and Bert. We were nearing the end of the James Coley OC experiment in Athens, and this game was a telling synopsis of that season (I can't blame it all on Coley; the talent at the skill positions left something to be desired as you can see in the box score below). Jake Fromm threw for a whopping 3.9 YPA that day, and the Dawgs barely escaped with a win despite leading 21-0 entering the 4th quarter. Thankfully, we had D'Andre Swift and my guy Brian Herrien on the team that day, which helped with that year's offensive strategy of getting a lead and immediately trying to kill the clock.

I have been to Jordan-Hare one other time, where I witnessed the Dawgs get crushed in 2017. Not much went right that day, but we did capture this iconic photo in the pregame festivities. Salute fellas!

Dtru's nickels

1. After week 5, Bill Connelly's SP+ has Auburn ranked 32nd overall (56th offensive and 18th defensive). Of note, Auburn has the highest ranked defense by SP+ of any opponent the Dawgs have faced this year by a wide margin (Mizzou is next at 40th overall).

2. Auburn is ranked 18th overall in the 247 Sports College Football Team Talent Composite Aside from a blowout loss against Penn State at Jordan-Hare, Auburn has been in a pretty good position to win every game they have played this year.

3. Senior OLB Derick Hall has been terrorizing opposing offenses this season, with 4 sacks and 7 TFLs so far. OLB Eku Leoda was another pass rushing specialist, but he suffered a season ending injury last week. Colby Wooden and Marcus Harris anchor the interior of the Auburn DL. It may not be as deep of a group as we have become accustomed to seeing, but there is talent at the top. Mizzou was able to effectively generate pressure for a lot of the first 3 quarters last week, so I will be interested to see what Monken and co. decide to cook up this week to adjust.

4. Robby Ashford seems to have provided a spark at QB, taking over after an injury to T.J. Finley in the Penn State game. Ashford is very mobile (laser timed 4.59 in the 40-yard dash) and while he is still far from a finished product as a passer, he did throw for over 300 yards and 8.9 YPA against LSU. Ja'Varrius Johnson has been the most productive WR for Auburn, although I have to note that over 1/3 of his receiving yards came in Auburn's first game against an over matched Mercer squad. Passing game aside, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tank Bigsby (Lagrange GA's 3rd most favorite son, right after Kritesh and AJ "Parlay P" Patel) and Jarquez Hunter, which I consider to be one of the best RB tandems in the SEC. The Auburn OL is a little sus, but with Jalen Carter out and a lot of youth along the Dawgs DL, would not be surprised to see Auburn make the Junkyard Dawgs prove they can stop the run.

5. Speaking of last week's loss against LSU, it was quite a strange one for the Tigers. Auburn moved the ball pretty well the entire game, and severely limited LSU's explosive plays. But, 4 turnovers and a missed field goal proved costly. Per my guy Bill Connelly and Sports Info Solutions, LSU had only a 7.6% postgame win expectancy . And yet, they won. The Football Gods can be cruel, as we know all too well.

Side question- how many schools have chosen a Tiger to be their mascot?? Mizzou, Auburn, LSU, Clemson, Memphis? That's all I can think of, but I'm probably missing some. Anyways, I digress. I don't know what to make of the 29.5 point spread. The team I watched last week did not inspire confidence that it will win by 30. If i were a betting man, I'd take Auburn and the points. But, I'm pretty bad at picking games ATS, so what do I know. One thing I do know is that CKS will cook up an inspiring pep talk before the game. Go Dawgs!!