This week’s print column

By Jennifer J. Foster

In case you’re beyond the delivery area for the Opelika-Auburn News , I wanted to give you the link to my print column, which appeared in the newspaper this morning.

Click here to read my piece, “Partisanship doesn’t have to be poisonous.“

Pass it on!

Auburn 27, USM 13

By Jennifer J. Foster

I’ve had a request for some football information here.

As enduring and consuming as my interest is in politics, I have comparatively little knowledge about the wing-T vs. the I-formation.

But you’re the reader, and I aim to please. So here goes.

I attended Auburn’s home game against Southern Mississippi today at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It was a steamy day, and the heat was oppressive.

As usual, Auburn’s legendary defense was fantastic. They held the Golden Eagles to no points in the first half, mostly on its own strength but partially by luck when USM’s field goal kicker missed wide right what was about a 35-yard attempt. Our boys in blue didn’t seem to lack in the conditioning department. They looked sharp in pursuit throughout the first half.

They did, however, lack in the offensive continuity department. Two long drives in the first quarter were foiled by lost fumbles inside the 10-yard line. It didn’t seem to us—the group I was with and those around us—that the offense was ever quite in the groove. Chris Todd seemed to struggle when making decisions about where—and whether—to throw the ball, and the problems for the offense were compounded by Todd’s relative inability to scramble when pressured from the pocket. Most of Todd’s completions were swing passes and short, 5- to 8- or 9-yard passes. Auburn’s offensive stats in the first half weren’t terrible, though, thanks to big yards-after-catch numbers managed by some of the 11 receivers to whom Todd did throw the ball. Kodi Burns had come in at the end of one drive to pound the ball in from about a yard out for one of Auburn’s TDs in the second quarter.

The defense held its own, as I said, taking a string of six scoreless quarters into the locker room at halftime.

The second half was another story.

Burns made an appearance behind center in the third quarter. He suffered a gash on his leg in the season opener last week and didn’t practice much this week, and he didn’t shine as he normally does. One of his three pass attempts was an ill-conceived drifter that was tipped before being intercepted. This set up USM’s first score.

It apparently really made Coach Tommy Tuberville angry. The Opelika-Auburn News’ Joe McAdory reports that Tuberville called Burns’s effort “lackadaisical.“ Today’s efforts by Chris Todd, combined with Burns’s bad decision making, means Todd will start Auburn’s SEC opener next week against Mississippi State in Starkville.

Back to that in a minute.

The defense that had performed so well and looked like a Top 5 group in the first half turned into Mr. Hyde halfway through the third quarter. They lost their intensity, and USM made them pay. They were on the field for quite a while in the second half, but they got very little help from the offense after halftime.

And that brings me to the next point: What is it about Auburn’s offense that its coordinators—no matter who they are—insist on calling such a conservative game? They took shots down the field only once or twice—and once was with Burns. Auburn has a lot of speed in its receivers; why not call a straight fly, protect the QB for about five seconds and then heave the ball downfield? I know our guys can outrun just about anybody on the corners. Why not try it? Anyway, Auburn’s offense was ineffective in the third quarter but became completely impotent in the last six minutes of the game, sitting on the ball and not even really trying to convert third downs. USM had two timeouts left, and Auburn ran the ball three times inside its own 25- or so—then punted.

Franklin acknowledged after the game that Todd’s rhythm was broken when Franklin put Burns in after halftime. OK; fair enough. But if Franklin chalks up Todd’s inconsistent performance to an inability to get into a rhythm—even though he took all but a handful of snaps—then why would he expect Burns to be able to get in a rhythm—i.e., perform—even though he took only a handful of snaps?

Anyway, the conservative play-calling is a continuing theme with the Auburn offense: It’s almost like they’re playing scared, like they don’t want to try anything because they might make a mistake.

Granted, that’s a legitimate concern—especially considering that the offense coughed up the ball four times, losing two fumbles along with Burns’s interception (Todd recovered his own fumble). But at some point, they have to go for it. If they can’t play through their own fears, how can they put it in their opponents?

There were bright spots. In addition to the first-half performance of the defense, there was Robert Dunn, who was electric, at one point running back a punt in an improbable run that saw him outfox almost every member of USM’s punt coverage team. (Alas, the score was called back on an illegal block penalty.) I understand that the coaching staff is going to try to figure out how to get Dunn more touches, and that can’t be anything but good news.

Another plus was the spreading of the wealth that occurred in the passing game. Eleven players caught pitches and passes from the QBs. The more, the merrier.

Now, back to Todd: He did an average job today, I guess—after all, it’s hard to complain too much when you did get away with a W. But I’m having a hard time understanding why the coaching staff would go with a player for the SEC opener who 1) doesn’t scramble well 2) whose arm may never be 100 percent after a shoulder injury and 3) doesn’t have any SEC experience when the other guy can scramble, has a terrific arm and has SEC experience?

I have heard some people say that the conservative feel of the offense is partially a product of the ongoing quarterback is-it-Burns-or-is-it-Todd battle. Neither QB seems willing to take risks because both are concerned about hurting their chances to become the starter. But whatever the reason, if Tuberville and Franklin are going to stick with Todd this week in Starkville, I hope they’ll help him build as much confidence as possible so that he’ll take the field on Saturday with some authority. Who knows? It might actually ignite the spread offense that’s so far been like using a wet twig to start a campfire.

On another note, the game might be postponed, anyway; late forecasts take Hurricane Ike up into the Gulf of Mexico and toward the New Orleans area by next weekend.

War Eagle!

P.S. The Tide also won this weekend.

Biden on the stump

By Jennifer J. Foster

The period following the major parties’ conventions is traditionally considered the green flag to the eight-week sprint to Election Day.

Tradition is holding true this year.

Now that the GOP has wrapped up its convention this week, a week later than the Democrats’ big party in Denver, the candidates topping their parties’ tickets are turning up the heat.

Need proof? Watch Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden yesterday on the stump in Pennsylvania.

Engaging, inspired, animated, enthusiastic and focused on issues with a new tenacity, he was simply terrific.

It was a new Joe Biden, a far cry from the candidate he was a couple of weeks ago when he was announced as Barack Obama’s choice for No. 2.

You’ve heard of post-impressionism ... If politics is art, dare we say that Biden has entered his Post-Palin Era?

Oprah update

By Jennifer J. Foster

Barack Obama supporter and talk show titan Oprah Winfrey has responded to the earlier Drudge Report item on her reported opposition to hosting GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on her show:

The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.

Well, anyway, Newsday’s Verne Gay offers The O five reasons she should have Palin on the show—and not all of them are political:

1. To take “a larger look at even more important issues”—which don’t have to be political at all.

2. To rake in huge ratings—“perhaps one of the biggest numbers in ‘O’ history. This is a mercenary business, O, in case you’ve forgotten,“ Gay says.

3. To get “back to that sweet spot of “relevance” and “news-worthiness.“ 

4. To go toe to toe with one of Obama’s opponents. Or, in Gay’s words, to use an hour to say to Palin, “‘OK, lady, I happen to think this guy walks on water. Now you tell me why he doesn’t, and let’s go at this.‘“

5. To regain some of the perceived objectivity Oprah sacrificed when she endorsed Obama for president. Having Palin on the show would be “her chance to say to everyone, ‘“I have a right to support whomever I choose, and now to prove to you just how open-minded I am.‘“

Read the complete article here.