Seat 80 ... homecoming

It’s a beautiful Auburn Chamber of Commerce day here at Seat 80 in the David E. Housel Press Box.

Not a cloud in the sky. Perfect.

It’s Auburn’s homecoming today against FCS school Furman.

Who’s going to win? Umm, I’m taking Auburn, 55-10. That’s right.

I’m assuming you’ve got Auburn, too. But the real question is, who’s going to score their first career touchdown today? My bet is DeAngelo Benton. He and Jay Wisner both find the end zone. That’s right. Believe it.

“The Pick” and other excruciating details about Furman-Auburn

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What’s a Paladin? Auburn goes up early, plays a bunch of reserves and cruises to a 48-10 victory.

This is supposed to be Homecoming, right? Ya know, the game that no one shows up to.

Well, judging by the traffic scene heading into Jordan-Hare Stadium today, there will, in fact, be fans in the seats to watch the Auburn Tigers take on hated Furman.

Shocking, we know.

Here’s some minutiae.

****Dictionary.com has three definitions for “paladin.“
1. any one of the 12 legendary peers or knightly champions in attendance on Charlemagne.
2. any knightly or heroic champion.
3. any determined advocate or defender of a noble cause.

****Yes, these teams have played before. Auburn leads the series 3-0, surrendering just 6 points in the three meetings. The last time these teams played was in 1956, when the Tigers rolled to a 41-0 victory.

****The Tigers are good on Homecoming. That’s expected when you’re shelling out big bucks to your opponent. They’ve won 17 straight, which is the longest streak in school history.

****Go back 34 years, and the Tigers are 31-2-1.

****The last Homecoming loss came at the hands of Southwest Louisiana in 1991, a shocking 24-17 loss. That marked two straight Homecoming losses, as the Tigers fell to Southern Miss, 13-12, in 1990.

****The Tigers have 11 scoring drives this season that have taken less than one minute and 10 of those ended with touchdowns.

****Auburn had held three of its last five opponents to less than 25 percent on third-down conversions.

****Wes Byrum is tied for fourth nationally in field goal percentage (92.9) among kickers who have attempted at least 10 field goals.

****This is the first game of the season that won’t be nationally televised.

****Here’s your Homecoming court. Grace Anthony, Christian Becraft, Kimmey Henderson, Grace Ann Sooter and Abby Womack.

****Overall, this is the 96th observance of Homecoming and the 83rd football game. The Tigers are 68-8-5 overall.

****Hey, it’s November! The Tigers are 214-166-21 overall. Go back 16 games, and the Tigers are 11-5.

****Wikipedia time! Here are three facts we gathered—err, copy and pasted—from Furman’s Wiki page.

- Furman is the oldest, largest and most selective private institution in South Carolina and is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States. Founded in 1826, Furman enrolls approximately 2,550 undergraduate and 525 graduate students on its 750 acre campus.
- Furman was ranked No. 15 in the Washington Monthly’s Top US Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings based on its production of research valuable to society and its commitment to national service. Furman has been ranked No.4 in U.S. News Best Undergraduate Research Programs along with MIT, Stanford and Michigan.
- Furman University students are required to have a meal plan and freshmen are required to have an unlimited meal plan. The main dining facility is in the Daniel Hall. Paladin food court offers Chick-Fil-A, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Pan Geos. Furman also has a dining facility named Tower Cafe; there students can get coffee from Starbucks.

Central. Jump on it. Jump on it. Jump on it.

In my ludicrously involved blog preview for this game, I picked Central to win, 30-17.

I’m not sayin’ ... I’m just sayin’.

SE   7   3   0   7 — 17  
CHS   9   10   6   7 —  32

1st Quarter—(CHS) Antonio King 32 field goal, 8:38. 9 plays, 33 yards, 3:03
              (CHS) Cordary Clark-Allen 33 pass from Darren Daniel (kick failed), 7:05. 1 play, 33 yards, 0:09
              (SE) Demarcus Milliner 7 run (Dalton van Cor kick), 2:49. 11 plays, 65 yards, 4:08
2nd Quarter—(CHS) King 47 field goal, 10:29. 9 plays, 45 yards, 4:20
              (SE) van Cor 22 field goal, 8:04. 4 plays, 3 yards, 2:25
              (CHS) Deon Hill 59 run (King kick), 2:41. 3 plays, 80 yards, 0:59
3rd Quarter—(CHS) Hill 4 run (kick failed), 11:09. 2 plays, 6 yards, 0:39
4th Quarter—(SE) Milliner 47 pass from Rodney Davis (van Cor kick), 9:24. 6 plays, 71 yards, 2:19
              (CHS) Hill 5 run (King kick), 5:19. 9 plays, 74 yards, 4:04

TEAM
First Downs: SE 13; CHS 19
Rushing: SE 33-164, 1; CHS 45-262, 3
Passing: SE 5-19-105-1-0; CHS 6-14-85-1-0
Total Plays-Yards: SE 52-269; CHS 59-347
Penalties-Yards: SE 9-69; CHS 5-32
Fumbles-Lost: SE 4-3; CHS 1-0
Punts-Yards: SE 4-141; CHS 4-103
Time of Possession: SE 20:53; CHS 27:07

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing: SE—Arsenio Favor 11-49; Demarcus Milliner 9-39, 1; Patrick Milliner 8-58; Rodney Davis 4-20; TEAM 1-minus-2. CHS—Deon Hill 21-172, 3; Cordary Clark-Allen 14-79; J.D. McKissic 3-24; Darren Daniel 3-minus-19; Jonathan Wallace 2-5; T.J.Rice 1-8; TEAM 2-minus-6.
Passing: SS—Favor 3-14-21-0-0; Davis 2-5-84-1-0. CHS - Daniel 6-14-85-0-0.
Receiving: SE—D. Milliner 2-84, 1; Davis 1-11; Turmonte Ragland 1-7; Terry Fuller 1-3; CHS—Clark-Allen 2-43, 1; Deonte Swinton 2-15; Rice 1-15; Hill 1-12.
Tackles: SE—Keiara Lewis 7; Charlie Long 7; Ryan Callicot 5; Ryan Marusich 5; Gregory Williams 5 (sack); Jarred Smith 4; Deandre Graves 3; D.Milliner 3; Sam McGlamry 3; Travoski Tymes 2; Ananias Perry 2; Courtney Rickard 2; Martin Hicks 1. CHS—Glenn Miller 9; Bronterrious Jakes 6 (FR); Montrel Crawford 5; Yurmon Barnes 5; Brandon Garrett 3; Antonio King 2; Quincy Lewis 2; B.J. Sanders 2; Taurance Bass 2 (FR); Jaquill Banks 2; Demetrius Strong 1; Christian Butler 1; Vincent Wiggins 1; Bryan Shorter 1; Dante Devouse 1; Martez Reed 1; Vanderrius Chadwick 1; Rakeem Nunez 1; Faison Johnson (FR).

Who’s got the edge? Furman or Auburn?

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If you need this blog post for reassurance, you don’t have much faith in your Auburn Tigers.

QUARTERBACKS
Jordan Sorrells has been consistent all season and Chris Forcier is emerging as a weapon off the bench, but a confident Chris Todd trumps both of them handily.
Edge: Auburn

RUNNING BACKS
Ben Tate is 133 yards from matching his preseason goal of rushing for 1,200 yards. He might reach that by the third quarter.
Edge: Auburn

RECEIVERS
Terrell Zachery has given Todd a reason to feel safe throwing to him down the field, no matter how many corners are riding his back.
Edge: Auburn

OFFENSIVE LINE
This Tigers’ unit seems to become more and more dominant when Todd or Tate break off a big play.
Edge: Auburn

DEFENSIVE LINE
Has there ever been a more drastic one-week improvement from an area on the Tigers than the resurgence this group had last week? All of a sudden, Antoine Carter and Antonio Coleman are wreaking havoc in opponents’ backfields.
Edge: Auburn

LINEBACKERS
Finally, Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens should be able to get some rest today.
Edge: Auburn

SECONDARY
The Paladins have Max from “Two-a-Days.” Auburn has two largely inexperienced safeties but a couple of lockdown corners.
Edge: Auburn

SPECIAL TEAMS
Not even against the Paladins will the Tigers win this category.
Edge: Furman

COACHES
Bobby Lamb has done a lot in his seven years with the Paladins. With last week’s win, Gene Chizik has put himself back in contention for SEC Coach of the Year.
Edge: Auburn

OVERALL
The Paladins know the drill. Show up, play hard, go home with a big check. All the pressure is on Auburn to put them away before the second quarter.
Edge: Auburn

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

Playoff previews ... all up in your area: Lee-Montgomery at Auburn High

Since I’m obsessive and psycho, I’ve decided to do more in-depth playoff previews than what’s going to run in the paper. Three a day until Friday.

Today: Lee-Montgomery at Auburn in the Class 6A first round:

Lee-Montgomery Generals (4-6)

Aug. 27 vs. Northview (W, 10-7)
Sept. 4 vs. Prattville (L, 6-38)
Sept. 10 vs. Baldwin County (L, 0-7)
Sept. 18 at Benjamin Russell (W, 17-0)
Sept. 25 at Carver-Montgomery (L, 8-15)
Oct. 2 vs. Wetumpka (L, 0-7)
Oct. 9 vs. Jeff Davis (W, 14-8)
Oct. 16 at Stanhope Elmore (L, 12-16)
Oct. 23 at SIdney Lanier (W, 21-0)
Oct. 30 at Dothan (L, 6-21)

Points scored: 94 (9.4)
Points allowed: 119 (11.9)

Key Players
DL Edwin Berry, Sr., 5-8, 280: 76 tackles, 4 sacks
LB Terrance Smith, Jr., 6-1, 190: 105 tackles, 7 sacks
RB/LB Shermaine Washington, So., 5-11, 200: 131 tackles, 2 sacks

Auburn High (10-0)

Aug. 28 vs. Valley (W, 28-7)
Sept. 4 vs. Dothan (W, 37-14)
Sept. 11 at Enterprise (W, 41-7)
Sept. 18 at Northview (W, 48-9)
Sept. 25 vs. Jeff Davis (W, 47-0)
Oct. 2 vs. Smiths Station (W, 49-28)
Oct. 9 vs. Russell County (W, 37-0)
Oct. 16 vs. Central (W, 26-12)
Oct. 23 at Opelika (W, 41-15)
Oct. 29 at BTW (W, 49-14)

Points scored: 403 (40.3)
Points allowed: 106 (10.6)
Rushing yards: 2408 (240.8)
Passing yards: 1353 (135.3)
Total yards: 3761 (376.1)
Rushing yards allowed: 1155 (115.5)
Passing yards allowed: 863 (86.3)
Total yards allowed: 2018 (201.8)

Key Players
RB Augustus Brooks, Sr., 5-10, 175: 115 att., 821 yds., 7.1 avg., 15 TD
CB Dequavious “Pee Wee” Cobb, Sr., 6-0, 175: 23 tackles, 7 INT
QB Calvin Jenkins, Sr., 6-0, 180: 75-of-117 passing, 1304 yds., 14 TD, 4 INT; 628 rush yds., 12 TD
DL JaMichael Payne, Jr., 6-0, 295: 44 tackles, 3.5 for loss
WR Jason Webb, Jr., 6-3, 185: 17 rec., 447 yds., 26.3 avg., 5 TD

Lee-Montgomery on the road: 2-3
Auburn at home: 6-0
Last meeting: Auburn, 31-13, on Nov. 2, 2007

Pick: Auburn 27, Lee-Montgomery 10