5-0? Poof, and it’s gone

Auburn got beat up and down the field here at Tiger Stadium, by a better-than-it-has-been LSU team.

Auburn couldn’t get anything going on offense. And that’s starting to become a theme over the last three games, which have all been losses.

Here’s a bit of my column for tomorrow’s Opelika-Auburn News. The full column will be posted in a couple hours.

Now, we’re back on the road, headed home.

Enjoy ...

BATON ROUGE, La. – WARNING: What your about to read isn’t for the faint of heart, women who are pregnant and/or anyone who is a fan of offense. Read at your own risk:
Punt.
Punt.
Fumble.
Interception.
Punt.
Punt.
Fumble.
Halftime.
Ouch.
Thrown in there are 42 yards of offense – just 16 yards of it was passing. Also in the first half of play, Auburn committed seven penalties for 64 yards. And there was still 30 minutes to go.
Reasons to be optimistic about the second half?
No. Not at all.
Field goal.
Punt.
Punt.
Punt.
Oh, by the way … touchdown.
Ballgame.
Have mercy.
LSU didn’t.
And neither will anyone else who saw Auburn lose its third straight game.
Where to start? Who knows. What we do know is where it’s going to end if Auburn can’t right the ship.
The more we move away from it, the closer 2008 seems – at least offensively. Shudder all you like, the numbers don’t lie.
Auburn totaled 193 yards of offense – 112 rushing, 81 passing. Auburn totaled just 10 points. Well, the starters scored just 3. Auburn needed its backups to make the game more respectable.
It was the least amount of points a Gus Malzahn offense has scored in college football.
A quick look at the arts and crafts table and we just noticed the crayon box is empty.
And LSU had a lot to say about that, as the Bayou Bengals took out every color stick in Malzahn’s bag of tricks and broke them into teeny, tiny pieces, dropping them at the offensive coordinator’s feet, along with Chris Todd.
Auburn’s offense, right now, isn’t good.
Was it ever? Were the first five games an aberration? A mirage concocted by smoke and reverses to make us think something imaginary really existed?
Where’s David Copperfield when you need him.
Hocus pocus. Allakhazam.
Wait, we made Darvin Adams disappear.

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams | Opelika-Auburn News)

Seat 13 on the Bayou

Tiger Stadium. Death Valley. On the Bayou. Louisiana Saturday Night.

One of my favorite venues in the country.

Growing up, I remember watching LSU games on TV with my dad, thinking how cool it would be to watch a game in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night.

Well, this is my third one here, and it gets cooler every time. There’s something about college football, especially in the SEC, especially at night.

Anyway, on to the pick.

LSU wins this one. Sorry Tiger fans. Unless Auburn can stop the run, its going to be a long night. And LSU will sure run the ball. A lot.

LSU 21, Auburn 17.

What say you?

SEAT 80 and Chillin’ ... really

It’s a nice 48 degrees here at Seat 80 in the David E. Housel Press Box. Perfect football weather.

Not so perfect for my fingers, as I try to type on my DELL.

But, hey, it’s the price you’ve got to pay for hot chocolate. Yum.

It’s about 15 minutes until kickoff.

Who’s going to win?

Auburn. By 24 points.

What do you think?

Hey, a win here makes Auburn bowl eligible.

We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know what it’d look like

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following column was written by Mike Szvetitz from the comfort of his own living room as he watched the Auburn-Arkansas game on his 27-inch, 1998 Sanyo picture box.

NOT FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It was bound to happen.

Auburn was going to lose a game this year. We all knew that.

But did anyone think it would be the way the Tigers lost Saturday?

By 21 points to a team who’s defense came in ranked last in the SEC?

This year’s team?

Maybe last year’s. But Auburn 2009? Gene Chizik 2.0?

Who would have guessed a blowout? Who would have guessed an ugly, couldn’t-get-out-of-its-own-way loss to Arkansas?

Penalties. Fumbles. Miscues. Auburn looked bad. Real bad.

Arkansas looked good. Real good.

But it was bound to happen. Right?

I mean, did anyone really think the Tigers would run the table? No. Not at all.

But it’s the way they lost that should cause concern. Auburn, a really young team, looked that way for the first time.

And Arkansas is not as good as LSU or Ole Miss or Alabama – all coming up on the Tigers’ schedule.

Is Auburn better than what it showed in Fayetteville on Saturday? The second half it was. But that first half? That was bad.

They can send that film to the trash right now, care of Auburn 2008.

The third quarter was more like it for the Tigers, as they racked up 200-plus yards and three unanswered touchdowns to cut a 31-point deficit to 11.

But then the wheels came back off.

Arkansas steadied itself and the Tigers, let down by another special teams’ gaffe and a fourth-down botch, ran off the road.

Sure Auburn scored points and made the game a lot more interesting than the way it started. But it was too little too late.

Way too late.

Auburn’s defense showed some more holes, giving up 44 points and 495 yards of offense. But 17 of those points came off turnovers by the Tigers offense. And you can’t really
put it all on the AU defense, because they never got off the field in the first half.

The 27 first-half points are on the Auburn offense as much as they are the defense.

So is it back to the drawing board for the Tigers?

Well, just like Chizik says, it’s never as bad as it seems.

But Saturday, it wasn’t as good either.

Auburn’s now 5-1 coming home to play Kentucky next Saturday. It will be another tough test for the Tigers as they try to rebound. And they’ll need to do it quickly, as a trip to
Baton Rouge, La., is on the horizon.

There’s a lot to fix between now and then, which isn’t surprising.

Just like Auburn’s first loss.

It was bound to happen. Just not the way everyone thought it would.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.

Auburn vs. Arkansas ... running blog (FINAL)

Here we go with our running blog of the Auburn-Arkansas game ...

(Don’t forget to check out my column which I’ll post later today.)

FINAL: Arkansas 44, Auburn 23

—Arkansas gets to 40 points first with another rushing touchdown, moving it back to a three-possession game for the Hogs. Arkansas capitalized on a huge kickoff return at the end of the third period to give the Razorbacks the ball on the Tigers’ 30 to start the drive. Talk about a momentum killer if you the Tigers after cutting the lead to 11.

—FUMBLE!!! Chris Todd drops the snap from center on fourth-and-an eyelash. That’s what happens when you’re not used to taking the ball from under center. Both times the Tigers have done it today they’ve fumbled. Arkansas has the ball back with 9 minutes to play. Auburn’s about out of time.

—FUMBLE!!!! Todd drops another one, this time while he was being sacked. Third turnover for the Tigers. Arkansas has turned those into 17 points. Can’t do that on the road with a young team and win. Period.

—Field goal – Arkansas first of the game. Six touchdowns and a 3-pointer. That’s getting it done.

—Auburn falls to 5-1. Hosts Kentucky next Saturday.

THIRD QUARTER: Arkansas 34, Auburn 23

—The most telling first-half stat? Total yards: Auburn 108, Arkansas 274. Oh, and the points. Bobby Petrino’s boys are rolling.

—FUMBLE!! Ben Tate’s fumble on the goal line was a kick to the midsection. Hard. Tate just didn’t take the handoff cleanly.
I noticed two things on that play. Chris Todd was under center, something he hasn’t done much of this year, if any. And starting guard Byron Isom was lined up as a fullback. Did either of those things have anything to do with the fumble? Probably not.
But a score there would have given Auburn the momentum, especially since its defense just forced a three-and-out and the Tigers went down the field in a hurry.
A score there would have made it 27-10. Turnovers kill.

— Touchdown Arkansas. Mallett waltzed (maybe even high-stepped) into the end zone untouched to make it 34-3. The Hogs just moved the ball down the field without incident.

—Tate dives into the end zone from 2 yards out to give Auburn its first touchdown of the game. 34-10. Not enough.
Not to kick a dead horse, but if Tate doesn’t fumble the first time on the goal line and Auburn’s defense stops Arkansas on the next drive, it’s 27-17 right now. I’m just sayin’.

—Three-and-out for Auburn’s defense. Again.

—Tate goes 60 yards (untouched) for his second touchdown of the game. Auburn 17 (14 points in less than 5 minutes), Arkansas 34.
This is the Auburn offense that we’re used to seeing. I guess it was just late getting off the bus. Maybe too late.

—Terrell Zachery is fast. The Auburn receiver set up Onterio McCalebb’s touchdown just before the end of the third quarter with a huge end-around run around the left side.
It was the Tigers third touchdown on as many drives. Now, it’s an 11-point game going into the fourth quarter.
Hold on to your seats.

—Auburn’s special teams are really bad. Just in case you forgot.

SECOND QUARTER: Arkansas 27, Auburn 3

—Just to be clear, Auburn’s defense didn’t stop Arkansas on fourth down to open the second quarter. Ryan Mallett’s pass was off.

—29 yards for Auburn on offense in the first quarter. Just one first down. Ouch.

—A hurry-up offense isn’t so great when you can’t get any first downs. The defense doesn’t get a chance to rest. Auburn needs to get some substantial drives going before its defense runs out of gas.

—Too late. On Arkansas first full possession of the quarter, Auburn’s defense was about as out of sync as the offense has been. Add two crucial penalties, including an unnecessary roughness call on safety Zac Etheridge, an it’s a Razorbacks’ score.
—FUMBLE! That one by Mario Fannin on the kickoff return hurt. Back on the field goes the Tiger D.

—Another touchdown for Arkansas. Nothing is going right for Gene Chizik and his team. Nothing.

—Well, at least Wes Byrum stays hot, putting the Tigers on the board with a field goal. They’ll need more than that, though.

—Auburn needed Walt McFadden’s interception like I need a nap. It was huge for momentum. But more so, it got the defense off the field. But it didn’t last long, as Auburn had to punt it away.

—Another penalty for Auburn. Oh, and another one. That’s seven already – five of them have given Arkansas a first down.

—Touchdown Hogs. Again. Nice play-action, rollout pass by Mallett. Everything is working for the home team.

—What kind of Auburn team will come out of the locker room in the third quarter? And will the Tigers be able to do enough to overcome a 24-point deficit?

FIRST QUARTER: Arkansas 6, Auburn 0

—Know I know why I like watching the games live, rather than on TV. Announcers bother me.

—I thought Ryan Mallett couldn’t move. But on Arkansas’ first drive of the game, Mallett (all 6-foot-7 of him) go out of the pocket and ran for the first down … running over Auburn cornerback Neiko Thorpe in the process.

—It looks pretty cold in Fayetteville. AU beat writer extraordinaire Andrew P. Gribble says it’s about 47 degrees there. It’s a nice 72 here in the Lazy Lair.

—Arkansas’ offense has scored every time it gets in the red zone: 15-for-15. Not bad. Neither was the 12-play, 73-yard drive it put together on its opening drive. Oh, the Razorbacks also had six first downs on the possession.

—The tackling woes for Auburn’s defense continue. Only twice in the first half did the Tigers bring a Razorback down on first contact.

—Man, commercials are long. And annoying.

—Auburn’s offense, three drives in, looks like out of sync. Give Arkansas’ defense a lot of credit here. I guess they read the clippings this week about how their defense isn’t that good. Looks like they’re out to prove everyone wrong.

—Starting out drives with penalties is a killer. First-and-15 is very bad. Auburn had that twice in the first quarter.

—The way things are going, that extra point botch for the Hogs could come back and bite them.

—For the first time this year, Auburn didn’t score a first-quarter point.