Sunday chit-chat

It’s tough to move back to the football field today in the wake of Virgil Starks’ passing, but here it goes.

Auburn has two games left, needing to win just one of them to be bowl-eligible and likely headed to Shreveport, La. for the Independence Bowl. Only problem is that No. 13 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama stand in the way.

One thing the Tigers should have working in their favor, however, is that they may field their healthiest team in nearly two months. Coach Tommy Tuberville said today that defensive linemen Sen’Derrick Marks, Antonio Coleman and Tez Doolittle should all be available against the Bulldogs on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He also said not to make too much out of the injuries that sidelined center Jason Bosley and fullback/kick-returning extraordinaire Tristan Davis late yesterday.

Auburn will need all the help it can get in stopping Georgia, which ranks first in the SEC in total offense and second in scoring offense. The Bulldogs also field the best passing offense in the conference, which may be an area of concern considering that UT Martin’s Cade Thompson tossed for 285 yards and two touchdowns yesterday.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Raycom and will kick off at 11:30. CBS chose South Carolina-Florida as its game of the week while ESPN chose Mississippi State-Alabama for its primetime slate.

Here’s some more jib-jab from Tuberville’s meeting today with the liberal media and bloggers.

On the fun that is Amen Corner:
For me since I’ve been here, this is the fun time. You fight to get to this point and several years we’ve been to this point and obviously been a lot more successful, but it doesn’t take anything away from these two games, because we know how much they mean to the fans and alumni of both teams. These are a lot more fun. The Tennessee-Martin game, homecoming, as Mike just said, ‘What do you think?‘ As coaches you think, ‘We got it over with.‘ We didn’t get any major injuries and we got some guys healthy and now we’re looking forward to this week’s preparation. It’s real exciting to play these two games. We’ve probably got 20-25 kids from Georgia. They look forward to it. It’s kind of like two Iron Bowls back to back.

How does Kodi Burns compare with Jason Campbell?
I think Kodi’s going to be an excellent SEC quarterback. He’s got a lot to learn. He’s raw. He’s a lot like Jason. Jason’s got a little more height, but Kodi’s got a lot more quickness and speed to run the football. We asked him to do that yesterday. he’ll get better and better at that.

As coaches, you also have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of a guy that you haven’t been around much, what he can handle mentally, what he can handle physically. Jason had a little bit more each year, as Brandon Cox did. he got bigger and stronger. We got him to do a little bit more each year. We’ll do the same thing with Kodi.

You worry about the hits he has and will take?
Yeah, he’s going to take some licks. We tell him to protect himself as much as he can. He hook slides some. He works on it in practice. You don’t want him going headfirst, but yesterday he looked like a running back going down the field. He wasn’t going to go down, he broke arm tackles and that’s what we saw of him when he was in high school.

I think that game will give him a lot of confidence. Of course, in the next two games, he’s going to have to protect himself a little bit more.

Why have you lost to Georgia two straight years?
Last year, I thought we had a good chance but it was our 11th straight game without an open date and our guys laid it on the line. We got behind, then we caught back up and then at the end of the third quarter it looked like we ran out of gas. But Georgia has had a good football team, a very good football team, a lot of good players on both sides of the ball, they’re well-coached. And they’ve beaten a lot of folks, not just us.
 

Virgil Starks passes on

Virgil Starks, Auburn’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Support Services, died Saturday evening of cardiac arrest while returning from the Tigers’ football game against Tennessee-Martin. He was 46.

Starks is survived by his wife, Donna, and three daughters, Carolyn, Victoria, and Anastasia. Memorial arrangements are pending.

“Words can’t express the feelings of sorrow and mourning that we have at the passing of our dear friend Virgil Starks,“ said Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs. “Virgil was passionate about all facets of his life and cared for Auburn student-athletes as if they were his own children. He will be dearly missed by all that he touched. Our thoughts and prayers are with Virgil’s family, friends and our Auburn Family in these difficult times.“

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Tigers Unlimited Foundation in memory of Virgil Starks.  All donations will benefit Starks’ passion, the academic and life-skills enhancement of Auburn student-athletes, according to a news release.

Starks had been with the program since 1998, when he arrived after a tenure at the University of Akron. Just yesterday, he stood next to senior linebacker Chris Evans during pre-game Senior Day festivities. Evans’ parents were unable to attend.

“He fights for the players,“ head football coach Tommy Tuberville said. “He fought for the players real hard in a lot of situations on the hill over there, early registration, a lot of things that help a student athlete. And not just football. I’m talking all athletes. He worked presently trying to do a lot of things in terms of academics to help all athletes that are on the table as we speak.

“He’s very close to the players. He’s kind of like a head coach in academics. And sometimes the players think that he was on them a little bit too hard, but as I told them, he was doing it for the betterment of them. He took his job seriously. He worked at it hard, day and night and did a lot for the program.“

A lot to like, and plenty not to like from Auburn’s first win in 42 days

Hey, Auburn’s players seemed pretty thrilled about Saturday’s sluggish 37-20 homecoming victory over UT-Martin, so why shouldn’t you?

Well, there are plenty of reasons to be a bit apprehensive heading into next week’s showdown with Georgia.

The offense, though it gained 290 rushing yards, never really seemed to take command of Saturday’s game and seemed inefficient when it mattered most. Yes, Kodi Burns piled up a bunch of yards, 158 to be exact, but plenty of those would have been eliminated if he were, say, running at linebackers and secondary members of the SEC. Burns broke a lot of bad tackles today, and that likely won’t occur these next two games.

Don’t believe me? Let the man tell you himself.

“Those are some big boys so I don’t know about more,“ Burns said. “It’s always good to run the ball a little bit here and there.“

Overshadowed by his fantastic day on the ground, Burns had a below-average day through the air. He missed on a number of open looks and sailed a number of passes. He also came up very short on an open deep route to Montez Billings early in the first quarter. The picks weren’t there, which is a definite plus, but he’ll likely need to resemble the same quarterback who threw for 319 yards two weeks ago when he and Auburn face the Bulldogs.

It was obvious that the defense drilled away at its rush defense in practice this week, as it held the Skyhawks to just 38 yards on 15 attempts. Quite the commendable effort considering that Sen’Derrick Marks, Antonio Coleman and Tez Doolittle didn’t see the field. The pass defense, though, could be the newest, hottest area of concern for the Tigers’ defense. Auburn made UTM quarterback Cade Thompson look like quite the superstar today, allowing an FCS player to put up the most passing yards of any quarterback Auburn has faced. It’s tough to gauge how effective the pass defense will be once Jerraud Powers gets back to 100 percent health, but that may not happen this season.

But enough with the doom and gloom. Auburn won today. Rejoice. Go TP something.

A win is a win ...

Auburn won.
It’s true. For the first time in 42 days, the Tigers ended the game with more points on the scoreboard than the other team.

Sure, it was against Tennessee Martin. Sure, the Tigers should have had an easy time with the Skyhawks. Sure, it’s just one win. But it was a win. And as defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said, the water just tastes better after a win.

But, really, what can Auburn draw from beating UTM by 17 points. What can the draw from almost having to explain why it lost to an FCS school. And if you don’t believe me about AU almost losing, then you weren’t there. It could have happened.
But it didn’t.

So where does this leave Auburn? Well, Georgia and Alabama are next. And Auburn’s got to win at least one if it wants to get to a bowl game. And both if it wants to finish with a winning record.
Can it happen? Well, nothing’s impossible. But this feat is pretty close. Simple truth is, Auburn’s not very good. You have watched them play this year, right?

But, anything can happen in football, especially in rivalry games.

And Auburn’s got a little bit of momentum ... a little bit.

But, hey, it’s better than none.

So, can Auburn finish strong, winning one (maybe two) games?

That’s why they play the game ...

Seat 80 in full effect

I’m here at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but you’re not.

Today, driving into the stadium two hours before kickoff, was the most dead I’ve seen Auburn’s campus on a gameday, ever. It looked like Christmas break out there today.

Now, 20 minutes before kickoff, there’s only about 60,000 in the stadium, if that.

Regardless, they’re still going to play football today. Auburn vs. UT Martin. Catch the fever.

Will Auburn lose?

Well, read my column to find out what I think.

What do you think?