SZVETITZ COLUMN: AU off to good start, but still has long way to go

When will Gene Chizik be satisfied?

It’s hard to say.

Pigs might start sprouting wings and flying South before the Auburn head football coach finally sits back in his chair, kicks his feet up and relaxes.

But that’s a long way off.

Even with the advanced efforts in science.

Auburn’s a long way off, too, according to Chizik.

A long way from being a complete team. A long way from dominating. A long way from resting on 3-0.

Heck, by the way Chizik talks, you’d think the Tigers are 0-3, rather than undefeated.

I guess when you’ve faced as much criticism as Chizik has over the last nine months, it’s easy to be on edge.

But Chizik doesn’t dwell on the past, remember? He doesn’t have time. He’s trying to win football games. And even though he’s done it the past three weeks, Chizik knows he’s got nine more to go.

Never mind that Auburn has dominated its opponents in the second half, 66-19. The Tigers are only outscoring teams 61-48 in the first.

Never mind that Auburn’s first in the SEC and second in the NCAA in turnover margin per game (2.3), second and 11th in sacks allowed (0.7), third and sixth in rushing offense (263.7) and third and eighth in total offense (515.0).

It’s not good enough, says Chizik.

The Tigers are last in the conference and 104th in the nation in third-down conversions per game (46.5 percent), 11th and 107th in net punting (30.75 yards) and 11th and 95th in kickoff returns (18.6).

For every bright spot, there are two more dark corners.

“The coaching staff and I are perfectionists,” Chizik said. “We still haven’t had that perfect game, and we know that it is hard to come by. The perfect game means being more successful on third down and also not allowing the other team to convert on third down; also being able to get the kicking game up and running.

“So, from our standpoint, we still have a lot of room for improvement.”

And today is a great opportunity. Ball State’s in town. That’s right, winless Ball State of the MAC.

No time like the present to start looking ahead to Tennessee on Oct. 3 in Knoxville.

I mean, Ball State is a team the Tigers can just roll their helmets on the field, beat by 35 points and barely break a sweat. Right?

Uh, have you forgotten who coaches Auburn?

“I think our football team is smart enough to understand that we’re not good enough to do that to anybody,” Chizik said. “And they are also smart enough to understand that we’ve got to fix Auburn, and that’s a lot of fixing left. That’s more fixing than anybody has room for right now, and I think they understand that.”

And they should.

If Auburn’s players have learned anything over the past 12 months, it’s that nothing can be taken for granted.

A lot of the same players on this year’s roster were here for last year’s meltdown.

They’ve seen what can happen when you go in thinking one thing and come out trying to clear the cobwebs.

And if they’ve forgotten, they’ve got plenty of reminders.

Plus, they’ve got a coach who, while he doesn’t bring up the past, knows his history.

And he also knows teams who don’t take care of the business at hand can shortly be out of business.

“We are taking everything one week at a time,” Chizik said. “I feel it’s evident that we can’t look at it any other way.”

No matter how half-full the glass looks.

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