A Look at Auburn

[catsfan20012002]

The Tigers return 52 lettermen and 12 starters off of a team that has won 33 games over the last three years.

QB Brandon Cox is talented but if you can confuse him you can make him make mistakes that can keep you in the ball game. He threw for 2,198 yards with 14 touchdowns vs. 9 interceptions in 2006 with his biggest game coming vs. Tulane when he had 3 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions. He had 4 interceptions in a loss to Georgia.

RB Brad Lester had 510 yards (4.9 yards/carry) and 9 touchdowns in 2006. His biggest game was vs. Florida when he had 94 yards. Of his 9 touchdowns 4 of them came at Mississippi State and against Buffalo. One thing Auburn has is depth at RB. They also have Ben Tate (who had three touchdowns last season), Mario Fannin and Tristan Davis that they can use to attempt to wear us down up front.

One place where Cox will have a ton of options is at WR. The Tigers have three guys that they can throw at you at a time but none of them have proven to be a go to guy. Rodgeriqus Smith was second on the team in receptions last season with 26 catches for 452 yards (17.4 yards/catch) and a team best 4 TD catches. His biggest game last season was at Mississippi State when he had 2 catches for 85 yards (42.5 yards/catch) and one touchdown. Robert Dunn only has 7 catches for 81 yards in his career but was having a big spring before he hurt a hamstring. Prechae Rodriguez has 27 catches for 408 yards (15.1 yards/catch) and two touchdowns in his Tigers career. His biggest game of 2006 came against Florida when he caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 yards/catch). TE Cole Bennett has 12 receptions for 138 yards (11.5 yards/catch) and 2 touchdowns in his Tigers career. His biggest game in 2006 was at Mississippi State when he had 1 catch for 18 yards. In fact he didn't even play in 10 games last season. It's clear that their receivers have the potential to make big plays but they don't make alot of big plays.

The offensive line is in complete overhaul mode. They do have LT King Dunlap (6'8" 312 lbs) returning. Tyronne Green will be the LG while Jason Bosley is the leader of the offensive line at C. Leon Hart has been shuffled around on the line his entire career and takes his turn at RG. Andrew McCain is penciled in at RT but he has stiff competition from Antwoin Daniels and Lee Ziemba.

Auburn will be better known for their defense and it begins up front with a very good defensive line. DE's Quentin Groves and Sen'Derrick Marks as well as DT Josh Thompson all return. The question will be how well Pat Sims steps in at the other DT spot.

There are questions for the Tigers at LB. Tray Blackmon spent a good chunk of the spring on suspension, Merrill Johnson has been moved to MLB but suffered from a calf injury during the entire spring. Steve Gandy is a brand new starter at WLB.

Injuries have also wrecked the Tigers secondary. CB Jonathan Wilhite has been battling injuries to a knee and shoulder but is expected to be ready to go. Patrick Lee is inexperienced at the other CB spot. The Tigers do have one of the best DB's in the SEC in FS Aairon Savage who is the teams leading tackler. Eric Brock is the SS but the coaching staff has made it perfectly clear that they're disappointed in his play and would love to be able to replace him.

Auburn has to replace both kickers (did you hear that DCTT?)

[catdude33]

Racists.

[KSUTOMMY]

Our chance to win = taking advantage of thier secondary before those D Linemen punch JF in the grill. I just hope that the power of the Samoan war gods are with Alesana² and Ben Liu - god I hope our guard situation is wrapped up too. Obviously we need special teams to do something.

[War Eagle!!!]

Racists.

Lame ass.

[catdude33]

Racists.

Lame ass.

Touche.

[catsfan20012002]

If we can give Josh Freeman the time he needs I have no doubt that he can pick their defense apart. Daniel Gonzalez and Deon Murphy could have monster days and look out for Jeron Mastrud exploiting the middle of the field where those LB's are. I don't see a big day for James Johnson but if we can maybe hit him for a few screen passes here and there that should open things up for Gonzalez, Murphy and Mastrud.

[vanro031]

If we can give Josh Freeman the time he needs I have no doubt that he can pick their defense apart. Daniel Gonzalez and Deon Murphy could have monster days and look out for Jeron Mastrud exploiting the middle of the field where those LB's are. I don't see a big day for James Johnson but if we can maybe hit him for a few screen passes here and there that should open things up for Gonzalez, Murphy and Mastrud.

The K-State 2007 motto.......IF 

[catsfan20012002]

I say "if" because the game happens on Saturday and this is Monday. The game hasn't been played yet. That's why you talk about it in the future tense. Got it? Dear God please tell me you're not that dumb.

[Maxell]

If we can give Josh Freeman the time he needs I have no doubt that he can pick their defense apart. Daniel Gonzalez and Deon Murphy could have monster days and look out for Jeron Mastrud exploiting the middle of the field where those LB's are. I don't see a big day for James Johnson but if we can maybe hit him for a few screen passes here and there that should open things up for Gonzalez, Murphy and Mastrud.

Ummm no. Having seen Auburn up close and what they do on defense, they are going to rape your receivers at the LOS. They play physical, tear your receivers' heads off-type of press coverage and they play it relentlessly for four quarters-you're not going to have open receivers. Period. There are severe mismatches with their front four against your OL so Freeman may have to eat a bunch of sacks. If he does try to make a big play out of nothing, this game turns into Kansas last year 5X over. Your hope in keeping this game close is for Freeman not to force things and for your defense to take advantage of Auburn's inexperienced and beat up offensive line.

[alphatiger1]

QB Brandon Cox is talented but if you can confuse him you can make him make mistakes that can keep you in the ball game
Only partly right here... Cox is generally not easy to confuse... he is a 5th year senior and is good at managing our offense. He won't turn a game, won't make anybodies jaw drop, etc.  One thing he will do is hold the ball too long and take a sack instead of throwing it away.  Last year that happened too often and was beat up to the point of being a detrament to the team, but our coaches had zero confidence in or 2nd string QB, so Cox stayed in and took his beatings.

Our D will be strong... don't expect to have the time to pick apart our young secondary.  Don't expect many teams to be able to run very much.  I do expect at least two deep plays to burn our secondary in this first game.

Our O line is a huge question.  If Hart plays, we will have one RS or true frosh starting, so we will try to cover him with an extra TE (team strength) and pound the ball.  If we cover up to much it will be somewhat boring and low scoring game.

That being said, looking forward to it.

[catsfan20012002]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/preview07/insider/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=2991985

Quentin Groves listed among the 10 defenders who cause the most game plan-changing in college football